| January 01, 2004 | « Previous Story | HOME | Next Story » | Posted at 05:57 PM |
Wade Phillips was named as Marv Levy's heir apparent following Levy's retirement. Phillips was elevated to the position from his defensive coordinator's position. It would be Phillip's second stint as a coach in the NFL, after 2 seasons in Denver.
GM John Butler also made some bold moves in the off-season to shore up a troubled quarterback position. On January 20th the Bills signed 35 year old QB Doug Flutie, former Heisman Trophy winner and CFL's Most Outstanding Player for six seasons. Flutie was the journeyman's journeyman. He began his professional career in the USFL with other QB greats like Steve Young and Jim Kelly. After 3 seasons with the New Jersey Generals (and being a very brief team mate of Kelly's with the Generals). When the USFL folded in 1985, the LA Rams traded his rights to the Chicago Bears for the 1986 season. During the 1987 strike, Flutie was traded to his hometown of Boston and appeared in the final strike game with the replacement players. 2 more stormy seasons with the Patriots concluded with the QB getting released in 1989. From 1990 through 1997, he became a CFL legend, a league perfectly suited to his scrambling, improvising style.
With Flutie not expected to be a serious challenger for the starting role, Bills GM John Butler made a huge splash by pulling the trigger on a deal with the Jacksonville Jaguars, trading the Bills ' first and fourth round picks for backup QB Rob Johnson. The Jaguars wound up selecting Pro-Bowl RB Fred Taylor with the first round pick. Bryce Paup's contract was not renewed and the outstanding Bills LB went to Jacksonville in free agency. In 3 seasons with the Bills, he played in 43 games, registering 33 sacks. CB Jeff Burris signed with the Colts. Guard Corbin Lacina signed with the Vikings, and QB Todd Collins was released during the preseason.
Butler added FB Sam Gash from New England, WR Kevin Williams from Dallas, and Guard Joe Panos. With only 5 picks in the draft, Butler still managed to find some talent. LB Sam Cowart was the top choice for Buffalo in round 2, OT Robert Hicks was picked in Rd 3, FB Jonathan Linton in Rd 5, WR Fred Coleman in Rd 6, and Guard Victor Allotey in the 7th.
Bills, the state of New York and Erie County agree on a new stadium lease proposal to keep the Bills in Buffalo for an additional six years, provided that $11 million in generated revenue from the sale of 76 new suites and 6,878 new club seats is sold by December 1998. With the suprising success of the club behind Doug Flutie, the Bills met the ticket drive goals and signed a new lease extention.
Buffalo split their preseason contests, going 2-2. They dropped their first two encounters, 24-13 at Pittsburgh and 12-7 at home to Carolina. Buffalo rebounded with a 17-9 win at Chicago, and wrapped up winning at home 27-17 against the Washington Redskins. Both Rob Johnson and Doug Flutie had strong pre-seasons, with Johnson retaining the #1 spot, and Flutie knocking Alex Van pelt down to #3. Todd Collins was the odd man out. Bruce Smith missed the preseason recovering from a knee surgery.
In what was supposed to be the debut stage of #2 overall pick Ryan Leif and the Bill's Rob Johnson, it was the cagey veteran Doug Flutie that stole the spotlight and nearly the win.
San Diego K – John Carney kicked a 48-yard field goal for the only scoring in the first half. Leaf hooked up with WR Bryan Still on a 6-yard pass early in the third quarter, the first TD pass for each player. That gave San Diego a 10-0 lead. Still caught six passes for 128 yards, including a 67-yarder to set up his score. Bills QB Rob Johnson was leveled by defensive tackle Norman Hand after throwing an incompletion on the Bills' first play of the second half. After being treated on the field, he walked to the sideline on his own, then into the locker room to have his chin stitched.
