| September 29, 2004 | « Previous Story | HOME | Next Story » | Posted at 11:05 PM |
The Bills and Patriots will be meeting for the 88th time ever in the regular season and the Patriots hold a 47-40-1 series lead. New England also holds a slim lead in overall series points, 1,722 to 1,657. Buffalo’s 40 wins against NE mark the second-highest total by the team against any single opponent (NY Jets - 47).
The Pats had won five straight games over the Bills (their longest streak since winning 11-straight from 1982-87) before Buffalo won 31-0 in the 2003 season opener. New England re-took momentum in the series by closing out the Bills 2003 season with a 31-0 loss at Foxboro, NE.
With the Bills on a roll and the Patriots stumbling, it set up the first ever Buffalo Bills playoff game between the 7-6-1 clubs. The winner would claim the East title and a spot vs. the San Diego Chargers in the championship game.
Playing the game at War Memorial Stadium in Buffalo, the Patriots took control from the beginning. Elbert Dubenion lost the ball on the opening kick off giving the Patriots excellent field position. Buffalo LB Ray Abruzzese intercepted Boston QB Babe Parilli to stop the opening threat, but the Bills could not stop the momentum. 3 Gino Capelletti field goals, and a 59 yard Parilli to Larry Garron screen pass gave the Patriots a 16-0 halftime lead.
Starting the second half, Saban chose to shake up the lethargic Bills offense. Jack Kemp was sent to the bench and in came the flashy big play rookie Darryl Lamonica. The Patriots defense had stuffed Gilchrist and held him to a mere 7 yards on 8 carries. After the first 3 possessions of the second half ended in futility, Lamonica showed why he would earn the nickname “Mad Bomber”. With only 1:31 remaining in the 3rd and backed up against his own end zone, Lamonica hit “Golden Wheels” Dubenion on a 93 yard strike ( a Bills playoff record that stands to this day). On the ensuing 2 point conversion try, Lamonica hit Jack Tracy and the once insurmountable 16-0 lead was chopped in half with a full quarter to go.
It was all the noise the Bills could make that afternoon. The Patriots would drive the field twice, capitalizing on Buffalo turnovers (6 total in the game) to add 10 4th quarter points. The Final score was Boston 26, Buffalo 8. The Boston Patriots dominating defense won this game for them, but like the week previous in the drubbing to Kansas City, they were again a no show versus San Diego one week later. They gave up 523 yards and 7 TDs in a 51-10 humiliation at the hands of the Chargers.
In the preseason, rookie Joe Ferguson beat out Dennis Shaw as the starting QB. His job was a simple one- hand the ball off. Saban built Simpson one of the best offensive lines of the decade. With converted Tackle Paul Seymore playing TE, Donnie Green at Right Tackle, Reggie McKenzie at Right Guard, Bruce Jarvis at Center(replaced later by Mike Montler), Joe DeLamielleure at Left Guard, and Dave Foley at Left Tackle, OJ Simpson had the blockers he waited 3 seasons to get. Simpson dubbed them “The Electric Company” for their ability to “turn on the Juice”. The Bills opened the season with a 31-13 pounding of the New England Patriots. Simpson exploded for an NFL record 250 yards and 2 TDs.
Simpson made everyone forget the woeful 0-6 preseason with a record shattering performance. After the Bills fell behind early on a Sam Cunningham 6 yard TD run, Simpson and the Bills methodically carved up the Patriots defense. It took OJ only one play, an 80 yard Simpson signature sweep that he took the distance. The Bills offense stalled in the second quarter, as Ferguson was knocked out with an Injury.
Leading 10-6 to start the 3rd quarter, Simpson went to work again on ripping up the New England defense. A 22 yard run set up a Larry Watkins 4 yard TD run. The Patriots answered with an 80 yard drive of their own to close the gap to 17-13, but the Bills rushing machine could not be stopped. Simpson put the Bills up 24-13 on the first play of the 4th quarter with his second spectacular scoring run on the day, from 22 yards out. Larry Watkins also finished his career best day with his second TD to make it a final, 31-13.
Simpson broke the NFL record with 250 yards rushing on 29 carries for the day. Lost in the performance was Larry Watkins adding 105 and 2 TDs of his own. Buffalo set a team records with 360 yards on the ground on 51 attempts. Guard Reggie McKenzie, who boldly predicted a 2,000 yard season 2 weeks previous, was quoted “Did I lie? I’m telling you, Juice is the greatest!”
On the game-opening drive, New England advanced to the Buffalo 26 but came away empty when Vinatieri's 44-yard try fell short. From there, the Bills moved 44 yards, thanks largely to a 31-yard Thurman Thomas run, and Christie put them up 3-0 with a 39-yarder. The lead stood until late in the half when the Pats tied it on Vinatieri's 38-yard FG on the final play of the first half.
After a scoreless 3rd quarter, the teams entered the 4th still knotted at 3 when the game took a bizarre turn. Following a Jonathan Linton run, lineman Chad Eaton got up from the pile with the ball and raced 30 yards to the Buffalo 14. After an officials conference and replay review, the ruling was a fumble recovery and that Eaton somehow emerged from the pileup untouched by any Bill. One play later, Terry Allen rushed 14 yards for a TD that put the Patriots up 10-3 with 12:15 to play. The Bills went on to tie it later in the quarter when Linton scored on a 1-yard run to cap an 8-play, 59-yard drive – 56 of those yards came via four Flutie passes. New England had a chance to win it at the end of regulation when they moved to the Buffalo 15 with :06 left but Vinatieri's 33-yard FG try was wide right.
The Pats won the coin toss and received the kickoff to open OT. They moved to the Bills 26 but Vinatieri again failed to end it when his 44-yard attempt was short. Flutie, who was a perfect 7-for-7 in the OT period, later moved the Bills to the NE 6 to set-up Christie's game-winner.
Crucial to the Bills victory was the play of QB Doug Flutie, who completed 15 of 18 passes for 151 yards in the 4th quarter and OT combined. That included a game-ending streak of 12 straight completions for 124 yards. While Flutie finished hot, the Buffalo defense spent the better part of the afternoon harassing his QB counterpart, Drew Bledsoe. The Bills sacked him six times – including two each for Bruce Smith and Sam Rogers - and limited the Pats to just 67 net passing yards.
