The Buffalo Bills showed up to FedEx Field to take on Washington this Sunday; the problem?
The team didn’t start playing until well into the second half.
Washington (7-7) rushed out to a 21-0 lead at halftime before cruising to a 35-25 win over the Bills (6-8), eliminating them from the postseason in the process.
Buffalo’s playoff drought will reach its 16th year after the conclusion of the season, the longest active drought in the NFL.
Washington got a big day from Kirk Cousins, who continued his stellar performance in front of his home crowd. He finished the day 22 of 28 (78.6 percent) for 319 yards and four passing touchdowns. Cousins also added 11 yards on the ground to go with a rushing score.
With the victory, Washington remains atop the NFC East and looks poised to win the division, controlling their own density with only two games remaining in the season.
If they hold on, it will be the first division win for Washington since 2012, and only the third time over the last 25 years.
It was also the first time that Washington has won back-to-back games for the first time in over a calendar year.
“If you’re not going to do your job, cut him,” a frustrated Sammy Watkins said after the game. “It needs to be a business. We need some nasty coaches.”
“If they’re not doing their job, get them out of here,” he added. “If I’m not doing my job, step to me, get me out of here. You can have the best players in the world, but at the end of the day, it’s about discipline and playing for each other.”
“There’s a good nucleus here,” head coach Rex Ryan said. “I thought in my heart of hearts we’d make the playoffs. I feel personally responsible.”
He added that he told his player there might be “changes”. When asked to elaborate on the matter, whether he meant players or coaches all Rex had to say was “you read between the lines.”
Washington started the game hot, scoring on their first three possessions of the game to rush out to a 21-0 lead.
A 13-yard Cousins run was sandwiched between two Jordan Reed receiving touchdowns to give Washington their big lead.
It wasn’t until a Dan Carpenter 32-yard field goal seven minutes into the third quarter that show the Bills having any sign of life.
The Redskins would answer 20 seconds later, after Cousins found a wide-open DeSean Jackson for a 77-yard score.
Jackson finished the day with six receptions for 153 yards and the touchdown.
After LeSean McCoy was injured, taking an awkward shot to his right knee that knocked the star running back out of the game, back up Mike Gillislee took a handoff and roared for a 60-yard run to cut the Washington lead to 18.
Three minutes later, Tyrod Taylor hit a streaking Sammy Watkins on a beautifully lofted ball to make it 28-17, the closest Buffalo would come to actually making a comeback.
Watkins finished the day with five receptions for 111 yards and the two scores. During the game Watkins hauled in his 106th career catch, the most by a Bills player over his first two seasons.
His eight receiving touchdowns on the season also are the most by a Bill since 2010.
A little less than four minutes into the fourth quarter, Cousins threw his fourth touchdown of the game, hitting Pierre Garcon for a five-yard score to make it 35-17.
Taylor hooked up with Watkins again, this time from 20-yards out in garbage time to give us the final of 35-25.
The Bills are now officially worse than there were a season ago, with even more question marks that Doug Marrone’s 9-7 squad.
Even if they win out, Buffalo can finish no better than 8-8 on the year.
“Definitely disappointing, knowing the talent we have on this team,” quarterback Tyrod Taylor said. “We didn’t perform.”