Flutie's third pass was intercepted by Dwayne Harper, but he came right back and threw a 43-yard TD pass to Reed, who faked out Harper, to pull the Bills to 10-7 with 8:50 left in the third. One play earlier, Harper was hit with a 23-yard pass interference call while covering Reed. Flutie plunged into the line to gain 3 yards on what appeared to be a busted third-and-1 play from the Chargers 22. Five plays later, he threaded a 5-yard touchdown pass through traffic to Reed, who was hit by a linebacker and a safety before being sandwiched in the end zone by two defensive backs. Reed held on, giving Buffalo a 14-13 lead with 9:05 to play.
Leaf, the second pick in April's draft, completed 16 of 31 passes for 192 yards and one touchdown, but was intercepted twice by safety Henry Jones. Two more pickoffs by the Bills were called back on penalties, including one by Manny Martin when Jones was called for roughing the passer. That gave San Diego a first down at the Buffalo 39, and four plays later, Carney provided the go-ahead points. Carney's 54-yard field goal bounced off the left upright and went through with 4:30 to play. Flutie drove the Bills to the Chargers 21 in the final moments of the game. , only to watch in disappointment as Steve Christie missed. Christie didn't come near the uprights, pushing his 39-yard attempt wide left with three seconds left. Bruce Smith and Thurman Thomas sat the game out nursing injuries.
The Miami Dolphins compensated for a sputtering offense with a swarming pass rush to beat the Buffalo Bills. Miami sacked Rob Johnson eight times, limited the Bills to 187 yards and won a defensive struggle 13-7. The first 10 possessions of the game ended with a punt before the Bills broke through. On fourth-and-1 at the Miami 28, Johnson scrambled out of the pocket and threw into the end zone to Moulds, who made the catch behind cornerback Terrell Buckley for the game's first score. The Dolphins abandoned the run in the final five minutes of the first half and quickly tied the game. Marino went 6-for-6 for 86 yards in the drive, converting two third-and-long situations and then hitting Thomas for a touchdown with 59 seconds left. Miami marched 80 yards with all but 15 coming on the ground to set up Mare's 33-yard field goal for a 10-7 lead late in the third period. Johnson, under heavy pressure, threw an interception to rookie Patrick Surtain early in the fourth quarter the only turnover of the game. That set up Mare's 27-yard field goal for a 13-7 Miami lead.
The Buffalo Bills lost an 18 point lead to suffer their third loss of the season. Buffalo managed to produce this lead despite surrendering 9 sacks in the game, giving them 22 sacks given up after only 3 weeks. Rob Johnson Connected with FB Sam Gash to open the scoring in the game, and connected on a 13 yard TD pass to put Buffalo up 14-10 at the half. Buffalo scored 2 quick TDs to open the third quarter- Thurman Thomas' 14 yard run capped a 7 play, 80 yard drive that opened the third. Kurt Schulz intercepted Ram QB Tony Banks less than a minute later. Johnson connected with TE Jay Riemersma with his 3rd TD pass on the day on the very next snap.
The Rams began their comeback when at the end of the 3rd quarter, Rams DE Ray Agnew recovered a fumble to set up a Jeff Wilkins FG. The Rams followed up with Amp Lee's 23-yard TD reception. Christie answered with a FG to open the 4th quarter, but the Ram's Greg Hill and his 1-yard TD plunge and a 2-point conversion made it 31-28. Ted Washington dropped Hill for a loss in the endzone for a safety to push Buffalo's lead to 33-28. The Rams began the winning drive on their own 20 with 3:57 left. After they moved down the field with a 34-yard completion to Ricky Proehl and a 14-yard shuffle pass to Amp Lee, Banks ran in for the go-ahead touchdown, with 11 seconds in the game. Hill finished with a career-high 158 yards on 19 carries.
Rob Johnson overshadowed his counterpart, completing 19 of 27 passes for 254 yards and one touchdown to lead the Bills to a 26-21 victory Sunday. The Bills entered the contest with just one victory in their last 10 games, worst in the league over that span, but they dominated the suddenly mistake-prone 49ers from the beginning. The 49ers entered the game ranked first in the NFL in rushing, passing and total offense, but were held to just 56 yards passing and 105 total yards in the first half.
