Lori Posted August 31, 2006 Share Posted August 31, 2006 BUFFALO BILLS at DETROIT LIONS THURSDAY, AUGUST 31, 2006 – 7:30 PM EDT FORD FIELD – DETROIT, MICHIGAN BUFFALO BILLS TELEVISION NETWORK: WKBW (Channel 7 – Buffalo) / WHAM (Channel 13 – Rochester) / WTVH (Channel 5 – Syracuse) PLAY-BY-PLAY: Gus Johnson COLOR ANALYST: Steve Tasker SIDELINE REPORTER: Mike Catalana MICHIGAN / NORTHWEST OHIO: WKBD UPN Ch. 50 (Detroit); WFQX FOX Ch. 33 (Cadillac/Traverse City); WJMN CBS Ch. 3 (Escanaba); WXMI FOX Ch. 17 (Grand Rapids); WSYM FOX Ch. 47 (Lansing); WNEM CBS Ch. 5 (Saginaw/Flint/Bay City); WNWO NBC Ch. 24 (Toledo, Ohio). PLAY-BY-PLAY: Frank Beckmann COLOR ANALYST: Kelvin Pritchett SIDELINE REPORTER: Steve Courtney RADIO: Buffalo Bills Radio Network PLAY-BY-PLAY: John Murphy COLOR ANALYST: Mark Kelso SIDELINE REPORTER: Paul Peck Detroit Lions Radio Network SIRIUS SUNDAY DRIVE (Detroit feed only): Channel 118 PLAY-BY-PLAY: Dan Miller COLOR: Jim Brandstatter SIDELINE REPORTER: Tony Ortiz REGULAR-SEASON SERIES RECORD: 3-3-1. The Bills are 1-2 in three visits to the Pontiac Silverdome. Their return trip to Detroit in October will mark their first regular-season game in Ford Field, which opened in 2002. LAST MEETING: October 27, 2002 – Bills 24, Lions 17 Travis Henry scored two of Buffalo’s three touchdowns, but his late fumble gave Detroit a chance to tie the game. The defense came up big when they had to, though, as London Fletcher stuffed James Stewart on fourth-and-inches at the Buffalo 20 to preserve the Bills’ third straight win. Drew Bledsoe continued his hot start in a Bills uniform with his fourth 300-yard game of the season. He finished 21-36 for 302 yards, including a 59-yard touchdown strike to Peerless Price. Both Price (101) and Eric Moulds (123) topped the 100-yard receiving mark, the last time any Bills WR tandem accomplished that feat. LAST TIME IN DETROIT: November 24, 1994 – Lions 35, Bills 21 After sitting through Buffalo’s first Thanksgiving Day appearance since 1976, most Bills fans probably didn’t have much of an appetite left for their holiday meals. The defense did a decent job of stopping Barry Sanders, holding him to 45 yards on 19 carries… but they apparently forgot about Dave Krieg, who lit them up for 351 yards and three touchdown passes. Herman Moore accounted for 169 of those yards, including a 51-yard TD on a perfectly-executed flea-flicker to give Detroit an early lead they wouldn’t relinquish. Lions CB Willie Clay picked off Jim Kelly twice, returning the second one 28 yards for the game-clinching touchdown. Their fourth straight road loss dropped the Bills to 6-6; they finished the season 7-9 and missed the playoffs for the first time since 1987. LIONS OVERVIEW (2005 RANKINGS) OFFENSE (#27 total yardage, #26 rushing, #26 passing, #28 scoring): Detroit dumped their unsuccessful version of the West Coast offense when they hired former Rams head coach/”Greatest Show on Turf” guru Mike Martz as offensive coordinator. Early returns don’t look promising, with the first-team offense scoring a total of one touchdown in their first three games. That comes with a caveat, though: the projected offensive line starters have yet to line up together for a single play this preseason. RG Damien Woody and RT Rex Tucker went down with serious injuries early in training camp. Woody will try to play a few snaps tomorrow night with a cast on his broken right hand, but Tucker is “week-to-week” with a sprained knee; as of this writing, Barry Stokes is slated to start at tackle. LG Rick DeMulling will take the place of Ross Verba, who is sitting out to rest a sore Achilles tendon. If that's not enough, franchise LT Jeff Backus has missed practice time this week with back spasms. We probably won’t be seeing starting QB Jon Kitna either, although based on last week’s performance -- 11-22 for 118 yards, three sacks, an INT, and a lost fumble -- he could probably use the work. 2005 fifth-round pick Dan Orlovsky and former Cardinal Josh McCown are competing to be Kitna’s backup, with Martz reportedly favoring Orlovsky for the job. The big story in Lion Country these days