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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BAL at SD | BUF at JAX | DEN at CHI | GB at DET | HOU at CLE | IND at ATL | MIA at PIT | MIN at NYG |
| NO at CAR | NYJ at DAL | OAK at KC | PHI at NE | SEA at STL | SF at ARI | TEN at CIN | WAS at TB |
Week 12 Game Recap: Buffalo Bills 14, Jacksonville Jaguars 36
What you need to know
| Buffalo Bills |
In their last game, Buffalo suffered the worse defeat in franchise history but they were hoping to bounce back against Jacksonville. Instead, they endured another lopsided loss. The Bills were unable to move the ball effectively, slow down the Jaguars' offense, or avoid costly penalties. To their credit, even though they were held to under 300 yards for the eighth time this season, they refused to quit and were only down one score midway through in the fourth quarter.
J. P. Losman's numbers might not look too bad, 27 of 40 for 211 yards and one touchdown, but he often looked indecisive. He threw two interceptions and lost a fumble trying to sneak for a first down on third and one. He didn't complete a pass to Lee Evans until there was less than one minute remaining in the game, and his leading receiver was a running back.
Anthony Thomas filled in again for Marshawn Lynch and led the Bills in both rushing and receiving. He scored a touchdown with great individual effort when he caught a short pass in the flat, broke a tackle at the two yard line, and reached just far enough to get the ball across the goal line. Josh Reed caught six passes for 50 yards and Roscoe Parrish scored the other Bills' touchdown on a 24 yard reverse.
Once again the Buffalo defense surrendered over 400 yards of offense. Fred Taylor ran for a season high 104 yards, Garrard threw for 296 yards, and receivers found plenty of holes in the secondary all afternoon. Still, five drives ended with field goals instead of touchdowns so the final score could have been much worse.
| Jacksonville Jaguars |
Even though Jacksonville entered this game with a record of 7--3 and a legitimate shot at making the playoffs, the game was locally blacked out. The Jaguars played like champions for the fans in attendance, controlled the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball and won by 22 points. Their drives kept stalling, however, and Josh Scobee kicked five field goals. With the Bills only down one score halfway through the fourth quarter and driving the Jaguars intercepted Losman and added two late touchdowns sealed the victory.
So far this season David Garrard has a QB rating of 104.5 and continued his solid play against the Bills. He completed 23 of 37 for 296 yards for one touchdown and is still the only NFL quarterback who has yet to throw an interception. He spread the ball around to eight different receivers, showed poise in the pocket and appears to have to confidence of his teammates.
Fred Taylor rushed for his season best 104 yards and scored on a 50 yard dash in the first quarter. Maurice Jones-Drew was bottled until late in the game when the Bills turned the ball over on downs deep in their own territory. With 1:43 remaining he scored on a 17 yard run against a defense that seemed to have finally given up.
The Jaguars defense shut down Lee Evans and forced J. P. Losman to throw screen passes and check downs all afternoon. They intercepted two passes, recovered a forced fumble, and pressured the quarterback all afternoon.
What you ought to know
| QB J.P. Losman, Pass: 27 - 40 - 211 - 1 TD / 2 INT, Rush: 3 - 6 - 0 |
Losman acknowledged earlier in the week that this game was perhaps his last chance to stake his claim to the starting quarterback job with promising rookie Trent Edwards waiting in the wings. Even though the numbers might not look too bad, 27 of 40 for 211 yards and one touchdown, Losman often looked indecisive. He threw two interceptions and lost a fumble trying to sneak for a first down on third and one. He couldn't get the ball to Lee Evans until there was less than one minute in the game and his leading receiver was a running back. Midway through the fourth quarter and Buffalo only trailing by one score, Losman tried to hit Reed but threw his second interception ending any hope of a comeback.
| RB Anthony Thomas, Rush: 15 - 46 - 0, Rec: 8 - 45 - 1 (10 targets) |
The veteran carried 15 times against the stout Jaguars run defense but only managed to average 3.1 yards per carry. Thomas was more effective as the leading Bills' pass receiver, catching eight balls for 45 yards. He scored their only passing touchdown when he caught a short swing pass in the flat, broke a tackle at the two yard line, and dove far enough for the ball to barely cross the plane of the goal line.
| RB Fred Jackson, Rush: 5 - 18 - 0, Rec: 5 - 47 - 0 (7 targets) |
The second year running back from Coe College served as the back up to Anthony Thomas. He showed a knack for catching the ball out of the backfield and gaining positive yardage, though most of his receptions came in the fourth quarter with the game out of reach.
| RB Dwayne Wright |
The rookie from Fresno State was active but not a factor.
| RB Marshawn Lynch |
Lynch remained inactive with an ankle injury.
| WR Josh Reed, Rec: 6 - 50 - 0 (10 targets) |
Reed benefited from the Jaguars' fierce pass rush. His underneath routes were often the only option and he made some tough catches, but late in the game with the score out of reach he bailed on a pass over the middle.
| WR Roscoe Parrish, Rush: 1 - 24 - 1, Rec: 4 - 26 - 0 (6 targets) |
Parrish scored in his second straight game, running a reverse around the left end 24 yards. He also caught four passes for 26 yards. The league leading punt returner only had one return for 12 yards.
