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| ATL at STL | BUF at WAS | CIN at PIT | CLE at ARI | DEN at OAK | DET at MIN | GB at DAL | HOU at TEN |
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Week 13 Game Recap: Buffalo Bills 17, Washington Redskins 16
What you need to know
| Buffalo Bills |
Buffalo struggled offensively throughout the contest, but maybe just enough plays, and took advantage of Rian Lindell's stellar leg, to eek out a last minute win to deflate the emotional Washington Redskins 17 to 16. Quarterback Trent Edwards returned to the starting lineup, and showed decent accuracy while having trouble getting the ball deep down the field. Most of his completed throws were of the short or medium variety, and had virtually no success deep. To his credit, he protected the ball all game long, and made his biggest play of the game when it counted the most. His deep ball to Josh Reed went for a game high 31 yards and set up Lindell's game winning kick.
Buffalo's only points of the first half came on an Angelo Crowell sack of Jason Campbell in the Bills end zone for a safety. Crowell had a great game, contributing nine tackles and a fumble recovery in addition to his safety. The Bills defense played admirably, containing Clinton Portis and keeping Jason Campbell and the Redskins' passing game out of the end zone. They only gave up one score, a three yard rush by Portis in the third quarter, and limited the Washington rushing game to 80 yards.
Edwards preferred targets were his wide receivers. The three finished in the top four on the team in receiving yards, with running back Fred Jackson also in the mix. Jackson started the game in place of the injured Marshawn Lynch and Anthony Thomas. Jackson played well, running hard and using his breakaway speed to finish with 82 yards rushing on 16 carries (for a 5.1 average) to go along with 69 receiving yards, the bulk of which came on a 54 yard catch and run.
Rian Lindell had to be the game MVP, though, as he connected on field goals of 38, 43, 24, 33, and 36 yards, all of which came in the second half. It was the final 36 yarder that gave Buffalo their first lead of the game and the win.
| Washington Redskins |
Washington played this game with a heavy heart, as it was the first contest since the untimely death of starting Pro Bowl safety Sean Taylor. The defense honored Taylor by keeping his place in the starting lineup, opening the game with only ten defenders on the Bills first offensive play. The defense rallied around their memory of Taylor to play strong defense all day long. Ultimately, they gave up a few big plays at the end of the game that gave Buffalo the opportunity to seize the game with under ten seconds remaining. The onus was mostly on the Redskins' offense, though, as their inability to score touchdowns in the red zone, coupled with some untimely turnovers in the second half, that cost the Redskins this game.
The Redskins offense actually moved the ball very well. They had three long sustained drives that each were over ten plays and took significant chunks of time off the clock, but all three resulted in field goals instead of touchdowns. Quarterback Jason Campbell showed good accuracy, mobility, and arm strength, but often held on to the ball too long, which resulted in lots of pressure. He was sacked three times, and lost a fumble on one of them. Both Chris Cooley and Santana Moss received double digit targets from Campbell, and as such finished one and two on the team in receptions and receiving yards.
Running back Clinton Portis had a difficult time finding running room against the Bills defense. He only gained 50 yards on his 25 carries, a 2.0 yards per carry average. Portis did manage the Redskins lone touchdown of the game, a three yard rushing score in the third quarter. Kicker Shaun Suisham had a great game, connecting on field goals of 38, 43, 24, 33, and 36 yards, the latter of which was the game winner made with only four seconds left in the game.
The game had an awful ending for Redskin fans as coach Joe Gibbs tried to call two consecutive timeouts to ice kicker Rian Lindell. Lindell was facing a 51 yard field goal but when Gibbs called the second timeout, Washington was penalized and Lindell was able to kick a 36 yarder for the win.
What you ought to know
| QB Trent Edwards, Pass: 22 - 36 - 257 - 0 TD / 0 INT, Rush: 2 - 4 - 0 |
Edwards showed good accuracy, but had a hard time getting the ball down the field. His favorite targets were his wide receivers, Lee Evans, Josh Reed, and Roscoe Parrish. Edwards did a good job protecting the ball, as he wasn't sacked once, didn't lose a fumble, and failed to throw an interception. He started the game slowly, but rallied to lead the team to 15 second half points (all on field goals) that earned his team the victory. Edwards had a great game winning drive, where he found Josh Reed for a big 31 yard gain that set the stage for Lindell's victorious field goal. He averaged 7.13 yards per attempt and had no touchdowns.
| RB Fred Jackson, Rush: 16 - 82 - 0, Rec: 4 - 69 - 0 (6 targets) |
Jackson looked good in his first extensive NFL game action. He gained 151 total yards (82 rushing/69 receiving) and led the team in both rushing and receiving yards. He busted out a long rush of 22 yards and a game high 54 yard catch and run. He showed excellent burst and surprisingly good vision.
