15:00: The Bills have a second-and-6 from their own 32-yard line when play resumes.
Trent Edwards drops back and finds running back Fred Jackson streaking down the right sideline. He makes the catch and reverses field to avoid Broncos defenders. He picks up 65 yards before being taken down by Dre’ Bly at the Denver three-yard line.
13:30: After a one-yard gain on first-and-goal, Edwards hands off to Xavier Omon for the second consecutive play, and he loses a yard after being taken down by Jamie Winborn and Josh Bell. On third-and-goal, Edwards’ pass is complete to Steve Johnson in the end zone. Dre’ Bly made a diving attempt to break it up, and may have gotten a piece of it, but Johnson got the touchdown.
The Rian Lindell extra point puts the Bills back on top of the Broncos, 23-20.
TWO UPDATES: For Buffalo, running back Marshawn Lynch’s return is questionable with a shoulder injury. For Denver, Jay Cutler is now just 17 yards away from breaking the franchise’s single-season passing yard record.
12:47: Selvin Young is back to receive the Buffalo kickoff. He takes it out to the 26-yard line, and the offense takes over.
On first down, Cutler sends Tatum Bell in motion, setting up an empty backfield. He drops back and lets loose a pass down the middle of the field and into the waiting arms of a wide-open Tony Scheffler. It’s a 36-yard reception, setting up a first-and-10 at the Buffalo 38-yard line.
Cutler is in the shotgun, drops back and quickly fires a pass to Eddie Royal, who slides to the ground and makes the reception for another first-down.
UPDATE: With the long pass to Scheffler, Cutler set the Broncos franchise record for single-season passing yards.
11:13: An incomplete pass on first down — Royal slipped — sets up a second-and-10. Cutler hands off to Young, who picks up two yards.
Now it’s third-and-8 for the Broncos at the Buffalo 25-yard line. Cutler is in the shotgun with Tatum Bell to his left. He launches a pass to the back of the end zone, but it’s over the head of a streaking Royal.
11:03: On fourth down, Prater drives home a 43-yard field goal attempt to tie the game. The Broncos and Bills are all knotted up at 23-23.
10:54: After a short kickoff by Prater — trying to keep it away from special teams nightmare Leodis McKelvin — Fred Jackson fields it and takes it 30 yards into Broncos territory.
The Bills are set up to start their drive at the Denver 45.
A girl in a bright orange bikini top was just shown on the big screen — Broncos fans apparently take their cold weather games seriously.
Now play resumes and Edwards fakes a handoff before rolling to his right and finding Josh Reed for a first down at the 29-yard line.
10:20: On first down, it’s play-action from Edwards again, and he completes a pass as he’s hit to Reed again, setting up another first down on the 18-yard line.
9:09: After a 10-yard run by Jackson and a measurement, the Bills have a first-and-goal from the eight-yard line. On first down, Jackson takes the carry eight yards into the end zone for a touchdown. The extra point is good, and Buffalo leads Denver, 30-23.
8:48: The Broncos offense jogs to the line at their own 24. Empty backfield for Cutler, who drops back and is hit as he throws into space. The pass falls incomplete between two Bills defenders.
8:43: Second-and-10, Cutler is in the shotgun with Tatum Bell beside him. He tries to get the ball to Eddie Royal, but the pass is intercepted at about the Denver 25-yard line. There’s a flag on the play, however. Holding on Marcus Stroud — five-yard penalty and automatic first down. Interception negated.
On the next play, Cutler finds Marshall for a 19-yard gain. Tatum Bell follows that up with a three-yard run, then a Cutler pass intended for Brandon Stokley falls incomplete.
That sets up third-and-7, and Cutler finds Royal for 15 yards and the first down.
7:10: On first down, Cutler finds Marshall for eight yards, then follows that up with another connection for 11 yards down to the Buffalo 15-yard line.
5:42: It’s third-and-10 from the 15 after two incomplete Cutler passes. The first was a quick throw-away to avoid a sack, and the second was just over Marshall’s head in the back of the end zone. Now on third down, Cutler tries to get the ball to Marshall for a touchdown, but it’s intercepted at the goal line by Kawika Mitchell. He returns it to the two-yard line, where Buffalo has a first-and-10.
4:55: Fred Jackson takes two consecutive handoffs — the first picks up five yards, the second is snuffed out by Ebenezer Ekuban and Marcus Thomas for no gain. Now it’s third-and-5 for the Bills at their own 7.
