Buffalo Bills at Detroit Lions Gameday Preview

RADIO

HISTORY

PRESEASON SERIES RECORD: Lions lead, 17-11-1.

REGULAR-SEASON SERIES RECORD: Lions lead, 4-3-1.

LAST REGULAR-SEASON MEETING: October 15, 2006 – Lions 20, Bills 17
Stadium Wall preview

An ugly game all around. The defense was equally bad against the run and the pass, as both Kevin Jones (23 carries-127 yards) and Roy Williams (10 catches-161 yards) notched their season highs in the Lions’ first win of the year.

By the time the Bills finally made it past midfield on the final play of the first quarter, the hometown team had taken advantage of drive-starts at their own 49 and the Buffalo 24 to build a 10-0 lead. J.P. Losman’s 44-yard strike to Roscoe Parrish cut the lead to three; the two teams spent most of the rest of the quarter trading punts before Detroit quarterback Jon Kitna capped off an efficient two-minute drill by finding Williams for a 28-yard touchdown with 0:40 remaining in the half. Terrence McGee found a seam on the ensuing kickoff, taking the ball all the way to the Detroit 23 and setting up Rian Lindell’s 53-yard field goal to make the score 17-10 at the break.

Following another Jason Hanson field goal early in the fourth quarter, the Bills countered with Losman’s 4-yard touchdown pass to Ryan Neufeld. A Ko Simpson interception gave the offense one more shot, but they couldn’t get past their own 40-yard line before the drive stalled. Detroit burned most of the remaining time off the clock before giving the ball back, and any hopes for a last-play miracle ended with the ball cradled in Lions defensive end Kalimba Edwards’ arms as time ran out.

Losman finished 21-for-34 for 207 yards and two touchdowns, but also took five sacks and turned the ball over twice while running for his life most of the afternoon. This game, and the beatdown by New England the following week, provided more than enough reason for the Buffalo coaching staff to overhaul the offensive line during the bye.

(Reprinted from the Aug. 28, 2008 Two Bills Drive preview.)

**Sorry, gang, but everything I typed this morning was lost when the blogging software booted me back to the log-in screen, and it’s time to go to work. So much for that hour and a half, as well as the Lions overview and my thoughts on the Bills’ 53-man roster.

LINKS

Lions depth chart | 2009 regular-season stats
Bills depth chart | 2009 regular-season stats

Welcome to the Blogosphere:
ESPN AFC East (Tim Graham) | NFC North (Kevin Seifert)
MLive.com Lions coverage – Tom Kowalski, Detroit’s HOF voter
Detroit News Lions blog
Detroit Free Press Lions blog

Lori Chase, a staff columnist for Two Bills Drive, can be contacted at lchase (at) twobillsdrive.com.

Cincinnati Bengals at Buffalo Bills Gameday Preview

TELEVISION

RADIO

HISTORY

PRESEASON SERIES RECORD: Bengals lead 6-4 and are 4-1 in Orchard Park.

REGULAR-SEASON SERIES RECORD: Bills lead 14-9 and are 9-3 at home; Cincinnati hasn’t won a regular-season game in Rich/Ralph Wilson Stadium since 1985.

PLAYOFF RECORD: Bengals 2, Bills 0, with both games played in Cincinnati. The final Bengals victory in the series came in the 1988 AFC Championship game.

LAST MEETING: November 4, 2007 – Bills 33, Bengals 21

Olean Times Herald postgame coverage:
Bills beat Bengals in wild-card push
POLLOCK: For the resurgent Bills, this was team triumph
Bills Notebook: Lynch’s TD pass revives Cribbs notes
***NOTE: Due to the OTH’s recent decision to institute a paywall, their post-June 2010 content will not be available to us until further notice.

After taking over for an injured Trent Edwards against the Jets the week before, J.P. Losman made the most of his first start in more than a month, completing 24 of 34 passes for a season-high 295 yards and a touchdown. But with the Bills trailing 21-19 and time ticking away in the fourth quarter, the team turned to a different passer: Marshawn Lynch.

“Aw, man, it was high school. Pitch and catch with Robert Royal. I just wanted to make sure I got that tight spiral on the ball,” the rookie running back said after his 8-yard toss to Royal for the go-ahead score with 5:51 remaining. Lynch got back to his specialty the next time the Bills had the ball, breaking loose down the right sideline for a 56-yard touchdown run to put the Bengals away, and finished with a career-best 153 yards on 29 carries as the Bills won for the fourth time in five games to even their record at 4-4.

