The Buffalo Bills and the Atlanta Falcons are tied, 17-17, at halftime in Toronto. Buffalo closed the half with 20 frustrating minutes after opening up a 14-0 lead in the first 10 minutes of game time.
C.J. Spiller sprinted 77 yards on the Bills' opening possession to set up a one-yard touchdown run from EJ Manuel. On their second possession, Fred Jackson bulled his way to pay dirt from four yards out to extend the lead to 14-0. The running game was clicking early for the Bills, and they've rushed for 139 yards as a team after 30 minutes.
Atlanta, however, got back into the contest behind its own ground game, which came into the game ranked as one of the league's worst. Steven Jackson (27 yards) and Antone Smith (38 yards) registered untouched rushing scores for the Falcons, who have 84 rushing yards today themselves. That's kept the offense in balance for Matt Ryan, who has moved the chains with regularity despite being sacked three times and facing a ton of pressure.
If you're counting, we've seen 10 minutes of Bills dominance and 20 minutes of status quo Bills disappointment thus far this afternoon. Buffalo, sitting at 4-7, has a chance to leap forward in the AFC playoff race with a win... time will tell if they can handle their own business and beat a team they should handle with ease north of the border.
Let's go, Buffalo. (Seriously.)