ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. – Mike Pettine's former defense showed up his new one.
If that's not enough, the Cleveland Browns rookie head coach has a big question suddenly brewing at quarterback — Johnny Manziel or Brian Hoyer — following a 26-10 loss to the Buffalo Bills on Sunday.
"It wasn't a good day at the office," said Pettine, in his first game at Buffalo after spending last season as the Bills defensive coordinator. "It's good to see them doing well. It just wasn't good seeing them do well today."
Bills safety Da'Norris Searcy's second interception chased Hoyer early in the fourth quarter. And the rest of the defense put the clamps on Manziel after the rookie first-round pick capped his first drive with a 10-yard touchdown run to briefly cut Buffalo's lead to 20-10.
The Bills (7-5) stayed alive in what remains a tightly jumbled AFC playoff race. They gained a tie-breaking edge on the Browns (7-5), who also fell 1 1/2 games behind AFC North-leading Cincinnati (8-3-1).
Pettine said it's too early to tell who will start next week against Indianapolis.
Hoyer finished 18 of 30 with two interceptions, a week after he threw three in a 26-24 win at Atlanta.
Manziel went 5 of 8 for 63 yards in his most significant playing time this season.
"I'm not going to put it all on Brian," Pettine said. "Sometimes you just need change for the sake of change. We'll scope it out to a staff decision, and we'll make the evaluation."
Buffalo's defense dominated in the first half by limiting the Browns to a 3-0 lead. Then it took over midway through the third quarter when defensive end Jerry Hughes forced running back Terrance West's fumble and returned it 18 yards for a touchdown.
The score came 10 seconds after the Bills went ahead 7-3 on Kyle Orton's 3-yard touchdown pass to Chris Hogan.
Here's some things that stood out in Buffalo's first win at Orchard Park since beating Minnesota 17-16 on Oct. 19:
HOME SWEET HOME: The Bills rewarded their home fans with a win after a severe snowstorm forced Buffalo to relocate to Detroit, where they beat the New York Jets 38-3 on Monday night.
"We wanted to come out and win for the fans," Searcy said. "They weren't able to be with us on Monday night, so to have a game back in (Orchard Park), and get a win for them was good."
There were very few remnants of the storm that dumped more than 6 feet of snow on the Buffalo region during a five-day stretch. Temperatures were in the mid-50s at kickoff, and numerous players went sleeveless.
GONE IN 10 SECONDS: The Bills' two touchdowns in 10 seconds were the fastest in team history since the NFL-AFL merger in 1970.
Hogan scored with 8:04 left, a play after Orton extended the drive with a 34-yard pass to Robert Woods on fourth-and-3 from the Browns 37.
The Browns didn't know what hit them on their next play from scrimmage. West was running to his left when he was stood up by Hughes and linebacker Preston Brown.
Hughes ripped the ball out and recovered the fumble, before running up the sideline untouched for the score to put Buffalo up 14-7.
QB QUESTIONS: In insisting the Browns were still "my team," Hoyer acknowledged the decision on who starts next week is out of his hands.
As for Manziel, he capped a tumultuous nine-day stretch. It began with him being confronted during an altercation with an aggressive fan in the lobby of his apartment last weekend. Now there is a chance he could be in line to start.
"That's up to Coach Pettine," Manziel said. "But if that is the case, and my name is called, I definitely will be ready."
PLAYOFF PICTURE: The Browns' final month has them hosting the Colts (8-4) and Cincinnati, before going to Carolina (3-8-1) and Baltimore (7-5).
The Bills' final stretch is just as daunting. They play at Denver, host Green Bay (9-3), before closing at Oakland (1-11) and New England (9-3).
INJURIES: Browns receiver Miles Austin was held in a Buffalo hospital overnight after sustaining a kidney injury. It's unclear when Austin was hurt in a game in which he had seven catches for a team-leading 86 yards.
Center Nick McDonald didn't return after hurting his ankle in the first quarter. McDonald was already filling in for injured starter Alex Mack. Backup lineman Ryan Seymour finished the game at center.
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AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and http://twitter.com/AP_NFL
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