Lori Posted October 12, 2006 Share Posted October 12, 2006 BUFFALO BILLS (2-3) at DETROIT LIONS (0-5) SUNDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2006 – 1:00 PM EDT FORD FIELD -- DETROIT, MICHIGAN CBS: Gus Johnson, Steve Tasker DIRECTV NFL Sunday Ticket: Channel 705 RADIO: Buffalo Bills Radio Network PLAY-BY-PLAY: John Murphy COLOR ANALYST: Mark Kelso SIDELINE REPORTER: Paul Peck Detroit Lions Radio Network PLAY-BY-PLAY: Dan Miller COLOR: Jim Brandstatter SIDELINE REPORTER: Tony Ortiz Sirius Sunday Drive: Channel 146 (Buffalo feed) / Channel 119 (Detroit feed) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ REGULAR-SEASON SERIES RECORD: 3-3-1. The Bills are 1-2 in three visits to the Pontiac Silverdome, including two Thanksgiving Day losses. This game will be their first regular-season trip into the Lions’ new den since it opened for business in 2002. LAST MEETING: October 27, 2002 – Bills 24, Lions 17 Two five-yard Travis Henry touchdown runs gave Buffalo a 24-14 lead late in the third quarter, but his fourth-quarter fumble gave the Bills a scare. With Detroit driving toward the tying touchdown, London Fletcher turned in the play of the day by stuffing James Stewart on fourth-and-inches at the Buffalo 20 to seal the win. Drew Bledsoe’s fourth 300-yard game of the season included a 59-yard touchdown pass to Peerless Price. Price finished the afternoon with 101 receiving yards, the fourth of five times he would top the century mark that season. LAST TIME IN DETROIT: November 24, 1994 – Lions 35, Bills 21 (Instead of merely rehashing the recap from the preseason-game preview, I thought you might appreciate a different take. Incidentally, David Staba is now a colleague of ChevyVanMiller’s at the Niagara Falls Reporter.) Beating Detroit takes more than shutting down Barry Sanders. The Bills proved that by holding the NFL’s leading rusher to 45 yards on 19 carries and still losing by two touchdowns. Sanders’ impact manifested itself in other ways. Dave Krieg’s play fakes froze Buffalo’s pass rush, and Sanders set up Detroit’s first touchdown 47 seconds into the game. On the second play from scrimmage, Sanders took a handoff from Krieg, headed right, stopped and tossed the ball back to his quarterback, who hit Herman Moore in stride for a 51-yard touchdown and a 7-0 lead. “Our plan was to open up with the flea-flicker,” said Lions head coach Wayne Fontes, “and he (Krieg) changed the play at the line of scrimmage. So I said, ‘Let’s go back and throw it anyway; it’s going to be open because they’ll crowd Barry at the line of scrimmage.’ And it was there.” “Two plays and a touchdown?” a dismayed Phil Hansen said in a sullen Bills’ locker room following the game. “Come on, the defense… we have to do better than that.” … --Shout! magazine, December 5 1994 Krieg ended up shredding the Bills’ D for 351 yards and three touchdown passes, the last one capping a 97-yard drive to give the Lions a 28-14 fourth-quarter lead. One note of interest: Jim Kelly set a single-game team record by completing 29 of 35 passes, for an 82.86 completion percentage. (Unfortunately, two of his six ‘incompletions’ ended up in the hands of Detroit safety Willie Clay, including one returned for the Lions’ final touchdown.) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ LIONS OVERVIEW (2006 RANKINGS) OFFENSE (#17 total yardage, #32 rushing, #6 passing, #t19 scoring): Jon Kitna easily won the offseason quarterback competition, and has thrown the ball often enough to be on pace for only the second 4,000-yard season in Lions history. (He leads the league in completions, and only Brett Favre has more passing attempts.) But after he handed the Vikings two gift-wrapped touchdowns in last weekend’s come-from-ahead loss, could offensive coordinator Mike Martz be thinking about giving youngsters Josh McCown and Dan Orlovsky a second look? They’ll probably stick with the veteran Kitna as long as his health holds up… which is a point of concern, considering the beating he’s been taking so far this year. The offensive line was crippled by injuries even before a sprained foot landed right guard Damien Woody on I.R.; when the Lions take the field Sunday, left tackle Jeff Backus and center Dominic Raiola will become the only two linemen to start each of Detroit’s first six games. Rex Tucker (knee) and Ross Verba (hamstring) have been in and out of the lineup ever since training camp. Reserve guard Frank Davis sustained what appeared at first to be a serious neck injury against the Rams; fortunately, it turned out to be just a ‘stinger’, and he returned to practice this week. The unit took further hits in Minnesota, when both Woody and Barry Stokes (ankle) were forced to the sideline. Fifth-round