The Bills took an early lead in their preseason finale against Detroit, defeating the Lions 27-17.
Bills Insider Chris Brown provides the details. Here is his report:
Preseason records: Buffalo (1-3), Detroit (2-2)
In a nutshell:
Most of Buffalo’s starters didn’t play, but those who did looked ready to go. Scoring on their first two possessions, the Bills jumped out to a 10-0 lead and the Lions were never able to close the gap. Behind an offensive attack that rolled up more than 200 yards rushing and had three touchdowns on the ground, Buffalo won handily 27-17.
Jonathan Williams, Joe Banyard, and Jordan Johnson all had rushing touchdowns in the game as the Bills averaged better than five yards per carry in the game.
Nate Peterman got the start at quarterback and executed the first two scoring drives going 9-11 passing for 81 yards.
Despite the fact that most of the defensive starters were sitting, Buffalo held Detroit’s offense to 93 total net yards in the first half. They also forced a pair of turnovers, which were converted into 10 points by the offense.
Detroit added a couple of late touchdowns to make the game look closer, but the Bills had the game won in the early stages of the third quarter.
How it went down:
-Nate Peterman came out firing on the opening drive going 6-for-7 passing for 47 yards before Stephen Hauschka put a 30-yard field goal up and through for a 3-0 lead with eight and a half minutes left in the opening quarter.
-Jonathan Williams got a great downfield block from Philly Brown as he bounced an inside run outside and tip-toed the sideline to the end zone for a 21-yard scoring run and a 10-0 lead with three minutes left in the first.
-Buffalo padded their lead when Keith Wenning led a 12-play 36-yard drive with Hauschka hitting from 45 yards out with 10 minutes left in the first half (13-0).
-The Lions finally got on the board thanks to a 53-yard field goal from Matt Prater to finish an eight-play 30-yard drive with just under two minutes remaining.
-Joe Banyard broke off a 40-yard run to put the Bills in Detroit territory. Nine plays later Banyard was able to finish the drive with a one-yard touchdown run to put the game away with six minutes left in the third quarter (20-3).
-The third rushing touchdown of the night came from undrafted rookie Jordan Johnson, who capped a 10-play, 80-yard drive with a two-yard touchdown run.
-Detroit got an inspired 74-yard catch and run from Tion Green on a screen pass for a touchdown midway through the fourth quarter (27-10).
-The Lions added another late touchdown on a Dontez Ford dive to the end zone after a catch from Brad Kaaya with three minutes left (27-17).
Subplots:
-Cordy Glenn started the game at left tackle. Though he didn’t stay on the field for the entirety of the opening drive, he did return to play part of the second series as well.
-Michael Ola left the game in the first quarter with a left ankle injury and did not return.
-Jerel Worthy left the game with a head injury in the first half and did not return to the game.
-Nate Peterman started at quarterback and played the first two offensive series. He went 9-11 passing for 81 yards and had a passer rating of 97.3.
-Keith Wenning, who played most of the game and just three days of preparation, was 5-14 passing for 41 yards.
-Kevon Seymour moved back inside to the slot after playing most of the last two weeks at outside corner. Missing two preseason games may have taken him out of the competition for the starting right cornerback role.
-Ian Seau had a pair of sacks including one that forced a fumble. Seau recovered the loose ball as well.
-Greg Mabin made his second interception of the preseason picking off a Brad Kaaya pass in the end zone at the end of the third quarter to thwart a Lions scoring drive.
-Dion Dawkins saw time at both left and right tackle in the game after seeing most of his time at left tackle through training camp.
-Trae Elston forced a fumble that was recovered by fellow safety Joe Powell.
-Players who did not play in the game were Tyrod Taylor, Rod Streater, T.J. Yates, Zay Jones, Brandon Tate, Jeremy Butler, Andre Holmes, Jordan Poyer, Micah Hyde, LeSean McCoy, Tre’Davious White, Colt Anderson, Mike Tolbert, Tanner Vallejo, Patrick DiMarco, Ramon Humber, Jerry Hughes, Lorenzo Alexander, Richie Incognito, Eric Wood, Charles Clay, Jordan Matthews, Shaq Lawson, Kyle Williams.
Up next: The Bills open the regular season at home against the New York Jets on Sept. 10th with a 1 pm kickoff scheduled.