SEATTLE (AP) Drew Bledsoe went all the way home to Washington state to help the Buffalo Bills collect a rare road win. Willis McGahee had 116 yards rushing and four touchdowns, leading Buffalo to a 38-9 win over Seattle on Sunday, the worst loss for coach Mike Holmgren in his six seasons with the Seahawks.
Bledsoe offset his three interceptions by completing two-thirds of his passes for 275 yards and a touchdown, and the Bills (5-6) snapped a six-game road losing streak dating to last season. It was Buffalo's first road win in five tries this season and the team's second victory in the last 12 trips.
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When Willis McGahee was in the 2003 NFL draft following his playing days at the University of Miami, McGahee was asked to describe in twenty words or less why a team should draft him.
Unable to change the past, rookie coach Mike Mularkey looks instead toward what he sees as a promising future for his resurgent Buffalo Bills.
Quarterbacks Drew Bledsoe had a pretty good game. He did not lose it, but also did not help it with 3 intercepted passes. However, he did not let that bring him down, like he normally does. After Bledsoe threw the 1st interception, he drove the team down the field for a field goal. After the next pick, he came back onto the field with about 3 minutes to go and executed a perfect touchdown drive, using the 2-minute offense. He did the same thing in the 3rd quarter after his 3rd interception. It was nice to see some confidence in Drew Bledsoe and the fact that nothing really fazed him.
Bledsoe finished the game completing 25/37 for 275 yards, 1 TD, and 3 INT. He had a 67.9% completion rate and the 3 picks were really the only bad passes. You could even say that the three interceptions might not have happened against another defense; the Seahawks are currently leading the league with 17 interceptions and had 14 going into the game. Quarterback JP Losman came in for garbage time and handed the ball off most of the time, except for one play, in which he found Tim Euhus for a 17-yard gain to move the chains on 2nd and 4. If the team keeps playing this good, it looks like garbage time is the only time we may see JP Losman and I agree with that move. You can’t kill the team chemistry and the winning mentality now, by taking Bledsoe out. The only way Losman should get a start is if the Bills get mathematically eliminated from the playoffs. Grade: B
Running Backs: WOW! That’s basically what most Bills fans were thinking when Willis McGahee was about to get stuffed at the goal line and bounced outside to get into the end zone for the touchdown. Or how about when Bledsoe tossed him the ball on a fake QB sneak on 4th and 1? He didn’t just get the 1-yard that he needed for the first down, but also another 29 yards for a touchdown! Or how about the killer stiff arm that Willis used to get into the end zone on another run? Again, WOW is all I could keep thinking. McGahee had his best game yet with 28 carries for 116 yards and 4 (yeah that’s right, I said FOUR) touchdowns. He also caught 2 passes for 26 yards.
Travis Henry had 1 catch for 5 yards, which converted a 3rd and 3, but he also broke his leg in the same play. Joe Burns took over for Henry as a reliever and had 7 rushes for 14 yards. Daimon Shelton did a great job blocking and caught 1 pass for 24 yards. It was basically all McGahee on Sunday and the scary part is that he is only 85% recovered. Just imagine once he gets that burst back. I can’t wait! Grade: A+
Wide Receivers: Eric Moulds was back to normal. He caught 8 passes for 93 yards and didn’t drop any of them. This was mainly because the Seahawks had to cover Lee Evans in the 2nd half. Lee Evans did a great job taking some of the coverage off Moulds by making some big plays and forcing the defense to worry about the long ball. Evans had 6 receptions for 70 yards, including a nifty one-handed touchdown catch in the end zone. He also ran for 15 yards on a reverse, which converted a 3rd and 3. Sam Aiken had 1 catch for 11 yards. Jonathan Smith caught 2 passes for 10 yards and had 1 run for 3 yards. Overall, it was a good game for the receivers and all of them were involved in the game for a change. Grade: A
Tight Ends: Mark Campbell was contained with some double coverage in the end zone and was held to check for most of the game. He did have 3 receptions for 31 yards, including a sweet 18-yard catch and run to the 2-yard line, which setup the touchdown to Lee Evans at the end of the 1st half. Tim Euhus caught 2 passes for 22 yards, one of them being a nice 17-yard pass from JP Losman to convert a 2nd down and 4. Overall, it was a quiet day as Seattle keyed on Campbell in the red zone for the whole game and the tight ends were busy blocking and making holes for McGahee to run through. Grade: A-
Offensive Line: Another good game for this unit. It looks like McNally needed a little bit of time before he could work his magic and it is starting to show. Drew Bledsoe had lots of time to throw and was hardly touched or rattled by the Seahawks. He was sacked once, which was immediately after Jonas Jennings went down with an injury and Marcus Price came in. Price was beaten easily for the sack, but did a good job after that. The line also opened some nice holes for Willis McGahee to run through and that definitely helped the offense out, plus they didn’t have a single penalty and that was big for a road game. Overall, it seems like this unit is really starting to jell and that’s a huge part of why this offense is doing so well lately. Grade: A