| WR Lee Evans, Rec: 2 - 19 - 0 (7 targets) |
Evans had a brutal afternoon. He was nearly shutout and only caught his two passes when there was less than one minute left in game. Losman was intercepted in the second quarter when he under threw Evans along the sidelines, but the Bills' passing attack focused more on short passes and screens to running backs. However, Evans threw the key block that sprung Parrish on his touch down run.
| TE Michael Gaines, Rec: 1 - 19 - 0 (1 targets) |
Gaines caught his only pass on a broken play as Losman was scrambling for his life. The play resulted in a 19 yard gain and a first down.
| TE Robert Royal, Rec: 1 - 5 - 0 (2 targets) |
The Buffalo tight ends were kept in to block most of the afternoon, but Royal caught one pass for five yards.
| PK Rian Lindell 0 - 0 FG, 2 - 2 XP, 2 points |
Lindell never attempted a field goal but made both extra points.
| BUF Rush Defense |
Buffalo has the typical quick but undersized Tampa two defensive linemen which enabled Jacksonville's huge offensive line to control the line of scrimmage and average 4.8 yards per carry. Fred Taylor scored on a 50 yard run in the first quarter and Jones-Drew added a late 17 yard touchdown run. While the defense made big plays on occasion, including a fourth down run by Jones-Drew that lost six yards, they could never shut down Jacksonville's ground game.
| BUF Pass Defense |
Garrard threw for 296 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions. Jaguar receivers seemed to be running free through the secondary all afternoon, and backup cornerback Ashton Youboty registered the only Bills' sack.
| QB David Garrard, Pass: 23 - 37 - 296 - 1 TD / 0 INT, Rush: 1 - 7 - 0 |
David Garrard continues to play at a high level and appears to have the full confidence of his team. The fact that there was controversy when the Jaguars named him the starter over Byron Leftwich now seems odd. Garrard completed 23 of 37 for 296 yards and a touchdown and is still the only NFL quarterback this season that has yet to throw an interception. He spread the ball around to eight different receivers and showed poise in the pocket.
| RB Fred Taylor, Rush: 14 - 104 - 1, Rec: 2 - 14 - 0 (2 targets) |
Taylor gained a season high 104 yards on the day with 50 coming on a touchdown run in the first quarter. He is still the number one running back in Jacksonville as long as he's healthy.
| RB Maurice Jones-Drew, Rush: 10 - 10 - 1, Rec: 2 - 16 - 0 (2 targets) |
The Bills managed to bottle up Jones-Drew until late in the game. He actually had negative yardage until there was 1:43 left in the game when he ran 17 yards for a touchdown against a defense that had just thrown in the towel. He finished with plus ten yards rushing to go with two pass receptions for another 16 yards. He also returned two kickoffs at a 26 yard average.
| RB Greg Jones, Rush: 1 - 3 - 0 (2 targets) |
In limited duty the big fullback picked up three yards on his only carry but failed to catch either pass thrown to him.
| WR Dennis Northcutt, Rec: 5 - 65 - 0 (6 targets) |
Northcutt was one of four Jacksonville receivers who gained at least 50 yards. He finished with five balls for a team high 65 yards.
| WR Ernest Wilford, Rec: 5 - 60 - 0 (8 targets) |
Wilford played a key role in the Jacksonville offense and was targeted two times in each quarter. He caught five passes for 60 yards.
| WR Reggie Williams, Rec: 1 - 59 - 1 (1 targets) |
Listed as questionable before the game with a bad back, Williams caught the only pass thrown to him and scored a 59 yard touchdown.
| WR Matt Jones, Rec: 1 - 13 - 0 (2 targets) |
The former number one draft choice caught a nice 13 yard slant for a first down, but he is still trying to learn how to run a fade pattern in the end zone.
| TE Marcedes Lewis, Rec: 5 - 57 - 0 (9 targets) |
Lewis led the team with 9 targets and was Garrard's go-to guy as the Bills' initially tried to cover him with DEs Chris Kelsey or Aaron Schobel. Lewis abused them both, but Linebackers faired no better. Lewis caught five balls for 57 yards.
| TE George Wrighster, Rec: 2 - 12 - 0 (3 targets) |
Wrighster pitched in with two receptions for 12 yards.
| TE Greg Estandia (3 targets) |
The back up tight end failed to catch any of his three passes, but at 6'8" he makes an inviting target.
| PK Josh Scobee 5 - 5 FG, 3 - 3 XP, 18 points |
With five Jaguars drives stalling in Bills' territory, Scobee hit field goals from 46, 33, 22, 23, and 20 yards. He was also perfect on all three extra points.
| JAX Rush Defense |
Anthony Thomas ran hard but only averaged 3.4 yards per carry and held the Bills to under 100 yards rushing in the game. Although Buffalo has a huge offensive line, and managed to get some push in the middle, Jacksonville overall had no problem stopping the Bills' ground game.
| JAX Pass Defense |
The Bills picked up garbage yards late in the game to skew the numbers, but there was no doubt in this game. Rookie Justin Durant, seeing playing time with Mike Peterson injured, picked off one pass and veteran Sammy Knight got the other. Paul Spicer registered the team's only sack.
