The Jacksonville Jaguars scored 27 unanswered to take a big first-half lead, then the Buffalo Bills scored 28 unanswered to take the lead back in the fourth quarter. All that action set up a masterful touchdown drive by Blake Bortles that proved to be the game-winner in a 34-31 victory for the Jaguars in London.
Bills vs. Jaguars 2015 final score: 3 things we learned from Jacksonville’s 34-31 win
The Bills scored 28 unanswered points to take a lead in the fourth quarter, but the Jaguars scored a late touchdown to pull out a win.
Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
It looked like Jacksonville was on its way to a blowout in the first half at Wembley Stadium when EJ Manuel fell victim to three turnovers in a three-minute span -- all leading to Jaguars touchdowns. It seemed like a 27-3 deficit would be too much for the injury-laden Bills to overcome.
Yes, the Bills bounced back quickly with a 16-yard touchdown that cut into the lead, but were it not for the Jaguars’ offense going ice cold for most of the second half, the early mistakes from Manuel likely would have been too much to overcome.
After a 10-yard touchdown from Bortles to Allen Robinson gave the Jaguars a 7-3 lead, a Manuel fumble was scooped up by Chris Clemons for a 6-yard touchdown. Seven seconds later, the Jaguars upped the lead to 21-3 when Manuel threw a pick-six to linebacker Telvin Smith.
Just a few plays later, Manuel threw another interception, this time to Paul Posluszny, that set up the Jaguars for a 28-yard rushing touchdown from T.J. Yeldon.
For the most part, the Bills defense did a good job against the Jaguars’ offense, holding Bortles to just 182 yards and allowing fewer than half of his passes to be completed. A pick-six thrown by Bortles gave the Bills the lead with just over five minutes remaining.
But the second-year quarterback led the Jaguars on a seven-play, 84-yard drive that ended with a diving touchdown by Allen Hurns to take back the lead. One final chance for the Bills came up short with a turnover on downs when a pass from Manuel was knocked away by Jaguars cornerback Aaron Colvin.
3 things we learned
Streaming isn’t too bad
Anybody who has ever had a video get stuck buffering had to have a little reservation about Yahoo! attempting to keep a solid connection up for several hours without a hitch while millions tuned in for the first globally streamed game. All in all, Yahoo! can give the IT guy a pat on the back for a job well done.
The biggest connectivity problems of the game were some struggles for Manuel to get the playcalls in his ear, but the Yahoo! stream stayed strong. If the NFL was considering this game a “test run” for things to come, it might be safe to say that the Internet passed the test with flying colors.
Tyrod Taylor > EJ Manuel
Taylor hasn’t been mistake-free during his time as the Bills’ starter, but he’s certainly less mistake-prone than Manuel. In five starts, Taylor has completed just over 70 percent of his passes with nine touchdowns and four interceptions for a 103.6 passer rating. Manuel managed to complete just over 50 percent of his passes with two touchdown and two interceptions for a 75.3 rating. The former first-round pick has been responsible for too many blown opportunities.
Without Sammy Watkins and Percy Harvin, there weren't many weapons on the field for Manuel to work with, but his interceptions were simply bad reads, not poor plays by the wide receivers. Inaccuracy has plagued the quarterback for most of his career and was still a big issue for Manuel in his return to the starting lineup on Sunday.
T.J. Yeldon is another good rookie running back
Rookie running backs have earned a lot of praise in 2015, but Yeldon has only been considering “promising” due to his 3.6 yards per carry through five games played. Plenty of that had to do with limited touches in three of the games he played and lackluster blocking by the Jaguars’ offensive line.
Against the formidable Bills’ rush defense, Yeldon busted off a 28-yard touchdown and tallied 115 yards on the ground on 20 carries. The Jaguars drew criticism for not continuing to feed Yeldon on the goal line in the third quarter, instead electing to go with four consecutive unsuccessful rush attempts with Toby Gerhart. The big game for Yeldon improved his yards per carry average to 4.1 so perhaps it’s time to add him to the list of rookie running backs who are playing well and not just showing promise for the future.
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