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Dan Carpenter Comes Up Clutch, Defensive Line Dominates as Buffalo Bills Win Kyle Orton’s First Start

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Dan Carpenter's 58-yard field goal gave the Buffalo Bills an improbable win on Sunday. (Photo: Tim Fuller — USA Today Sports)

Dan Carpenter’s 58-yard field goal gave the Buffalo Bills an improbable win on Sunday. (Photo: Tim Fuller — USA Today Sports)

BBD Editor: Dan Hope

In what I would have to think was at least a semi-intentional troll job, the Detroit Lions played the Foo Fighters classic “My Hero” through the loudspeakers of Ford Field after new Buffalo Bills starting quarterback and Dave Grohl look-alike Kyle Orton led the Bills to their first touchdown of the game early in the fourth quarter.

Ultimately, however, it was a kicker who looks like Kid Rock who was the hero for Buffalo on Sunday, as Dan Carpenter made a 58-yard field goal — the second-longest made kick in team history — with just four seconds remaining to propel to the Bills to a 17-14 victory, improving their record to 3-2 for the season.

An opportunity exceeding all expectations

It’s hard to imagine that anyone, even the Bills themselves, could have expected Dan Carpenter to be as successful as he has been since the Bills signed him on Sept. 2, 2013, days prior to their first game of last season, to fill in for rookie kicker Dustin Hopkins, who suffered a groin injury.

Carpenter’s career was on life support when that opportunity came up. In the month prior to his signing, he had been released by not one (Miami Dolphins), not two (Arizona Cardinals) but three (New York Jets) teams whose kicking competitions he lost. He likely would have been hard-pressed to get another shot had he failed to stick with the Bills.

Instead, Hopkins never got his job back. Carpenter converted 33 of 36 field goal attempts in 2013, which earned him a fresh four-year, $9.95 million contract this offseason. Hopkins was still given a shot to make the Bills’ roster as a kickoff specialist, but he was released in August.

Carpenter has picked up right where he left off last season. He actually missed his second kick of the year, a 50-yard attempt, off the left upright in the third quarter of Sunday’s game. But he more than made up for it with the other three kicks he made, especially the late game-winner.

It became clear Sunday, both in his play and the play of his kicking adversary in this game, that Carpenter was well worth the investment the team made in him. While Detroit Lions kicker Alex Henery likely kicked his way out of the NFL by missing all three of his field goal attempts on Sunday, Carpenter came up clutch when the Bills needed him most.

Henery deserves a big thank you from the Bills for Sunday’s win, as the Lions could have won the game if he had made even one of the kicks he missed. But that takes nothing away from Carpenter—who reportedly had to deal with laser pointers in his direction during his two third-quarter field goal attempts, according to Prescott Rossi of WROC-TV—and his game-winning effort.

Kyle Orton overcame adversity for a win in his first Bills start. (Photo: Raj Mehta — USA Today Sports)

Kyle Orton overcame adversity for a win in his first Bills start. (Photo: Raj Mehta — USA Today Sports)

The beginning of one era, the end of another

The big storyline going into Sunday’s game was certainly that of Orton making his first start for the Buffalo Bills, replacing struggling second-year signal-caller EJ Manuel.

It didn’t start out well for Orton and the Bills offense. The Bills were forced to punt on each of their first three offensive possessions. Then, on their fourth drive, Lions cornerback Rashean Mathis caught Orton staring down Sammy Watkins and jumped his throw for an interception, which he easily took to the end zone for a 41-yard pick-six.

Where Orton deserves credit for his performance Sunday is that he bounced back from that interception to play much better the rest of the way. He made a number of strong, accurate throws from the pocket the rest of the way, including a 42-yard deep ball over two defensive backs to Marquise Goodwin that set up the Bills’ only touchdown of the game, that were an upgrade from anything Manuel had done as a downfield passer in Buffalo’s first four games.

It’s easy to make the case that Sunday’s game proved that the change to Orton was the right decision for Buffalo. Manuel has never thrown for 300 yards in his career; Orton had 309 passing yards, with 30 completions on 43 attempts, Sunday.

Still, Orton’s game was more “good enough to win” than it was great. If he can keep the rhythm with the Bills offense that he had in the second half against the Lions, he won’t be giving EJ Manuel the job back. But he has to prove that he can lead the Bills offense to more efficient four-quarter performances and avoid mistakes like the pick-six he had today.

While it’s unknown whether Sunday’s win will lead to many more wins or starts for Orton, it is known that a real era of the Bills franchise—one that lasted 54 years—came to an end, fittingly with a victory, as Sunday marked the final game played by the Bills in which they will be owned by the family who founded them, the Wilsons.

The agreed-upon sale of the team to Terry and Kim Pegula, who also owns the Buffalo Sabres, Buffalo Bandits and Rochester Americans, is set to be finalized during NFL owners’ meetings this week, meaning that next Sunday’s game between the Bills and New England Patriots at Ralph Wilson Stadium will serve as an opening celebration of the franchise’s new owners. Thanks to the Bills’ victory Sunday, they’ll also be playing for first place in the AFC East.