Defensive Line: On the stat page, the front four was pretty quiet. Aaron Schobel and Chris Kelsay applied some pressure on Matt Hasselbeck, which apparently was just enough to force him to make some bad throws. They also did a good job helping to stuff Shaun Alexander. Ryan Denney was the only one with a sack, and he also forced a fumble during that sack which Pat Williams recovered. Sam Adams and Pat Williams were busy plugging the middle and working on the offensive line to shut down all holes for Shaun Alexander to run through. Pat Williams also made a great play sniffing out a QB sneak and stuffing Hasselbeck at the goal line, which forced Seattle to kick a field goal. It may not have looked like they did a lot, but they were outworking the Seahawks’ offensive line, which definitely resulted in Shaun Alexander getting shut down. Grade: A-
Linebackers: Another great game for one of the top linebacker corps in the NFL. Takeo Spikes was dominant with a sack, 3 knocked down passes, and at least 4 tackles. That number seems rather low, because I saw Spikes in almost every play. He was a huge reason why the Bills held the NFL rushing leader to only 39 yards on 13 carries. London Fletcher was the other reason. He had 7 total tackles, and also intercepted a two-point conversion pass from Matt Hasselbeck in the 4th quarter. Jeff Posey had 2 tackles, with one of them being for a 3-yard loss on Alexander. Overall, it was another great day by this unit as they continue to prove to the other teams why they are the best unit in a top-notch defense. Grade: A+
Secondary: Terrence McGee started out a little slow in the first half, but then dominated in the second half. McGee had 8 total tackles and an interception. He did a good job covering the Seahawks’ receivers, but was also helped by quite a few dropped passes. Nate Clements continued to keep up his solid coverage and even helped with stopping the run. He finished the day with 7 tackles. Kevin Thomas had 3 tackles, but was also called for an illegal contact penalty that kept a Seattle drive alive in the 2nd quarter. Rashad Baker had 5 tackles, including a key stop on Hasselbeck to keep him from getting into the end zone on a QB sneak. This play resulted in a Seattle field goal. Lawyer Milloy was quiet and wasn’t used in hardly any blitzes to get the quarterback. He had 2 tackles, but was solid in pass coverage. Overall it was a good day by the secondary, but they had some help from Seattle with all the dropped passes. Grade: A
Special Teams: Another solid game by the Bills’ best unit. They may have not made the same exciting plays as last week, but they still did a good job. The surprise onside kick to open the second half was brilliant. It basically told the Seahawks that they are in for the kill. It was a nice move by Bobby April and perfectly executed by Rian Lindell. Lindell also did a good job with the kickoffs and made all 5 of his extra points. He also made one 25-yard field goal and missed a 53-yarder, which didn’t count, because a Seattle player got a 15-yard penalty for leaping. Brian Moorman only had 1 punt and it was for 36 yards. As for the kick/punt returning teams, you could tell Seattle was scared of them right away when they kicked the ball out of bounds instead of kicking off to the deadly trio of Terrence McGee, Jonathan “Fast Freddie” Smith, and London Fletcher. Terrence McGee had 1 return and it was for 23 yards. Nate Clements had 2 punt returns for an average of 3.5 yards. Eric Moulds caught the Seattle onside kick and ran it for 2 yards. The coverage team did a good job too. They held Seattle to an average of 17.8 yards on 6 kickoff returns. Overall, it was another good day by the Special Teams and another day where you wish we had this special teams unit in 2000 against the Titans. Maybe the “Music City Miracle wouldn’t have happened. Grade: A
Coaching: Mike Mularkey continues to prove why he is the Buffalo Bills head coach. He has done a great job recovering from a 0-4 start to the season. You can tell that this team is beginning to build some confidence and is developing into a dangerous team. It just took a little bit of time for the whole team to jell and learn how to win. Both sides of the ball had a great game plan and it worked to perfection.
Tom Clements had a nice offensive game plan, controlling the clock with the run for 36:24 and passing the ball when necessary. He also did a nice job throwing in a couple gutsy trick plays that all seemed to work. The best was when they chose to go for the 1st down on 4th down and 1 at the 30-yard line. Coach Mularkey called a fake quarterback sneak in which Drew Bledsoe pitched the ball back to Willis McGahee, who would run for the first down. It worked better than they thought. McGahee took it 30 yards down the field for the touchdown. Another good call was from Bobby April when he chose to do an onside kick instead of the kickoff to open the second half. Rian Lindell did an 11-yard squib kick that he was able to recover. It worked perfectly and showed that they had the mentality that they were going to do everything it takes to win the game. The team came out and added another 21 points in the 2nd half.
There was one more move that impressed me that took place before the game. Mike Mularkey was calling up other head coaches to find out what they do differently on away games. Whatever they told him seemed to work. Let’s see if he can do the same thing next week against a pathetic Miami team. Grade: A+
Billstuff- McGahee makes like Cookie in stomping Seattle
Even through the fuzz and snow blanketing the picture of a tiny-screen, black-and-white television on the dining-room table, you could see something special going on in Seattle, where the Buffalo Bills punished the host Seahawks on just about every snap.