pick Jonathan Scott has already started two games in Tucker’s spot at right tackle and could be there again Sunday, depending on Stokes’ availability. Rick DeMulling has been filling in for Verba at left guard. Blaine Saipaia, signed as a ‘street’ free agent two weeks ago, finished the Vikings game in Woody’s place. Roy Williams, voted the team’s 2005 Offensive MVP, remains the only one of Detroit’s three recent first-round WRs to make a significant impact. Despite fighting through double-teams all season, his 391 receiving yards rank fifth in the league. Darren Sharper’s hard hit knocked him out of the Vikings game early in the first quarter, but he’s expected to play this week. Mike Furrey has been everywhere from the XFL to the Arena League to the St. Louis Rams’ defensive backfield. (He started the final eleven games of 2005 at free safety, leading the team with four interceptions.) Furrey’s work ethic, combined with his familiarity with Martz’s offense, helped him earn the starting WR slot opposite Williams. Az-Zahir Hakim, another ex-Ram who had his most productive seasons in St. Louis before spending 2002-04 with the Lions, was re-signed after the team cut ties with former #2 overall pick Charles Rogers. The most recent top-ten pick at the position, Mike Williams, is still trying to find his way out of Martz’s doghouse and back on the field. Eddie Drummond, Shaun Bodiford, and Devale Ellis -- just re-signed to the active roster -- round out the depth chart at WR. Starting TE Dan Campbell has always been a solid blocker, but is seeing a surprising amount of work in the passing game. The eighth-year vet already has more receptions than in his last two seasons in Dallas combined, including a career-high four catches of over twenty yards. Longtime Colt Marcus Pollard is the backup. Martz is up to his old tricks: five weeks into the season, running back Kevin Jones already has 25 receptions but has yet to post a 20-carry game. (It’s not a matter of RB-by-committee, either; backups Brian Calhoun and Shawn Bryson have combined for a grand total of four carries.) No surprise, then, that Detroit is dead last in the league with 59.6 rushing yards/game. Bryson is still a credible target out of the backfield, with a 37-yard touchdown catch versus the Packers. Fullback Cory Schlesinger, a bruising lead blocker who doesn’t touch the ball often, is one of only two Lions who were on the active roster for the team’s last playoff appearance in 1999. (Kicker Jason Hanson is the other one.) DEFENSE (#28 total yardage, #14 rushing, #30 passing, #29 scoring): Considering the track records of new head coach Rod Marinelli and defensive coordinator Donnie Henderson, one would expect to see some improvement from last year’s subpar unit. The run defense is better, allowing only one rushing touchdown and 3.3 yards per carry so far, but the pass D has disintegrated: in the first five games, opposing quarterbacks completed a stunning 72.4% of their passes for 11 touchdowns and a stellar 115.2 QB rating. Shaun Rogers -- the team’s only Pro Bowl representative last season -- blocked the eighth FG attempt of his career and sacked Matt Hasselback twice in the season opener, and has at least one tackle-for-loss in each game. Fellow tackle Shaun Cody dislocated a toe in the Minnesota game; with backup Tyoka Jackson inactive, left end Cory Redding was forced to shift inside. Cody definitely won’t play this week; his long-term status is uncertain. Jackson and Marcus Bell will rotate with Rogers until Cody returns. The right end, James Hall, has two of the team’s six sacks; designated passrusher Kalimba Edwards, who led the team with seven sacks last year, has yet to record his first this season. #9 overall pick Ernie Sims is living up to his billing; the small-but-swift WLB currently leads the conference in tackles. Boss Bailey, slow to recover from a 2005 ankle injury and learning a new position, is still trying to find his comfort zone in the middle. Alex Lewis opened the season in Bailey’s old strongside spot, but has missed the last three games with a sprained knee ligament; he’s out again this week. Paris Lenon, who started the first two games at MLB, moved back outside when Lewis was injured. Lee Evans will probably see a steady dose of top corner Dré Bly; Fernando Bryant starts on the other side. Jamar Fletcher, who filled in for Bryant against Green Bay and St. Louis, has the Lions’ only interception. Hard-hitting SS Kenoy Kennedy will miss his fourth straight game with a foot injury, pushing second-round pick Daniel Bullocks into the lineup. Nickel back Jon McGraw started at FS in place of Terrence Holt (back) against the Vikings. SPECIAL TEAMS: Jason Hanson, the team’s all-time