The Bills wasted no time in taking advantage of San Francisco's secondary, which struggled against Buffalo's passing attack even though it was missing its top receiver, Andre Reed. Johnson found Eric Moulds for a 50-yard reception on the game's first play and Buffalo took a 3-0 lead on Steve Christie's 24-yard field goal 2:30 into the game. Garrison Hearst's fumble late in the first quarter gave Buffalo the ball on the 49ers 30 yard-line and Antowain Smith's 6-yard scoring run made it 10-0. Another San Francisco miscue, a fumble by kickoff returner R.W. McQuarters, put the Bills in San Francisco territory again. Johnson took advantage tossing a 5-yard touchdown to Quinn Early for a 17-0 advantage. After getting down to the 49ers 1-yard line on their final possession of the first half, the Bills had to settle for Christie's 19-yard field goal with three seconds left for a 20-0 halftime lead. San Francisco had 12 first-half penalties and set a franchise record with 22 penalties for 178 yards in the game.
In the fourth quarter, the 49ers scored 3 TDs of the arm of Steve Young. After Christie's third field goal of the game made it 23-0, Young finally got San Francisco on the board. A 33-yard reception to Jerry Rice set up a 47-yard touchdown pass to fullback Marc Edwards. Young connected with Rice on a 2-point conversion, cutting the deficit to 23-8. Irv Smith's 9-yard touchdown reception from Young made it 26-14, but San Francisco was unable to convert on the 2-point conversion. Their second-half comeback ended when they couldn't recover the onside kick after Young had hit J.J. Stokes with a 21-yard TD pass with 1:03 left.
Doug Flutie passed for two touchdowns and set up two short scoring runs by Antowain Smith in the Buffalo Bills' 31-24 victory over the Indianapolis Colts. The 35-year-old Flutie entered the game in the first quarter after Rob Johnson was sacked and left with sore ribs. The Colts scored on all four of their possessions in the first half, but had to settle each time for a field goal by Mike Vanderjagt. Flutie, who entered the game after Johnson was sacked by Larry Chester on the third play of the game, set up the Bills' first score, a 7-yard pass Jay Riemersma. Setting up the TD pass were completions of 16 yards to Thomas and 24 yards to Reed. Buffalo entered the half trailing 12-7.
The Colts first three series of the second half produced a net 10 yards. Buffalo, meanwhile, drove 59 yards, including a 20-yard pass from Flutie to Sam Gash, the first of five straight completions that produced the go-ahead touchdown to Kevin Williams, making it 14-12 with 4:06 to goin the 3rd. After the next Indianapolis punt, Flutie hit three more in a row, including 20 and 15 yards to Andre Reed. Flutie then ran 12 yards to the 4 before Smith scored his first touchdown. Buffalo got the ball back seconds later when Ted Washington batted Manning's pass at the line of scrimmage and intercepted at the Indianapolis 25. Flutie passed 4 yards to Thurman Thomas, then Smith ran three straight plays and scored from the 1, making the score 31-12. Steve Christie added a 39-yard field goal with 5:20 to go before the Colts scored two touchdowns on passes from Manning. The first was to Torrance Small for 3 yards with barely two minutes to go and the second to Marvin Harrison for 25 yards with six seconds remaining.
Flutie received the starting nod for the first time this season, in place of the battered Rob Johnson. The Jaguars had a strong start, driving 69 yards on 16 plays for a touchdown by Tavian Banks on their first possession. But they couldn't get much else going and wound up relying on virtually one player, Mark Brunell, to do pretty much one thing- run for his life. One of the top quarterbacks in the league, Brunell was reduced to scrounging for yardage on the ground. He threw for a paltry 119 yards; his 44 yards rushing matched the team high. It didn't help that Banks, the Jaguars' third-string running back, hurt his foot and didn't play in the second half. Jacksonville, already without James Stewart and Fred Taylor, was forced to play free agent Chris Howard, who gained 16 yards on seven carries.