Cheeseburgers Bring Paradise
Mike Mularkey wanted to change things up a bit this road trip. After his Buffalo Bills had started 0-4 on the road this season, Mularkey called around the league and talked to coaches to find out what their teams' routines were when they played out-of-town.
Bills Shut Down Seahawks Run Game
The Bills were well aware that in order to stop the seventh-ranked Seattle offense, they needed to contain Seahawks running back Shaun Alexander.
Henry Suffers Broken Leg
Bills running back Travis Henry suffered a broken right leg on Buffalo's first possession and will likely miss the remainder of the season.
Another bad break for Henry, this time in his right leg
Losing his starting job was bad enough, but Travis Henry's season took a turn for the worse Sunday. The backup running back's season, and perhaps his Buffalo Bills career, may be over after he suffered a broken bone in his right leg in the first quarter of the Bills' 38-9 victory over the Seattle Seahawks.
Bills hogtie Alexander, clamp down on Hasselbeck
The Buffalo Bills' defense knew that stopping running back Shaun Alexander was the key to slowing down the Seattle Seahawks. But the defenders weren't satisfied with that. Their goal was to put a muzzle on the Seahawks' entire offense.
By the Numbers
Mularkey gives players some food for thought
Mike Mularkey laid it on the line the moment his team arrived for meetings last Monday. The Bills' record spoke for itself. There was no use hiding from it.
Power Trip
Drew Bledsoe did his best quarterback sneak impersonation into the line, then suddenly pivoted and threw a 15-yard lateral pass backward to Willis McGahee.
Bledsoe picks up where he left off at WSU
Twelve years after his right arm produced the only heat in a blinding blizzard – 12 years after he scorched the Washington Huskies for 260 yards and two touchdowns in the Apple Cup – Drew Bledsoe finally returned for a football game in his home state.
Passing game sputters as Hawks drop ball
The passing game was only marginally better than the catching game during the Seattle Seahawks’ 38-9 home loss to Buffalo on Sunday. But that’s nothing new for the team least likely to appear in an Allstate commercial.
‘We were just bad, man’
The low point of the Mike Holmgren era in Seattle came Sunday when the Seahawks suffered their most lopsided defeat since the 1997 opener.
Four Bills enjoy a happy return
The Buffalo Bills could not have scheduled a more accommodating homecoming opponent for Drew Bledsoe, Sam Adams, Rian Lindell and Lawyer Milloy.
The Seahawks need to hold a séance to get in touch with their departed passing and running games. A unit that already was struggling plummeted to a level somewhere below rock bottom yesterday during an embarrassing 38-9 loss to the Buffalo Bills at Qwest Field.
Buffalo Bills RB Willis McGahee ran all over the Seattle Seahawks Sunday and into team history. He is the 6th Buffalo Bill to score at least 4 touchdowns in a game. He is the first to score 4 TDs in a single game since Thurman Thomas scored 4 in the 1992 season opener vs. the Los Angeles Rams. Cookie Gilchrist remains the team record holder with 5 rushing TDs against the New York Jets, on Dec.8th, 1963. McGahee becomes the only Bill to score 4 TDs in a game while the team was on the road
Nursing a 17-3 lead into the third quarter, the Bills get a break when Ryan Lindell missed a 52-yard field goal attempt. A personal foul against the Seahawks gives the Bills new life. After Mark Campbell's 18-yard reception to the 2-yard line, McGahee plunged in on the next play to break the game open, 24-3.
McGahee's third score of the day was set up by a brilliant, yet risky coaching decision. Calling timeout on 4th and 1, the Bills chose to go for it. A fake QB sneak turned into a Bledsoe to McGahee lateral, and McGahee torched the surprised and unprepared Seahawk defense for 30 yards. McGahee dove for the end zone pylon and made it in. The score made it 31-3 Buffalo with 10:38 remaining in the game.
The last score came on the next drive. Buffalo forced a Matt Hasselback fumble deep in Seattle territory and recovered at the 15. Three straight McGahee runs, including a fierce stiff arm to a Seattle defender, put the Bills on top 38-3. The last carry was a 1-yard McGahee jaunt for his 4th score of the game. He finished with 116 yards on 28 carries.
12/8/63 Cookie Gilchrist vs. the New York Jets- In front of 20,222 at War Memorial Stadium, Gilchrist had the greatest game ever by a professional football player to date rushing the ball. When the smoke had cleared, with his 243 yard afternoon he surpassed Jim Brown's NFL record of 237 yards in 1957. His 5 TDs in the game set an AFL record. The damage could have been worse, as 50 more yards of Gilchrist's running were called back due to penalties.
11/23/75 OJ Simpson vs. New England Patriots- Bills great OJ Simpson was to be held to a season-low 69 yards in this game, but managed to score 4 touchdowns (3 rushing and 1 receiving) in a 45-31 victory. Tied 31-31 late in the 4th quarter, Siimpson ran one in from 1 yard out and caught one from 3 yards out in the final 5 minutes.
