- Kyle Orton brushed off an early pick-six and Dan Carpenter nailed a 58-yard field goal to lead the Buffalo Bills to a 17-14 road win over the Detroit Lions. Our takeaways:*
- Orton looked shaky early, checking down often. His worst pass came on an interception where Lions cornerback Rashean Mathis sat on the short route and took it for a touchdown. Orton turned it around in the second half and began stretching the field. He had a beautiful deep pass on a big third down that led to the game-tying touchdown and another big one on the game-winning drive. Orton proved exactly why the Bills anointed him the starter. He played better than EJ Manuel has all season and it wasn't even close.
- On the flip side Matthew Stafford and the Lions' offense looked bad all game. After an early touchdown drive, Detroit couldn't get anything going. The offensive line allowed Stafford to get pummeled and the quarterback made multiple terrible throws (including a bad pass that was tipped and picked). This Lions' offense has struggled the past four weeks.
- The Bills' defense helped give coordinator Jim Schwartz a revenge win over his former squad -- then carried him off the field (literally). Buffalo's defense was swarming. The front four dominated against both the run and the pass. Led by Marcell Dareus' three sacks, the Bills constantly battered Stafford and ended up with six sacks. The back end was equal to the task, sticking to receivers and not giving the quarterback any open looks.
- The Lions are going to be looking for another kicker. (Matt Prater's agent should have already received a call by the time you read this.) Alex Henery -- signed two weeks ago -- missed three field goals. Lions kickers are now 1 of 9 on attempts longer than 30 yards on the season.
- Fred Jackson carried the load for the Bills' offense. The savvy veteran did it both on the ground and through the air (50 rushing yards and 58 receiving yards on seven grabs). He was a bulldozing force and kept the Bills in manageable situations all game. He was injured late in the contest.
- Calvin Johnson left early in the third quarter after his first catch of the game and never returned after reaggravating his ankle injury.
- Golden Tate was phenomenal again this week. He's been one of the best offseason signings in the NFL.
- Sammy Watkins made some fantastic catches (seven for 87 yards), none bigger than the acrobatic ball he tipped to himself to set up the game-winning field goal. Once the Bills started stretching the field, Lions defensive backs couldn't hang with Watkins' athleticism and Orton found him.
- Bills cornerback Ron Brooks was taken to a local hospital after landing on his neck on a special teams play.
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