Bills Vs. Jaguars Game Breakdown

Turnovers, refs and injuries, oh my! That was the name of the game Sunday as the Bills took to London to face the Jacksonville Jaguars, in what turned out to be a wild match up. What should have been a rather simple win for Buffalo was hampered by turnovers and some dubious calls made against Buffalo, one of which essentially cost Buffalo the game. The defense put up a decent day, while the offense had the first half from hell. The Bills have fallen below .500 for the first time since 2013, and have now dropped 2 of their last 3 games. Let's break down the game.

Offense: 

The offense was atrocious in the first half, and most of that fell on backup QB, EJ Manuel. Manuel gift wrapped 21 points for the Jaguars as he threw 2 picks, 1 of which was returned for a touchdown, and fumbled an additional time which was also returned for touchdown. EJ fell apart in the first half, forcing the Bills to fall down 27-3. Although it seemed it was time to pull the plug on EJ, Rex stuck with him, and he was rewarded. The Bills offense stormed back, putting up 21 unanswered points before the defense put up another 6 points on a pick 6.

EJ Manuel finished his day 24/42 for 298 yards, along with 2 TD's and 2 INT's. He finished better than he started, and although he made a lot of mistakes in the first half, he gave Buffalo a chance to come back late, in which they fell just short. He was not as good as he needed to be though, and turning the ball over that many times put them way behind. He needs to be much better if he wants to prove he can stick around here in Buffalo. Overall though, I think EJ needs to go in the long run.

Buffalo had 115 yards on the ground, with the majority of the yardage being put up by Lesean McCoy [68 yards] while EJ put up another 38 on the ground. The rushing attack was not a huge part of the Bills game plan, as they were behind most of the game.

Buffalo's receivers had a good day, with Robert Woods leading the way with 84 yards on 9 receptions, along with a score. Marcus Easley also contributed by putting up a huge 58 yard score to bring Buffalo back into the game. Other notable receivers were Chris Hogan and Lesean McCoy.

Defense:

The defense had a decent day, but gave up 295 yards to a poor Jacksonville team. They got beat on the ground for 115 yards and a score by rookie TJ Yeldon. Through the air, they held Blake Bortles to only 182 yards, 13 completions, and forced him to toss up a pick 6 to Corey Graham. The biggest plays for the defense included that pick 6, along with a 4 down goal line stand, which led to the beginning of Buffalo's comeback attempt. Nickell Robey made an excellent play on a 3rd and 15, but the refs made an extremely poor call for pass interference, which set up the Jags for the late go-ahead touchdown.

Overall, Buffalo lost a game that they should have won. The offense turned the ball over too early and too many times, and the refs made a few questionable calls. The injuries going into this game also hurt Buffalo. It's hard to win games when 7 key players are out with injuries. Buffalo's season hangs severely in the balance as they head into the bye week with a 3-4 record. The Bills are dead last in the AFC East, with the Dolphins and Jets proving they are forces to be reckoned with. With 3 of their next games being against the 3 better AFC East teams, Buffalo has a lot on their hands, and they need to make these games count. The Bills have a lot of ground to make up. Thanks for reading, and as always, let's go Buffalo!


Sources:
Stats: ESPN.GO.COM
Image #1: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Image #2: Alan Crowhurst/Getty Images

Bills Vs. Bengals Game Breakdown

It's one step forward and two steps back for the Buffalo Bills as of late. They fall to the Cincinnati Bengals 34-21 as their record has dropped to an unimpressive 3-3. EJ Manuel got the start while Watkins and McCoy returned to the lineup. McCoy had a great day, while Manuel had a rather pedestrian day while Sammy got hurt after just his 4th reception yesterday. Defense and coaching seemed to be the story of the day as Buffalo falls one more game behind the New York Jets and the New England Patriots. Let's break down the game.


Offense: The offense, as expected, had an average day behind the QB play of EJ Manuel. He didn't lose them the game, but he didn't make a huge effort to try and win the game either. EJ put up 263 yards with 1 TD and 1 INT while completing 28 of 42 pass attempts. Overall, the Bills put up 368 yards of offense.

