Two Bills Drive

‘Frankly, one could argue that the Bills have not faced a more significant opening game ever.’

‘Instead, the Bills coaching staff used last night’s game to evaluate players on the bubble before final cuts to bring the roster down to 53 players are made on Sunday. To that end, Antonio Brown may have made the strongest case when he outsprinted the Lions defence on a 75-yard punt return for a touchdown, his second of the pre-season. With moves like that, it may be difficult to keep the former Winnipeg Blue Bomber out of the lineup in nine days when the Bills open the season against the New England Patriots.’

‘The Bills scored in the first quarter on Antonio Brown’s 75-yard punt return touchdown and on Alex Van Pelt’s 34-yard touchdown pass to Josh Reed. The Bills rallied for the game-winning, one-yard touchdown run by Olandis Gary with 12:01 left to play.’

‘Shawn Bryson: 6-feet-1, 228 pounds, fifth year out of Tennessee. Speedy back who can catch. Gained 591 yards with Buffalo in 2000. For career has played in 37 games and gained 967 yards for a 3.8 per carry average. Had knee surgery last year. Thursday: Six carries for 10 yards.’

‘They gave up a touchdown on a 75-yard punt return just 1:44 into the game — have you ever seen such a gaping hole up the middle? — and a fumble resulted in another Bills TD. Gifts.’

‘The loss made the Lions 2-2. Buffalo, picked to contend for first place in the powerful AFC East, finished 3-1.’

‘Bryson had six carries for only 10 yards and one catch for eight yards. He also lost a fumble.’

‘Stewart turned up in the hole and was met by Bills safety Coy Wire, who had a direct hit on him. Stewart was then hit from behind by several Buffalo players in a pileup.’

‘There were some good things to come out of Thursday’s game, including the performance of backup quarterback Mike McMahon. When he entered the game, the Lions were down 14-0 and Bryson fumbled the ball on McMahon’s second play from scrimmage. After that, though, McMahon led Detroit on four consecutive scoring drives and Detroit took a 16-14 lead.’

‘More important, Buffalo finished comparatively injury free.’

‘Signed in the offseason as a free agent, Gary had been a disappointment during the exhibition campaign and his roster spot reportedly was in danger. But Gary helped his cause, carrying 16 times for 57 yards.’

‘Buffalo ran the ball 36 times and only threw 13. They averaged 3.3 yards per carry, but that includes three kneel downs. The average goes to 3.7, which still isn’t the four yards per carry you hope for. Gary had 57 yards and 16 carries while Joe Burns ran hard for 33 yards in nine attempts. Gary did have two fumbles. The second offensive line of Price, Ross Tucker, Ben Sobieski, Marques Sullivan and Mike Houghton dominated the line of scrimmage. Tucker played center.’

‘Wide receiver Antonio Brown: “I’ve got 10 guys in front of me and they are doing a heck of a job. Anytime they allow me to use my God-given ability to run, something like that can happen anytime.”‘

‘Coach Williams always says that we’re each individual contractors, and we have to bring different things to the team. Hopefully I showed them enough where they want to keep my company around.’

‘”I’m going to let the cards fall where they may. I feel that I’ve done the little things right, so I am going to let the cards fall where they may.”‘