Jackson takes the pitch on third down to the right side, but Nic Clemons is there for the initial stop, blowing up the play after one yard.
The crowd chants, “Eddie! Eddie!” As Brian Moorman is in to punt. The ball takes a Buffalo bounce in front of Royal, and the the Bills down it at the Denver 39-yard line. It’s a 53-yard punt.
2:45: Cutler completes a seven-yard pass to Brandon Stokley on first down, then avoids some defenders on a scramble on second-and-3 to pick up a first down in Buffalo territory. It’s a nine-yard run for the quarterback.
On the next first down, he tries to get the ball to Marshall, but Terrence McGee is there to knock the ball away. Solid coverage by McGee on what looked to be a catch by Marshall inside the 20.
2:01: On the last play before the two minute warning, Cutler is in teh shotgun and tries to find Stokley near the first-down marker. The ball is knocked away, and the Broncos have a third-and-10 from the Buffalo 45-yard line on the other side of the break.
1:56: Cutler is in the shotgun with an empty backfield. Four receivers are out wide. He drops back, dances in the pocket and finds Stokley for the first down. Stokley gets back up and starts sprinting toward the end zone, but the refs say he was down by contact.
Now the ball is at the 32-yard line, first-and-10. Cutler gets it to Marshall for another first down at the 20-yard line. They’re back in the red zone, and the team calls its second timeout of the half.
1:16: Cutler’s pass to Stokley in the middle of the field falls incomplete after a defensive back meets Stokley just as the ball gets there. It looks like he might have an interception, but the ball hits the ground.
On second down, Cutler is in the shotgun again and gets the ball out to Daniel Graham for a five-yard gain. The offense hurries up to the line and Cutler takes the snap in shotgun again before overthrowing Stokley in the back of the end zone.
0:39: It’s now fourth-and-5 at the 15-yard line for the Broncos, down by a touchdown. The offense huddles up, and Cutler is in the shotgun with four receivers out wide. He takes the snap and lofts it to Stokley, who almost comes away with a miraculous catch — but the ball pops out as he hits the ground.
Turnover on downs.
Edwards takes a knee to end the game, and the two teams meet at midfield to shake hands.
The Bills come away with the victory, 30-23.
The loss means the Broncos will head to San Diego next week for a winner-to-the-playoffs, loser-go-home matchup.
-Gray Caldwell, DenverBroncos.com
Tags: Fourth Quarter, Gray Caldwell, Live Blog, Week 16
broncofannsd – wow, that was a great article on Cutler. I really admire the guy for not giving up on his dreams of playing this game for our team just because he has diabetes. I respect him even more than I did before we all knew he had it. And I couldn’t agree more with you… he is our MVP. He’s become more of a leader, one that we’ve needed for so long. He’s going to have his fair share of mistakes that we all wish never happened but that’s life, he’s human like everyone else and we’ll just have to deal with what happens. The key that I hope he takes from all the mistakes he makes is that I hope he learns from them. There is always room for improvement and he’s got to know that… he’s going to make mistakes and then he’ll need to improve that so hopefully it will be fixed next time or at least under control to some extent. I believe he’ll do that, we just have to have patience.
And I can believe it will be hard if you ever leave San Diego… I was there for only 4 days and it tore me apart to leave and I hardly saw the city. I spent more time on Coronado Island (beautiful place)… I could live there. I’m hoping to get out of this state and move back once I’m done with school… those Rocky Mountains used to be literally my backyard and it bugs me to no end that its not like that anymore. I’m dying to go back home.
I think we’re fine talking about non-football related things… pretty sure this blog is old enough that no one will come on here anytime soon to read what we’ve been talking about.
With faith…
GO BRONCOS!!!!!
07elway – That was a great article on Cutler and I share in your admiration of him. He does a great deal of community work and he is a role model for kids, especially kids with diabetes. I think he is learning from his mistakes and every week I see him growing and maturing during the game. People want to put the blame on him for the loss against the Bills and other games earlier this season, but they should really take a look at the big picture. Just like you, I will never bash the team I cheer for year after year, but we all know the defense has been a huge issue the past two seasons. Most of the losses are a result of the defense or special teams. 23 points should be more than enough to beat the Bills. Every time Cutler and the offense got the lead or tied the game, the defense and/or special teams would turn around and give up a big play. Carrying the weight of the entire team on his shoulders is a lot to ask a 3rd year QB. And considering he played half a season with undiagnosed type 1 diabetes, I think this year technically qualifies his first year. And look what he has done without a consistent running game and solid defense. 7 running backs are out for the season and I don’t think most people understand the magnitude of that number. What team in this league or past seasons was down to their 8th string running back and still competing for a playoff spot?