concerns the trio of former #1 draft picks at WR. While Roy Williams has lived up to expectations, both Charles Rogers and Mike Williams are currently listed with the third-stringers on the depth chart, behind such standouts as Corey Bradford, Glenn Martinez, and Mike Furrey (who played for Martz in St. Louis). Rogers sat out the last two games with a bruised left knee; M. Williams dressed for the game last week, but never got on the field. Reading between the lines of head coach Rod Marinelli’s recent press conferences, one gets the idea they’d already be gone if not for their lofty pedigree: ”There's draft status and then there's production. As a coach there are certain things you're tied to and then some you're not. You just have to go out for the best, for the health of this football team. From day one you always talk about the best players got to play, the best players are going to win a job - put it on tape - I've been saying that forever. Sometimes you can't always do that, but 95% you're hoping to do that.” Marcus Pollard’s 46 receptions led the team last year, but it sounds like Martz wants a better blocker at TE. Casey FitzSimmons was working with the starters before fracturing his wrist in the first preseason game. The team also signed free agent Dan Campbell (Cowboys) in the offseason. Artose Pinner, Arlen Harris, and rookie Brian Calhoun (Wisconsin) are all in the mix to back up Kevin Jones at RB; Harris, another former Ram, is currently listed at #2. They should see plenty of time, with Jones unlikely to play much (if at all). Shawn Bryson may be a better fit at FB than aging Cory Schlesinger. DEFENSE (#20 total yardage, #24 rushing, #13 passing, #21 scoring): After a three-season run in Detroit, “Big Daddy” Dan Wilkinson has moved on to Miami, opening up the NT spot for Shaun Cody. The other DT, Shaun Rogers, made his second consecutive Pro Bowl last season; barring injury, that streak might not end any time soon. DE Kalimba Edwards led the Lions with 7 sacks in 2005 and was expected to win the starting job opposite James Hall, but a strong camp by Cory Redding has kept him on top of the depth chart. (He’s nursing a wrist injury, though, and isn’t expected to play this week.) The “Tampa 2” calls for speed at all three linebacker positions. With that in mind, the Lions opted not to re-sign Earl Holmes, instead drafting playmaker Ernie Sims (Florida State) in the first round and shifting Boss Bailey to MLB. (Bailey is easing his way back into the lineup after a hamstring injury, so expect to see LeVar Woods get most of the snaps in the middle.) Teddy Lehman is still on the PUP list, so free agent pickup Paris Lenon (Packers) takes Bailey’s place at SLB. Two-time Pro Bowl CB Dre’ Bly matched his career high with six interceptions in 2005. Fernando Bryant, who missed most of last season with a shoulder injury, is the other starting corner. Former Dolphins first-round bust Jamar Fletcher was signed in the offseason. Big-hitting SS Kenoy Kennedy led the team in tackles last season; Terrence Holt and second-round pick Daniel Bullocks are competing at FS. Holt is supposed to get the start against Buffalo, but the job should eventually be Bullocks' to lose. SPECIAL TEAMS: Kicker Jason Hanson returns for his fifteenth year in Honolulu blue, hoping to rebound from a subpar 2005 season in which a hamstring injury held him to his lowest point total (84) since 1996. He’s 2-2 so far in the preseason, but hasn’t attempted anything longer than a 38-yarder. Nick Harris is a quality punter handicapped by a lousy coverage team. His 34 punts inside the 20-yard line (versus only two touchbacks) led the league last year, but the Lions gave up over ten yards/return, including two touchdowns. Detroit should be set at KR/PR with former Pro Bowl pick Eddie Drummond. He regressed from his spectacular 2004 performance (four combined return TDs and a 26.6-yard KR average) last season, but still averaged well over twenty yards per return. Rookie WRs Shaun Bodiford and Devale Ellis have also returned kicks this preseason. Bodiford, an UDFA from Portland State, has been making a name for himself in training camp. