The Buffalo Bills trail the Detroit Lions 35-3 at halftime of tonight's preseason finale.
Scatter-shooting some notes and thoughts on the first half:
Ouch. After getting trounced in Washington on Saturday, the Bills have put up another clunker tonight at home. Keep in perspective that the Bills are resting their starters and playing with two quarterbacks who have only been with the team since Sunday, but still, not an encouraging performance by any means.
Head coach Doug Marrone to the team's broadcast at halftime: "We should be playing much better than this, and that's a concern."
The Bills chose to rest Jeff Tuel, protecting what will likely be their opening-day quarterback from injury.
Matt Leinart's stat line: 3-for-10, 11 yards, no touchdowns, 2 interceptions. QB rating of 0.0.
Thad Lewis' stat line: 2-for-5, 11 yards, no touchdowns, no interceptions.
Bills' offense: 44 net yards on 30 plays (1.5-yard per play average), 8 net passing yards, two first downs, 1-for-9 on third down. Yikes.
Lions' offense: 221 net yards on 40 plays (5.5-yard per play average), 17 first downs, 4-for-4 in red zone.
The biggest non-quarterback story of the game? Nigel Bradham starting on defense and playing the entire first half. The second-year linebacker is the only presumptive defensive starter to see playing time tonight. It's unclear why Bradham is in the game, and if it's at related to him being cited for marijuana possession on Aug. 19. Don't think his roster spot is in danger, but it's something to watch.
Also notable: Da'Norris Searcy playing the entire first half. He started the first three preseason games at safety in place of Jairus Byrd, who could return for Week 1. The Bills started their pair of rookies -- Duke Williams and Jonathan Meeks -- at safety tonight, with Searcy playing extensively in sub packages. Unlike Bradham, his roster spot could be in danger, but it also could be a case of the Bills wanting to get him comfortable playing close to the line of scrimmage in sub packages, something he may do when Byrd returns.
Draft picks not playing tonight: EJ Manuel (injured), Kiko Alonso, Robert Woods.
One draft pick playing tonight: Marquise Goodwin, who was poked in the eye late in the first quarter and won't return.
Another injury: Brad Smith, who took a hit to the ribs on the final kickoff of the first half. He's questionable to return.