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The Buffalo Bills, drenched in sweat and drained from a brutally oppressive afternoon, slogged off the Jacksonville Municipal Stadium field Sunday afternoon.
They were exhausted. Safety Donte Whitner was wiped out, and that's no figure of speech. He required five bags of intravenous fluids to recover. Left tackle Jason Peters, who missed every offseason workout because of a contract dispute, was paying the price.
Fans back in Western New York had a tough time catching their breath, too. They'd just watched their team stage its biggest character performance in recent memory.
The Bills pulled out a victory that might be remembered as their coming-of-age moment. They scored 10 fourth-quarter points in a strangling Florida heat to defeat the Jacksonville Jaguars, 20-16.
Sometimes significance takes a few days, maybe even weeks or months, to be understood. The Bills knew the meaning of this victory immediately -- and it went beyond being 2-0.
"When we came off the field," said Bills defensive end Chris Kelsay, "I saw [Bills chief operating officer] Russ Brandon, and I told him 'Last year we don't win that game.'
"Really the last couple years we don't win those close games that come down the last five minutes."
They were exhausted. Safety Donte Whitner was wiped out, and that's no figure of speech. He required five bags of intravenous fluids to recover. Left tackle Jason Peters, who missed every offseason workout because of a contract dispute, was paying the price.
Fans back in Western New York had a tough time catching their breath, too. They'd just watched their team stage its biggest character performance in recent memory.
The Bills pulled out a victory that might be remembered as their coming-of-age moment. They scored 10 fourth-quarter points in a strangling Florida heat to defeat the Jacksonville Jaguars, 20-16.
Sometimes significance takes a few days, maybe even weeks or months, to be understood. The Bills knew the meaning of this victory immediately -- and it went beyond being 2-0.
"When we came off the field," said Bills defensive end Chris Kelsay, "I saw [Bills chief operating officer] Russ Brandon, and I told him 'Last year we don't win that game.'
"Really the last couple years we don't win those close games that come down the last five minutes."
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