Bills at Lions Game Review: The Good, Bad and Ugly

The running game was the primary focus for Buffalo, which had to feel good about how offense functioned in first half.

Nothing says vanilla like the Buffalo Bills in their white uniforms having their starting quarterback attempt just two passes in the first quarter. But Friday night's preseason opener left a great aftertaste in their mouths nevertheless in a 16-15 win over the Detroit Lions.

The Bills came in with an obvious plan to work on their running game, and they showed some encouraging signs, especially because they were a little depleted at running back, with Zack Moss and Taiwan Jones unavailable and Antonio Williams later leaving with an injury on a play in which he fumbled.

Devin Singletary was perhaps their biggest winner. He ran hard and with good results: 42 yards on eight carries as the Bills were able to gain some measure of satisfaction before the deep reserves produced a mixed bag of results in a typically low-scoring August affair.

Here's a quick review.

Heroes

K Tyler Bass. The second-year pro made good on all three field-goal attempts, including the game-winner from 44 yards with 15 seconds remaining.

DE Gregory Rousseau. Remember how the prevailing thought was that he might need to take a redshirt year as a rookie? Uh, that's not looking like a great take right around now. Rousseau followed up a strong showing through the first three weeks of training camp with more excellent play in this game, with three pressures and a sack.

Gregory Rousseau in his preseason debut:

🔹 11 pass rushing snaps
🔹 3 pressures
🔹 1 sack pic.twitter.com/07IsdwM3rO

— PFF (@PFF) August 14, 2021

Oh, and the player he beat for the sack was tackle Penei Sewell, taken 23 spots ahead of him in the first round of this year's NFL Draft.

QB Davis Webb. Played with poise and intelligence. The body language told the story almost as much as the results (11-for-16, 90 yards, one TD, two scrambles for 13 yards apiece). He did nothing to lose grip on that third and final quarterback spot.

QB Jake Fromm. He struggled early, taking two sacks and looking indecisive at times. But he rallied the team on the final series, completing a 42-yard pass to rookie Marquez Stevenson on fourth-and-10 to keep it going en route to the game-winning field goal.

TE Dawson Knox. He caught the only pass thrown his way and did so in traffic for a first down. He also was part of the early running success the team enjoyed in the first quarter -- against Detroit's first-team defense.

Zeroes

T Bobby Hart. Struggled in pass protection and beaten badly on one sack. He has 66 career starts but doesn't look destined to ever start again or maybe even remain in the league.

pic.twitter.com/Iho6LlrwCI

— Wallstreet Wilson 💰 (@Whodey_RK3) August 14, 2021

CB Nick McCloud. If you're going to commit pass interference, you should do it in a way that won't get you arrested for assault. Feels weird to say, but McCloud is too physical for the position.

CB Olaijah Griffin. He was beaten more than once and committed a personal foul penalty for lowering his helmet. As an undrafted rookie, he has to play smarter to survive.

Other observations

TE Tommy Sweeney, forced to take last season off, caught two passes for 34 yards and looked good doing it. He has a good chance to make the team if they don't add someone like, say, Philadelphia's Zach Ertz, which would push everyone else down a notch and change the matrix at the position.

LB Andre Smith led the Bills with eight tackles. As one of two players with the same number (59), he's definitely on the roster bubble and definitely helped his cause. But he's a proven special-teams performer, so there's that.

Rookie DE Boogie Basham was flagged for roughing the passer late in the game, but it was an egregious error by typically bad NFL officiating. He made a clean, textbook hit and was penalized. More to come in the regular season and postseason. Much more.

LB Tyrell Adams and CB Dane Jackson each missed tackles on plays they'd like to have back. Not memorable performances, to be sure.

Nick Fierro is the publisher of Bills Central. Check out the latest Bills news at www.si.com/nfl/bills and follow Fierro on Twitter at @NickFierro. Email to Nicky300@aol.com.