9/9/1979 Roland Hooks vs. Cincinnati Bengals- The Bills crushed the Bengals 51-24 on an incredible performance by Roland Hooks. A career backup, Hooks scored on his first 4 carries of the game, from distances of 3, 32, 4, and 28 yards. Hooks added one more carry and finished with 70 yards on the day.
9/23/79 Jerry Butler vs New York Jets- Just 2 games after Roland Hooks turned the feat, Bills WR rookie sensation Jerry Butler torched a weak Jets secondary for 10 receptions and 255 yards. Butler had TD catches of 5, 75, 74, and 9 yards in a 46-31 win.
9/8/91 Don Beebe vs. Pittsburgh Steelers- Jim Kelly torched his boyhood team for six touchdown passes, setting a club record and a personal high, with four of those tosses going to Don Beebe, who tied a team record with Jerry Butler for four touchdown receptions in a game. In the first half Kelly and Beebe connected for scores of 14 and 34 yards. Just 1:51 into the fourth quarter, Beebe caught a 11-yard touchdown pass. Just over five minutes later, Kelly hit Beebe again for a 4-yard pass, breaking the club mark with his sixth touchdown pass, and making Beebe only the second Bill to have caught four touchdowns in a game, and with it Buffalo went on to win 52-34.
9/6/92 Thurman Thomas vs. Los Angeles Rams- Buffalo exploded out of the gate against an old familiar face. Chuck Knox, former coach of the Bills from 1978-82, took over the reigns of the Los Angeles Rams for the second time. The Bills inflicted the worst defeat ever on any Chuck Knox led team as they dismantled the Rams 40-7 before 79,001 at Rich Stadium. Thurman Thomas became only the sixth Bill to record four touchdowns in a game (3 rushing,1 receiving), while amassing 102 yards rushing. Offensive lineman Mitch Frerotte also scored on a trick play at the goal line, as Jim Kelly found him on a tackle eligible 2-yard TD pass.
Henry Likely Lost For Season with Broken Leg
Buffalo Bills running back Travis Henry suffered a broken right leg in the first quarter of Sunday's game against the Seattle Seahawks.
Henry had to be helped from the field after being injured and likely will miss the remainder of the season. It would be a disappointing end to the year for Henry, who lost his starting job to Willis McGahee.
Henry has rushed for 326 yards in 10 games this season.
SEATTLE - Buffalo Bills fans who prefer to look at the glass as half empty might view today's game against the Seattle Seahawks as a hopeless cause.
Bills: Buffalo trailed 10-0 at home against the St. Louis Rams, then scored 37 points in the second and third quarters on their way to a 37-17 victory.
Matt Hasselbeck took a huge step yesterday toward starting Sunday's game against the Buffalo Bills when he returned to practice, a day earlier than expected.
While you could easily expend any number of paragraphs rationalizing why the Buffalo Bills could and should beat the Seahawks on Sunday in Seattle, what’s the point?
Quarterbacks It was another solid showing at home for Drew Bledsoe. He was making plays when they needed to be made and he finally found Mark Campbell in the end zone for the first time in over a month. One of the best plays was a 54-yard flea-flicker to Sam Aiken. Bledsoe was 15/24 for 185 yards, with 3 touchdowns (all to Campbell) and 1 INT. He overcame an early interception in the 1st quarter by completing 3 solid drives for scores in the 2nd quarter. Two of the drives were for touchdowns. Drew even did a pretty good job avoiding the pass rush, taking only 1 sack and getting rid of the ball when he couldn’t find anyone open. There were a few bad plays, but overall it was a good game by Drew Bledsoe and he did exactly what he was asked to do. Let’s see if he can continue this at Seattle next week. Grade: A
Wide Receivers: Eric Moulds had a bad day. He had problems catching passes from Bledsoe all day and also took 3 penalties. Moulds had 3 receptions for 17-yards, and was successful in a reverse for a 12-yard gain. Lee Evans had two catches for 38 yards, including a sweet 32-yard catch down the sideline to setup a touchdown. Sam Aiken showed that he has some speed, getting downfield to catch the 54-yard flee-flicker. He also made a nice 7-yard catch right after that, going out of bounds to stop the clock. Aiken had 2 receptions for 61 yards. Let’s hope we can start to see more of him, because he showed some nice speedy getting ahead of the Rams’ players for that ball. Overall, it was an okay day for the receivers. There were way too many drops by Moulds, and Evans had a terrible holding penalty, but it wasn’t too bad. Let’s see if they can do better next week. Grade: B-
Offensive Line: It was not a great day for this unit, but not bad either. Penalties hurt them. There were 3 of them, including one killer “ illegal use of hands to the face” penalty on Jonas Jennings. That one nullified a beautiful 24-yard catch and run by Joe Burns on 3rd down and 9. They also seemed to struggle at making holes for Willis McGahee. It did get better in the second half, but that was mostly from McGahee wearing the defense down with his hard runs. On the plus side, Leonard Little had one sack that killed the first drive, but nothing after that. Bledsoe also seemed to get a lot of time to complete his passes and do the flea-flickers. Overall, it was an okay day. If the holes were bigger in the first half, this grade would have been much better. Grade: C+
