Jerry Hughes’ fumble return touchdown played a key role in Buffalo’s 26-10 win over Cleveland on Sunday. (Photo: Timothy T. Ludwig — USA Today Sports)
BBD Editor: Dan Hope
Through the first 36 minutes of their Week 13 game against the Cleveland Browns, it looked as though the Buffalo Bills might be in for another game like their Week 11 loss to the Miami Dolphins, a game in which they failed to score a touchdown.
Everything changed after a 4th-and-2 gamble, at the 8:36 mark of the third quarter, paid off with a 35-yard deep catch by Bills wide receiver Robert Woods, caught from quarterback Kyle Orton even through the defensive pass interference of Browns cornerback Buster Skrine.
On its next play, Buffalo scored a three-yard touchdown on a pass from Orton to Bills wide receiver Chris Hogan.
On the first play of the Browns’ subsequent offensive possession, Bills defensive end Jerry Hughes beat Browns left tackle Joe Thomas—despite a hold from Thomas—to catch Browns running back Terrance West in pursuit, force a fumble, recover the ball himself and return it 18 yards for a touchdown, giving the Bills 14 points in only 14 seconds.
That spurt gave the Bills a 14-3 lead from which they never looked back, as they ultimately won the game 26-10.
Both the Bills and Browns now sit at 7-5 records for the season.
Offense makes a second-half comeback
The first half of Sunday’s game looked much like the Bills’ first two games following their midseason bye. Buffalo was completely shut out from the scoreboard in the first half; its only trip to the red zone ended with an interception by Browns safety Jim Leonhard, while an end-of-half, 53-yard field goal attempt by Dan Carpenter was blocked by Browns cornerback Joe Haden.
In the second half, Buffalo had much more success putting itself in position to score points. It all started with Bills coach Doug Marrone’s decision to go for a conversion on 4th-and-2, a move that was certainly enjoyed by the Buffalo fans who have often criticized Marrone this year for being too conservative in 4th-and-short situations.
That was the Bills’ only offensive touchdown of the day, but they were able to extend their lead and secure their victory Sunday by finishing all four of their fourth-quarter possessions with Carpenter field goals. Three of those possessions started past midfield, so the late-game scoring can be chalked up to the team’s defense as much as it can the offense but nonetheless, Buffalo’s offense came through to do enough to get the Bills a win in the game’s final 30 minutes.
Orton was not nearly at his best, as he threw two interceptions and completed just 17 of his 31 passing attempts for 190 yards. Rookie wide receiver Sammy Watkins had another quiet game—his fourth consecutive game with low production since the bye week—as he caught just three passes for 11 yards.
The rest of the offense, however, stepped up. The offensive line had a solid showing, allowing just one sack (on a play that Orton held the football far too long) while leading the ground game to 106 rushing yards. Woods was the Bills’ leading receiver for a second straight week as he caught four passes for 71 yards. The Bills also got a nice boost from recent addition MarQueis Gray, as the tight end/H-back caught only two passes but took those catches for gains of 30 and 41 yards.
Against teams with stronger offenses—such as the New England Patriots, Green Bay Packers and Denver Broncos, all of whom the Bills are scheduled to play in the next four weeks—the Bills will have to do a better job on third downs and in the red zone than they did Sunday. Buffalo went just 2-of-15 on third-down conversion attempts and scored a touchdown on just one of five red zone trips Sunday.
Nonetheless, the Bills should be pleased with their ability to bounce back from an uninspiring first-half effort and score 26 points.
Defense forces quarterback change for second consecutive week
Although the Bills were victorious, the headline story of Sunday’s game from a national perspective will undoubtedly be that of enigmatic Browns rookie quarterback Johnny Manziel seeing his first significant playing time in relief of Brian Hoyer.
That wouldn’t have happened Sunday if Hoyer played better.
The hook for Hoyer came early in the fourth quarter after he was intercepted by Bills safety Da’Norris Searcy for a second time in the game. Having also had another pass nearly picked off by Searcy and a ball dropped by Bills linebacker Nigel Bradham that likely would have been a pick-six, the move was easily justifiable as Hoyer made some awful throws throughout the game, and as the interception came on what was Cleveland’s fifth consecutive possession without a first down and seventh consecutive without a scoring opportunity.
The Bills defense looked vulnerable early in the game, as the Browns were able to neutralize the Bills pass-rush with catch-and-runs off short passes that exposed Buffalo’s coverage limitations with their linebacker and safety units. It was dominant in the second half, however, as Buffalo started bringing more pressure into the backfield, continued shutting down the Cleveland running game as it did all day and forced Hoyer into making mistakes.
Cleveland (and Manziel fans everywhere) got a boost of energy when Manziel led a touchdown drive, capped by a 10-yard touchdown run by the quarterback, on his first series in the game. Outside of that possession, however, Cleveland’s only first down came on a Terrance West run on the final play of the contest when the outcome had already been conceded.
In total, the Bills finished Sunday’s game with three takeaways and two sacks, allowed just 2.8 yards per carry (2.4 if you remove the final run by West) and gave up only one touchdown.
The Bills defense has now led to the New York Jets benching quarterback Michael Vick and the Browns benching Hoyer in back-to-back games won by Buffalo. It was the backbone of another win by the team Sunday.
Searcy was the star of the Buffalo defense Sunday as he registered two interceptions and was close to picking off two other passes. Another was Hughes, who won the battle against one of the NFL’s best offensive linemen, Cleveland left tackle Joe Thomas, by forcing him into three penalties, including a hold on the play that he forced, recovered and returned the West fumble.
Postseason outlook
Sunday’s win was enough to move Buffalo up to seventh from 11th in the AFC wild card race as Cleveland, the Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers all lost Sunday to drop into a tie with the Bills at 7-5. The Bills currently hold the tiebreaker over those three AFC North teams.
From a pure numbers standpoint, the Bills are in fine position to potentially make the playoffs. Realistically, however, they face a steep uphill climb to the postseason because of the final four teams on their schedule.
With eight teams still battling for two wild card spots, the Bills presumably have to win at least three of their final four games to have a realistic chance of still playing in January. That means even with a game they should win against the Raiders, they’ll have to win at least two of their three games against the Patriots, Packers and Broncos, who each rank among the NFL’s premier teams this season.
If Buffalo is going to make the playoffs, it’s certainly going to have to earn its way in, and play its absolute best football down the stretch.