The defense also played a major role, stuffing the Cincy running game to the tune of 28 yards on 17 carries and keeping the Bengals’ potent passcatching tandem of Chad Johnson and T.J. Houshmandzadeh under 100 yards ... combined. Johnson’s afternoon took a frightening turn in the fourth quarter, when he was leveled by a wicked shot from Donte Whitner on a pass over the middle and left the field on a stretcher.

Indianapolis Colts at Buffalo Bills Gameday Preview

TELEVISION

RADIO

HISTORY

PRESEASON SERIES RECORD: Colts lead, 3-2. This is their first game in Canada, although they have played previous preseason contests in Tokyo and Mexico City.

REGULAR-SEASON SERIES RECORD: Bills lead 35-30-1 against their old AFC East foes.

LAST MEETING: January 3, 2010 – Bills 30, Colts 7
Two Bills Drive preview

Olean Times Herald postgame coverage:
Bills end with a flurry
POLLOCK: A miserable year ends on positive note
Bills Notebook: Jackson runs his way into record book

Between the 14-1 Colts resting up for their playoff opener and the league-high 20 Bills on injured reserve, the 2009 season finale looked for all the world like a preseason game. Well, except for the near-whiteout conditions and subzero wind chill. Don’t see too much of that in August.

But while the Colts reserves spun their tires after Peyton Manning and company retreated safely to the sideline, the weather didn’t seem to bother Fred Jackson. Needing 150 yards to break the 1,000-yard barrier, the Bills running back got them and then some, slipping and sliding to 212 yards on 33 carries and adding a touchdown catch from Ryan Fitzpatrick. The total was the seventh-highest in team history, with only players named Simpson (four times), Gilchrist, and Thomas ahead of him on the list. Pretty good company, eh?

“I have to give all the props to my teammates,” Jackson said afterward. “The offensive line did a great job of blocking today. Lee and T.O. did a great job of getting on safeties. They wanted it as bad as I did, so not only for myself but to get it for those guys (is big).”

“We were going to do whatever it took to get him 1,000 … the guys up front played great,” interim head coach Perry Fewell added.

“All year Fred hasn’t gotten the national attention, but the effort he plays with – you guys see it every week – he’s such a good football player. I don’t think there are a ton of people who give him the respect he deserves, but he’s been amazing for us this year.”

Buffalo Bills at Washington Redskins Gameday Preview

TELEVISION

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HISTORY

PRESEASON SERIES RECORD: Redskins lead, 7-5, including a 17-14 win in the last meeting in 2008.

REGULAR-SEASON SERIES RECORD: Bills lead, 7-4. Buffalo is 3-2 in Washington and 2-0 at FedEx Field, which opened in 1997.

PLAYOFF RECORD: Redskins 1, Bills 0.

LAST REGULAR-SEASON MEETING: December 2, 2007 – Bills 17, Redskins 16

Rian Lindell’s 36-yard field goal with four seconds left – moved in from 51 when Washington’s Hall of Fame head coach, Joe Gibbs, inexplicably tried to call two timeouts in a row and incurred a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty – gave Buffalo a 17-16 victory on an eerie, emotional afternoon at FedEx Field.

“It kind of surprised me a little bit,” Lindell said of Gibbs’ miscue. “I thought, ‘Wait, that’s 15 yards.’ Brian even said something to them. The refs conferred and said, ‘Yeah, that’s a penalty.’ It’s definitely nicer to be closer.”

An understandably distraught Gibbs said afterward, “There is nobody to blame but myself. It’s not somebody else. It’s not their fault, it’s my fault. I should have known the rule and I shouldn’t have called that. In all likelihood that could cost us the ball game.”

The Redskins, still reeling from the murder of Pro Bowl safety Sean Taylor at his Miami-area home, dedicated the game to their fallen teammate. Surrounded by thousands of No. 21 jerseys and signs, the defense took the field for Buffalo’s first offensive play with nobody lined up at strong safety; Reed Doughty, Taylor’s replacement in the lineup, would enter the game after a 22-yard Fred Jackson run.

