Championship
Oct 29, 2011 3.00pm
0
0
HT : 0 0
FT
  • Jean Beausejour 45' yellowcard
  • yellowcard Romain Vincelot 44'
  • yellowcard Gordon Greer 85'

Buffalo Bills secure surprise opening-day win over Chicago Bears

Bills secure surprise opening-day win

The Buffalo Bills secured a surprise win over the Chicago Bears in overtime to get their season off to the perfect start with a 23-20 victory.

The Bears got off to a good start as they scored on their opening drive, moving into the redzone seamlessly. The drive culminated in Jay Cutler finding tight end Martellus Bennett for a 12-yard touchdown.

Buffalo responded with a solid drive of their own as EJ Manuel found wide receiver Robert Woods for two plays and 49 yards before he went in for the touchdown himself with a two-yard run on a fake to his running back.

The Bills managed to take the lead as they capitalised on a turnover from Brandon Marshall, who fumbled the ball. Although the visitors didn't score seven, they did come away with points on the board courtesy of a Dan Carpenter field goal.

Buffalo extended their advantage as Corey Graham intercepted a pass from Cutler and drove his side into the redzone. The offense took over and put seven points on the board with a seven-yard pass from Manuel to CJ Spiller.

The Bears got themselves back on track with a field goal early in the third quarter through the boot of Robbie Gould and pulled themselves back to parity when Cutler found Marshall in the endzone for a 12-yard strike.

Both sides scored late field goals to take the game to overtime, but the Bills had just enough to edge out the Bears as they managed to engineer a scoring drive, with Carpenter kicking a game-winning field goal from 27 yards.

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