Jacksonville 34, Buffalo 31
When: 9:30 AM ET, Sunday, October 25, 2015
Where: Wembley Stadium, London
Temperature:
48°
Head Official:
Terry McAulay
Attendance:
84021
By The Sports Xchange
LONDON – The Buffalo Bills are grateful to be hitting the bye with injuries piling up and a deflating loss Sunday that head coach Rex Ryan doesn't want tailing his team home from Wembley Stadium.
"I don't know if I've ever seen a team that needs a bye worse than we do," Ryan said Sunday after a 34-31 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars that dropped the Bills to 3-4.
Saddled by injuries to key personnel including starting quarterback Tyrod Taylor, the Bills rallied with 28 points to overcome a 27-3 deficit, but Jaguars quarterback Blake Bortles threw a 31-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Allen Hurns with 2:16 remaining to complete a rally and give Jacksonville its first win at Wembley Stadium.
"It was a good team win," said Bortles.
Head coach Gus Bradley credited the entire team for delivering.
"To get the win is obviously what we are all after," he said. "To have a lead like we did and not do it like we wanted to, there's a lot of good things to talk about – the takeaways on defense, the pressure on the quarterback – all three phases came through for us."
"It is an extremely painful loss," Ryan said. "To give it up at the end. It's a devastating loss to say the least.
Manuel said after the game he should have checked down on the interception returned for a score and took the blame for the offense sputtering at times.
Ryan partially credited "unacceptable" communication issues in which silence and static were all that could be heard in the team's headsets.
The Bills had taken a 31-27 lead with 5:21 left when defensive back Corey Graham intercepted a Bortles pass and returned it 44 yards for a touchdown.
Bortles finished 13 of 29 for 182 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. Running back T.J. Yeldon rushed for 115 yards and one touchdown on 20 carries.
"He showed tremendous poise," Bradley said of Bortles. "I think what we're seeing in Blake is he does keep his eyes downfield, always looking for opportunities. He's really grown in that area."
The Bills didn't see the same from quarterback EJ Manuel, who is now 6-10 as a starter.
Manuel started at quarterback for the Bills for the second straight game in the absence of Taylor, who was out for a second consecutive game because of a sprained left knee. Ryan said Sunday that he expects Taylor to be full strength following the bye week.
"To have back-to-back turnovers, is very tough," Manuel said.
Manuel had two interceptions, lost one of his two fumbles, and was sacked four times. He struggled early as the Jaguars built their 24-point lead.
The Bills' comeback started with 2:46 left in the second quarter when Manuel completed a 16-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Robert Woods.
In the fourth quarter, Dan Carpenter kicked a third field goal before Manuel hit wide receiver Marcus Easley on a 58-yard touchdown pass.
Manuel finished with 298 yards on 24-of-42 passing. Running back LeSean McCoy also lost a fumble. He rushed for 68 yards on 18 carries.
Top Game Performances
Rushing
| Buffalo |
|
Jacksonville |
|
LeSean McCoy
|
Player |
T.J. Yeldon
|
|
18 |
Attempts |
20 |
|
68 |
Yards |
115 |
|
3.8 |
Avg Yards |
5.8 |
|
0 |
Touchdowns |
1 |
|
17 |
Long |
28 |
Team Stats Summary
| |
Yards |
Scoring |
Defense |
| Team |
Tot |
Rus |
Pas |
TD |
FG |
INT |
Sck |
FF |
| Buffalo
|
375 |
115 |
260 |
3 |
3 |
1 |
2.0 |
1 |
| Jacksonville
|
295 |
120 |
175 |
5 |
0 |
2 |
4.0 |
3 |
Upcoming Games
-
Jacksonville will play their next game on the road against N.Y. Jets. The Jaguars have a W/L % of .000 after a win and .400 after a loss.
-
Buffalo will play their next game at home against Miami. The Bills have a W/L % of .000 after a win and .750 after a loss.
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