leading scorer, appears to be fully recovered from the hamstring injury that cost him part of the 2005 season. He’s perfect from 40 and in, nailed a 53-yarder against the Vikings, and already has six touchbacks out of 21 kickoffs. The punter, Nick Harris, is off to a slow start. His 35.7-yard net average includes six touchbacks on 26 punts, with only four kicks downed inside the 20. Eddie Drummond finally broke a kickoff return for a touchdown last week for the first time since 2004, only to have it called back on a penalty. He’s averaging a decent 24.2 yards per KR but only 7.2 yards on punt returns. The punt-cover team is pretty good, the kickoff-cover team average, but here’s something to keep an eye on: the Lions have already blocked two FG attempts and an extra point, tops in the league. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ OUTLOOK: Five games into the Rod Marinelli era, some distraught Detroit fans are ready to crank up the “Fire Millen” bandwagon for another ride. (And you thought the atmosphere at the Ralph was toxic late last season… well, okay, it was. But did you know that banners and permanent markers are on the official list of prohibited items at Ford Field?) No matter how good Marinelli’s plan to turn around the team may be, it’s going to take more than one season to revive this moribund franchise. Dick Jauron has a 6-4 record against Detroit. With the reeling Lions spending more time in the training room than on the field, there's a decent chance for that record to improve to 7-4 this weekend. Go Bills. Links: NFL.com: injury report / Lions depth chart / Lions team stats / Bills depth chart / Bills team stats Ourlads.com: Bills depth chart / Lions depth chart Official team website: DetroitLions.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boomerjamhead Posted October 13, 2006 Share Posted October 13, 2006 BUFFALO BILLS (2-3) at DETROIT LIONS (0-5)SUNDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2006 – 1:00 PM EDT FORD FIELD -- DETROIT, MICHIGAN CBS: Gus Johnson, Steve Tasker DIRECTV NFL Sunday Ticket: Channel 705 RADIO: Buffalo Bills Radio Network PLAY-BY-PLAY: John Murphy COLOR ANALYST: Mark Kelso SIDELINE REPORTER: Paul Peck Detroit Lions Radio Network PLAY-BY-PLAY: Dan Miller COLOR: Jim Brandstatter SIDELINE REPORTER: Tony Ortiz Sirius Sunday Drive: Channel 146 (Buffalo feed) / Channel 119 (Detroit feed) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ REGULAR-SEASON SERIES RECORD: 3-3-1. The Bills are 1-2 in three visits to the Pontiac Silverdome, including two Thanksgiving Day losses. This game will be their first regular-season trip into the Lions’ new den since it opened for business in 2002. LAST MEETING: October 27, 2002 – Bills 24, Lions 17 Two five-yard Travis Henry touchdown runs gave Buffalo a 24-14 lead late in the third quarter, but his fourth-quarter fumble gave the Bills a scare. With Detroit driving toward the tying touchdown, London Fletcher turned in the play of the day by stuffing James Stewart on fourth-and-inches at the Buffalo 20 to seal the win. Drew Bledsoe’s fourth 300-yard game of the season included a 59-yard touchdown pass to Peerless Price. Price finished the afternoon with 101 receiving yards, the fourth of five times he would top the century mark that season. LAST TIME IN DETROIT: November 24, 1994 – Lions 35, Bills 21 (Instead of merely rehashing the recap from the preseason-game preview, I thought you might appreciate a different take. Incidentally, David Staba is now a colleague of ChevyVanMiller’s at the Niagara Falls Reporter.) Krieg ended up shredding the Bills’ D for 351 yards and three touchdown passes, the last one capping a 97-yard drive to give the Lions a 28-14 fourth-quarter lead. One note of interest: Jim Kelly set a single-game team record by completing 29 of 35 passes, for an 82.86 completion percentage. (Unfortunately, two of his six ‘incompletions’ ended up in the hands of Detroit safety Willie Clay, including one returned for the Lions’ final touchdown.) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ LIONS OVERVIEW (2006 RANKINGS) OFFENSE (#17 total yardage, #32 rushing, #6 passing, #t19 scoring): Jon Kitna easily won the offseason quarterback competition, and has thrown the ball often enough to be on pace for only the second 4,000-yard season in Lions history. (He leads the league in completions, and only Brett Favre has more passing attempts.) But after he handed the Vikings two gift-wrapped touchdowns in last weekend’s come-from-ahead loss, could offensive coordinator Mike Martz be thinking about giving youngsters Josh McCown and Dan Orlovsky a second look? They’ll probably stick with the veteran Kitna as long as his health holds up… which is a