Fred Jackson was under a lot of pressure to perform against the Eagles Sunday. Not that he showed it.
Jackson carried the ball a season-high 26 times, amassing 111 yards on the ground and picking up nearly 200 all-purpose yards as Buffalo fought off a late fourth-quarter run by Philadelphia en route to a 31-24 win. The victory kept the Bills in step with the Patriots atop the AFC East (with the tiebreaker in hand) and put the Eagles in a tumultuous position at 1-4.
“We were trying to let him run the ball but then there was a bunch of passes that we had that we could get him the ball as well,” Bills coach Chan Gailey told the media Sunday. “We were fortunate to be able to have those different ways that he could get the ball.”
Buffalo came into the game primed to hand the ball off against the 30th-ranked defense in the league and set the tone early, running a total of 35 times compared to 27 pass attempts. Nearly half of the Bills' first downs came on the ground, as well.
“We felt that our offensive line could move them off the ball and they took that challenge to heart and they were able to go out and move them off the ball and get beyond the safety every time,” Jackson told reporters Sunday.
At 4-1, Buffalo rolls into the Meadowlands for Week 6 to try to make a bigger mess of the NFC East in its matchup against the Giants. New York has been surprisingly weak defending the run thus far, an area they have excelled in year's past. Don't be surprised if the Bills institute the same game plan they did against the Eagles in East Rutherford, and as far as Jackson's concerned, that would be just fine.
“That's the plan,” Jackson said. “As long as I can get my teammates behind me, get the fans behind me, and continue to go out and put games together like I was able to do today. I think I’m showing that if a team goes out and work hopefully we can do some things.”
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