The Skinny:
The Bills played their worst game of the season as the Buccaneers blew out Buffalo 27-6 in a very ugly game in Tampa Bay. Third string running back Bobby Rainey ran 80 yards for a touchdown :18 into the game and it went downhill from there. Mike Glennon threw a 38 yard touchdown pass to Vincent Jackson and a 5 yarder to Timothy Wright to give the Bucs a 24-3 halftime lead. EJ Manuel could get nothing going offensively as he faced heavy pressure all day and was sacked seven times. He threw four interceptions although two of them were the fault of his receivers. Regardless it doubled his interception total for the season as he only had four picks all year coming in. The game was real ugly for both teams in the second half as there were more penalties than points after the intermission as both teams managed just a field goal.
The Turning Point:
It was the second play of the game when third string running back Bobby Rainey broke a tackle by Kiko Alonso and went untouched the rest of the way for an 80 yard touchdown run. There was a big hole on the left side of the line.
The Big Drive:
Tampa Bay's 2nd TD: After a Bills 40 yard field goal by Dan Carpenter the Buccaneers went right down the field 80 yards in 9 plays to a 38 yard touchdown pass from Glennon to Jackson. Glennon was in trouble and rolled to his right and Jackson made the catch despite being interfered with by Nickell Robey. Jackson also had catches of 10 and 22 yards on the drive. The latter one converted a 3rd and 7.
Stat I Did Like:
28 Second Half Yards By Tampa Bay: The Bills defense shut them down after halftime but there was no comeback happening on this day.
Stat I Didn't Like:
5 Turnovers: They probably still lose bad even without being so generous with the football but it didn't help.
Quick Slants: Gr
- The Bills began the evaluation process of younger players for next year by activating Chris Gragg, Ty Powell, Evan Rodriguez, and J.J. Unga. Gragg got the start over Scott Chandler. Unga saw playing time at right guard and Powell got some action at linebacker. - CBS lost the game feed for a while in the first quarter. Viewers missed a Bills field goal drive. - Chan Gailey wouldn't allow Rian Lindell to try 50 yard field goals last year. He hit a 53 yarder against the Bills in this game and had one from the same distance last week. -Jairus Byrd was called for a pathetic roughing penalty when he hit the QB in his thigh with his shoulder. They called it a low hit. You can't hit a QB high or low, how do you hit a 6'6" QB? The worst thing about the awful call was it negated a 3rd and 15 incompeltion and led to Tampa Bay touchdown before halftime basically clinching the game for them. Of course this penalty didn't change the outcome as the Bills were abysmal all game long.
Key Matchup Results:
The winners of the battles highlighted in our preview article: C Eric Wood vs. DT Gerald McCoy: Winner: McCoy. The front four of the Bucs just dominated the Bills OL and Wood had perhaps the worst game of his Bills career. WR Stevie Johnson vs. CB Darrelle Revis: Winner: Revis. Stevie struggled with drops again and won of them went for an interception. Revis had a big hit on Woods that forced an interception CB Stephon Gilmore vs. WR Vincent Jackson: Winner: Jackson. Jackson was guarded mostly by McKelvin and Robey owned them. Gilmore played better than he has all year defensively and had an interception. K Dan Carpenter vs. K Rian Lindell: Winner: Lindell. Both were two for two but nice to see Lindell able to hit a 53 yard field goal. Who knew he could do that? Everyone but Chan Gailey.
Keys To The Game Results:
How the keys highlighted in our preview article turned out: 1. Success On Third Downs: Failure! On offense the Bills went 1 for 11. That trumps the defense playing better on third downs making 11 stops on 15 third downs faced. 2. Start Strong: Failure! The Bucs scored on the second play of the game and built up a three touchdown lead at halftime. 3. Hold On To The Ball: Failure!Leodis McKelvin lost a muffed punt and Manuel threw four interceptions.
My Take:
Same Old Bills. You can talk about a new culture in the Doug Marrone era but this game looked like so many other December games since the turn of the century. The Bills season is always over long before Santa comes to town and the team just looks disinterested on the road leading to many routs. This was just another in the long line of miserable late season games for our beloved Bills. I wonder at this point if they will have turn things around.
What's Ahead:
Once again the Bills will be playing a team coming off of extra rest. They head back to Florida to take on Jacksonville who is coming off a Thursday night win over Houston. The once laughable Jaguars have now won four of their last five. Another road December game? The Bills may make the Jaguars look like Super Bowl contenders.
Gameballs
None - Worst game of the season by far.
Goats
EJ Manuel - He equaled his interception total for the season in this game.
Offensive Line - Were manhandled throughout the game as Manuel was sacked seven times and pressured more often than not. There were a bunch of penalties as well as everyone but Kraig Urbik were called for penalties along the line.
Doug Marrone - His team is regressing and that is all on him. As a former offensive linemen the play of that unit is adding insult to injury.
Leodis McKelvin - He muffed two punts, was beaten several times, and called for a penalty.
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Positional Breakdown and Grades
