BILLS AND BUCCANEERS MEET IN TAMPA BAY
The Buffalo Bills will make their first of two consecutive road trips to Florida in Week 14 with a 1:00 p.m. match-up at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday. Sunday's game will mark the 10th regular season meeting between Buffalo and Tampa Bay, with the Buccaneers holding a 6-3 advantage in the series.
With a win over Tampa Bay on Sunday, Buffalo will:
• Defeat the Buccaneers for the second straight time (9/20/2009, W 33-20)
BILLS-BUCCANEERS REGULAR SEASON SERIES
• Overall regular season record: 3-6
• Bills on road at Buccaneers: 2-6
• Last meeting on road: 9/18/2005, L 3-19
• First regular season meeting: 9/26/1976, W 14-9 at Tampa Bay
• Last regular season meeting: 9/20/2009, W 33-20 at Buffalo
The Bills will make a return visit to Florida in Week 15 and face the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday, December 15 at 1:00 p.m.
BILLS-BUCCANEERS SERIES
Buffalo and Tampa Bay will meet for the 10th time in the regular season this week. The Bills are 3-6 all-time against the Buccaneers and won the last game against Tampa Bay (33-20, 9/20/2009 at Buffalo). Sunday's game at Raymond James Stadium will mark the third meeting in the month of December between the two teams (0-2).
BILLS-BUCCANEERS SERIES HIGHS
Rushing Yards
Bills: 163, Fred Jackson 9/20/2009 @ BUF
Buccaneers: 128, Carnell Williams 9/18/2005 @ TB
Receiving Yards
Bills: 113, Pete Metzelaars 11/2/1986 @ TB
Buccaneers: 90, Kellen Winslow 9/20/2009 @ BUF
Passing Yards
Bills: 342, Jim Kelly 11/2/1986 @ TB
Buccaneers: 296, Byron Leftwich 9/20/2009 @ BUF
NOTABLE CONNECTIONS
FORMER BILLS/BUCCANEERS
• Buffalo OC/QB coach Nathaniel Hackett was an OQC coach for the Buccaneers from 2006-07.
• Bills WR coach Ike Hilliard played four seasons in Tampa Bay from 2005-08, totaling 178 catches for 1,767 yards and eight touchdowns.
• Bills OL Coach Pat Morris held the same position with Tampa Bay during the 2011 season.
• Bills RB Coach Tyrone Wheatley was a NFL Minority Coaching Fellow with the Buccaneers in July of 2006.
• Tampa Bay K Rian Lindell was a member of the Bills from 2003-12 and is second all-time in franchise history for most field goals.
• Buccaneers OT Jamon Meredith played eight games for the Bills in his rookie season in 2009 and two games in 2010.
• Tampa Bay STC Dave Wannstedt was the DC for the Bills in 2012 and inside linebackers coach in 2011.
• Buccaneers WR Coach John Garrett played for the Bills in 1991.
AREA CONNECTIONS
• Buffalo LS Garrison Sanborn grew up in Tampa and attended Tampa Jesuit high school.
• Bucs DE Steven Means was born and raised in Buffalo. He went to Grover Cleveland High School and played at SUNY Buffalo from 2008-12.
NFL CONNECTIONS
• Buffalo OL Coach Pat Morris coached the O-Line in Tampa in 2011 and helped Bucs OG Davin Joseph earn his second trip to the Pro Bowl.
• Bills WR Coach Ike Hilliard was the assistant WR Coach for the Miami Dolphins in 2011 while Bucs DC Bill Sheridan was the LB coach.
• Bills LB Manny Lawson and Bucs RB Brian Leonard played together with the Cincinnati Bengals during the 2011 and 2012 seasons.
•Lawson also teamed up with Bucs S Dashon Goldson in San Francisco from 2007-10.
• Buffalo OG Doug Legursky and Bucs OT Jamon Meredith teamed up on the offensive line in Pittsburgh during the 2011 season.
• Tampa Bay OG Carl Nicks played under Bills HC Doug Marrone in 2008 while Marrone was the offensive coordinator for the New Orleans Saints.
