DETROIT -- The Buffalo Bills' skids are over.
Yes, the Bills snapped their two-game losing streak on Dan Carpenter's field goal, defeating the Detroit Lions 17-14 on Sunday. But they also ended another drought, which traced back to the Ryan Fitzpatrick era in Buffalo.
For 27 games prior to Sunday -- not since Fitzpatrick tossed for 337 yards in Week 10 of the 2012 season -- the Bills failed to pass for at least 300 yards, the NFL's longest streak. It took just one game for new starter Kyle Orton to top that mark as he completed 30 of his 43 passes for 308 yards.
Orton started slow and was hardly perfect, throwing an interception that Rashean Mathis returned for a touchdown to put the Bills in an early 14-0 hole. But the veteran got better as the game went on, allowing the Bills' offense to finally hold up its end of the bargain after another stellar defensive performance.
That's exactly what coach Doug Marrone needed when he benched second-year quarterback EJ Manuel in favor of Orton last week.
Players noticed a difference between Orton and Manuel in Orton's first practices at the helm. Rookie receiver Sammy Watkins remarked on Orton's abilities to read a defense "different" than Manuel and also said the veteran was quicker on his throws -- and those changes held true Sunday.
"It carried over a lot," Watkins said. "He had his mistakes but he had his veteran time where he lifted us up and moved the ball and had a couple of reads where he saw the coverage and shot it in there."
The key read for Orton came on a two-point conversion attempt with 9:23 remaining in the fourth quarter.
Orton had just connected with seldom-used tight end Chris Gragg on a 2-yard touchdown but the Bills still trailed, 14-12. The initial play call was for a pass on the conversion, but Orton checked out of that call into a Fred Jackson run to tie the score.
"That's just preparation he has in practice. He's got a crazy memory," Watkins said of Orton. "The way he reads things and the way he studies, it's definitely a veteran move."
"He saw the defense that they gave us and he thought we could run it in," Jackson said. "He called my number and I was able to get the job done."
While it's an audible that Manuel might have also made, Orton's offensive teammates praised his ability to command the offense through the entire game.
"It's great. As far as EJ making passes, he can do everything Kyle [is] doing," Watkins said. "But just the presence and how he leads the group. ... We just have to keep getting better on both sides of the ball."
"He checked us out of a lot of plays," Jackson explained. "Put us in the right plays. It's great to have a veteran out there who has seen a lot. He's able to bring that to the game today."
Orton proved to be an improvement over Manuel in passes targeting wide receivers. After Manuel completed just 33 percent of his throws to wide receivers in his Past two games as the starter, Orton went 14-of-21 to his wideouts Sunday, a 67 percent rate.
The Bills' defense had mostly done its job in the first four games of the season and that continued against the Lions. Buffalo, which began the day as the NFL's second-best run defense, allowed 69 yards on 20 carries by Detroit and sacked Matthew Stafford six times, including a career-high three sacks from Marcell Dareus.
It was a sputtering offense that bared most of the blame as the Bills dropped to 2-2. Orton turned that around and snapped a couple of streaks in the process.
Not bad for his first day.
