Better late than never. Guess what happens when I forget to set an alarm? The Live Blog starts 6 minutes late, that’s what.
1st Quarter
9:00 Looks like a defensive struggle, so far.
8:40 And Freddie, my boy, with a 34 yard run. Nice to wake up to.
6:40 George Parros is smart? Who’da thunk? Nice grab in the slot by David Nelson and the Bills are moving the football.
6:20 Illegal crackback by Donald…Jones? I see nothing. Maybe they meant Scott Chandler.
5:30 The Bills tackles are getting beat. The Bills are using quick routes, almost a West Coast offense to beat the Raiders defensive line. Demetrius Bell is looking particularly bad.
4:20 Failed gadget play to Brad Smith, who had maybe two or three receivers open down field. Brad Smith needs to show some confidence in throwing the ball before any team is going to respect a play like that. He had a lot of downfield options there.
3:40 5.0 yds per carry on three runs for McFadden. Then a little trickeration of their own by Oakland for little gain. Who will break first?
1:28 Bills hold the Raiders on 3rd and short. Now 4th and inches. Do the Raiders go for it here past the 50? You’re the Raiders. I say go for it.
:40 McFadden converts on 4th and short. He has been the Raiders offense this game. This is something I warned about in our Buffalo Wins preview.
:00 0-0 after 1, but the Raiders are driving. This will definitely be a low scoring one, and the Bills are going to need to win some trench wars to get the ball downfield a few times going forward here. You’ve got to figure the Raiders are going to figure out those underneath routes sooner than later.
2nd Quarter
15:00 McKelvin with an absolutely awful play in coverage on 3rd and 3. Oy.
13:40 Raiders in the Red Zone. Schilens to the 1 or 2 yard line. Impressive drive by Oakland.
11:40 Third and Goal, the Buffalo defense trying to make a stop. Neutral zone infraction, repeat third down. Gotta be disciplind, Beels. And touchdown Raiders. Merriman looks slow.
11:33 Janikowski Janikowskis the kick-off. Bills ball at the 20. Would like, at least, a sustained drive here to stop feeling so bad about it.
10:50 Stevie Johnson with a soft drop and we’re suddenly in 3rd and 10.
10:30 Interception from Fitz to Stanford Routt, Fitz might have rushed that a bit with pressure coming from off the right tackle, and things are not starting well.
9:30 First and goal for the Raiders. The Bills defense needs to make a player here, they look asleep.
8:30 Touchdown Raiders. Darren McFadden vs. Jairus Byrd, McFadden wins every time. And 14-0 da Raidahs. Not looking good, ladies and gents.
8:08: In order to get back into this game, the Bills are going to need to win the line war, on both sides. Somebody in the trenches besides Dareus needs to show up.
7:30 Nice play to Roscoe Parrish and a second to Stevie Johnson. A big chunk of the field in two plays.
6:40 Complaint: They don’t show the time enough on CBS. I’m ball parking these times. Roscoe comes up lame.
5:40 Stevie with another nice grab into field goal range. Fred Jackson takes the draw, and while no one on the Raiders defense was fooled, the cameraman was.
4:15 Brad Smith converts the first down out of the Wildcat.
4:00 Raiders defender gets a fingertip on a touchdown pass to David Nelson to cause the incompletion.
3:15: Roscoe heads off on a cart without any pressure on his leg. If this is a long term injury, it has to be the last time we see him in a Bills uniform. Just maddening and he is not durable enough. It looks like Kraig Urbik took a nasty spill, and we have an injury timeout.
2:30 3rd and 7 from the 11, a very difficult yardage and position the field. Connection to David Nelson who is close, but probably a bit short on this. You go for it here, I think. Take a chance. These are where the “trenches matter.
2:30 They go for a field goal. Jauron Ball. 14-3.
2:20 I don’t like the Field Goal call there. You’re still down by 11 points, or two touchdowns, basically. And the pressure is on the Bills defense now, big time, to stop a team they haven’t in the last two drives before half.
2:12 Bills take a timeout after shutting down McFadden up the middle. From the looks of it through one-and-a-half football games, the Bills are going to be a running liability on the edges this year.
