Skip to content

Bills win marred by injury

Image: Ryan Fitzpatrick: Threw three touchdown passes

Ryan Fitzpatrick threw three touchdown passes as the Buffalo Bills beat the Cleveland Browns 24-14.

CJ Spiller hurt after early tackle

Ryan Fitzpatrick threw three touchdown passes as the Buffalo Bills beat the Cleveland Browns 24-14. The Bills overcame the loss of running back CJ Spiller to snap an eight-game road losing streak. Spiller was injured in the first quarter when he was tackled after a long gain on a pass play. He hit the ground with Browns safety Usama Young on his back and was in obvious pain before being placed on a cart and driven to the locker room for further evaluation and treatment. Fitzpatrick finished 22 of 35 for 208 yards as the Bills (2-1) turned to their passing game after Spiller, the NFL's leading rusher, was lost in the first quarter with a shoulder injury. The Bills hadn't won outside Buffalo since the 2011 season opener at Kansas City. Before he got hurt, Spiller scored on a 32-yard screen pass from Fitzpatrick, who also threw a 9-yard TD to TJ Graham in the first quarter and hooked up with Stevie Johnson from 9 yards in the fourth for a 24-14 lead. The Browns were again plagued by costly penalties, dropped passes and an inability to stop the run.

Intercepted

Rookie quarterback Brandon Weeden went 27 of 43 for 237 yards and a TD pass to fellow rookie Travis Benjamin. However, he was intercepted twice in the final 4:21 as he tried to rally the Browns. Buffalo's defense limited Browns rookie running back Trent Richardson to 27 yards on 12 carries. The Bills took a three-point lead on Rian Lindell's 37-yard field goal before the Browns pulled within 17-14 on Weeden's TD pass to a wide-open Benjamin. Fitzpatrick later led a 10-play, 68-yard drive, capping it by rifling his TD pass over the middle to Johnson, who got a step on cornerback Dimitri Patterson. The Browns would score later in the second quarter on Richardson's 6-yard run. After taking a handoff up the middle, Richardson bounced off the pile, cut left and high-stepped into the end zone for his third TD in two games. Before he got hurt, Spiller scored on a well-designed screen pass that caught the Browns' defense off guard. Spiller drifted out to the left side, picked up a block and went untouched to the end zone as the Bills opened a 14-0 lead with just under 10 minutes elapsed. The Bills scored on their first possession, with Fitzpatrick finding a wide-open Graham in the front of the end zone.

Around Sky