Bills’ return not worth the wait
Red-zone misfire hard to swallow in defeat after 18-year drought
JACKSONVILLE, FLA.— After exceeding expectations by making the playoffs for the first time in 18 years, the Buffalo Bills were lamenting missed opportunities following a 10-3 loss to the Jaguars in Sunday’s AFC wild-card game.
“I wanted to win this game and get it rolling. I don’t care about the building blocks,” running back LeSean McCoy said. “I live now in the moment. We had this thing.”
Despite it being a road game, the Bills and their raucous fans were in full force inside and outside EverBank Field. There was even a picture of O.J. Simpson wearing a McCoy jersey as he watched the game at a Las Vegas bar.
What they saw were the same problems that had plagued the Bills late in the season. They didn’t score a touchdown for the second time in six games, and squandered a rare red-zone opportunity late in the second quarter.
Buffalo had first-and-goal at the Jaguars’ one-yard line with 2:53 remaining in the opening half.
Coach Sean McDermott and offensive co-ordinator Rick Dennison elected to call a run-pass option instead of giving it to McCoy, who had eight touchdowns on the season.
Tyrod Taylor’s pass to Kelvin Benjamin on a fade route fell incomplete in the end zone, but Benjamin was called for offensive pass interference, moving the ball back to the Jaguars 11. The drive stalled from there and they had to settle for a Stephen Hauschka 31-yard field goal at the end of an 18-play, 71-yard drive that took more than eight minutes.
“I came off the ball. All I did was try to come around and catch the ball and they called pushing,” Benjamin said. “You try to move on from it.”
McDermott said officials made the call because of the situation, adding it wasn’t the only play they would like to have back. The field goal gave the Bills a 3-0 lead, but the Jaguars tied it with four seconds remaining in the first half.
McCoy appeared to second-guess the red-zone play call after the game.
“I want a running play. It was a play I was lobbying for the whole time and it didn’t work out, so I understand,” he said.
The closest the Bills got in the second half was the Jaguars’ 38 late in the fourth quarter. That came when Nathan Peterman came in at QB after Taylor was injured with 1:27 remaining, when his head hit the turf after being tackled by Dante Fowler. The drive ended when Peterman was intercepted by Jalen Ramsey with 32 seconds left.
McDermott said after the game that Taylor, who completed 17 of 37 passes for134 yards with an interception, was in the concussion protocol.
“We had a long field on most of our drives. We got some chunk plays at times, but we couldn’t convert on third down,” centre Eric Wood said.
The Bills converted three of six third downs in the first quarter, but were 4 of 12 the rest of the game. McCoy, who was l i sted as questionable after spraining his ankle in last weekend’s victory at Miami, ended up with 75 yards on 19 carries in what he called a solid game.
“I wasn’t 100 per cent. I think the cuts and runs I did were probably made,” he said. “It’s not the reason we lost. We just didn’t play well.”
One thing that did surprise McCoy was how many Bills fans came down for the game despite having less than a week to make travel plans.
“I was surprised. Coming from Philadelphia, the fans travel everywhere,” the former Eagle said. “I think Buffalo fans have them beat.
“I’m extremely disappointed to let them down. They travel so far and rally behind us. Sorry we couldn’t get the win for them.”
The Jaguars were also impressed by the loud turnout, with coach Doug Marrone awarding a game ball to the Jacksonville fans.
“It was incredible,” said Jaguars QB Blake Bortles said, who completed 12 of 23 passes for just 87 yards and a TD. “There’s not a lot of people outside of Marcedes (Lewis, veteran tight end) that have ever seen the stadium like that. . . . Everyone knows it hasn’t been done in a long time so it was really special.”
Bortles was off his game all day, but made up for it with his legs. He ran for 88 yards, becoming the second starting quarterback in the past 25 years to win a playoff game with more rushing yards than passing. Atlanta’s Michael Vick also did it against the St. Louis Rams in the 2004 playoffs.
Next up for the Jaguars: the 13-3 Pittsburgh Steelers.
The Jaguars stunned Pittsburgh in their first meeting this season, a 30-9 win in which Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger threw five interceptions, was sacked twice and finished with the lowest passer rating of his career.
“The game was a great illustration on if we play the way we’re capable of playing, then we can beat anybody like that,” Jaguars cornerback Aaron Colvin said.
“We know they’re going to be motivated. Ben said it earlier in the week or whenever that he wanted to see us again, so we know we’re going to get their best shot. But at the same time, they’re going to get our best shot, too.
“Whenever somebody gets our best shot, it hasn’t turned out too good for people.”