The Skinny:
The Bills went into the Mile High City looking to pull off a monumental upset and keep their playoff hopes sky rocketing unfortunately they leave Denver with a 24-17 loss that is a crushing blow to their dreams of ending their playoff drought. A lot of calls went against the Bills in what was the worst officiated game I have seen all year. It didn't matter in the end though as they were just outplayed by a superior team. They did hold Peyton Manning without a touchdown pass for the first time since 2010 but it was small consolation in the loss. C.J. Anderson had three short touchdown runs that gave the Broncos a 24-3 lead. The Bills would score two late touchdowns to make it close. Chris Hogan caught a 14 yard touchdown catch and run midway through the fourth quarter and Kyle Orton punched it in from the one yard line in the final minute to make the final score closer than it really was. Dan Carpenter hit a 44 yard field goal for their lone points of the first half. Sammy Watkins had 7 catches for 127 yards in the loss.
The Turning Point:
Bills Failed 4th Down Play: On the Bills second possession they were moving the ball well but faced a 4th and 6 at the Broncos 39. They decided to go for it which was the right move but the questionable call to throw a deep fade to Scott Chandler lacked in execution. It was a good throw but it was broken up nicely by Brandon Marshall.
The Big Drive:
The Broncos 1st TD: The play after the turning point Manning did a beautiful play action fake and went up top to old nemesis Wes Welker who got behind Da'Norris Searcy for a 38 yard gain to the Bills 23. The defense looked like they held on third down as Nickell Robey knocked away a third down pass to the end zone but he was called for a very questionable illegal contact penalty giving the Broncos a first down. C.J. Anderson ran for 8 and then the final six yards for the touchdown. It was a five play, 61 yard drive in 2:52 and the Broncos would not look back.
Stat I Did Like:
1st Quarter Possession: The Bills allowed the Broncos to have the ball only 4:52 of the first quarter but the Bills were actually trailing 7-0 after that quarter. It went all downhill from there.
Stat I Didn't Like:
Penalties: Way too many of them even though some were questionable. There were 11 penalties for 98 yards.
Quick Slants: - No surprises among the Bills inactives as three out because of injury. - It's nice to see that Jim Kelly is getting stronger everyday. He made the road trip to Denver for today's game. Kelly visited with the Pegulas and John Elway. Bill Polian was also at the game. - The Bills are now 0-17 when they are double digit underdogs since 2005.
Key Matchup Results:
The winners of the battles highlighted in our preview article: RB Fred Jackson vs. LB Brandon Marshall: Winner: Jackson. Just barely, he did some nice things but didn't have too much success. WR Sammy Watkins vs. CB Aquib Tabib: Winner: Tabib. Watkins was not a factor except for his fumble. DE Mario Williams vs. RT Louis Vasquez: Winner: Vasquez. Super Mario was very ordinary in this game. LB Brandon Spikes vs. RB C.J. Anderson: Winner: Anderson. They made plays on the ground especially in the 2nd half.
Keys To The Game Results:
How the keys highlighted in our preview article turned out: 1. Pressure Manning Without Blitzing: Failure! He had all day to throw. . 2. Play Physical Defense: Success! They were physical but they couldn't rattle the vaunted Broncos offense as one big hit got called for a bogus pass interference penalty but another did cause a fumble. 3. Touchdowns Not Field Goals: Failure! Had one field goal in three chances to score in the first half.
My Take:
The Bills came ready to play early as they had a lot of emotion, energy, and some limited success early. Some very questionable penalties including the one on Robey and a pass interference call on Stephon Gilmore hurt them. Even when they did good things the referees got in their way. Two long inteception returns were negated by questionable penalties. Their failure to take advantage of opportunities to score and poor play in the kicking game didn't help. You can overcome all these things if you are an elite team, the Bills aren't but the team they lost to is and that is why the Bills limp home with their playoff hopes dangling for dear life.
What's Ahead:
The Bills head back home for their home finale at Ralph Wilson Stadium against another elite team and future hall of famer quarterback as Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers come to town. They at least will be coming in on a short week since they play Monday night.
Gameballs
Sammy Watkins - He had seven catches for 127 yards. Did have a big fumble though.
Corey Graham - He was credited with both first half takeaways picking off Manning and recovering a fumble.
Stephon Gilmore - Solid in coverage and had a nice interception.
Goats
Nickell Robey - Was beaten beat twice and let the questionable penalty call get in his head.
Jerry Hughes - He lost his head and that penalty cost the Bills four points.
Kyle Orton - Had to have a great game instead he just dinked and dunked which will never win games against Manning doing that. He added to the problem with two second half interceptions. Threw for 355 yards but that was all in garbage time late in the game.
Player Of The Week
Corey Graham - Helped the secondary stop Manning for throwing a touchdown pass, that hadn't happened in 51 games.
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Positional Breakdown and Grades
