| January 01, 2004 | « Previous Story | HOME | Next Story » | Posted at 08:30 PM |
After a disastrous 2003 campaign that cost head coach Gregg Williams his job, Buffalo Bills GM Tom Donahoe retooled the Bills coaching staff. In mid January, Donahoe reached back to his roots and tapped the Steelers offensive coordinator, Mike Mularkey. Mularkey brought in experienced assistants – naming Tom Clements as offensive coordinator, former Bengal and head coach Sam Wyche as QB coach, and veteran offensive line coach Jim McNally. The Bills had the second overall ranked defense in the NFL in 2003, and most of the defensive coaches were retained. The only significant loss was defensive consultant Dick LeBeau- who went back to the Steelers as their defensive coordinator.During free agency, the Bills lost starting CB Antoine Winfield to the Minnesota Vikings and 8 time Pro Bowl Guard Ruben Brown to the Chicago Bears. Replenishing these losses were 5 time Pro Bowl CB Troy Vincent from the Philadelphia Eagles and Guard Chris Villarreal. The Bills also picked up another Bear, FB Daimon Shelton
Training camp was abuzz with a healthy Willis McGahee getting carries after missing his entire rookie season. With 4 touchdowns in the camp scrimmage against the Cleveland Browns, expectations rose. Incumbent Travis Henry wasn’t pleased sharing the spotlight, but he maintained the starter’s role through preseason. The Bills received a scare during camp, losing both backup QBs to injury 2 weeks before opening day. Losman (broken leg) and Travis Brown (knee) were both expected to be out most, if not the entire season. The Bills scrambled and acquired veteran journeyman Shane Matthews to fill the spot. In preseason action, the Bills opened with a 16-6 victory over the visiting Denver Broncos. That was followed up with a last second 16-15 loss to the visiting Tennessee Titans. The Bills wound up the final 2 games on the road, losing 30-17 to the Indianapolis Colts and 20-17 to the Lions in In the home opener , the Bills, leading 10-6 in the closing minutes, fell short when Jaguars QB Byron Leftwich hit WR Ernest Wilford in the back of the end zone as time expired to give Scobee hit another field goal to bring the score to 7-6 in the third quarter, and then Bills K Rian Lindell matched it with a 25-yarder early in the fourth quarter that was set up by an Izell Reese interception. Lindell’s kick put touchdown. Bledsoe completed 16-of-27 passes for 153 yards and one touchdown, while only being sacked once for six yards. Moulds caught a game-high eight balls and finished with 75 yards and one TD. Bills RB Travis Henry gained a game-high 75 yards on the ground. 
As been the hallmark of previous Donahoe drafts, the Bills again made a splash with some wheeling and dealing on draft day. Speedy WR Lee Evans of Wisconsin was the surprise pick for the Bills at the 13th spot. Needing an eventual replacement for the struggling Drew Bledsoe, the Bills dealt their 2nd & 5th round picks along with their 1st round pick in 2005 to Dallas for the 22nd overall pick. With the Cowboy’s top selection they went on to draft QB JP Losman of Tulane. DT Tim Anderson of Ohio State was selected in the 3rd, TE Tim Euhus in the 4th, and OT Dylan McFarland and WR Jonathan Smith in the 7th. The real steal occurred at the end of the draft. The Bills acquired a league high 5 undrafted free agents that would eventually win roster spots. The Bills nabbed S Rashad Baker, CB Jabari Greer, and DE Constantine Ritzmann all of Tennessee, Massive 320 lb TE Jason Peters of Arkansas, and RB Shaud Williams of Alabama.
Buffalo dominated
Bledsoe threw his only interception of the game on the second play of the third quarter. Cornerback Ray Buchanan picked off Bledsoe at the Bills 39, which eventually led to Sebastian Janikowski's 21-yard field goal, giving Oakland a 10-3 lead. On the ensuing kickoff, Terrence McGee's 88-yard return to the
Trailing 13-3 with less than two minutes remaining,
At a sold out Ralph Wilson Stadium, New England closed out the game with 21 unanswered points and handed
After a
The Patriots scored quickly at the end of the first half on a 30-yard pass from Tom Brady to David Patten, and then scored twice in the fourth quarter on another touchdown toss from Brady, this time to Daniel Graham, and a 68-yard fumble return by Richard Seymour. It was the back breaker for the Bills, as on 3rd and 1 on the previous play and the Bills driving for a potential game –tying score, Travis Henry slipped behind the line of scrimmage. The stumble prevented what would have appeared to be an easy first down. On the Next play,
JETS 16, BILLS 14
Doug Brien kicked a 38-yard field goal with 58 seconds remaining to lift Buffalo had one final shot from its 48 with 2 seconds left, but Drew Bledsoe was intercepted by Terrell Buckley near the goal line. The Bills, who along with the Dolphins are the only winless teams in the league, took the lead with two fourth-quarter touchdowns. Bledsoe threw a 16-yard pass to Mark Campbell, and after the Jets went three and out, Bledsoe connected with Lee Evans on a 46-yard touchdown pass with 5:48 remaining.