Defensive Line: Aaron Schobel was contained for the most part by the Rams offensive line with some double coverage. However, he did get a chance to make some plays towards the end. Schobel had 6 tackles, including one play where he leveled Marshall Faulk at the 1-yard line for a loss of 2. Bulger was intercepted on the next play. Chris Kelsay continues to pressure the quarterback and force him to make bad mistakes. He only had 1 tackle, but he had at least 2 hits on Marc Bulger. However out of all the defensive ends, Ryan Denney did the best. Denney had 2 tackles, 1 sack, and even forced Tory Holt to fumble the ball. Unfortunately, Holt recovered his own fumble. The biggest story was how dominating Sam Adams was. He was all over the place, pressuring the quarterback and helping stuff the run. Adams had had 3 tackles, with 2 of them behind the scrimmage, and he tipped a pass and intercepted it. Pat Williams had a quiet day with only 1 tackle, but he was busy tying up the offensive linemen to allow Adams to run free. This is what we need to see out of the defensive line, some nice pressure on the quarterback and help stuff the run. Another great game! Grade: A+
Secondary: Terrence McGee had one of his best games ever for the Bills. He was only beat by a tough Rams’ receiving corps, once. McGee had a total of 8 tackles, sacked Bulger on a blitz and intercepted a pass. Nate Clements had a pretty good game, but was burned a couple times. He also had 2 costly penalties. Clements was all over the field and had 5 tackles, plus forced Tory Holt to fumble the ball, along with Ryan Denney. Since it was the Rams, the Bills used their other cornerbacks more often too. Kevin Thomas was in for a lot of 3 and 4 receiver packages. He led the team with a total of 10 tackles. Jabari Greer had 3 tackles and 1 sack on the Rams’ last play of the game. The other rookie defensive back, Rashad Baker did a pretty good job holding his own at free safety. He did a nice job in coverage and had 1 tackle. However, the best defensive player of the game was Lawyer Milloy. He was all over the place getting 6 tackles and sacked Marc Bulger 3 different times in blitzes. Overall, it was another great day at home for the defensive unit. Let’s hope they can do the same thing against the Seattle Seahawks on the road next week. Grade: A+
Coaching: Mike Mularkey made up for a terrible coached game last week. He made Mike Martz look like a fool, although that isn’t hard to do. The offense started out slow, but then once the special teams helped them add some points to the board, started kicking it into another gear and took over. It was nice to see the Bills run the clock down in the 2nd half and run the ball for 3 times the yardage that they got in the 1st half. The defense did a good job of containing the receivers for most of the day, and completely shut down “The Greatest Show on Turf” in the second half. They also did exactly what was needed to put pressure on Marc Bulger and force him to make bad throws. It was nice to see the Bills continue to use the blitz and not go into the prevent mode in the 4th quarter. The only major negative was the penalties. Fifteen penalties for 123 yards is not a good way to win a game. I thought they were done with those. Let’s hope the coaching staff works on that for next week. It’s a big test for this team in Seattle next week. Let’s see if they can pass it. Grade: B+
Beware of the Bills
Buffalo is finding ways to win and has become a scary team in the AFC.
Buffalo at Seattle Capsule
Last Meeting - Seahawks beat Bills 23-20 on Nov. 18, 2001, at Buffalo.
Matt Hasselbeck still questionable for Sunday
Holmgren says quarterback Matt Hasselbeck is feeling better but won't practice today because of a thigh bruise.
Milloy Named AFC Defensive Player of Week
Buffalo Bills safety Lawyer Milloy of the Buffalo Bills is the AFC Defensive Player of the Week the 11th week of the 2004 season the NFL announced today.
Mularkey: Rams' claims way off base
Buffalo Bills head coach Mike Mularkey responded to charges that his team played dirty and targeted the knees of certain St. Louis Rams in the Bills 37-17 win at Ralph Wilson Stadium.
Bills Have Something to Prove on the Road
If every game was played at Ralph Wilson Stadium, the Bills would be one of the most successful teams in the league every year.
Defensive Line Makes the Difference
All of our players are pretty tough and sometimes we choose to blitz guys and sometimes we don't.
Thanksgiving means football, family
Any day was a good day for football, but Thanksgiving always was the best because it was a full day during the week that we could watch games on television, then go outside and pretend to be our favorite NFL stars.
Bills vs. Seahawks
The Bills head out to the West Coast for the second of three trips this year.
Wilson graduate earns start for Bills
It took 10 games to crack the starting lineup, but better late than never for Rashad Baker.
Seahawks' Next Opponent: Buffalo Bills
Who to watch: Lawyer Milloy. The best thing about the Bills is their suffocating defense, and the former University of Washington and Lincoln High School strong safety leads the way.
