Jacksonville Jaguars edge Buffalo Bills in Wembley thriller
Monday 26 October 2015 09:25, UK
Blake Bortles threw a late touchdown as the Jacksonville Jaguars beat the Buffalo Bills 34-31 in a thrilling match at Wembley.
The Jaguars led by 24 points in the second quarter of the year's second International Series match, but then fell apart on offense as the Bills rallied to claim a four-point lead late in a topsy-turvy game.
But Bortles hooked up with Allen Hurns for a 31-yard touchdown with 2:25 minutes left in the game to put the Jaguars back in front, and they stopped the Bills on their final drive to claim only their second win of the season.
Dan Carpenter put Buffalo 3-0 in front with the only score of the first quarter, a 31-yard field goal, but Jacksonville opened the second quarter by taking the lead on a 10-yard pass from Bortles to Allen Robinson.
Less than two minutes later it was the Jaguars defense getting on the scoreboard as EJ Manuel's fumble was picked up by Chris Clemons and taken six yards for another score.
One play later it was 21-3 as Manuel was intercepted by Telvin Smith, who ran the pick back 26 yards for a third touchdown, and with 8:34 left in the first half TJ Yeldon rushed over from 28 yards to make it 27-3.
Their lead was cut by 10 points before half-time with Carpenter nailing a 38-yard field goal and Manuel finding Robert Woods in the endzone from 16 yards.
After Carpenter hit a 26-yarder to make it 27-16, Manuel produced the biggest play of the day when he connected with little-used receiver Marcus Easley to cut the deficit to three points.
They claimed the lead with 5:34 remaining when Bortles was intercepted by Corey Graham near midfield, and the cornerback ran 44 yards for yet another defensive touchdown.
But their comeback was derailed by a costly defensive interference penalty, which gave Bortles the chance to extend Jacksonville's drive and find Hurns for what turned out to be the final, and match-winning, score.
