In something of a last-minute decision, I've decided to further break up my notes from the Buffalo Bills' Week 8 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs last season. Because the overtime period in that contest lasted nearly a full regulation quarter, it made this post rather lengthy.
Week 8, second half: Bills outscore Chiefs 10-3, force OT - NOTES
- Lee Evans makes a nice catch on a great Ryan Fitzpatrick throw. Fitzpatrick fits the ball into a tight window on a slant. Evans beats Flowers, hangs on for first-down yardage.
- Stevie Johnson assigned to block Jovan Belcher on a toss sweep. Johnson whiffs, Jackson eventually stopped for no gain.
- Corey McIntyre called for a false start. Lots of irritating procedure penalties on the Bills in this one.
Week 8, second half: Bills outscore Chiefs 10-3, force OT - NOTES (cont.)
- C.J. Spiller cuts outside on a designed bubble screen, but he had blocking to the inside. Short gain.
- David Martin (pulling left) and Andy Levitre spring Jackson on a nice-looking draw. Javier Arenas brings Jackson down by the shoelaces, preventing a much bigger gain.
- Spiller and Jackson used simultaneously in the backfield on majority of second half's opening drive, with Jackson lining up as a fullback on occasion.
- Cordaro Howard flagged for a false start. This penalty absolutely destroyed the momentum of a good drive. Bills forced to settle for a field goal. 7-3 Chiefs.
- Chris Kelsay loses contain on a simple off-tackle play when he tries to spin inside. Thomas Jones goes from a certain no-gain to a run of 13 yards and a first down.
- Paul Posluszny makes a pretty tip on a pass in deep coverage, forcing the incompletion.
- Great coverage leads to a Matt Cassel sack, with Posluszny and Marcus Stroud doing the honors.
- Posluszny makes a great open-field tackle on Dwayne Bowe to create a fourth down.
- Spiller cuts inside on a toss sweep, but had blocking to the outside. Again, short gain.
- Chiefs runners are continually gashing Buffalo's nickel defense to the weak side of the formation. No Bills personnel package can defend the run, but nickel group particularly brutal.
- Bills inside linebackers made to deal with free blockers on every running play. They're not equipped to handle that kind of traffic.
- Kyle Williams makes Brian Waters looks foolish, quickly shedding a lackadaisical block to stop Jones for a loss.
- Andra Davis, Posluszny and Donte Whitner make a nice stop on 4th & 1, but the Chiefs are able to eke out the inches necessary for a first down.
- Cassel jukes Kelsay out of his cleats on an eight-yard scramble.
- Williams destroys the A gap, tackles Jones for a loss. Blockers barely laid a hand on him.
- Eric Wood (pulling) and Demetrius Bell create a nice seam on a pretty Jackson run.
- Bills have repeatedly tried toss sweeps with three lead blockers in this half - typically Wood, Levitre and McIntyre. None of those plays have yielded satisfactory yardage.
- Bell flagged for a false start. This is getting ridiculous.
- Evans almost makes a great catch on a fly pattern, but great coverage from Brandon Flowers creates an incompletion.
- A blatant Howard hold on Andy Studebaker goes uncalled as Fitzpatrick rips a beautiful throw down the seam to Roscoe Parrish for big yardage. Parrish blew by Flowers on the play.
- Evans fumbles on a screen pass. Chan Gailey wins a game-saving challenge, preserving possession for his team by pointing out that Mike Vrabel touched the fumbled ball while out of bounds, returning possession to the team that last had it (Buffalo).
- Spiller toughs out three yards on a bubble screen for a crucial first down. Lowered his shoulder and powered for the necessary yardage.
- Geoff Hangartner can't erase Vrabel out on a screen pattern, allowing Vrabel to trip up Jackson on a screen pass with scoring potential.
- Tamba Hali makes a fantastic play to break up another screen pass to Jackson on 3rd & Goal. Read the play from the start.
- Fitzpatrick hits Johnson on a four-yard scoring strike on 4th & Goal to tie the game. Simple pre-snap read: off coverage, Fitzpatrick got the ball out quick, and Johnson squirted into the end zone. Risky play, but it worked.
- On the ensuing kickoff, Rian Lindell nabs a touchback, blasting the kickoff through the end zone. That was big.
- Williams pressure forces Cassel up into Dwan Edwards. That leads to an incompletion, and the Chiefs are forced to punt with ample time remaining.
- Chiefs line up to go for it on 4th & 1 deep in their own territory, and Cassel gets it on a sneak - but not before Todd Haley called a timeout.
- Parrish busts out a phenomenal 33-yard punt return to set the Bills up at midfield with over a minute remaining. Gailey stoked on the sidelines.
- Fitzpatrick forces a ball down the seam to Johnson, and Derrick Johnson was all over it. It's the second dropped interception of the day for the Chiefs linebacker.
- Fitzpatrick throws a wobbling duck over the head of an open, slanting Evans. Eric Berry picks the pass off. Appears as though Fitzpatrick was trying to pull back on the throw, as Evans would've been leveled. Still, this was a bona fide WTF moment.
- Williams gets a sack on Cassel to end regulation, steal a shred of momentum back for overtime.