The receivers, who were catching EJ Manuel's passes, had average days. With the injury to Percy Harvin and the halftime loss of Sammy Watkins, the Bills are down to about 3 healthy WR's going into London. Charles Clay led the team as usual, with 9 receptions for 62 yards. Watkins also put up 48 yards and a touchdown with his 4 receptions.

Rushing wise, the only player who received carries was Lesean McCoy. Returning from injury, he looked explosive, productive and elusive. He put up 90 yards on 17 carries and added a touchdown onto the board. EJ also rushed 6 times for 22 yards.

Defense: The story of the day was the defense, and it wasn't because they played well. They got eaten alive by Andy Dalton, as he threw 243 yards and 3 touchdowns on this Bills defense. They also got rushed on, giving up 112 yards. The biggest issue with this defense was the lack of pressure, as Dalton was rarely touched throughout the day. The Bengals just had too many weapons, and the Bills couldn't find an answer.

Buffalo has faced several key injuries, including Harvin, Watkins, Kyle Williams, Aaron Williams, Karlos Williams and Marquise Goodwin. They are currently in London, where only 3 healthy receivers made the trip. Buffalo won't have a lot of options, but expect them to bring a man or 2 overseas to fill in the blanks at the WR spot. EJ Manuel will also most likely look to take the start, facing a very beatable Jaguars team. For Buffalo to get things back on track, this defense has to get after the QB, while getting everyone healthy during the upcoming bye week. I'm confident Buffalo will have a much more positive second half of the season if they can sneak out of London with a win and a healthy squad. Thanks for reading, and as always, let's go Buffalo!

Bills Vs. Titans Game Breakdown

It was an ugly game on Sunday, but still a win as the Buffalo Bills took down the Tennessee Titans 14-13 down in Nashville. There aren't a lot of positive takeaways from the game, but the Bills got it done. This was a huge win for a Buffalo team who couldn't afford to drop 2 games in a row against sub-par teams going into a week 6 matchup against the Cincinnati Bengals. Buffalo continued the lack of offense but managed to cut down on the penalties as they had to squeeze out a victory missing 3 key pieces of their offense. Let's break down the game.

The first half started off with the Titans fumbling the opening kickoff, which the Bills recovered. They were ready to get on the field and go up 7-0, but of course, a flag was called on that kickoff. The rest of the half was uneventful. Buffalo's 5 possessions in the first half resulted in punts. In addition, the Bills didn't have a snap in the Titan's territory until the 3rd quarter. It was an awful game for Buffalo's offense in the first half, and they were lucky to only be down 3-0 at halftime.

The early part of the 2nd half wasn't too pretty either. Buffalo punts, stops Tennessee, then fumbles the punt, and gives the Titans the ball back with a short field. Mariota and company drives down the field and puts up another 7 points to go up 10-0. The Bills are down and out up until this point. Taylor brings the spark that Buffalo needs, and puts up 3 key rushes, in addition to 2 key passes, to give buffalo the points they needed for the victory. Taylor rushed twice on the 1st TD drive, first for 26 yards, then again for the 22 yard touchdown. Then, Taylor finds Hogan deep on the sideline for a 46 yard pass, and then finds him again for the 4 yard TD. Gilmore sealed the deal late with a pick, included with some clutch pressure from Marcell Dareus.

Offense: The offense had a poor day, posting only 209 yards. Taylor's numbers weren't impressive either, at least through the air. On the ground, Taylor carried the ball 8 times for 76 yards and a touchdown. He gave Buffalo life, and Hogan also contributed putting up 52 yards on 3 receptions. 2 of those were clutch catches, including 1 for the game-tying touchdown. There wasn't a whole lot of pretty plays today, but Buffalo was able to grind out the victory.

Defense: The defense was also a big reason Buffalo won this game. Every time they were out there, they gave the Bills a chance to win. Gilmore and Darby had huge days as usual. Gilmore defended 4 passes and picked off the last ditch effort by Marcus Mariota to seal the game. The duo of Darby and Gilmore rank 2nd and 3rd in the league in Cornerback rating, and with Mckelvin on his way back, this is a formidable Buffalo secondary. Up front, the Bills got pressure as Mario Williams and Kyle Williams put up a sack each. This defense at times looks like they need to improve, but they always put up solid days.