It’s just too bad that the Buffalo Bills could not play all of their games inside the friendly confines of Ralph Wilson Stadium. When they are home inside the Ralph, where they have won the last four games, the Bills play with the energy and madness of a Mr. Hyde, as opposed to their wussy Dr. Jekyll alter ego that they display on the road. Like I’ve been saying all season, it just makes being a Buffalo fan all the more frustrating. One week they have you believing in a playoff run, and the next they look like they could be beaten by a team comprised of N’Sync, the Backstreet Boys and Ricky Martin at quarterback.
I should just shave my head at this point, because I’m going to have about half a head of hair by the time the season is over with all the hair pulling I’ve been doing. You might mistake me for Road Warrior Hawk (R.I.P.) right now the way my head looks.
Despite the ulcers that the Bills give me because of their INCREDIBLE inconsistency, Sunday afternoon’s game in Buffalo against the St. Louis Rams was a walk in the park both for the Bills and my mindset. As Ted Danson would say on Curb Your Enthusiasm, “It was heaven.”
St. Louis was able to jump to a quick 10-0 lead, and it looked as if the Bills had picked up right where they left off from last week’s debacle in New England. I was ready to change the channel and watch the cinematic genius that was “Ed,” a movie starring Matt Le Blanc and a chimpanzee, but no, Buffalo would go on a surreal 37-7 run to close out the game.
I still have a hard to believing that actually happened, and it’s a solid two hours after the game has ended. What’s after “the denial” phase? Am I going to start uncontrollably sobbing in a few moments? I better saran-wrap my keyboard “Gallagher-style” just in case.
Heck, even maligned Drew Bledsoe looked good in throwing three touchdown passes, all to tight end Mark Campbell. My heart is still recovering from that fact.
But even though Bledsoe and the offense played well on Sunday, most of the credit must go to the special teams and defense, both of which crushed the spirits of the Rams time and again. Especially in the aesthetically pleasing second half.
Jonathan Smith got things rolling in returning a punt 53 yards to the St. Louis 5 yard line after the Rams went three and out to start the second half, and Bledsoe then connected with Campbell on the very next play for a touchdown.
Things got worse for Marc Bulger and the Rams from there on, as they went three and out again on the very next drive. Nate Clements then returned the subsequent punt 86 yards to the house, giving Buffalo a commanding 31-17 lead.
I laughed, I cried, I wet my pants.
All in all in that magical second half, Buffalo was able to limit the Rams to 0 points on 93 yards, 65 of them coming on one drive that ended with Sam Adams snatching a Bulger pass out of the air with his meaty paws for an interception in the red zone. The Bills also had two other interceptions, one by Takeo Spikes and one from Terry McGee in the endzone to make it three against Bulger on the day. It was a dominating performance by the potent Bills defense with just the three interceptions, but they also added six sacks, three from Lawyer Milloy, in looking just plain awesome.
Oh, those wacky Bills! What will they do next?
Barring the Bills running the table in the final six games, the playoffs are certainly out of the question with the amount of contenders in the AFC. But what the Bills can do to salvage this lost season, is get to 8-8 at least, to build confidence for 2005 and prevent the first round pick that the Bills traded to Dallas Cowboys for J.P. Losman last year from being one in the top ten.
That would just be embarrassing. Not as embarrassing as Rob Johnson’s career, but embarrassing nonetheless.
Up next for the Bills is a road trip to Seattle, where they will face the slumping Seahawks. Although there is no reason to believe that the Bills can mimic their performance today, a win there would bring Buffalo’s record to 5-6 with remaining games at Miami, vs. Cleveland, at Cincinnati, at San Francisco and vs. a Pittsburgh team that will most certainly have clinched the division by week 17.
“Interesting” schedule, but I’m keeping my mouth shut because I know when I write this next week I’ll be calling for Bledsoe’s head again after the throws for 57 yards in a 30-10 loss on the road.
But hey, these Bills, who are 0-4 on the road, are really due for a win away from Buffalo.
Right?
This column appears weekly in the Erie Times-News. Jim Byrne is also a writer for his website at ZubazPants.com
Mularkey said Monday that the game film does not support Martz's accusation that cornerbacks DeJuan Groce and Travis Fisher suffered knee injuries because of illegal cut blocks by the Bills.
Don’t look now, but the Buffalo Bills have become a force ... at least in their own kingdom.
The St. Louis Rams' defensive backfield was depleted by injuries in a loss to Buffalo on Sunday, with the most serious to backup cornerback DeJuan Groce, who hurt his left knee.
The Buffalo Bills took a hard fall against the New England Patriots on the road last weekend.
The Rams have faced off against the Bills eight times in the regular season, with the teams splitting those contests, 4-4. The Rams last played the Bills, in Buffalo, on Sept. 20, 1998, with St. Louis taking a 34-33 decision. Prior to that meeting, the Bills had won three straight from the Rams, dating back to 1989. The teams first met on Sept. 27, 1970 in Buffalo, with the Rams earning a 19-0 shutout victory.
