| October 22, 2004 | « Previous Story | HOME | Next Story » | Posted at 08:42 AM |
The Bills rallied from a 10-3 fourth quarter deficit to claim a critical 13-10 win at Baltimore thanks to scores on their last two possessions. Both drives were set-up by turnovers created by the Buffalo defense. The Bills took their only lead of the game with 1:35 to play on RB Jonathan Linton's 5-yard TD reception from Doug Flutie, who shrugged off a difficult day to make several key plays in the final quarter. The win improved the Bills record to 5-3 at the season's midway point.
The Ravens jumped out early and took a 10-0 first quarter lead. The first score came on a 7-yard TD pass from Tony Banks to former Bills WR Justin Armour that capped a 10-play, 50-yard drive while the second was a 37-yard Matt Stover FG that was set-up by a Flutie INT.
The Ravens had a chance to make it 13-0 late in the second quarter but Pat Williams blocked Stover's 51-yard try. The miss gave the Bills their best field position of the afternoon and they advanced from their own 42 to the Ravens 7 before Steve Christie's 25-yard FG made it 10-3 with :40 left in the half.
The Buffalo D, which blanked Baltimore in the final 3 quarters, allowed just 4 first downs and 77 total yards (27 rushing) in the 2nd half. The offense, meanwhile, penetrated the Ravens 40 twice in the third quarter but both drives ended with Flutie INTs.
With 13:00 to play and down by 7, LB Gabe Northern hit Banks while throwing to force a Kurt Schulz INT and 26-yard return to the Ravens 34. The turnover led to a 40-yard Christie FG that made the score 10-6 with 6:21 left. Northern then came up with another huge play on the next series when he chased down Banks from behind and stripped the QB, forcing a fumble that LB Sam Rogers returned to the Ravens 45 with 3:35 remaining to give Buffalo a chance for victory. Things looked bleak for the Bills when they faced a 4th-and-15 at the Ravens 39 but Flutie scrambled 17 yards to keep the drive alive with just over 2:00 left. Two straight completions to Andre Reed then moved the ball to the 5, setting up the game winning TD toss from Flutie to Linton, the RB's first career TD catch. The defense then finished the job by forcing the Ravens to turn it over on downs on their final drive to preserve the win.
