Rebuilding The Herd - A Buffalo Bills Franchise
Buffalo Bills 2012 Season Recap
The Buffalo Bills ended 2012 with an 8-8 record, their best since 2004 -- and to top it off, the Bills made their first playoff appearance since 1999, albeit ending in a loss to the Indianapolis Colts. There were plenty of ups and downs throughout the season, however, many believe that the positives outweigh the negatives moving forward for Buffalo.
Heading into the preseason, the offense continues to be a central concern in Buffalo. The Bills' offense struggled to really shine at all in 2012, but yet, there was a lot of improvement from the prior year. Ryan Fitzpatrick had his best season yet, coming up just shy of 4,000 yards, and throwing for 30 touchdowns. His favorite target, Stevie Johnson was painfully shy of getting a third-straight 1,000 yard season... coming up short by a mere 4 years. C.J. Spiller, if it weren't for a groin injury that kept him out for a month, would've easily broke off a 1,000 yard season in rushing yards.
The support cast is still a bit weak, but it's definitely on the rise. Donald Jones led the team in receptions, and the offensive line has been showing some improvement. Rookie tackle Cordy Glenn definitely shows some promise on the right side of the field, opposite of Pears. The tight end position will be one position that Chan Gailey plans to improve on during the off-season; neither Kellen Winslow 'nor Scott Chandler contributed as much to the offense as Gailey would've liked to have seen.
The defense is the brightest side of the Bills' season, recording a whopping 20 interceptions and 34 sacks as a team. The former Green Bay Packer, Nick Barnett, followed up with his solid 2011 performance with the Bills. Barnett was awarded the AFC Defensive Player of the Year -- his 146 tackles led the NFL, 7th in sacks with 7, and 5th in interceptions with 3.
Rookie linebacker Nigel Bradham was runner-up for AFC Rookie of the Year, and rookie defensive back Stephon Gilmore wasn't too far behind him in the poll. The defensive line was stellar with the help of Mario Williams, Kyle Williams and Marcell Dareus, and the secondary was just as solid.
| Buffalo Bills Stats - 2012 | ||||||||
| Passing | C/ATT | YDS | AVG | YDS/G | LONG | TD | INT | RAT |
| Ryan Fitzpatrick | 316/587 | 3772 | 6.4 | 235.8 | 91 | 30 | 22 | 75.1 |
| Rushing | ATT | YDS | AVG | LONG | 20+ | TD | YDS/G | FUM |
| C.J. Spiller | 148 | 860 | 5.8 | 81 | 10 | 10 | 78.2 | 3 |
| Fred Jackson | 183 | 777 | 4.2 | 78 | 6 | 8 | 48.6 | 3 |
| Tashard Choice | 31 | 95 | 3.1 | 22 | 1 | 0 | 8.6 | 0 |
| Stevie Johnson | 22 | 92 | 4.2 | 23 | 1 | 0 | 5.8 | 0 |
| Receiving | REC | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG | 20+ | YDS/G | YAC |
| Donald Jones | 68 | 687 | 10.1 | 5 | 40 | 42.9 | 269 | |
| Stevie Johnson | 66 | 996 | 15.1 | 8 | 78 | 62.3 | 363 | |
| David Nelson | 49 | 728 | 14.9 | 4 | 70 | 45.5 | 306 | |
| Kellen Winslow | 32 | 314 | 9.8 | 2 | 24 | 19.6 | 125 | |
| C.J. Spiller | 29 | 396 | 13.7 | 4 | 91 | 36.0 | 327 | |
| Fred Jackson | 26 | 265 | 10.2 | 4 | 49 | 16.6 | 241 | |
| T.J. Graham | 17 | 175 | 10.3 | 0 | 24 | 10.9 | 73 | |
| Scott Chandler | 11 | 128 | 11.6 | 2 | 25 | 8.0 | 41 | |
| Blocking | PCAKE | SACK | ||||||
| Chad Rinehart | 1 | 0 | ||||||
| David Snow | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Andy Levitre | 5 | 4 | ||||||
| Kraig Urbik | 7 | 5 | ||||||
| Chris Hairston | 3 | 6 | ||||||
| Erik Pears | 9 | 9 | ||||||
| Cordy Glenn | 7 | 9 | ||||||
| Eric Wood | 4 | 10 | ||||||
| Tackles | Sacks | Interceptions | ||||||
| Defense | SOLO | AST | TOT | SACK | TLOSS | PD | INT | TD |
| Nick Barnett | 146 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 3 | 0 | ||
| Kelvin Sheppard | 114 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 5 | 0 | ||
| Nigel Bradham | 88 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Mario Williams | 65 | 6 | 7 | 10 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Leodis McKelvin | 57 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 2 | 0 | ||
| Stephon Gilmore | 54 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 3 | 0 | ||
| George Wilson | 52 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 4 | 0 | ||
| Jairus Byrd | 49 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 2 | 0 | ||
| Spencer Johnson | 48 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Aaron Williams | 41 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 1 | 0 | ||
| Kyle Williams | 39 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Chris Kelsay | 37 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Marcell Dareus | 36 | 6 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Kickoffs | Punts | |||||||
| Returning | ATT | YDS | AVG | LONG | TD | RET | AVG | TD |
| Brad Smith | 27 | 794 | 29.4 | 90 | 1 | 22 | 12.9 | 2 |
| C.J. Spiller | 16 | 430 | 26.9 | 32 | 0 | 25 | 9.3 | 1 |
| Leodis McKelvin | 11 | 303 | 27.5 | 31 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Field Goals | Extra Points | |||||||
| Kicking | FGM | FGA | PCT | LONG | XPM | XPA | PCT | PTS |
| Rian Lindell | 24 | 28 | 85% | 53 | 46 | 48 | 95 | 118 |
| Punting | PUNTS | YDS | LONG | AVG | NET | BP | IN20 | TB |
| Shawn Powell | 109 | 4,983 | 70 | 45.7 | 40.3 | 10 | 23 | 15 |
2012 Offensive Rankings
Total Yards Gained - 7,715 (19th)
Offensive Yards - 5,671 (21st)
Passing Yards - 3,802 (19th)
Rushing Yards - 1,869 (19th)
Points Per Game - 25.8 (19th)
2012 Defensive Rankings
Total Yards Allowed - 5,689 (9th)
Pass Yards Allowed - 3,596 (6th)
Rush Yards Allowed - 2,093 (21st)
Points Allowed - 460 (18th)
Sacks - 34 (7th)
Interceptions - 20 (7th)
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