| RB Dwayne Wright, Rush: 2 - 14 - 0 |
Wright had a couple of runs, including a long of 15.
| WR Josh Reed, Rec: 5 - 67 - 0 (7 targets) |
Reed led the team with five receptions, and finished second with 67 yards. His biggest catch of the game came on the Bills game-winning drive, when he connected with Edwards for a 30 yard gain that set up Rian Lindell's field goal.
| WR Lee Evans, Rec: 4 - 51 - 0 (8 targets) |
Evans was Edwards most frequent target. He hauled in half of them and finished third on the team in receiving yards.
| WR Roscoe Parrish, Rec: 4 - 36 - 0 (7 targets) |
Parrish was targeted both deep and on medium routes, in an attempt to take advantage of his blazing speed and open field moves. He only averaged nine yards on his four catches.
| TE Robert Royal, Rec: 4 - 21 - 0 (5 targets) |
Royal caught four of his five looks for mostly small gains.
| TE Michael Gaines, Rec: 1 - 13 - 0 (1 targets) |
Gaines caught one pass that was good for a first down, but was primarily used as a blocking tight end.
| PK Rian Lindell 5 - 5 FG, 0 - 0 XP, 15 points |
Lindell had a great game. He made all five of his field goals attempts, including the game winner. The field goals came from 38, 43, 24, 33, and 36 yards.
| BUF Rush Defense |
Buffalo's rush defense allowed 80 total yards on 30 carries for a 2.7 average. They did a great job containing Clinton Portis, with the exception of one three yard touchdown run in the third quarter.
| BUF Pass Defense |
Buffalo's pass defense gave up 216 yards on 21 of 37 passing for an average of 5.84 yards per attempt. They allowed no touchdowns, and intercepted a pass off a tip that was intended for Santana Moss. They sacked Jason Campbell three times, including one for a safety and one for a fumble they recovered. The safety and the recovery were both made by Angelo Crowell.
| QB Jason Campbell, Pass: 21 - 37 - 216 - 0 TD / 1 INT, Rush: 4 - 19 - 0 |
Campbell showed his trademark arm strength, accuracy, and mobility, but frequently held on to the ball too long, which led to some unneeded sacks. Two of those sacks were compounded by additional problems; one was a safety and one forced a lost fumble. Campbell had an excellent connection with tight end Chris Cooley, but went away from him in the second half. His second favorite target was Santana Moss. Campbell showed decent scrambling ability, rushing for 19 yards on four carries. His lone interception was intended for Moss but was tipped and fell into the waiting hands of a Bills defensive lineman.
| RB Clinton Portis, Rush: 25 - 50 - 1, Rec: 2 - 10 - 0 (3 targets) |
Portis had a tough game against a tough Bills rushing defense. He only averaged 2.0 yards per carry over 25 carries. Portis did manage the only touchdown of the game, a three yard romp up in the middle in the third quarter. He added a couple of dump off catches out of the backfield.
| RB Ladell Betts, Rec: 2 - 14 - 0 (3 targets) |
Betts saw all his looks in the first half, and caught two of them. He had no carries.
| WR Santana Moss, Rush: 1 - 11 - 0, Rec: 5 - 63 - 0 (11 targets) |
Moss had one of his better recent games. He seemed to play inspired ball in an attempt to honor his friend Sean Taylor. Moss finished second on the team in receptions and receiving yards, and frequently picked up key first downs and made tough grabs.
| WR Reche Caldwell, Rec: 3 - 26 - 0 (6 targets) |
Caldwell had three catches to finish third on the team. He was mostly targeted on shorter passes, but did draw a big pass interference call on a deep pass.
| WR Keenan McCardell, Rec: 2 - 14 - 0 (4 targets) |
McCardell only caught two balls, one of which went for a first down.
| TE Chris Cooley, Rec: 7 - 89 - 0 (12 targets) |
Eleven of Cooley's 12 targets came in the first half. He had a great half, and then Campbell inexplicably went away from him. Nevertheless, Cooley still led the team in targets, receptions, and receiving yards.
| PK Shaun Suisham 3 - 3 FG, 1 - 1 XP, 10 points |
Suisham connected on all three of his field goal attempts (from 27, 28, and 33 yards). He also made his only PAT.
| WAS Rush Defense |
Washington's rush defense gave up 100 total yards on 20 carries for a 5.0 average. They gave up 82 yards and a 5.1 average to first time starter Fred Jackson. They allowed no touchdowns and forced no turnovers.
| WAS Pass Defense |
Washington's pass defense gave up 257 yards on 22 of 36 passing for 7.13 yards per attempt. They allowed no touchdowns and forced no interceptions. They did recover a stripped ball from Bills' tight end Robert Royal.