2:00 Two minute warning after a 16 yard reception and run from McFadden. Secondary and downfield tackling remains an issue for this mysterious Bills defense.
1:40 42-yard reception burns Leodis McKelvin, who remains one of the most maddening Buffalo Bills in recent history.
1:30 Michael Bush rumbles down to the 1 yard line. The Bills defense looks awful.
1:22 Touchdown Jason Campbell on a little QB Sneak. 21-3 Raiders, and the rout is on. Not good folks. The Bills offense has got some yards and moved the ball a little. They need points, of course, and I’m confident they can get some. I am not so confident the Bills defense can keep them in the game.
1:22: Another kickoff out of the back of the end zone. I said all week, and took some heat for it, that it wasn’t how impressive the Bills looked, but how bad the Chiefs looked last week.
1:09 Stevie Johnson pulls down a wounded duck (bad pass from Fitz, frankly), but then drops the ball after a helmet to helmet hit, which draws an unnecessary roughness penalty. Barely helmet to helmet, but I’ll take it.
:55 David Nelson with a catch over the middle, and Ryan Fitzpatrick with a QB keeper gets the first down, timeout with :44 to go. Okay, let’s be honest. David Nelson is the #2 receiver on this team.
:09 I’ll state the obvious and say poor clock management there. Use the timeout with the time. You don’t get the timeout back. You don’t need to go into halftime with a timeout. It just makes no sense. Field Goal blocked, I think. And 21-3 into half-time.
:00 I’ll be handing it off to Brandon Schlager now. I don’t have much of a half-time analysis to give you except YUCK.
Hey guys. Brandon Schlager here taking the reins from Matt. This could be an ugly second half, brace yourselves.
3rd Quarter
14:54 Fitzpatrick scrambles for a first down here, most life I’ve seen from him all game.
13:26 TOUCHDOWN: Holy crap, the Bills have scored. Freddy Jackson hits the hole and took a few great angles into the Raiders secondary for a 43-yard TD run.
13:22 Nice coverage on the kickoff as the Bills hand the ball over to the Raiders after cutting the gap down to 21-10.
Now it’s up to the defense to show us they can actually stop someone here. Rest of the game will depend on that.
10:59 Dareus with a great play to force third down. Bills need to show they can stop the Raiders on third down. Haven’t been able to all day.
10:15 And what do you know, Raiders pick up the first down.
8:32 Yet another Raiders first down. Bills need to figure something out here. At least McFadden is contained right now.
7:09 FUMBLE: Speaking of McFadden, he coughs up the ball and the Bills will take over on their own 43. Needed that. Now, it’s time to capitalize and put a touchdown up on the board. No Gailey, not another FG.
7:03 C.J. Spiller with his best carry of the game so far. Jumps to the outside and picks up 12 for a first down.
6:28 Fitz hits Stevie Johnson on first down. Second and short coming up.
5:40 Brad Smith heads out in the wildcat formation and keeps the ball for an 11-yard gain and another Bills first down.
5:05 Spiller with another great run. Good playcalling here by Gailey, getting his speed guys into open field. 12-yard run for Spiller leaves the Bills with a first and goal situation at the 7.
3:41 TOUCHDOWN: Stevie Johnson beats Raiders Tyvon Branch on a nice route and Fitz finds him for the 7 yard score. Nice drive by ther Bills, well done to get a touchdown here. Score reduced again to 21-17.
3:37 Bills kickoff after the score and cover the return very nicely once again. Raiders will start drive backed up on their own 14.
3:29 Campbell looks deep to Denarius Moore but this time the Bills are smart to have him covered nicely.
2:41 Bills get a good pash rush again, force a 3 and out. That’s how you get it done.
2:30 Bills receive the punt and will begin drive on their own 31.
2:08 Another quick pass as Stevie makes Chris Johnson miss and picks up first down.
1:41 Fitzpatrick was drilled as his attempt to find Chandler deep falls incomplete.
1:11 Fitz hits Stevie Johnson again for another first down.
1:00 Freddy Jackson with another HUGE carry. Makes a bunch of guys miss and scampers down field for a 30-yard run. Bills threatening to score again here.