Bills 20, Dolphins 13
In blustery conditions in
Aaron Schobel had 21/2 sacks and Ron Edwards added two, leading a strong defensive effort in which the Bills limited Miami to just 212 yards net offense. Willis McGahee had a strong debut in his first career start. The Bills' first-round pick in the 2003 draft had 111 yards rushing and put away the game with a 31-yard run that allowed the Bills to run out the clock. The former
Spikes finished with two tackles and broke up two passes intended for tight end Randy McMichael. His interception opened the scoring. Stepping in front of Jay Fiedler's pass intended for Rob Konrad, Spikes ran it untouched into the end zone.
The game was played in blustery fall conditions, with a 30 mph wind a major factor. All the scoring through three quarters took place at the east end of the field, and the wind knocked down Lindell's other 43-yard field goal attempt, which barely even made it to the goal line.
Behind 10-7 at the half, the Bills tied the game on Rian Lindell's 43-yard field goal in the third quarter..
Ravens 20, Bills 6
Buffalo’s defense held Baltimore without a touchdown in the second half and scoreless in the third quarter, but the Bills turned the ball over four times in the second half, including two interceptions inside the 20. Also,
Bills 38, Cardinals 14The Bills put all three phases of the game – offense, defense and special teams – together for a collective, 38-14, victory over the Cardinals. On a windy and rainy day at Ralph Wilson Stadium, running the ball was the action of choice. And Willis McGahee took full advantage. In his second career start, McGahee found the end zone two times for the Bills first two rushing touchdowns of the season. McGahee rushed for 102 yards on 30 carries with two scores in the first and fourth quarters.
McGahee’s first TD and a 25-yard field goal by Rian Lindell put
The huge special teams play sparked Buffalo, which went on to record its highest scoring total since a Week Two matchup against Jacksonville in 2003, a span of 21 games.
Bills 22, NY Jets 17
Chad Pennington struggled against the harsh
Pennington's two turnovers were costly. His fumble at midfield after being hit by London Fletcher was recovered by cornerback Terrence McGee and returned 38 yards to the
Bledsoe was 11-of-17 for 110 yards in the first half. Despite the windy conditions in the second half, Bledsoe managed to complete 7-of-13 for 74 yards, including a four-yard TD pass to Evans, who made a diving fingertip catch in the right corner of the end zone with 8:08 left in the third quarter, snapping a 10-10 tie.
After completing 7-of-11 passes for 141 yards and a touchdown in the first half, Pennington failed to complete any of his four attempts in the second half before leaving with a strained right shoulder. Quincy Carter replaced Pennington with the Jets at their own 1, trailing 20-10. Carter promptly had a shaky exchange with Martin, who was tackled in the end zone by defensive tackle Pat Williams for a safety with 6:04 left. Carter connected with Santana Moss on a 51-yard touchdown with 4:06 left to pull the Jets within 22-17, but McGahee helped to run out the remainder of the clock for the Bills (3-5), who avenged a 16-14 loss at
On a 3rd-and-8 play, Bledsoe connected with rookie Lee Evans on a 27-yard pass down the right sideline with 2:31 remaining. Evans may not have kept both feet inbounds after making the catch, but the Jets had used all of their timeouts and were unable to challenge the call.
Patriots 29, Bills 6
Adam Vinatieri kicked five field goals, Corey Dillon rushed for 151 yards on 26 carries and the Patriots intercepted four passes. Bills quarterback Drew Bledsoe tossed one interception to Troy Brown, a wideout to whom he had thrown 12 touchdown passes while both were with the Patriots, but who played some cornerback because of injuries at that position.
The Patriots led 20-0 at halftime, scoring on four of their five possessions, while
Even Willis McGahee, who sparked the Bills to three wins in their previous four games, couldn't do much as they had to focus on the pass to try to come back from the early deficit. McGahee rushed for more than 100 yards in those victories, his only previous pro starts, but was held to 37 yards on 14 carries by the Patriots.
The Patriots took a 6-0 lead on field goals of 27 and 24 yards by Vinatieri. On their next series, they marched 75 yards on 11 plays, capped by Brady's 13-yard pass to a wide-open and leaping David Patten. Bledsoe threw his second interception on the next possession. It was returned 29 yards by Tedy Bruschi, and Brady threw a 3-yard touchdown pass to Christian Fauria.
Vinatieri made it 23-0 with a 20-yard field goal in the third quarter. Jonathan Smith then returned Josh Miller's punt 70 yards for a touchdown, but the 2-point conversion attempt failed for
Vinatieri added field goals of 45 and 37 yards in the fourth quarter.
