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Bills Stay Alive With 21-13 Huge Win
Four FGs, A Special Teams Score, and a safety for the win.
by Steve Saslow
The Skinny:
Marcus Thigpen returned a punt 75 yards for the Bills only touchdown and Mario Williams clinched a great defensive effort with a strip sack that resulted in a safety to give the Bills a huge 21-13 victory over one of the best teams in the league in the Green Bay Packers. It is the first time since 1971 that the Bills had a punt return TD and a safety. The win clinches at least a .500 season for the Bills for the first time since 2004. League MVP favorite Aaron Rodgers became the second straight future hall of famer to have one of the worst games of his career against the vaunted Bills defense. He was just 17 of 42 for 185 yards and for the first time in his career was held without a touchdown pass while throwing two interceptions. Bacarri Rambo of all people had both picks when he came in the game for the injured Duke Williams. The Bills offense played awful and every drive unraveled as they got close but Dan Carpenter was money as usual hitting all four field goal attempts. Kyle Orton completed just 14 of 27 passes for 158 yards and an interception as they used a short passing attack. Fred Jackson had 71 yards on 20 carries.
The Turning Point:
The Safety: Even though the Bills led most of the second half everyone was waiting for the other shoe to drop and Rodgers to make a big play. Super Mario made the big play with the strip sack for a safety that clinched the game.
The Big Drive:
The Only Offensive TD: It wasn't big in how the game unfolded but it was the only offensive scoring drive of the game by either team. The packers went 80 yards in 7 plays that took just 2:55 off the clock in a fast paced series. The Packers did most of the damage on the ground with Eddie Lacy running with authority as the Packers offensive line pushed the Bills defensive line around the whole drive. Lacy had runs of 15, 17, and 22 yards on the first three plays of the possession. He ended the drive with a one yard run where he barreled through the Bills defense into the end zone. The Packers did little the rest of the game.
The Big Drive II:
The Packers 1st TD: It was an 80 yard drive in 7 plays and took just 2:55 off the clock in the fast paced series. The Packers did most of the damage on the ground with Eddie Lacy running with authority as the Packers offensive line pushed the Bills defensive line around the whole drive. Lacy had runs of 15, 17, and 22 yards on the first three plays of the possession. He ended the drive with a one yard run where he barreled through the Bills defense into the end zone.
Stat I Did Like:
Rodgers' Passing Line: He had perhaps the worst game of his career with a QB rating of 34.3 and three turnovers.
Stat I Didn't Like:
Orton's Passing Line: He was woefully inaccurate with a QB rating of 54.2
Quick Slants:
- Thurman Thomas was the leader of the charge before the game as it was fan appreciation day at the Ralph. The game was soldout making it a perfect 7 for 7 on the year that saw no blackouts for the first time since 2009.
- Jim Kelly caught up with former teammate Alex Van Pelt before the game. Van Pelt is the QB coach for the Packers.
- For the first time ever the Bills wore royal blue pants and jerseys in a game.
- The Packers won the coin toss and elected to take the ball first which makes sense putting their high powered offense on the field first. They got one first down before having to punt.
Key Matchup Results:
The winners of the battles highlighted in our preview article:
CBs Stephon Gilmore and Corey Graham vs. WRs Jordy Nelson and Randall Cobb: Winner: Gilmore And Graham. They won this matchup easily and had help from Nickell Robey and Ron Brooks too.
WR Sammy Watkins vs. CB Tramon Williams: Winner: Williams. Watkins had just one catch that went for 28 yards but he seemed out of sync with Orton all day long.
DE Jerry Hughes vs. LT David Bakhtiari: Winner: Bakhtiari. Hughes was quiet and only hit Rodgers once.
RT Seantrel Henderson vs. OLB Clay Matthews: Winner: Matthews. He had two sacks.
Keys To The Game Results:
How the keys highlighted in our preview article turned out:
1. Loud Home Crowd: Success! An unbelievable performance by the 12th man. The Packers offense was out of sync all day long thanks to Rodgers not being able to communicate.
2. Be Disciplined: Failure! Another double digit penalty week as they had 10 penalties accepted for a net loss of 75 yards.
3. Red Zone Efficiency: Failure! They were 0 for 2 in the red zone settling for field goals. They were also 0 for 3 on the fringes of the red zone settling for two more field goals and a punt.
My Take:
It is an amazing, feel good, fun win for the fans of the Buffalo Bills. They are now 8-6 and still in the hunt with two games to play after playing very well against two of the league's best the past two weeks. The playoffs are still going to be very hard to achieve but it is awesome that they are still alive and they now have a win over an elite team under their belt. Even if the playoffs don't happen this year has absolutely been a big step forward.
What's Ahead:
The Bills head west with their playoff hopes still alive as they take on the floundering Raiders in what is supposed to be the easy game of the month. They can't let up now because a loss to the Raiders would totally negate today's great win.
Gameballs
Bacarri Rambo - He is the Bills fourth safety and was only on the field because of an injury to not one but two safeties. He then picked off Aaron Rodgers twice in the second half.
Dan Carpenter - He is just money. 3 for 3 on field goals and was their whole offense.
Marcus Thigpen - He scored the lone Bills touchdown on a fantastic punt return.
Mario Williams - Big strip sack clinched the game for the Bills.
Stephon Gilmore - Had a big penalty and dropped interception but was just fantastic in coverage.
Corey Graham - Also fantastic in coverage.
Doug Whaley - He has worked hard all season long. Two of his most recent additions to the roster also got gameballs. They don't win this game without Thigpen and Rambo.
Goats
Cordy Glenn - Three big penalties and a sack given up. The worst game of his career.
Kyle Orton - He was terrible once again as he throws were inaccurate and he held on to the ball too long resulting in coverage sacks at terrible times in the 2nd half. They won despite him.
Robert Woods - Dropped a couple of passes and only caught two.
Player Of The Week
Bacarri Rambo - His game is what make the NFL great.
 Positional Breakdown and Grades
NFL.com Gamebook
Packers Game Preview
Gameday Homepage
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