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- OUTLOOK: Go figure: Tom Donahoe’s 31-49 tenure as GM was enough to get him fired in Buffalo. Matt Millen’s 21-59 record over the same time period -- worst in the league -- earned him a contract extension and a chance to hire his third head coach in six seasons. One suspects Marinelli, who interrupted his college career for a stint in Vietnam, won’t be impressed by multimillionaire players complaining about practice schedules and the like. His latest motivational ploy: scheduling last week’s flight to Oakland for the morning of the game. The team responded(?) with an underwhelming 21-3 loss. He has some talent to work with -- heck, with all those high draft picks, there should be -- but reshaping the attitude of a franchise with exactly one playoff win since 1957 isn’t going to happen overnight. I'm guessing the Lions roster will look dramatically different a year from now. It looks like most of the Bills’ starters are now set, but there are still some tough decisions to make. I’ll be VERY interested to see how many touches Anthony Thomas and Shaud Williams get at RB, and which WRs and DBs take advantage of their last chance to impress the coaching staff. Has Brad Cieslak shown enough to unseat Ryan Neufeld as the #3 TE? Do we have a #4 DE worthy of keeping, or does the team use that slot to keep someone they don’t think they can sneak through waivers onto the practice squad? And what do they do with Ashton Youboty? The cutdown deadline is Saturday at 6:00 PM. Should be an interesting weekend. Links: Ourlads.com: Lions depth chart Official team website: DetroitLions.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beerball Posted August 31, 2006 Share Posted August 31, 2006 So they've only played 7 times since the merger. Didn't OJ have a big Turkey Day game against the Lions way back when? Thanks Lori, great stuff as always! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drewgetz Posted August 31, 2006 Share Posted August 31, 2006 For the Carolina game someone was able to find a streaming broadcast of it. Does anybody know of a broadcast of the Detroit game for us out of towners?? Thanks and GO BILLS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supertutor13 Posted August 31, 2006 Share Posted August 31, 2006 For the Carolina game someone was able to find a streaming broadcast of it. Does anybody know of a broadcast of the Detroit game for us out of towners?? Thanks and GO BILLS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 757372[/snapback] To echo what Drewgetz asks, can the game be listened to online via 97rock.com? Thanks in advance!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori Posted August 31, 2006 Author Share Posted August 31, 2006 So they've only played 7 times since the merger. Not that strange, really - they haven't played any NFC team more than ten times in the regular season. Didn't OJ have a big Turkey Day game against the Lions way back when? Thanks Lori, great stuff as always! Thanks for the kind words. And yes, he did. Broke the NFL single-game record with 273 yards rushing that day in 1976. (Jamal Lewis holds the league mark with his 295-yard performance vs. Cleveland a couple years ago, but Simpson's team record still stands.) And the Bills lost that game, 27-14. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crackur Posted August 31, 2006 Share Posted August 31, 2006 wspq game on the radio online Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bills_fan_in_raleigh Posted August 31, 2006 Share Posted August 31, 2006 wspqgame on the radio online 757616[/snapback] wgrf.com 97rock live streaming Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori Posted August 31, 2006 Author Share Posted August 31, 2006 Thanks, guys. crackur, I added the station link to your post. Hope you don't mind. Dunno if these will still work for the regular season. (Probably not, because of the Fiedpass pay-to-listen thingy.) But maybe we'll get lucky... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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