The tickets are for Sunday’s AFC Wild Card playoff game against the Buffalo Bills.
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Bortles’ performance could turn teetotalers into souses. I’m not sure Buffalo fans can make it through another tailgate alive.
There was one instance in the game where the Bills really could have got themselves rolling. On 3rd-down-and-5, Taylor scrambled for two yards and was slammed to the ground by Dante Fowler. It was a sea of red and blue, and the “Shout” song was heard loud and proud – proving once again just how much these fans love their team. It probably will lead to its playoff undoing, most likely next week against the Steelers. Buffalo’s starting quarterback, Tyrod Taylor, completed just 17 of 37 passes for 134 yards and an interception.
Heading into this matchup as huge favorites, the Jacksonville Jaguars were putrid on offense.
A scoreless first quarter set the pace for a game where Jaguars quarterback Blake Bortles racked up more rushing yards than passing.
But in this case, look beyond the stats. He tore his right ACL before the Senior Bowl, and slid to the fourth round of the 2014 NFL Draft. Taylor was his typically inconsistent self as a passer, and he got nearly no help from his teammates as gimpy-ankled LeSean McCoy was the only threat the Bills had.
Graham Gano was true with the boot for the Panthers – striking field goals from 27, 39 and 58 yards in the first half. You don’t have a curveball.
“That’s kind of the same thing at quarterback”. Buffalo possessed the ball for over 20 minutes in the first half, but they were only able to put three points on the board.
Bortles, who said after the game that the wind was making it tough to have success in the passing game, rushed for a game-high 88 yards on 10 carries.
“This team is incredible, ” Jaguars defensive end Calais Campbell said.
“I wanted to win this game and get it rolling”. Charles Clay stepping out of bounds and coming back in to catch a pass added to the psychological mistakes that piled up on Buffalo. “I was very impressed”.
Triplette said that the play ended the moment the pair came into contact, citing forward progress from the Titans’ quarterback as the reason which is, well, wrong. They were awarded three first downs on penalties and had the ball at that one-yard line where they elected to try to throw which resulted in an offensive pass interference call on Kelvin Benjamin which backed up Buffalo to the Jacksonville 11. All three quarterbacks for the Minnesota Vikings are also set to hit free agency and it seems highly unlikely Minnesota will sign them all back as all three could be starters at the National Football League level.
“We weren’t sharp, we made some bad plays and did some stupid stuff, but we found a way to win and that’s all that matters”, Bortles said. “We hadn’t turned the ball over”. “We’ll put the team on our backs”.
Jaguars were “home team” in a 34-31 victory over Bills at London, England, in ’15.
“We know it’s going to be a dog fight”, said Jaguars wide receiver Allen Hurns.
10-6 record, won AFC South in ’17 (3-13 in ’16). The same goes for Bortles and his aerial production.
Taylor is what he is and that is not good enough for the Bills.
Asked whether a triumphant playoff debut earned Bortles a new level of respect, Marrone was complimentary but wouldn’t go quite that far. “I’m just overjoyed for the opportunity to play”. “Were going to come in here for another week while other teams are sitting home”.
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Blake Bortles couldn’t find an open receiver if you handed him one on a silver platter. “It was a play I was lobbying for the whole time and it didn’t work out so I understand”, he said.
