FINAL SCORE: Tampa Bay 27 – Buffalo 6
LOCATION: Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, Florida
RECORDS: Buffalo (4-9); Tampa Bay (4-9)
IN A NUTSHELL:
Buffalo came out flat to start the game and never recovered from an early 14-3 deficit as their offense was unable to gain any traction on the ground and their passing game was hit and miss.
EJ Manuel struggled for most of the day throwing four interceptions while completing just 18 of his 33 pass attempts for 184 yards. He was under pressure most of the afternoon and was sacked seven times in the game.
Tampa Bay only turned Buffalo's five turnovers into six points as fellow rookie QB Mike Glennon managed just 90 yards passing on 9-for-25 passing, but two went for touchdowns and the game was never in doubt for the Buccaneers.
The Bills defense was susceptible to the big play early, and though they recorded a pair of interceptions they were unable to stop the run with any consistency allowing 165 yards on 36 Tampa carries (4.6 avg.).
Special teams was also guilty of a giveaway as Leodis McKelvin muffed a fair catch and Tampa Bay recovered.
It was a season low for points (6), third down conversion percentage (9%) and a season high for penalties (11).
HOW IT WENT DOWN:
--The Bucs got up early with Bobby Rainey's 80-yard touchdown run coming on just the second play from scrimmage.
--Tampa's second touchdown came on a broken play with Mike Glennon chucking it up to Vincent Jackson, who out muscled Nickell Robey for a 38-yard touchdown reception.
--Buffalo's offense struggled to put a long drive together as they went 0-for-6 on third downs on their first eight possessions. They finished the game 1-for-10 on third down conversions.
--Tampa Bay didn't get much from Glennon in the way of passing with just 90 yards through the air, but his two touchdown passes helped in the 21-point victory.
--The Buccaneers had just 28 net yards of offense in the second half and managed just three points over the final two quarters, but it was more than enough.
--Buffalo is now 1-5 on the road this season.
THE HALF OF IT:
--The Bucs scored their first two touchdowns on big plays with an 80-yard TD run by Bobby Rainey and a 38-yard touchdown pass from Mike Glennon to Vincent Jackson.
--EJ Manuel was sacked four times on the team's first six possessions and threw a pair of interceptions.
--Buffalo was 0-for-6 on third downs. On 31 offensive plays the Bills gained 70 total net yards.
--The Bills only points through the first two quarters came on a 40-yard Dan Carpenter field goal.
**
SUBPLOTS:
**--Zebra influence – The Bills had the stop they wanted on a 3rd-and-15, as pass pressure by Jairus Byrd on Mike Glennon led to an incomplete pass at the Buffalo 40. Byrd finished his blitz with an ankle tackle of Glennon, but was flagged for roughing the passer allowing the drive to continue for Tampa. Five plays later the Bucs put their third touchdown on the scoreboard for a 24-3 halftime lead.
--Zebra influence Part II – C.J. Spiller appeared to have an 83-yard catch and run for a touchdown in the fourth quarter, but a holding penalty was called downfield that reduced the gain on the play to just a 16-yard gain.
--Rian Lindell tied a season long with a 53-yard field goal in his first game against his former team.
--Stephon Gilmore posted his first interception of the season on a Mike Glennon pass intended for Vincent Jackson in the second quarter. It was the second of his career.
--Both teams combined for five first half turnovers, but only the Buccaneers managed to capitalize with points, notching just a field goal despite getting three takeaways to Buffalo's two.
QUOTES FROM COACH MARRONE:
--"I find it very difficult after that game to stand up here and defend a lot of things. I thought we played poorly. I shouldn't say I thought. I know we played poorly in all three phases. We had penalties. We had turnovers. We had missed reads. We had missed tackles. We had things go wrong for us."
--"I said this earlier in the week, we played a Kansas City team which was a tough game and came back in Pittsburgh and did not play well in a lot of areas. We played a game last week, which was a very difficult game for our players. We talked about it during the week coming back and we played even worse than we did in the Pittsburgh game. That's very disappointing when you want to grow and you want to go forward.
"But at the same time I'm not going to stand here and say I didn't learn anything from this. I learned a lot. I learned that we have to work harder. I learned that we have a long way to go. I learned that we have to take more accountability when you start trying to find the good things and mitigate feeling good. I can't stand up here and make excuses. I can only promise you that we're going to work harder and get this thing fixed."
--"I'm not going to lie. I feel like we let down ownership, we let down the fans. We had a bunch of fans down here, we really did. It's important for us and sometimes it's very difficult for those fans to see on the outside, of what is progression and what is not progression and that is a difficult thing. I have to do a good job and give them things that they can visibly see on the field to make sure they understand that we are working toward going in the right direction."
Inactives:
QB Jeff Tuel, FB Frank Summers, DB Brandon Smith, OL Mark Asper, OL Antoine McClain, TE Tony Moeaki, LB Jamaal Westerman.
Up Next:
The Bills will travel to Jacksonville to take on the Jaguars (4-9).