Overall, as stated many times, it was an ugly game. With the Bills having 2 key guys possibly returning [Sammy Watkins and Karlos Williams], this offense will be receiving some help. Taylor needs to continue to get better in the passing game, as he missed some reads and made poor throws throughout. The defense needs to keep doing what they do, and the overall penalties need to continuously be cut down. Buffalo only got charged with 7 flags on Sunday, and a few of those were questionable, as many are. Buffalo has a huge challenge going into next week against the undefeated, 5-0 Bengals. Thanks for reading, and as always, let's go Buffalo!

Bills Vs. Giants Game Breakdown

"I'm [expletive] sick," -Rex Ryan
Those words were read from coach Rex Ryan's lips shortly after Rashad Jenning's touchdown reception, and I'm sure those words came to a lot of people's minds after Sunday's loss to the Giants. The final score was 24-10, but it felt like 50-10 at times. For the majority of the game, the Bills couldn't get much going on either side of the ball, and when they did, ridiculous penalties and a few key plays killed the Bills. The emotions ran high this game, and it hurt the Bills. The Bills are now 2-2 and rest at 3rd in the AFC East after a quarter of the season.

The 1st half for Buffalo was an ugly one. Taylor was off, the receivers were off, and the rest of the team wasn't clicking either. Buffalo had 8 possessions in the first half, and 7 of them resulted in giving the Giants back the ball. Buffalo only gained 62 yards in the first half, as the defense let New York drive down the field several times to put up 16 points. The first half also contained 6 Buffalo penalties, and only 2 third down conversions in the first half. Everything was sloppy. The Bills went into halftime down 16-3.

The 2nd half contained even more penalties, and even more missed opportunities. A missed FG and a wasted possession where Buffalo couldn't get in the end zone, along with several more poor penalties put Buffalo in a bad spot. Finally, when the offense started to gain some ground, a few key penalties stripping 2 touchdowns from Buffalo and a poorly executed tackle leading to a touchdown for New York sealed the game for the Bills. They were not able to manufacture the comeback as emotions got the best of them.

Offense: The offense had a terrible first half and although the second half was better, it still wasn't enough. There were way too many missed opportunities as well. The Bills couldn't run the ball, dealing with several key injuries in the back field and offensive line. They were only able to total 55 yards on the ground with a combined 24 carries between Tyrod and Karlos. The passing game was better, but not much. Taylor went 28/42, 258 yards with 1 TD and 1 INT. Taylor was slow on his reads at times and while he threw accurately for the most part, some poor throws and drops hindered the passing game. The biggest offensive performer was Charles Clay, racking up 111 yards on 9 receptions. This offense missed the presence of Watkins and McCoy severely.

Defense: The defense didn't have a poor day, but there were a few key defensive plays which cost Buffalo opportunities to win the game. They kept Eli Manning to a pedestrian day, forcing him into 15 incompletions, only 212 yards, and a pick. The rushing game of New York also had a mediocre day by credit of the defense, posting only 92 yards on a combined 28 carries.The only difference though, is that the Giants took advantage of their opportunities and made plays when it mattered most. Buffalo's corners shut down star Odell Beckham Jr, but gave up a huge 50+ yard touchdown reception to Rashad Jennings, which essentially ended the game for the Bills. Buffalo needs to be able to control big plays at key times going forward.

The game was ugly, and it had an ugly outcome. Buffalo has fallen to 2-2 on the year and 1-2 at home. With the injuries and penalties piling up, Buffalo will have a lot of cleaning up to do going into next week, when they face Tennessee, and rookie Marcus Mariota, on the road. Watkins, McCoy, Karlos Williams, Aaron Williams, and the injured offensive lineman need to heal fast. Rex also needs to get this team under control. This is a team that has jacked up 2 of its opponents, but has been handed disappointing losses by their other 2 opponents. The main question to ask is...which team will show up next week?