The MVP: Defensive line

The Buffalo Bills were without their arguably best player, defensive tackle Kyle Williams, on Sunday due to a knee injury. The Bills needed his teammates to step up in his absence.

They most certainly did.

Matthew Stafford was dropped for six sacks, all by Bills defensive linemen, on Sunday. (Photo: Tim Fuller — USA Today Sports)

Matthew Stafford was dropped for six sacks, all by Bills defensive linemen, on Sunday. (Photo: Tim Fuller — USA Today Sports)

The Bills defensive line dominated the Lions offensive line on Sunday to the tune of six sacks and only 69 rushing yards allowed.

The leader of the effort up front was the team’s other usual starting defensive tackle, Marcell Dareus. Dareus had what might have been the best game of his career to date as a pass-rusher, recording three sacks, while he was a dominant run-stopper in the middle of the line. He took the opportunity to emerge from Williams’ shadow and ran with it on Sunday.

Defensive end Jerry Hughes also had a monster performance. He brought consistent heat off the edge and finished the game with three total tackles for loss, including two sacks. Hughes consistently had his way with Lions offensive tackles Riley Reiff and La’Adrian Waddle, proving too fast for his competition.

Stefan Charles, who started in defensive tackle in Kyle Williams’ place, more than held his own in the lineup. He finished the game with two tackles, including one crucial third-down tackle for loss, and showed he could be disruptive throughout the game.

Mario Williams had the quietest day of the regular starters on the defensive line, but even he chased Matthew Stafford out of bounds for a sack and finished the day with three tackles.

The Bills are continuing to rely on strong defensive performances to bail out their subpar offense, and they got one again Sunday.

While all three levels of the defense played well, it truly was the defensive line that made it happen with its consistent pressure up front and presence versus the run.

The LVP: C.J. Spiller

During a discussion with Twitter follower Mitch Francis last Sunday night, Mitch and I disagreed on what the role of Bills running back C.J. Spiller should be going forward. While I argued that Spiller is one of the Bills’ two best offensive skill-position players, Francis believed that Spiller’s play has been problematic for Buffalo this season and that the Bills should give Fred Jackson a heavier dose of carries instead of keeping Spiller in the starting lineup.

After Sunday’s game, I see his point.

Against the Lions, Spiller’s play really was a huge reason why the Bills offense was stagnant. Spiller is a poor between-the-tackles runner who consistently tries to bounce runs outside, and the Lions were absolutely prepared for that.

C.J. Spiller had a poor performance against Ndamukong Suh and the Detroit defense on Sunday. (Photo: Tim Fuller — USA Today Sports)

C.J. Spiller had a poor performance against Ndamukong Suh and the Detroit defense on Sunday. (Photo: Tim Fuller — USA Today Sports)

As a result, Spiller gained just eight yards on 10 carries on Sunday.

He gained 25 yards off of three screen passes, but was a disaster in pass protection, including one play on which he allowed Ashlee Palmer to go right by him for a sack of Kyle Orton at Buffalo’s 1-yard line, a play on which the Bills were lucky to avoid a safety.

Spiller has as much big-play ability as any player on the Bills offense, but the between-the-tackles running game that the Bills stubbornly committed to trying to get him going in has consistently been a failure. He lacks power and doesn’t hit inside running lanes with any aggression.

The Bills should continue to find ways to get the ball to Spiller in space, perhaps even moreso than they have been, but they should strongly consider taking him out of the starting lineup.

Jackson, who ran for 49 yards on 10 carries and also gained 58 yards on seven catches in Sunday’s game, is a much better between-the-tackles runner and pass protector. The Bills need to do a better job establishing the run on early downs, and they should start relying on Jackson more often to do that.

That said, the solution also shouldn’t be to start giving Jackson the ball 25 times per game. It’s important for the Bills to keep Jackson, at 33 years old, fresh for the stretch run of the season, a stretch run that is looking as though it could be meaningful for Buffalo this year. Making matters worse, Jackson suffered a right ankle sprain Sunday, which will make it especially important for the Bills to manage his carries, if he plays at all, in upcoming games.

What the Bills really should consider is giving playing time to Anthony Dixon, who received carries in the team’s first two games but hasn’t gotten a touch since, and Bryce Brown, who has been inactive for each of the Bills’ first five games.

Spiller will have better games and he’ll remain a key piece of Buffalo’s running back rotation. But it’s easy to see that running him consistently on early downs isn’t going to work if he’s going to try to run east and west more than he does north and south, while he’s also shown to be a liability in pass protection.

Injury notes

The scariest moment of Sunday’s game came in the first quarter, when Bills cornerback Ron Brooks got undercut during a play in punt return coverage and landed directly on his head. This led to Brooks being strapped down to a backboard and carted off the field.

Fortunately, Brooks escaped serious injury, according to a tweet from his girlfriend (h/t TheBillsMafia).


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