A recap of Buffalo’s 33-13 win over Cleveland at New Era Field.
Buffalo Bills Insider Chris Brown provides the details. Here is his report:
Regular season records: Buffalo (7-7), Cleveland (0-14)
In a nutshell:
Buffalo is 4-1 this season when LeSean McCoy goes over 100 yards rushing, and those odds remained largely in the Bills favor on Sunday against the Browns. The Bills feature back hit the century mark on his first carry of the third quarter as Buffalo took a 14-point halftime lead and cruised to victory over winless Cleveland 33-13.
McCoy averaged, X.X yards per carry en route to a season-high 153 yards rushing for his sixth 100-yard day on the ground this season. His second touchdown run also helped the Bills set a franchise mark for rushing touchdowns in a season with 27, breaking the record held by the 1975 Bills.
Buffalo built a 17-3 halftime lead with touchdowns by Mike Gillislee and Charles Clay. McCoy’s pair of rushing scores came in the second half to help put the Bills comfortably ahead with 12 minutes to play.
The Bills defense held Cleveland’s offense in check for most of the game forcing five three-and-outs by the Browns. They also had five sacks on Robert Griffin III.
With the win Buffalo pulled their record back up to .500 at 7-7 on the season.
How it went down:
-The Bills scored on their opening possession as Dan Carpenter put a 21-yard attempt up and through after Buffalo’s offense was unable to reach the end zone after a LeSean McCoy 24-yard run set up 1st-and-goal from the five-yard line (3-0) midway through the first quarter.
-Cleveland tied the score with a field goal drive of their own that covered 63 yards on 12 plays late in the first (3-3).
-Buffalo put the first touchdown of the game on the board and Mike Gillislee scored on a three-yard run to cap an eight-play 74-yard drive (10-3) to close out the first quarter.
-The Bills expanded their lead when Charles Clay made a great catch on an underthrown ball to the end zone for a 19-yard reception, which capped a 13-play 91-yard drive with 30 seconds left in the half (17-3).
-Robert Griffin III finished off an eight-play, 80-yard drive with an 18-yard scramble to the end zone to close the Browns gap to seven (17-10) midway through the third quarter.
-A 28-yard scramble run by Tyrod Taylor set up a 1st-and-goal for the Bills from the three-yard line. LeSean McCoy took it in from there for a touchdown to re-establish Buffalo’s 14-point lead with six minutes left in the third quarter (24-10).
-Cleveland put together a field goal drive in response to Buffalo’s touchdown to make it an 11-point game late in the third (24-13).
-McCoy would score his second, three-yard touchdown of the game to add six more to Buffalo’s lead. Dan Carpenter however, missed the extra point wide right to make it 30-13 with 12 minutes to play.
-Carpenter put a 34-yard attempt up and through to effectively put the game away (33-13) midway through the fourth quarter.
Subplots:
-LeSean McCoy eclipsed the 1,000-yard rushing barrier in the first quarter. It’s his fifth career 1,000-yard rushing campaign. He also rushed for a single-game season high 153 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
-Tyrod Taylor passed Jim Kelly (1,049) for the second-most rushing yards by a quarterback in team history with his 49 rushing yards against the Browns. Taylor was 17-24 passing for 174 yards and a touchdown with a passer rating of 105.2. He was sacked once.
-Kyle Williams went up and over the 40-sack total in his career with 1.5 sacks Sunday.
-Charles Clay had a season-high seven receptions Sunday that went for 72 yards and a touchdown. Clay’s second quarter touchdown catch marked the 20th touchdown of his career. It was also his second in the last two games.
-The Bills defense posted five sacks in the victory and now have 38 on the season.
-EJ Manuel replaced Tyrod Taylor with six minutes left in the game and the team up by 20 points.
-Cyrus Kouandjio started at left tackle in place of the injured Cordy Glenn (back).
-Mike Gillislee scored the 10th touchdown of his career and seventh in the past nine games on a three-yard scoring run in the first half.
Inactives:
QB Cardale Jones, WR Dez Lewis, RB Reggie Bush, LB Lerentee McCray, OT Cordy Glenn, TE Logan Thomas, TE Gerald Christian.
Up next:
The Bills host the Miami Dolphins for a Saturday 1 pm kickoff on Christmas Eve.