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At that time in the game it's up to the offense to bleed as much time off the clock as possible to prevent the opponent from getting another opportunity to score and jeopardize a victory. But it hasn't happened.
"It's an area where we need considerable improvement," said Levy.
In the opener against Denver following a missed field goal by Jason Elam, Buffalo's offense got the ball back at their own 38-yard line with 3:32 remaining up 14-12 on the Broncos. After two rushes by Marshawn Lynch
gained five yards, Buffalo went to the air, but J.P. Losman barely overthrew Lee Evans on a deep 3rd-and-5 pass and the Bills had to punt. Time off the clock stood at 1:19.
Denver was able to run 12 plays and put themselves in position for a game-winning field goal as time expired to win (15-14).
In week four against the Jets after a late touchdown pulled New York to within three (17-14) Buffalo's offense got the ball back with 2:57 to play at their own 28-yard line. Lynch gained three yards on first down and Josh Reed got four yards on a reverse. On 3rd-and-3 however, Trent Edwards' pass intended for Reed fell short and incomplete and the Bills had to punt after taking just 1:14 off the clock.
The Jets had enough time to run eight plays and were almost in field goal range to potentially tie the game when Terrence McGee came up with a big interception to close out the victory.
Against Dallas in week five the Bills were up 24-16 when John DiGiorgio got the ball back for the offense making an interception on the goal line and returning it out to the Buffalo 38-yard line with just over five minutes remaining.
Two straight carries by Lynch gained three yards, and on 3rd-and-7 a pass intended for Reed fell incomplete and Buffalo again went three-and-out. With just 1:35 taken off the clock Dallas had enough time for two scoring drives to score nine points and steal a victory.
And finally last week against Baltimore after the defense forced the Ravens three-and-out Buffalo's offense got the ball back with 3:14 remaining up 19-14. But three straight runs by Lynch gained only nine yards taking just 1:10 off the game clock. Fortunately the Bills defense forced three straight incompletions to preserve the win.
Four opportunities for the offense to close out games and all four times they went three-and-out. So what's the problem?
"It's an area where we need considerable improvement," said Levy.
In the opener against Denver following a missed field goal by Jason Elam, Buffalo's offense got the ball back at their own 38-yard line with 3:32 remaining up 14-12 on the Broncos. After two rushes by Marshawn Lynch
gained five yards, Buffalo went to the air, but J.P. Losman barely overthrew Lee Evans on a deep 3rd-and-5 pass and the Bills had to punt. Time off the clock stood at 1:19.Denver was able to run 12 plays and put themselves in position for a game-winning field goal as time expired to win (15-14).
In week four against the Jets after a late touchdown pulled New York to within three (17-14) Buffalo's offense got the ball back with 2:57 to play at their own 28-yard line. Lynch gained three yards on first down and Josh Reed
got four yards on a reverse. On 3rd-and-3 however, Trent Edwards' pass intended for Reed fell short and incomplete and the Bills had to punt after taking just 1:14 off the clock.The Jets had enough time to run eight plays and were almost in field goal range to potentially tie the game when Terrence McGee
came up with a big interception to close out the victory.Against Dallas in week five the Bills were up 24-16 when John DiGiorgio
got the ball back for the offense making an interception on the goal line and returning it out to the Buffalo 38-yard line with just over five minutes remaining.Two straight carries by Lynch gained three yards, and on 3rd-and-7 a pass intended for Reed fell incomplete and Buffalo again went three-and-out. With just 1:35 taken off the clock Dallas had enough time for two scoring drives to score nine points and steal a victory.
And finally last week against Baltimore after the defense forced the Ravens three-and-out Buffalo's offense got the ball back with 3:14 remaining up 19-14. But three straight runs by Lynch gained only nine yards taking just 1:10 off the game clock. Fortunately the Bills defense forced three straight incompletions to preserve the win.
Four opportunities for the offense to close out games and all four times they went three-and-out. So what's the problem?
And our oline sucks when it comes to critical situations like that. Most of the short yardage situations, Lynch is in the damn backfield with 3 defenders a second after the ball is snapped.
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