Flutie's 12-yard touchdown pass to Moulds tied the game early in the second quarter. Jacksonville led 10-7 on Mike Hollis' 35-yard field goal just before halftime. The Jaguars would sandwich 2 Mike Hollis FGs around Steve Christie's 24 yard FG in the third to give the Jaguars the 16-10 lead into the 4th quarter. DT Pat Williams turned the game around late in the 4th quarter. The Jaguars had possession on 3rd and 2 just before the 2minute warning. A first down would have clinched it. But Williams sacked Brunell, forcing a punt and giving Flutie his last opportunity. Starting on the Bills 20 with 1:38 remaining, Flutie directed the 7 play drive. Flutie threw 38 yards to Eric Moulds down the left sideline to the Jaguars 1-yard line. Thurman Thomas ran the wrong way on fourth down in the final seconds, leaving Flutie to bootleg left and out-race the defense for the TD and the 17-16 win.
Doug Flutie, facing a Jimmy Johnson-coached team for the first time since 1984 when his "Hail Mary" pass for Boston College beat Johnson's Miami Hurricanes, rallied the Bills to a 30-24 victory.
Marino gave the Dolphins a 7-0 lead, throwing 12 yards to Oronde Gadsden, who lunged backward to make the catch. Jimmy Johnson's gamble and a big defensive play then set up the Bills on the Miami 34. Gabe Northern stuffed Karim Abdul-Jabbar for a 2-yard loss on a fourth-and-inches play. Moments later, from the Miami 14, Flutie scrambled and threw to Reed at the 1. On the next play, Flutie faked a handoff and found Riemersma wide open in the end zone, tying the game early in the second quarter. Marino threw 29 yards to Gadsden under pressure from Bruce Smith, and lofted a 27-yarder to Gadsden, whose fingertip catch set up Miami at the 1. Abdul-Jabbar plunged in from there for a 14-7 lead.The Bills drove late in the half to tie it again. Buffalo began the drive at its 44 after Marino was sacked by Hansen and Smith. Flutie lofted a 16-yarder over the middle to Riemersma, who made a one-handed catch deep in the end zone.
To open the second half, The Dolphins kept the ball on the ground and ate up nearly five minutes on the first drive, driving 71 yards to the end zone. Abdul-Jabbar broke loose to the 8 behind a block by Gadsden, Avery carried to the 1, then dived in for a 21-14 lead. Miami seemed headed for victory after LB Zack Thomas stripped the ball from Antowain Smith and Terrell Buckley recovered late in the third quarter. Olindo Mare's 38-yard field goal gave Miami a 24-14 lead early in fourth.
Flutie, 15-of-26 for 206 yards and three touchdowns, began the comeback with a 48-yard touchdown pass to Eric Moulds early in the fourth quarter. Steve Christie added three field goals- two in the final two minutes as Buffalo (5-3) climbed into a four-way tie for the AFC East lead with Miami, New England and the New York Jets.
Doug Flutie had been winning games for the Buffalo Bills by performing miracles. But the New York Jets beat the Bills by challenging Flutie to simply stand and throw. After winning three starts and helping the Bills salvage a sunken season, Flutie was finally human. He completed 12-of-30 passes for 154 yards with no touchdowns and two interceptions as the Jets (6-3) snapped a six-game losing streak against the Bills (5-4).
The Bills played volleyball with Testaverde's first pass of the game, tipped by John Holecek and picked off by diving Sam Cowart. The turnover led to Christie FG and an early 3-0 lead. Testaverde set up the Jets' first scoring drive with long passes to Keyshawn Johnson and Wayne Chrebet. He threw 25 yards to Johnson for the score. Testaverde's 36-yarder to Dedric Ward in the third quarter extended the lead to 20-9. His 12-yarder to Chrebet for 27-12 in the fourth put the game out of reach, even for Flutie.
