The Bills have controlled this game tonight.
Through two quarters of the first preseason game of 2021, the Buffalo Bills hold a 10-3 lead over the Detroit Lions. A routine rollout pass from Davis Webb to Devin Singletary has been the difference-making touchdown in this one.
The Bills sat a number of starters at the start of this game. On offense they left out Josh Allen, Stefon Diggs, Cole Beasley, Emmanuel Sanders, Mitch Morse, and Jon Feliciano. On defense, Micah Hyde, Jordan Poyer, Tre’Davious White, Jerry Hughes, Mario Addison, and Star Lotulelei took a seat.
Despite all those absences, and despite going up against a mostly complete starting unit on Detroit, the Bills backups held up well. On Detroit’s opening drive, rookie Greg “Groot” Rousseau met Ed Oliver and Harrison Phillips in the backfield for this first sack to force a punt. The backups on the Bills defense more than held their own against the Lions, limiting them to three points and 2.7 yards per play in the first half. Other highlights included a TFL by safety Josh Thomas and a broken up endzone pass by Levi Wallace. Tyler Matakevich had a chance at an interception but couldn’t hold onto the ball. Late in the half, Rousseau and Efe Obada helped blow up a fourth-and-one running play in the backfield.
On offense, the Bills trotted out an exceptionally run-heavy gameplan. That is, to say, starter Mitch Trubisky and backup Davis Webb combined for 11 passes against 21 run attempts in the first half. The Bills running backs don’t have access to Zack Moss (hamstring) or Christian Wade (shoulder) tonight, and Devin Singletary and Matt Breida split the carries in the first half. Singletary was the standout, running for 42 yards on eight carries (5.3 yards per carry). He had a 16-yard run taken away by a holding call, and caught his only pass target for Buffalo’s only touchdown. He was supported by some strong blocking from Cody Ford on a few of those runs. Tommy Sweeney also had a solid 18-yard catch and run in his first action in two full years.
There weren’t any injuries of note in the first half! Here’s your discussion thread for the second half. Enjoy the game, be respectful to each other, and as always, go Bills!
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