Lackluster offense dooms Bills in preseason opener
By Mark Gaughan
News Staff Reporter
Published:
August 9, 2012, 5:18 PMBills wide receiver Stevie Johnson is touched down by Redskins defensive back Lennon Creer. James P. McCoy / Buffalo News
The Buffalo Bills let quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick run a wide-open passing attack Thursday night, but it didn’t get much done.
The Bills passed on all 16 of their offensive plays in the first quarter of the exhibition opener against the Washington Redskins. All the throws — over the course of four possessions — produced just two first downs, and the Bills’ starters were outscored by the Redskins’ starters, 7-3.
Washington won the game, 7-6, before a crowd of 51,521 at Ralph Wilson Stadium.
Fitzpatrick operated out of a no-huddle offense and called his own plays during the opening 15 minutes.
The Bills’ quarterback opted for the air game due to the fact the Redskins stayed in their 3-4 defense, even though the Bills spread out with four or five men in receiver positions on every play. The Bills used an empty backfield on about half their plays in the quarter.
“We wanted to get in the no-huddle and spread the ball around a little bit,” Fitzpatrick said. “We did not do a very good job of executing. It is the first preseason game for us, and so we knew there was going to be some sloppy stuff. There was no game plan. We just wanted to go out there and try to get it figured out on the field, and we were not real successful.”
The Bills’ rebuilt defense, meanwhile, had a decent debut. It stuffed the Redskins on their first two possessions but then allowed an 80-yard touchdown drive on Washington’s third march.
Washington’s prized rookie, quarterback Robert Griffin III, ran a mostly vanilla offense and threw safe passes. But he looked poised and was on target with his throws.
On the touchdown drive, Griffin completed strikes of 20 and 18 yards to Pierre Garcon to get the Redskins in scoring position. Then he threw a receiver screen to Garcon, who got good blocking and ran down the left sideline into the end zone.
“We have a long way to go,” said Bills defensive tackle Kyle Williams. “Tonight was more about seeing if we could come out, play base defense, have some stops and make some plays.”
Fitzpatrick finished 6 of 14 for 61 yards. On Buffalo’s second drive, he threw a 20-yard touchdown pass down the left sideline to Stevie Johnson. However, the play was wiped out by an illegal formation penalty on the Bills. Buffalo had to settle for a 43-yard field goal by Rian Lindell two plays later.
That scoring chance was set up by a fumble recovery by Bills safety George Wilson on the Washington 21. Griffin never got the handoff to running back Evan Royster on the play, and Wilson scooped up the miscue.
Execution wasn’t good for the Bills’ offense. It was penalized six times for 30 yards in the first half.
“I thought it was really poor,” Fitzpatrick said of the offensive execution. “But luckily it is preseason. It is the beginning of preseason. We have got a lot to work on and we are looking forward to this season coming up.”
Griffin, the Heisman Trophy winner and second overall draft pick out of Baylor, hit 4 of 6 passes for 70 yards.
“I think it was pretty obvious they protected him,” Williams said. “They did not want him to get hit. That being said, he made a couple plays throwing the ball. It is kind of hard to judge him because I do not think we saw everything they are going to do with him this year.”
The Bills used Tyler Thigpen as the No. 2 QB. He played the second quarter and directed four possessions. Thigpen went 3 of 8 for 38 yards with one interception. Thigpen got the Bills into scoring position once, on a drive that started on the Washington 38 after the Redskins had to punt from their own end zone.
The Bills ran six plays from inside the Washington 4 but failed to cross the goal line. Lindell came out to try 22-yard field goal but hooked it wide left.
Washington outgained Buffalo, 168-109, in the first half. The Bills dropped back to pass 23 times and ran just eight times in the half.
Vince Young played the second half as the No. 3 quarterback for the Bills.
He took the offense on a time-consuming march midway through the second half that started at the Bills’ 16 and reached as far as the Washington 22. It lasted 15 plays and took 8:15 off the clock. It ended with a 45-yard Lindell field goal with 13:20 left in the game that pulled the Bills within 7-6.
Young had two third-down scrambles to keep the drive alive. The first was for 2 yards on a third-and-1 situation at the Buffalo 25. The second was for 21 yards on a third-and-21 situation that took the Bills to Washington’s 30.
The Redskins were without five offensive starters, including three first-string offensive linemen.
Evan Royster got the start at running back for the Redskins because incumbent starter Tim Hightower still is recovering from a knee injury suffered last season. Royster, a sixth-round pick last year out of Penn State, rushed seven times for 21 yards.
mgaughan@buffnews.com
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