Curtis Martin added a 6-yard scoring run for the Jets, who ate up nearly 37 minutes of the clock. All of Buffalo's scoring came on field goals by Steve Christie as the Bills' five-game winning streak ended. The Jets, who had lost 17-of-20 to the Bills over the last 10 years and hadn't beaten them since 1994.
Flutie's 10-yard toss to tight end Jay Riemersma with 1:57 left in the third quarter provided the winning points and snapped a string of nearly seven quarters without a touchdown. Christie filled in the blanks for the Bills with nine field goals during the drought. The Patriots pulled to 13-10 on a 37-yard pass from Drew Bledsoe to Tony Simmons with 13:11 left. Buffalo then drove 14 plays to the New England 4, but Flutie's pass was picked off by Lawyer Milloy with 4:41 left. It was then up to the Bills defense, and Bruce Smith sacked Bledsoe twice for losses of 15 yards. Facing the Patriots for the first time since they released him after the 1989 season, Flutie gained 49 yards on 11 carries and completed 14 of 26 passes for 178 yards and one touchdown with two interceptions. Both pickoffs were on passes from inside the Patriots' 20-yard line.
Antowain Smith rushed for 107 yards and two touchdowns on 23 carries and Doug Flutie completed 20 of 28 passes for 230 yards and two touchdowns in the Bills' 34-11 victory. The Colts grabbed the 3-0 lead on a 27-yard field goal by Mike Vanderjagt. The Colts drove 42 yards on nine plays, including a 17-yard run by Marshall Faulk and a 25-yard flip pass from Peyton Manning to Faulk.
Penalties and Kevin Williams' fumble killed the Bills' next drive, but Ken Irvin picked off a pass from Manning and ran it to the Colts 1. Smith, who rushed for a career-high 130 yards and scored two touchdowns last time against the Colts, went nowhere on two running plays before Flutie tossed a pass to blocking fullback Sam Gash for the score early in the second quarter. The Bills drove 69 yards on 11 plays for their second touchdown and a 14-3 lead, Smith diving in after a 4-yard run. Buffalo used three different backs on the drive, with Smith rushing for 43 yards on four carries, including the TD. The 67-yard pass from Flutie to Reed made it 21-3. Reed caught the ball at the Buffalo 42, crossed over the middle and reached the end zone with a straight-arm on cornerback Tyrone Poole. Bills safety Kurt Schulz then intercepted Manning's pass meant for Torrance Small. Flutie rolled right and lofted a 19-yard pass to Quinn Early, setting up Steve Christie's 35-yard field goal with one second left in the half.
Buffalo drove 54 yards on 14 plays for Christie's second field goal and a 27-3 lead. The Bills' defense held the Colts on four plays from the Buffalo 2, and the Bills added a 5-yard TD run by Smith following a fumbled punt. Manning completed 14 of 29 passes for 164 yards and two interceptions. He had a 30-yard touchdown pass to Marvin Harrison with 4:13 to play, but the bulk of Manning's passing yardage came long after the game was decided. Bills quarterback Rob Johnson made his first appearance since he was injured and replaced by Flutie early in the Bills' 31-24 win over the Colts on Oct. 11 at the RCA Dome. Johnson came in with about 7 minutes left and threw two incompletions.
For the second time in two weeks, Bledsoe, unbothered by his fractured right index finger, guided the Patriots to a controversial and dramatic come-from-behind victory.
Bledsoe opened the game with two TD passes, one to RB Ron Edwards, the other to Derrick Cullors. A Pair of Steve Christie FGs before the half narrowed the gap to 14-6. Flutie led the Bills back from a 14-6 when he connected on an 80-yard TD pass to Eric Moulds, but the Bills did not convert the 2 point conversion. Vinatieri added a FG for the Patriots, and Christie answered with one of his own to close the 3rd quarter at 17-15 in favor of NE. Flutie turned the deficit into a 21-17 lead on a 2-yard touchdown pass to Andre Reed with 6:14 left.