Coronado Island is beautiful, so I understand why you didn’t want to leave. I live about 45 minutes north of Coronado in a beach town called Oceanside. California (Lake Tahoe especially) has some very beautiful mountains, but nothing compares to having the Rocky Mountains as your back yard. However, watching the sunset over the ocean everyday and being able to wear shorts in January is pretty spectacular as well. Out of all the places I have lived, California and Colorado are my favorites. Boston is a great city to visit, but I would never live there again. I agree, it’s probably ok to discuss non-football related topics, so… How many more years of school do you have and what are you studying?
GO BRONCOS!!!!
broncofannsd – I completely agree with you about Cutler. And its obvious that Cutler is going to get all that pressure put on him because of who our QB was 9 years ago… Elway! That guy is a living legend, I mean how can so many people miss that whatever QB we have from now on will get twice as much pressure put on them because he’ll be following in Elway’s footsteps? It boggles my mind that people miss that or at least they don’t admit it… they would see that as an excuse but its not. Its the truth. And it is just phenomenal that we’re even still being considered for the playoffs considering we’ve been able to deal with our injury situation especially those 7 RBs on IR. That is absolutely insane if you really think about it. And I agree with 110%, people aren’t seeing the magnitude of that at all. Like I said right after the game on this blog or another one… when we lose there’s so many people that only see the negative things, they have completely missed that we’ve dealt with our RB situation very well compared to Lions team this year who has all their players (that I know of) and they’ve lost every single game this year. The fact that we’ve been able to still win games is almost unbelievable… but it should go to show that these young guys want to make something of themselves, they want to play and they’re willing to prove it to great lengths. I’m shocked that we’ve made it this far considering all of the hurdles we’ve had to overcome but then again I’m not really shocked about it all because this is what I expected… we lose a guy, we have to find a way to deal with it the best we can and we have. And its common sense that we would have as many mistakes that we have had because of all this but these guys are really young in this league and they’ve got plenty of time to fix their mistakes and improve. Hillis really showed his potential with that… he’s going to go along way in this league. I can’t wait to see what he does for us next season… same goes for Torain and Royal.
When we were on Coronado Island, we stayed there all day and we got to see the sunset over the ocean… pretty awesome. I got some great pictures of it, they look like something you’d see in a movie. Never heard of Oceanside, sounds like a really neat place though. And I’ve been to quite a few places on the East Coast but I really have no desire to go to Boston. I mean it would be cool to see some of the historic sites and things like that but other than that, its not somewhere I’m just dying to go. Yeah, if I could move to back to Colorado… my biggest problem would be deciding what city to live in. I’d lean towards Denver just because that’s my hometown and I know it better than I know myself but then I absolutely LOVE Colorado Springs. Oh heck, I love the whole state, I’d have such a problem picking where I’d want to live. Anyway, this is going to sound weird but its true. I’m not totally sure how many years of school I have left. I know for sure its probably around 2-4. In high school, I earned some kind of scholarship that would pay for 2 years of my tuition at a Community College and next spring is the last semester for it. But the problem is, the school I ended up at doesn’t even offer the major I want (Interior Design) so I’m getting a basic degree, then I have to transfer to another school to major in Interior Design. And I think that’s about 4 years, I hope its not that long but I’m almost positive it is… I think it depends more on the school I go to. Would love to go to school for that out in Colorado, I don’t know how much more of this state I can handle. So to return the favor, what do you do for a living?
Well, looks like I’m back to writing my novels… haha enjoy!!
GO BRONCOS!!!!!
07elway – I imagine this blog won’t be up much longer, so how about we continue the novels through e-mail?!?! defythelawsoftradition – write to that address and I’ll respond to your latest novel. The ending starts with hot and ends with the US postal service.
GO BRONCOS!!!!
broncofannsd – alright, either I wrote the wrong email address or something. I tried sending you an email twice it got denied. I’ll try again, I’m thinking I typed it in wrong. That last sentence you wrote kind of threw me off as to what address to write to. Just wanted to let you know I’m trying to send you an email, it just might take a while.
GO BRONCOS!!!!
07elway – No worries. Hotmail…
GO BRONCOS!!!!