point of concern, considering the beating he’s been taking so far this year. The offensive line was crippled by injuries even before a sprained foot landed right guard Damien Woody on I.R.; when the Lions take the field Sunday, left tackle Jeff Backus and center Dominic Raiola will become the only two linemen to start each of Detroit’s first six games. Rex Tucker (knee) and Ross Verba (hamstring) have been in and out of the lineup ever since training camp. Reserve guard Frank Davis sustained what appeared at first to be a serious neck injury against the Rams; fortunately, it turned out to be just a ‘stinger’, and he returned to practice this week. The unit took further hits in Minnesota, when both Woody and Barry Stokes (ankle) were forced to the sideline. Fifth-round pick Jonathan Scott has already started two games in Tucker’s spot at right tackle and could be there again Sunday, depending on Stokes’ availability. Rick DeMulling has been filling in for Verba at left guard. Blaine Saipaia, signed as a ‘street’ free agent two weeks ago, finished the Vikings game in Woody’s place. Roy Williams, voted the team’s 2005 Offensive MVP, remains the only one of Detroit’s three recent first-round WRs to make a significant impact. Despite fighting through double-teams all season, his 391 receiving yards rank fifth in the league. Darren Sharper’s hard hit knocked him out of the Vikings game early in the first quarter, but he’s expected to play this week. Mike Furrey has been everywhere from the XFL to the Arena League to the St. Louis Rams’ defensive backfield. (He started the final eleven games of 2005 at free safety, leading the team with four interceptions.) Furrey’s work ethic, combined with his familiarity with Martz’s offense, helped him earn the starting WR slot opposite Williams. Az-Zahir Hakim, another ex-Ram who had his most productive seasons in St. Louis before spending 2002-04 with the Lions, was re-signed after the team cut ties with former #2 overall pick Charles Rogers. The most recent top-ten pick at the position, Mike Williams, is still trying to find his way out of Martz’s doghouse and back on the field. Eddie Drummond, Shaun Bodiford, and Devale Ellis -- just re-signed to the active roster -- round out the depth chart at WR. Starting TE Dan Campbell has always been a solid blocker, but is seeing a surprising amount of work in the passing game. The eighth-year vet already has more receptions than in his last two seasons in Dallas combined, including a career-high four catches of over twenty yards. Longtime Colt Marcus Pollard is the backup. Martz is up to his old tricks: five weeks into the season, running back Kevin Jones already has 25 receptions but has yet to post a 20-carry game. (It’s not a matter of RB-by-committee, either; backups Brian Calhoun and Shawn Bryson have combined for a grand total of four carries.) No surprise, then, that Detroit is dead last in the league with 59.6 rushing yards/game. Bryson is still a credible target out of the backfield, with a 37-yard touchdown catch versus the Packers. Fullback Cory Schlesinger, a bruising lead blocker who doesn’t touch the ball often, is one of only two Lions who were on the active roster for the team’s last playoff appearance in 1999. (Kicker Jason Hanson is the other one.) DEFENSE (#28 total yardage, #14 rushing, #30 passing, #29 scoring): Considering the track records of new head coach Rod Marinelli and defensive coordinator Donnie Henderson, one would expect to see some improvement from last year’s subpar unit. The run defense is better, allowing only one rushing touchdown and 3.3 yards per carry so far, but the pass D has disintegrated: in the first five games, opposing quarterbacks completed a stunning 72.4% of their passes for 11 touchdowns and a stellar 115.2 QB rating. Shaun Rogers -- the team’s only Pro Bowl representative last season -- blocked the eighth FG attempt of his career and sacked Matt Hasselback twice in the season opener, and has at least one tackle-for-loss in each game. Fellow tackle Shaun Cody dislocated a toe in the Minnesota game; with backup Tyoka Jackson inactive, left end Cory Redding was forced to shift inside. Cody definitely won’t play this week; his long-term status is uncertain. Jackson and Marcus Bell will rotate with Rogers until Cody returns. The right end, James Hall, has two of the team’s six sacks; designated passrusher Kalimba Edwards, who led the team with seven sacks last year, has yet to record his first this season. #9 overall pick Ernie Sims is living up to his billing; the small-but-swift WLB currently leads the conference in tackles. Boss Bailey, slow to recover from a 2005 ankle injury and learning a new position, is still trying to find his comfort