New England got the ball at its own 18-yard line with 1:52 and no timeouts left. * plays later, the Bills appeared to have forced the Patriots to turn the ball over on downs. With six seconds left on a 4th and 9, Bledsoe hit Shawn Jefferson , but it appeared that the Patriots' WR had a foot out of bounds and was short of the marker. The officials awarded the Patriots the first down and gave Bledsoe one last shot at the endzone. The pass to Ben Coats fell incomplete, but the officials struck again, calling pass interference on the hail-Mary attempt. With time expired, the penalty awarded the Patriots the ball on the 1- which Drew Bledsoe converted into a 1 yard TD pass to Coates. In protest, Bills coach Wade Phillips refused to put out his defense for the extra-point conversion. Kicker Adam Vinatieri added salt to the wounds running for 2 with no opposition, providing the 25-21 final. Owner Ralph Wilson received a $50,000 fine from the NFL for harshly criticizing the officials after the game .
A week after they fumed at the officials for a last-play loss, the Bills got right back to business Sunday. Doug Flutie's 55-yard throw to Eric Moulds on the game's first play headed them toward a big day. Flutie and Moulds combined on three big plays and a pair of touchdown passes for a 33-20 victory over Cincinnati that kept Buffalo in the playoff race. Neil O'Donnell started at quarterback for the first time in three games and threw a pair of second-quarter touchdown passes that gave Cincinnati its first lead 13-10. The game turned when Flutie saw an all-out blitz coming and threw a quick slant to Moulds, who ran past two defensive backs and bounced off cornerback Artrell Hawkins while turning it into a 70-yard touchdown play that put the Bills ahead to stay with 1:41 left before halftime. In the loss to New England, Moulds had career highs with eight catches for 177 yards. Against the Bengals, he had six catches for 196 yards and 3 TDs, the third coming off a 30 yard TD pass from Flutie to begin the 4th quarter. Corey Dillon added a TD in garbage time, as the Bills cruised.
The Bills scored on six straight possessions and added a fumble recovery and return to take a 37-7 lead in the third quarter and stay in the AFC East championship race. Buffalo (9-5) amassed 316 yards, converted on six of 15 third downs and did not turn the ball over. Two touchdowns in the second quarter gave the Bills a 17-0 lead. Buffalo safety Kurt Schulz set up the first one, stealing Wilson's pass from James Jett at the Bills 20 late in the first quarter. Flutie then threw 13 yards to Jay Riemersma in the end zone. Kevin Williams set up the second touchdown with a 73-yard punt return to the Oakland 2. Flutie tossed to Lonnie Johnson for the points.
Smith scored, and Phil Hansen recovered Wilson's fumble, after Bruce Smith jarred the ball loose, and ran it 13 yards for a touchdown that made it 37-7 in the third quarter. Steve Christie kicked two 32-yard field goals and a 49-yarder in the game.
The New York Jets claimed their first division title ever since the AFL/NFL merger in 1970.
Buffalo was moving smartly on its first possession, but Antowain Smith fumbled at the Jets 21. The Jets then used a 16-yard pass and 25-yard run by Johnson, plus Testaverde's 16-yard scramble and David Meggett's 22-yarder on a draw play to set up Chrebet's TD catch. Kevin Williams' diving 22-yard third-down catch sparked a 79-yard second-quarter Buffalo drive that Jets nemesis Thurman Thomas capped by going 25 yards on a screen pass to tie it. The Bills later drove from their 1 to the New York 5. But with one second remaining in the half, usually accurate Steve Christie missed a 28-yard field goal wide left.
The Jets took the ball to start the third quarter instead of the wind at their backs. It paid off early when John Hall nailed a 48-yard field goal. But the Bills came back with an eight-minute drive, with only two passes. Smith ran eight times for 38 yards and Christie atoned for his earlier miss with a 44-yarder, tying it at 10. Christie's kick into the wind became more impressive when Hall was eight yards short on a 46-yard try early in the fourth quarter.
Bills could threaten only once with the wind in the final period, and a Victor Green interception ended a Buffalo threat at the Jet 21 with 3:12 in the game. Only 57 seconds later, Diedric Ward made the longest reception of his career on a perfect pass from Testaverde to break the tie with 2:15 left on the game.
Rob Johnson, who lost his starting job to Doug Flutie because of an injury in the fifth game of the season, threw for three touchdowns and ran for another in Buffalo's 45-33 over the Saints on Sunday. The Bills entered the game with a Wild card berth signed, sealed, and delivered, and elected to rest Doug Flutie who had some minor injuries.
The Bills exploded for 4 TDs in the first 17 minutes of the game. Bills DT Sean Moran started the avalanche with a sack on Saints QB Kerry Collins forcing a fumble, which Bruce Smith returned to the Saint's 1 yard line. Antione Smith did the honors with a TD on the next play. Rob Johnson got the Bills second TD on a 66 yard pass to Eric Moulds. Kurt Schultz picked off Collins on the next series, setting up Rob Johnson's 12 yard run for a TD. Johnson engineered an 81 yard drive for the Bills 4th TD, a 1 yard pass to FB Sam Gash. The Saints responded with 2 TDs at the end of the half to close the gap to 28-14.
Christie added a FG to open the 3rd quarter, and The Saints responded with a Cameron Cleeland TD. Lonnie Johnson and Jonathan Linton scored touchdowns to open the 4th quarter lead to 45-21. The Saints managed 2 TDs in the final minutes to make it close.
Miami 24 Bills 17
The Dolphins earned the right to host the first-round playoff game thanks to a 6-point edge in net points in divisional games, the NFL's 5th tie-breaker. As it turned out, the game itself was just as tight and was not decided until the Bills turned it over after advancing to the Miami 5-yard line with 9 seconds to play. The contest not only ended in thrilling fashion but also began that way. On the game's first play, Doug Flutie hooked up with Eric Moulds on a 65-yard pass but Moulds fumbled at the end of the play, giving it to the Dolphins at their 29. From there, Miami advanced to Buffalo's 14 before Olindo Mare's 31-yard FG gave the Dolphins the early lead. They extended it to 6-0 on their next series with another Mare FG. The Bills came back quickly as a 37-yard Flutie-to-Moulds pass set-up a 1-yard Thurman Thomas TD run to put Buffalo up 7-6. Just before halftime, Buffalo reached the Miami 6 but a Flutie INT halted that drive.
Midway through the 3rd, Miami went back on top on a 3-yard Karim Abdul-Jabbar TD run and successful 2-point try. The Bills answered on their next drive and tied the score at 14 on a 32-yard scoring pass from Flutie to Moulds. After leading the AFC in receiving yards during the regular season, Moulds further established himself as one of the NFL's premier receivers and would finish the afternoon with an NFL playoff record 240 yards on 9 catches. Miami's next two drives resulted in scores – a 23-yard Mare FG and an 11-yard TD pass from Dan Marino to Lamar Thomas – and the Bills found themselves trailing by 10 with just 3:42 remaining.
Buffalo advanced to the Miami 10 by the 2:00 warning when Andre Reed seemingly scored on a pass from Flutie. Officials however ruled Reed down at the 1 and then ejected him for protesting the call. Thanks to the penalty, the Bills were forced to settle for a 33-yard Steve Christie FG and hope for an onside kick recovery.
Hope was alive when Kurt Schulz recovered the kick, giving the Bills the ball back at their own 31 with 1:30 left. They moved to the Miami 5 with :17 left. On first down at the 5-yard line, Flutie pumped to throw, cocked his arm again and was leveled by Armstrong, knocking the ball loose. Defensive lineman Shane Burton recovered, and the Dolphins nearly trampled Flutie as they celebrated. It was the Bills 4th lost fumble of the day clinched Miami's wild 24-17 wild-card playoff victory.
1998 Draft- 1998 Stats- 1998 Results