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.
Buffalo exploded out of the gate against an old familiar face. Chuck Knox, former coach of the Bills from 1978-82, took over the reigns of the Los Angeles Rams for the second time. The Bills inflicted the worst defeat ever on any Chuck Knox led team as they dismantled the Rams 40-7 before 79,001 at Rich Stadium. Thurman Thomas became only the sixth Bill to record four touchdowns in a game, while amassing 102 yards rushing. Offensive lineman Mitch Frerotte also scored on a trick play at the goal line, as Jim Kelly found him on a tackle eligible 2-yard TD pass. James Lofton became the NFL's all-time leader in receiving, surpassing Steve Largent's record of 13,089 yards.
Buffalo managed to pull within 1 at the half on 2 Norwood FGs. The Rams managed to answer with a FG of their own in the third, and appeared to frustrate the conservative Bills offense. Both teams exchanged FGs in the 4th, giving the Rams a 13-9 advantage. With 6 minutes remaining, Reich managed to put together a drive of 86 yards in 10 plays. Thurman Thomas’s 1 yard plunge put Buffalo ahead 16-13 with 3:23 remaining.
The Buffalo defense appeared to finish the Rams off when Everett failed to connect on any of his 4 offensive plays. Taking over on downs at the Ram 20 yard line, Thurman Thomas fought for yards to give the Bills a first down that would end the game. However, Thomas fumbled and the Rams received one more shot at their own 22. Jim Everett made the Bills pay for their mistake, hitting WR Flipper Anderson on a 78 yard bomb on the very next play, giving the Rams an almost certain unlikely victory.
Down 20-16, Reich took over on his own 36 with 1:17 and 3 timeouts remaining. On the first play, Reich hit Andre Reed for 6. Reed fumbled when tackled, but Kent Hull recovered, sustaining the drive. On the next 3 plays, Reich found Thomas open on short dump off passes over the middle, gaining 17, 6, and 15 yards, placing the ball on the Ram 22 yard line. Ronnie Harmon broke open and caught a Reich pass down the sidelines to the Ram 8, stepping out of bounds killing the clock with 20 seconds left. On the next play, Reich hit Reed at the 2 yard line, and with 2 Rams defenders draped on his back, he powered his way across the plane of the goal line. With 16 seconds remaining, Reed put the Bills up for good 23-20.
Mularkey's working on a Buffalo stampede
Bills' first-year coach feels he has his team headed in the right direction.
Wilson a Hall semifinalist again
Buffalo Bills owner Ralph C. Wilson Jr. has made the list of 25 semifinal candidates for the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Fletcher's play gets a thumbs up
Fletcher is as driven to succeed as any player on the Bills, a big reason why he is one of the most productive players for a third year in a row.
Speedy Rams can still pile up points
These St. Louis Rams who will invade Ralph Wilson Stadium Sunday afternoon are not the Rams who won two NFC championships and one Super Bowl in the three-year span that bridged the 20th and 21st centuries.
Bills not shuffling QBs, yet
Three more quarterback changes in the NFL for Sunday make it five teams switching starting QBs based on performance so far this season (Tampa Bay, Chicago, New York Giants, Miami and Washington).
A Tight End For the Ages There was a time in the NFL where the players looked to spend their entire playing career with one team. Pete Metzelaars hoped would happen in Seattle, however after three seasons with the Seahawks, the tight end was traded to Buffalo in 1985. The team looked to be bad again, and did finishing 2-14. Then things picked up for Metzelaars and the Bills. A new era was on the horizon that will never be matched again.
In 1986, the arrival of quarterback Jim Kelly from the USFL, Metzelaars became a very important weapon in the Bills offensive scheme. At six foot seven, he was an easy target for Kelly to go to in times of trouble. What a nice safety valve! Pete caught 49 passes from Kelly in 1986. Most of them over the middle when Kelly's wideouts weren't open, something that tended to happen. Fans were grateful that Metzelaars was there, but had to overlook his lack of speed and big play ability. Then in the second half of 1987, the coach would come into the fold. Marv Levy became the head coach that year.
The Bills would be flying in 1988, Marv Levy’s second season at the helm. In only three years from the back-to-back two-win seasons, Buffalo went 12-4 and made it to the AFC Championship Game. What a turn around! Ok, so they lost that afternoon in Cincinnati, but his early apprehension was a distant memory.
The 6’7" tight end had an amazing 1993 season, which was his 12th year in the league. He led the Bills with 68 catches for 609 yards and four touchdowns, a great year for a grizzled veteran. Pete is the fourth all-time leading receiver [302 catches] in the team’s history. Just like many of the players from the Super Bowl era, Metzelaars, was not re-signed after the 1994 season.