zone in the middle. Alex Lewis opened the season in Bailey’s old strongside spot, but has missed the last three games with a sprained knee ligament; he’s out again this week. Paris Lenon, who started the first two games at MLB, moved back outside when Lewis was injured. Lee Evans will probably see a steady dose of top corner Dré Bly; Fernando Bryant starts on the other side. Jamar Fletcher, who filled in for Bryant against Green Bay and St. Louis, has the Lions’ only interception. Hard-hitting SS Kenoy Kennedy will miss his fourth straight game with a foot injury, pushing second-round pick Daniel Bullocks into the lineup. Nickel back Jon McGraw started at FS in place of Terrence Holt (back) against the Vikings. SPECIAL TEAMS: Jason Hanson, the team’s all-time leading scorer, appears to be fully recovered from the hamstring injury that cost him part of the 2005 season. He’s perfect from 40 and in, nailed a 53-yarder against the Vikings, and already has six touchbacks out of 21 kickoffs. The punter, Nick Harris, is off to a slow start. His 35.7-yard net average includes six touchbacks on 26 punts, with only four kicks downed inside the 20. Eddie Drummond finally broke a kickoff return for a touchdown last week for the first time since 2004, only to have it called back on a penalty. He’s averaging a decent 24.2 yards per KR but only 7.2 yards on punt returns. The punt-cover team is pretty good, the kickoff-cover team average, but here’s something to keep an eye on: the Lions have already blocked two FG attempts and an extra point, tops in the league. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ OUTLOOK: Five games into the Rod Marinelli era, some distraught Detroit fans are ready to crank up the “Fire Millen” bandwagon for another ride. (And you thought the atmosphere at the Ralph was toxic late last season… well, okay, it was. But did you know that banners and permanent markers are on the official list of prohibited items at Ford Field?) No matter how good Marinelli’s plan to turn around the team may be, it’s going to take more than one season to revive this moribund franchise. Dick Jauron has a 6-4 record against Detroit. With the reeling Lions spending more time in the training room than on the field, there's a decent chance for that record to improve to 7-4 this weekend. Go Bills. Links: NFL.com: injury report / Lions depth chart / Lions team stats / Bills depth chart / Bills team stats Ourlads.com: Bills depth chart / Lions depth chart Official team website: DetroitLions.com 802468[/snapback] Awesome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chilly Posted October 13, 2006 Share Posted October 13, 2006 Awesome. 803296[/snapback] Way to quote that huge post in your reply. (great job btw on the original post) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuffOrange Posted October 14, 2006 Share Posted October 14, 2006 Does Tasker get teamed with a different play-by-play guy every year? Gus Johnson is as good as it gets for a 'D' level game though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori Posted October 15, 2006 Author Share Posted October 15, 2006 Does Tasker get teamed with a different play-by-play guy every year? Gus Johnson is as good as it gets for a 'D' level game though. 803913[/snapback] I believe Tasker's been working with Johnson since early last season, when they moved Don Criqui to work with Steve Beuerlein. Saw Steve at the airport (but didn't get a chance to talk to him) on my way to San Antonio last year, a game he and Criqui were originally scheduled for; found out the next day he'd been re-assigned to do the Bengals game that weekend instead... Johnson's not bad. Got to chat with him for a couple of secs right after the Cleveland preseason game; he liked the progress Losman was showing - and his attitude - and was hoping he'd turn out OK for us (team/fans). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuffOrange Posted October 15, 2006 Share Posted October 15, 2006 Johnson's not bad. Got to chat with him for a couple of secs right after the Cleveland preseason game; he liked the progress Losman was showing - and his attitude - and was hoping he'd turn out OK for us (team/fans). 804242[/snapback] He's such a perfect fit for March Madness it's scary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Gross Posted October 15, 2006 Share Posted October 15, 2006 Inactives, per Chris Brown: BILLS INACTIVES: CB Ashton Youboty, RB Shaud Williams, S Matt Bowen, LB John DiGiorgio, OL Brad Butler, OL Aaron Merz, DE Eric Powell. LIONS INACTIVES: S Kenoy Kennedy, LB Alex Lewis, G Ross Verba, T Rex Tucker, DT Shaun Cody, TE Casey FitzSimmons, WR Mike Williams. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts