Atlanta falls to Bills; Jones hurt
ATLANTA — The Buffalo Bills stand alone atop the AFC East at the latest point in a season in nine years.
For that, coach Sean McDermott offered both cheers and restraint.
“It feels good,” McDermott said before adding, “still a long way to go.”
Stephen Hauschka kicked a tiebreaking, 56-yard field goal with less than five minutes remaining and the Bills made a last-minute defensive stand to beat Atlanta 23-17 on Sunday after the Falcons lost wide receiver Julio Jones to a hip injury.
This is the latest the Bills (3-1) have been alone in first place in their division since Week 7 in 2008, when they were 5-1.
Hauschka padded the lead with a 55-yarder with about three minutes remaining.
“It’s a fun position to be
in when you want to kick like that at the end of the game,” Hauschka said.
Buffalo’s defense stopped the Falcons at the Bills 10 with less than a minute remaining when Matt Ryan couldn’t complete a fourth-down pass to Taylor Gabriel.
Atlanta became the last NFC team to lose this season.
Tre’Davious White returned a fumble recovery 52 yards for a third-quarter touchdown as the tough Buffalo defense delivered again even in a game it gave up its first passing touchdown of the season.
Bills defensive end Jerry Hughes hit Ryan’s arm as Ryan was trying to pass, forcing the fumble.
“I didn’t hear the whistle, so I just ran full speed,” White said.
It was one of three turnovers by Atlanta. Micah Hyde intercepted two of Ryan’s passes, giving Ryan five in his last two games.
There will be an emphasis on protecting the ball in coming bye week for Atlanta (3-1).
“More important than anything for us, let’s get our turnover margin in order,” said coach Dan Quinn.
Jones left the game in the second quarter with a hip flexor injury. Atlanta’s receiving corps took another hit when starter Mohamed Sanu was ruled out with a hamstring injury in the third quarter.
Falcons left tackle Jake Matthews said losing the team’s top two receivers was no excuse. “We know we’re good enough to score even if we’re missing a couple guys,” Matthews said.