Bills 37, Rams 17
With a little help from
After spotting the Rams a 10-0 first-quarter lead on their first two possessions, the Bills held
The Rams unraveled completely at the start of the third quarter with the game tied at 17. The Bills scored 20 points in the quarter, 17 in a 5:40 span. After the Rams went three and out on their first possession of the half, Smith returned a punt 53 yards to the
After another Rams three and out, Clements caught the punt at the right hash and burst untouched up the right sideline, somersaulting into the end zone from the 1. The Rams' Erik Flowers then muffed Buffalo's short kickoff, which the Bills recovered at the St.Louis 31, leading to Rian Lindell's 35-yard field goal. Any chances of a Rams comeback ended when Bulger marched St. Louis 65 yards to the Bills 2 early in the fourth quarter. But defensive tackle Sam Adams batted a pass at the line of scrimmage and then caught it in a crowd.
Bills 38, Seahawks 9
Willis McGahee had 116 yards rushing and four touchdowns, leading
The Bills took control from the start, moving 60 yards in 10 plays on the opening drive.
While McGahee ran wild, Shaun Alexander, who came into the game second in the NFL with 1,151 yards rushing, was shut down by the league's sixth-ranked defense against the run. He was held to 39 yards on 13 carries. The only bad news the Bills encountered happened when
Matt Hasselbeck threw an eight-yard touchdown pass to Bobby Engram late in the fourth quarter for the Seahawks, who were booed for much of the contest. Hasselbeck went 19-of-38 for 185 yards with an interception.
Bills 42, Dolphins 32
Behind four touchdown passes from QB Drew Bledsoe, the Bills rallied from a 10-point deficit to defeat the Dolphins 42-32 in Pro Player Stadium. Bills KR Terrence McGee took the opening kickoff 104 yards for the game’s first score, the longest in Bills' history, marking the first time
Bledsoe and
Three unanswered touchdown passes by Bledsoe, two to rookie WR Lee Evans and one to WR Eric Moulds swung scoring column
Bills 37, Browns 7
The
Led by Sam Adams’ two sacks and a sack, INT and fumble recovery by Troy Vincent, the Bills defense registered eight sacks and created five Browns turnovers. LB Takeo Spikes had his hand in two turnovers, forcing a pair of fumbles and also finishing with a sack. CB Nate Clements picked off a pass and recovered fumble, while DE Aaron Schobel forced a fumble on a sack which was recovered by fellow DE Chris Kelsay. Kelsay also recorded a sack.
Offensively, RB Willis McGahee rushed for over 100 yards for the sixth time in the last eight games with 105 yards rushing on 27 carries and two touchdowns. McGahee also caught two passes for 12 yards. Rookie Lee Evans totaled 81 total yards on four catches for 33 yards and one rush for 48 yards. Evans caught a seven-yard touchdown pass from Drew Bledsoe in the second quarter to give
At Paul Brown Stadium, The Bills set a new team record by scoring 30-plus points in their fifth straight game in a 33-17 victory over the Bengals. Buffalo’s scoring came from all phases -with the offense posting seven points on a Lee Evans TD reception, the defense picking up seven points on a Takeo Spikes INT return for a TD, and the special teams notching 19 points on four Rian Lindell field goals and a punt block recovery by Jason Peters for a touchdown. It was the second time in the season, and 12th time in franchise history, with the defense and special teams scoring touchdowns in the same game. Spikes’ interception for a touchdown was even more noteworthy as it was his first game returning to Cincinnati after joining the Bills in free agency last season. The All-Pro linebacker also recovered a fumble. The Bills offense didn't have to do much. Drew Bledsoe was 15-of-30 for 183 yards, including a 5-yard touchdown pass to Lee Evans. Willis McGahee ran for only 25 yards on 11 carries, and left for the last few minutes of the first half after landing awkwardly on a catch and twisting his rebuilt left knee. He returned for the start of the second half, but sat out the fourth quarter as a precaution with the game in hand.
WR Lee Evans caught five passes for 101 yards and a touchdown. The touchdown made Evans the first rookie receiver in Bills history to record TD receptions in four straight games. Rookie RB Shaud Williams stepped up with RB Willis McGahee out with injury, leading the team in rushing with 30 yards on 14 carries and also catching a pass for 10 yards. DE Chris Kelsay intercepted the first pass of his career and also tallied seven tackles. CB Nate Clements shutdown Bengals All-Pro WR Chad Johnson, holding him to only two receptions for 10 yards. With the win, the Bills notch five consecutive victories for the first time since the 1999-2000 seasons.
McGahee and Evans each found the end zone two times. McGahee, who suffered the injury last week against Cincinnati, went over the 1,000-yard mark for the season with his seventh 100-yard game. He scored on a three-yard run early in the second quarter and a one-yard plunge late in the third period. SF’s Kevan Barlow 's TD in the final three minutes prevented the 49ers' first home shutout since 1977.
Evans finished with eight receptions, a new career high, for 92 yards, while McGahee rushed 15 times for 102 yards (6.8 avg.). The rookie wide receiver caught his pair of touchdowns from two different quarterbacks – Drew Bledsoe and Shane Matthews – marking only the eighth time in Bills history a player has caught TD passes from different quarterbacks in the same game. Bledsoe finished 21-of-32 for 172 yards, while Matthews completed his first passes as a Bill, finishing 2-of-3 for 44 yards. WR Eric Moulds also grabbed eight passes, totaling 81 yards.
Nate Clements, Lawyer Milloy and Josh Stamer each intercepted a pass as the Bills defense limited 49er quarterbacks Cody Pickett and Ken Dorsey to 109 passing yards combined. Pro Bowlers Takeo Spikes and Sam Adams recorded sacks, as did nickel cornerback Kevin Thomas. Thomas’ sack forced a fumble, which was recovered by Pro Bowl alternate Aaron Schobel. The Bills scored 30-plus points in six straight games (228 total), continuing a club record that began on 11/21 vs. St. Louis.
Buffalo managed just 267 yards, with seven three-and-outs. And the defense couldn't get the Steelers off the field, losing the time-of-possession battle by more than 11 minutes.
After Pittsburgh opened the game with a 3-0 lead, Willis McGahee put Buffalo on the board with a 3 yard run capping a 50 yard, 5 play drive. CB Nate Clements stripped WR Antwan Randel-El of the ball to set up the drive. Randel-El made up for the turnover by answering the Bills score on the next drive- as backup QB Tommy Maddox hit him with a 16-yard score to put the Steelers back on top. Bledsoe’s interception on the first play of the ensuing drive set up an early 2nd quarter FG by Reed, extending the Steeler’s lead to 13-7. Both teams exchanged field goals to end the first half.
The Bills seized a 17-16 lead and apparent momentum when Nate Clements picked off Maddox and returned it 30 yards for the go-ahead touchdown. The game turned late in the third quarter after Buffalo's Rian Lindell missed wide right on a 28-yard field goal that left the Bills clinging to a 17-16 lead. The Bills had just strung together a 14 play drive that fell inches short of a first and goal at the Pittsburgh 10. Penalties wiped out a first and goal at the 4 , setting the stage for the missed FG.
The Steelers responded with 10 points in an 85-second span at the start of the fourth quarter. With the third string Steeler offense now in the game, rookie Willie Parker broke a 58-yard run on the next play, setting up Jeff Reed’s 4th FG. On the next drive , Bledsoe was blind-sided by rookie cornerback Ricardo Colclough, who forced a fumble that fell directly into LB James Harrison's hands for an easy 18 yard score.
The Bills went three-and-out on their next possession and the Steelers then ate up nearly nine minutes with a 14-play, 46-yard drive helped by two defensive penalties. It was capped with a 33-yard field goal by Reed, who kicked five on the day.
Buffalo made it close when Willis McGahee scored his second touchdown of the game on a 1-yard plunge with 78 seconds left. But the Bills failed on an onside kick when Steelers cornerback Ike Taylor smothered the ball, preserving the 29-24 win.
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The Bills ended the season 9-7, third in the AFC East and just out of an AFC Wild-Card spot. Willis McGahee became the 9th player in team history to eclipse 1,000 yards in a season, finishing with 1,128 and 13 TDs. Eric Moulds again led all Bills receivers with 88 receptions as well as 1,043 yards adding 5 TDs. Rookie Lee Evans led all WRs with 9 TD grabs.
On defense, London Fletcher led all with 142 tackles. Takeo Spikes was selected to the Pro Bowl for the first time in a Bills uniform on the strength of 92 tackles, 3 sacks, 1 fumble recovery, 3 interceptions, and 1 TD. Nate Clements joined him in Hawaii leading the team with 6 interceptions, and 2 TDs – one on an interception return and the other on a punt return. Leading all special teams players was the stellar play of kick return specialist Terrance McGee- who led the NFL with 3 TD returns on kickoffs. He was the first special teams player to go to the pro bowl from Buffalo since Steve Tasker.
The stunning loss to the Steelers accelerated changes in the offseason. Despite the record setting scoring pace the Bills set during their 6 game winning streak, it was more than apparent that it was not coming from Drew Bledsoe under center. Immobile and turn-over prone in his three seasons in Buffalo, and posting a losing 25-27 record, the Bills were ready to move heir apparent JP Losman into the starter’s role. Refusing to accept the backup assignment, Bledsoe asked for and received his unconditional release. In less than a week he resurfaced in Dallas under his former head coach Bill Parcells.
2004 Bills Draft- Team Stats --2004 Results