:12 Fitz is sacked on second down but an illegal contact penalty on the Raiders give the Bills a first down to end the third quarter.
:00 Now that’s how you play football, Bills. What a great third quarter. A touchdown here pretty much negates all the terrible happenings of that horrific first half.
4th Quarter
15:00 Fitz hits Scott Chandler fir a first down, just short of the goal line.
14:14 TOUCHDOWN: Fred Jackson plows past the goal line for a score. Well deserved first TD of the season for Freddy. Bills now lead 24-21.
14:10 Raiders will begin ensuing drive at their own 20 after Lindell boots the kickoff out of the endzone.
13:15 Raiders with a few big pass plays. Knocking on the door to Bills territory.
11:39 Another Raiders first down. This could turn out to be one hell of a fourth quarter. Would have never thought that starting this half.
11:00 Wow. That kid Denarius Moore is having a huge game. Moore shows his speed on a double reverse and runs downfield for 25 yards and another Raiders first down.
9:18 TOUCHDOWN: McFadden gets to the outside and takes a short pass into the endzone for 6. After 21 unanswered points the Raiders regain the lead, 28-24.
9:18 Brad Smith takes a knee in the endzone for a touchback on the ensuing kickoff. Bills start things at their own 20.
8:38 C.J. Spiller bounces to the outside and sprints down the sidelines for a 26-yard run.
8:00 Fitz completes a pass to Stevie Johnson for another first down.
6:47 Fitz finds Johnson again down the sidelines wide open for a first down. 1st and goal now for the Bills.
5:35 Fitzpatrick overshoots David Nelson in the endzone as the Raiders are flagged for defensive holding. 1st and goal again for the Bills.
4:48 TOUCHDOWN: Scott Chandler making fantasy owners everywhere happy. Catches his third TD on the season as the Bills re-take the lead, 31-28.
4:44 McFadden continues his solid game, catches a dump pass for a first down.
4:29 Another Raiders first down as Marcel Reece makes the grab for 12 yards.
3:41 TOUCHDOWN: All I can say is.. wow. Denarius Moore comes up huge and makes an unbelievable catch for a 50-yard score as the Raiders are back on top, 35-31.
3:38 Bills takeover at their own 20. Time for Fitz to show us what he can do.
3:38 Stevie draws a huge pass interference call. Bills now have ball on the 34.
3:24 David Nelson comes up with the grab to get it close and Fitz carries the ball for the first down on the ensuing play.
2:33 Another catch by Nelson. Short of first down but brings Bills into Raiders territory.
1:52 First down catch by Donald Jones as we hit the 2-minute warning. Bills may have something brewing here. Need the touchdown, FG won’t do it.
1:45 Fredy Jackson on the screen play as he picks up the first and gets out of bounds. That’s a professional player right there.
1:45 Fitz complete another pass on first and 10 to Nelson. Still about 25 yards for the endzone.
1:03 4th and 3 coming up here for Buffalo. Do or die.
:57 Fitz hits Donald Jones for a first down. Bills on the 15.
:27 Fitz takes a shot in the endzone and is nearly picked off. 3rd and 10 coming up.
:18 Fitz hits Nelson but is short of first down. 4th and 1.
Spot of the ball is under review.
:14 TOUCHDOWN! David Nelson is wide open in the endzone as Fitz finds him to give the Bills the lead! 38-35. Two fourth downs converted on that drive. Talk about clutch.
Can the Bills hold off the Raiders desperation attempt to tie?!
:00 Searcy picks off the Campbell hail mary and the Bills win! The Bills have won folks! What a game. Four fourth quarter lead changes, Bills come back from 18 down at halftime to win the game. Over 900 yards of total offense. Great treat for Bills fans at the stadium today.
Well folks, I’m off to re-boot my heart after that one. Thanks for reading along as the Bills start off the year 2-0. Next up: The New England Patriots. Until next week.
Today’s game changers:
R. Fitzpatrick: 28/46 264 YDS 3 TD
F. Jackson: 15 CAR 117 YDS 2 TD
C.J. Spiller: 4 CAR 63 YDS
S. Johnson: 8 REC 96 YDS 1 TD
D. Nelson: 10 REC 83 YDS 1 TD
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