1 - Hauschka nails 13 straight in route to NFL record
Buffalo's kicker, Stephen Hauschka, is officially an NFL record holder after Sunday's game against the Chargers. He hit his 13th consecutive field goal from 50 yards or more, setting a new league record.
"I'm fine with it. When I as kicking it I knew it was for a record, so I had to focus in," Hauschka said. "Obviously, I would love it if these were kicks to win games and stuff like that. It is what it is. Just trying to do my job."
You have to dig deep to find Hauschka's last miss from 50 yards or further. He's a perfect 5-5 from that distance this season. He was 1-1 on his lone attempt last season and was 6-6 in 2015. The kicker's last miss from 50-plus yards came in 2014 when he was a member of the Seattle Seahawks.
Hauschka's 50-yard field goal capped off an eight-play, 46-yard drive. Aside from breaking a league record on that kick, he also joined another Bills record. He tied a team record for most 50-yard field goals made in a season (6). Former Bills kicker, Dan Carpenter, recorded six in 2014. Hauschka will find himself in Buffalo's record books with one more make from 50 yards this season.
The Bills have to improve in a lot of departments if they want to snap their three-game losing streak next Sunday. Fortunately long distance kicking isn't one of them.
2 - Record-high points allowed during three-game skid
After starting 5-2, and bolstering one of the NFL's top defenses, the Bills have been anything but that over the past three games. Buffalo's been outscored 135-55 during their three-game losing streak.
In terms of points allowed, the Bills haven't had a three-game stretch as bad as the Jets, Saints, and Chargers game in franchise history. Combined they've allowed a whopping 135 points, setting a team record.
Against the Chargers, the Bills shot themselves in the foot early with turnovers. Just in the first half alone, Los Angeles had 21 points off of turnovers. Giving the ball away certainly put the defenses backs against the wall. Head coach, Sean McDermott, spoke to the media following Sunday's loss.
"You go back and say, 'field position early, field position early.' That was the start of it," he said. "Sometimes things snowball when you're in that type of situation. I have to go and watch the film and evaluate every down on defense, just like I will the offense and special teams."
It's been a collective effort that's contributed to this three-game skid. If Buffalo wants to stay in the playoff picture, they need to figure it out fast. When the team was 5-2, they allowed a combined 115 points in those seven games. Now the team's 0-3 in their last three, and they've allowed 135 points in those games.
"I'm confident in this football team. We're going through a tough stretch right now. All teams go through this. You look around the league, this is part of it," McDermott said. "Very rarely around the league do you have a clean year, where you're not trying to manage some downturns. That's part of it. We have to manage this downturn right now, stay mentally tough, make the proper corrections and move forward."
3 - Taylor's performance in Peterman's relief
Bills quarterback, Nathan Peterman, didn't have his ideal first start in the NFL. After throwing five first half interceptions, Tyrod Taylor took over under center to relieve Peterman of his duties.
Taylor entered the second half with a 30-point deficit, trailing the Chargers 37-7. In attempt to engineer a comeback, he had some positive plays to take away from Sunday's sloppy game. Taylor completed 15-25 passes for 158 yards and had a passer rating of 91.8. Additionally, he tallied one touchdown through the air and added one on the ground.
Head coach, Sean McDermott, was encouraged with what Taylor did in the final 30 minutes.
"He was ready to go," he said. "Just like you saw, he came out, moved the offense and did a good job."
Ever since the news broke that Peterman was named the starter, Taylor has handled it like a true professional. When the seven-year veteran returned to the huddle on Sunday he approached it with a simple mindset.
"Just play. I'm not a rookie. I'm not a first-year, second-year, third-year guy. I've been around, seen a bunch of football. I've seen a bunch of different sides of the scoreboard, but my main thing going in is to take it one play at a time," Taylor said.
"My main thing when I stepped into the huddle was just to tell the guys it's halftime. We have a full second half ahead of us and we have to go out there and play ball. We can't worry about the scoreboard. We have to literally go out there and take it one play at a time. We were able to put up some points. Ultimately it wasn't enough to win, but we did some things that we can learn from in the second half."
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