Pete ended his career with one season in Carolina, after playing two seasons with the Detroit Lions. The Metzelaars live in suburban Charlotte, NC, and have two sons; Anthony, 19, a redshirt freshman quarterback at Gardner-Webb University; and Jonathon, 15, who is a high school freshman. Currently, he is looking for opportunities to coach in the NFL, the Buffalo Bills should pay attention. Until he gets that coaching job Metzelaars is part of the Carolina Panthers pre-game and post-game radio shows on WBT in Charlotte.
This edition of Up My Flagpole was inspired while watching the Sunday night debacle between the Buffalo Bills and New England Patriots. Somewhere, late in the first quarter, I found myself saying, “If I wanted to watch a repeat I’d flip over to TVLand”. Sunday night games for the Bills have just turned into pain associated with having to go to a spouse’s holiday party. You know there is going to be food but at some point it is going to turn into a co-worker crab fest that leaves you wanting to just leave but you know you can’t. So, it got me thinking, “How does this game remind me of repeats on TV?” Picture if you will, your favorite, comfy old TV shows starring some of your favorite Buffalo Bills.
Welcome Back, Kotter
Can’t you picture it? Tom Donahoe as cranky, old Mr. Woodman mentoring former sweathog Mike Mularkey who, himself, is surrounded by the current sweathogs JP Losman (Barbarino), Lee Evans (Washington), Willis McGahee (Epstein) and Ryan Denney (Horeshack). This week’s episode: JP Losman tries to figure out how to take a game seriously.
What’s Happening?
A young bunch of wannabes who struggle to attain a starting spot in the NFL. Starring Sam Adams as Mama, Terrance McGee as Raj, Jabari Greer as Dwayne and Lawrence Smith as Rerun. This week’s episode: Terrance McGee figures out how to contribute to the Defense and still look good on special teams.
Laverne and Shirley
A cute story about two lovable losers and their loser friends from Milwaukee who always sing about an ant who can’t move a rubber tree plant. Starring the Buffalo Bills offensive line in interchangeable roles depending on the week. This week’s episode: Can they open a hole long enough for Willis McGahee to run through or keep Drew Bledsoe from ending up on his backside.
The Odd Couple
Starring neat as a pin and always tidy Eric Moulds as Felix Unger and the disheveled Josh Reed as Oscar Madison, our two heroes try to figure out how to get back in the good graces of the fans yet always find ways of dropping balls and running short patterns that don’t get the first down. This week’s episode: Officer Murray (Tom Clemens) introduces the WR to stick ‘em.
Coach
Mike Mularkey stars as Coach Hayden Fox who heads the coaching staff of a football team located in the tundra. With assistants Jim McNally (Luther Van Dam) and Jerry Gray (Dauber Dybinski), our lovable loser coach tries to muster the troops against top opponents like the New England Patriots who are head and shoulders better than the Bills. This week’s episode: Mike tries to figure out which back-up defensive back can play wide receiver and run a trick play in an attempt to confuse the St. Louis defense.
Post-it notes:
1: Ohio is really flat and it sucks to drive through it…twice within 4 days.
2: Duct tape does fix anything…even the fender of a car.
3: Campbell Soup owns Godiva Chocolate? That just lost its luster.
4: Why is Mike Mularkey doing his best to imitate Gregg Williams?
5 Anybody want to tell me the last time you felt secure when the Bills were leading.
6: Willis McGahee is going to be a very good NFL running back. Too bad he will be the first to run for 1500 yards with no offensive line.
7: Sadly, I can’t think of anybody to replace Tom Donahoe.
8: The NFL is going to try to reschedule Monday Night Football games on the fly? I like it! I don’t watch a lot of TV but when I sit down on Monday, I want to see an entertaining game.
9: Can Jon Miller learn to broadcast NFL games for ESPN?
10: JP Losman has a very long way to go to be worth what the Bills gave up for him in the 2004 draft. The part of my spine where the cynic resides tells me this kid is a complete bust. How many times were we reminded on Sunday that Tom Brady worked so hard and that when Bledsoe got hurt Brady was 100% ready? Right now, JP sounds like the second coming of Billy Joe Hobert.
Frank: This week’s Roundtable features BillsZone Staff writers Matthew Elder (Draft Boy) and Michael Thomas (Mikey82). Guys, what is wrong with the Buffalo Bills on the road?Frank:
This week at the Roundtable I am joined by BillsZone Staff writers Matthew Elder (Draft Boy) and Michael Thomas (Mikey82). Guys, good evening and thanks for joining me. Another depressing road loss and the Bills find themselves at 3-6 and in search of a road identity. They may catch a break this week at home against the domed-home Rams. What is wrong with the Bills on the road?
Matthew:
Ummm....Where to start......Lets see we got an Offensive Coordinator who seems to, at home, know how to call plays and yet, on the road, loses his mind. I actually don’t think its a matter of being bad on the road as just being bad overall as a team. It just so happens we've had some easy home games (minus Jets) after which this team looked to be clicking and still could be. I think we can easily and yes I said EASILY beat the Rams
Mike:
I know Matt will say that it is all Drew Bledsoe. And it's partially true. However, I believe that the team still hasn't gotten the winning ment