Monday, September 30, 2013

Bills' offense attempts most run plays since 1996

BY NICK ST. DENIS

Old school football. The mid-90s can be considered old school these days, right?

In a victory over the Baltimore Ravens Sunday, the Buffalo Bills totaled 55 rushing plays, the most they've amassed since an early November game in 1996, according to Mike Rodak of ESPN.com.

Bills coach Doug Marrone said the offense did an "outstanding job" against a normally stout defensive front but that there's still room to improve.

"The guys did a good job and we left a lot of yards out there and that’s the on thing I keep telling the players about," Marrone said, via BuffaloBills.com. These little things, these little things. I expect us to be able to go out there and do those things. We can be even better and I just keep pushing them."

Fred Jackson led the way with 87 yards and a score on 16 carries, and C.J. Spiller pitched in with 77 yards on 23 carries. Receivers T.J. Graham and Robert Woods had carries of 14 and 13 yards, respectively, and Tashard Choice rushed three times for 11 yards.

E.J. Manuel was tabbed for 11 rush attempts but gained just one total yard, which brought down an otherwise good yards-per-carry average for the offense.

"We wanted to be physical today," Manuel said after the game. "We did a little more 21 personnel. I think it worked out well for us. We ran the ball great. Offensive line did a huge job getting off the ball and the defense played a great job creating turnovers, getting us some shorts field and putting some points on the board."

The Ravens attempted just nine carries total and went two full quarters midway through the game without a rushing attempt. Joe Flacco threw five interceptions, but the Ravens were still in it until the end.

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