|
|
 |
Bills Lose Wild One In London 34-31
Huge comeback goes for naught thanks to late Bortles TD Pass.
by Steve Saslow
The Skinny:
The Bills came back from a 27-3 deficit to take a 31-27 lead before the Jaguars drove down for a game winning 31 yard touchdown from Blake Bortles to Allen Hurns. The play came after a very questionable pass interference penalty against Nickell Robey on a 3rd and 15 incompletion. The offense turned it over on downs and ended the valant comeback as the Jaguars won 34-31 to drop the Bills to 3-4 at the bye after a heartbreaking loss. The Jaguars took control quickly scoring three touchdowns in the opening three minutes of the second quarter. Blake Bortles found Allen Robinson for a 10 yard touchdown pass. EJ Manuel had a fumble returned for a touchdown and then threw a pick six on the next play from scrimmage. T.J. Yeldon added a 28 yard touchdown run a few minutes later to give the Jags the big lead. The Bills comeback started as they pulled to within two touchdowns at the half when Manuel hit Robert Woods for a 16 yard score followed by Dan Carpenter's second field goal just before halftime. The Defense had a goal line stand to stop a long, time consuming Jaguars drive to start the second half and the Bills responded with a field goal. After a fourth quarter drive ended in a LeSean McCoy fumble near the goal line it appeared that would be it but the Bills got a stop and Manuel found Marcus Easley for a 58 yard touchdown bomb, it was followed by a Bills defensive score of their own when Corey Graham returned an interception 44 yards for the go ahead score before Bortles final heroics.
The Turning Point:
The Jags Defensive Scores: Two offensive plays, two defensive touchdowns for Jacksonville gave them a huge lead before the clock hit 10:30am in the eastern time zone. Manuel went back to pass and fumbled when hit by Aaron Colvin. Chris Clemons scooped it up and rumbled the final six yards for the score that made it 14-3. After a touchback, Manuel didn't see LB Telvin Smith who easily caught the ball thrown at his numbers and ran it back for the score.
The Turning Point II:
McCoy Fumble: LeSean McCoy was headed for the end zone for a TD that would have pulled the Bills to within four early in the fourth quarter when he was hit hard and fumbled at the one. It was recovered by the Jaguars to help allow them to hold on to win the game. To add injury to insult McCoy was shaken up on the play but he did return.
The Turning Point III:
Robey Pass Interference Penalty: It would have been 4th and 15 desperation time for the Jaguars but the refs decided to make themselves a big part of the game. Robey was called for a horrible penalty that obviously deflated the Bills defense.
The Big Drive:
Jags Winning TD Drive: They went 84 yards in 7 plays in just 3:05 after the Bills took the lead. The big play was the Robey pass interference penalty. Robinson had catches of 20 and 18 yards early in the drive before Hurns caught the bomb over Graham.
Stat I Did Like:
The Yahoo Stream Worked: Well, at least for me it worked with no hiccups or buffering. Of course the way this game went was that really something to like?
Stat I Didn't Like:
Turnovers: Three turnovers in the 2nd quarter scored two touchdowns directly and led to a third touchdown. Their fourth turnover may have cost them a touchdown. They were the difference in the game.
Scene Setters:
- This was the first regular season game the Bills have played outside of the North America. Many Bills fans made the trip across the pond.
- The game was the first streamed worldwide as Yahoo paid $20 Million to do so. The result was eight minutes less commercial time in the game.
- Because of injuries and personal reasons there were no healthy scratches in the seven inactive players.
- Jim Kelly and Thurman Thoma were honorary captains and went out for the coin toss with the entire offensive line. It was an obvious dig at Doug Marrone who coached the Jags OL.
Key Matchup Results:
The winners of the battles highlighted in our preview article:
Bills DL vs. OL Coach Doug Marrone: Winner: Bills DL. They didn't get many sacks and the blitz was beaten from time to time but they led a great goal line stand and had another nice stand on 2nd and 1 and 3rd and 1 plays in the fourth quarter. They also drew a few holding penalties.
S Corey Graham vs. TE Julius Thomas: Winner: Graham. Thomas didn't do too much in this game.
RB LeSean McCoy vs. LB Paul Posluszny: Winner: McCoy. He was very active in this game with 104 total yards with 20 touches.
Keys To The Game Results:
How the keys highlighted in our preview article turned out:
1. Let DL Loose: Success! Sort of. They let them loose but the results weren't very favorable as Bortles beat the blitz time and time again for big gains.
2. Keep Emotions In Check: Success! They didn't have too many stupid penalties and didn't go crazy when things got bad in the 2nd quarter.
3. Rely On McCoy: Failure! When you fall behind by 24 points in the 2nd quarter you can't really rely on the running game anymore.
My Take:
We knew it wasn't going to be easy, even against a 1-5 team because of all the injuries, but the team played like they were still on east coast time and didn't wake up until the awful stretch of the 2nd quarter put them in a huge hole. By the time they did wake up it was a surprise to see they had enough firepower to comeback making the loss even that much more heartbreaking. You almost wish they would have got blown out. It would have been easier to get over it than them teasing you into thinking they were going to have some sort of great win only to have the vaunted defense collapse in crunch time. The team needs to take a long, hard look at themselves as 3-4 is unacceptable with all the hope and all the talent they have. Will the team be encouraged by the comeback or demoralized by the defeat? We have two weeks to ponder that question. They will get healthier over the bye but the talk is no longer about the playoffs at this time it's more about survival with the season going down the drain in a hurry.
What's Ahead:
The Bills have a desperately needed bye to get at least some of their injured players back before they host Miami after the bye.
Gameballs
Marcus Easley - He had one catch for a 58 yard score.
Goats
EJ Manuel - Three turnovers that gave up 21 points. Overshadows the comeback.
Stephon Gilmore - He really struggled in pass coverage.
Player Of The Week
Marcus Easley - Nice to see him make a big play.
 Positional Breakdown and Grades
NFL.com Gamebook
Jaguars Game Preview
Gameday Homepage
|
|