• Tampa Bay DB Darrelle Revis played under Bills DC Mike Pettine when they were both with the New York Jets from 2009-12.
• Revis played with Bills LB Jamaal Westerman and S Jim Leonhard from 2009-11 with the Jets.
COLLEGE CONNECTIONS
• Bills DT Marcell Dareus and Buccaneers S Mark Barron played together for Alabama from 2008-10.
• Bills RB C.J. Spiller and OL Antoine McClain and Buccaneers DE Da'Quan Bowers were members of the Clemson Tigers football team in 2008 and 2009. McClain and Bowers also played together in 2010.
• Bills QB EJ Manuel and LB Nigel Bradham were part of the Florida State Seminoles football team with Bucs RB/FB Lonnie Pryor. Bucs LB Dekoda Watson was also a Seminole from 2006-09 and was there with Bills LS Garrison Sanborn.
• Bills DB Ron Brooks and Bucs WR Russell Shepard played on opposite sides of the ball at LSU from 2009-11.
• Bills WR T.J. Graham was a wide receiver target of Bucs QB Mike Glennon when they were teammates at NC State from 2008-11.
• Bills LB Jamaal Westerman played under Bucs HCGreg Schiano at Rutgers. He was joined there by Tampa Bay DT Gary Gibson, RB Brian Leonard and WR Tiquan Unerwood.
• Bills OG Kraig Urbik played at Wisconsin with Bucs OT Gabe Carimi and LB Jonathan Casillas.
WHAT TO LOOK FOR
OFFENSE
QB EJ Manuel
• One touchdown pass to match a franchise record among rookie signal callers (Dennis Shaw: 1970, 10)
• Eight pass completions to surpass Trent Edwards (152, 2007) for the second-most among Bills rookie quarterbacks
• 36 passing yards to move into second in team history among rookie quarterbacks (Trent Edwards: 2007, 1,630)
RB C.J. Spiller
• 99 rushing yards to move into 10th in team history (Jim Braxton, 2,842)
• 11 receiving yards to reach 1,000 in his NFL career
RB Fred Jackson
• One rushing score to tie Travis Henry for fifth in team history (27)
• 74 yards from scrimmage to record 1,000 in 2013
• 136 rushing yards to become the third player in team history with 5,000
WR Stevie Johnson
• Will extend his current streak of consecutive games with a catch to 59 with a reception at Tampa Bay
• Needs four catches to post his fourth straight 50-reception season
• Five receptions to tally 300 in his NFL career and to become the seventh player in team history with 300 catches
• Seven catches to match Pete Metzelaars (302) for sixth-most in Bills record books
• 11 yards to match Peerless Price (3,772) for ninth in team history
WR T.J. Graham
• One reception to reach 50 in his NFL career
TE Scott Chandler
• Will match Reuben Grant (15) for third-most touchdown catches among Bills tight ends all-time with his next scoring grab
• Three catches to record a personal single-season high (43, 2012)
• Nine receiving yards to become the first Bills tight end with back-to-back 500 receiving yard campaigns
DEFENSE
DE Mario Williams
• Will match Bruce Smith's 1989 campaign of 13.0 sacks for the ninthmost quarterback takedowns in a season among Bills with his next sack
• 2.0 sacks to match a personal single-season best of 14.0 (2007)
DE Alan Branch
• Five tackles to match a career-high of 35 in 2010
DE Jerry Hughes
• 2.0 sacks to record the first double-digit sack season of his NFL career
LB Kiko Alonso
• Two interceptions to match a franchise record among rookie linebackers set by Mike Stratton in 1962 (6)
FS Jairus Byrd
• Will tie George Saimes (22) for the 10th most interceptions in Bills history with his next pick
• One multi-interception game to become the second Bill with six multiinterception games (Tom Janik - 6)
SPECIAL TEAMS
K Dan Carpenter
• Two field goals to match Mike Hollis (25, 2002) for the eighth-most in a single-season in team history
• Five points to record the fifth season of his NFL career with at least 100 points