Jackson, making his first NFL start in place of the injured Marshawn Lynch, finished the game with 16 carries for 82 yards. He added 69 more on four receptions, including a 54-yard catch-and-run early in the fourth quarter to set up Lindell’s fourth field goal of the game. The Redskins tried to run out the clock, but Aaron Schobel’s 3rd-and-8 stop on Clinton Portis would give rookie quarterback Trent Edwards one final shot.

Edwards finished 22-for-36 for 257 yards, but no completion was more important than the last one of the game, a 30-yard laser to Josh Reed to put Buffalo in position for Lindell’s winning kick.
“It was a big throw,” Bills receiver Lee Evans said. “It was a big step for him in his young career. I think it does a lot for his confidence. I think it does a lot for the confidence of his teammates, coaches and everybody around him.”

NOTES: The final kick was Lindell’s ninth career game-winner, and his second of the season. On Veterans Day, he booted a 34-yarder with three seconds on the clock to beat Miami, 13-10. The ninth-year pro is now 9-of-10 in game-winning attempts ... Reed led the receivers with five catches for 67 yards, while Lee Evans chipped in with 4-51. Four of Reed’s catches were good for first downs ... Larry Tripplett had his best game as a Bill, forcing a fumble and snaring his first NFL interception ... Angelo Crowell also had a big day, taking down Campbell for a first-half safety and recovering a fumble later in the game ... The Bills clawed their way back to .500 (6-6) with the win ... The Redskins fell to 5-7, but wouldn’t lose again until their wild-card playoff game in Seattle.

(This recap originally ran as part of the preview for the August 9, 2008 preseason game at Washington.)

2010 Wall of Fame: Booker Edgerson

The Buffalo Bills selected 34 players in the December 1961 American Football League draft. This year’s Wall of Fame inductee, Booker Edgerson, wasn’t one of them. Instead, the Bills’ recently-promoted head coach – Lou Saban, whom Edgerson had played for at Western Illinois University – signed him as a free agent.

Good call.

A multi-sport athlete for the Fighting Leathernecks who was clocked at :09.7 in the 100-yard dash, Edgerson put his sprinter’s speed to good use in the Buffalo secondary. The kid from Baxter, Arkansas worked his way up the depth chart in training camp, and on opening day of the 1962 season, he was the Bills’ starting left cornerback – a position he would hold, barring injury, for his entire eight-year tenure with the team. He picked off two of George Blanda’s passes in that game and ended up with six for the year, earning a spot on the AFL All-Rookie team.

For most of his career, though, Edgerson was overlooked for individual mention, quietly going about the business of helping the Bills win. For an example, read the following excerpt from the recap of a 20-20 tie with San Diego on Thanksgiving Day, 1965:

The Chargers then were stricken by misfortune. Lance Alworth took a 65-yard pass from Hadl to the Buffalo three, but the ball squirted from his grasp into the end zone and Bill John Tracey fell on it for a touchback.

What the wire story doesn’t say: Alworth had a helping hand with that “misfortune.” Two of them, in fact, belonging to Booker Edgerson. Here’s how Jeffrey Miller describes the play in “Rockin’ the Rockpile”:

On the Chargers’ ensuing possession, John Hadl connected with Lance Alworth for a long gain, but the Bills’ veteran cornerback Booker Edgerson demonstrated the heart of a champion by chasing down the speedy receiver and forcing him to fumble.

“It was the defining moment in the game – and maybe even the season,” recalled Ed Rutkowski. “Alworth was lined up on Booker. He ran a quick post and beat Booker by about two steps. Hadl hits him with a perfect pass right in stride, and Lance was off to the races. Here was a man who was never caught from behind. He could outrun everything – like a deer. But Booker doesn’t let up. He runs him down, catches him, tackles him from behind at about the 15-yard line. Lance is still struggling, he’s holding onto the ball, and right behind Booker are Tracey, Stratton, and Jacobs. [Alworth fumbled] and Tracey recovered in the end zone.”

“Fortunately, I caught him,” added Edgerson. “Maybe he thought he was home free, but I know it shocked the hell out of him when I hit him.”

Typical Edgerson: tracking down a first-ballot Hall of Famer and forcing a turnover, without even getting his name in the paper for it. George ‘Butch’ Byrd was the more celebrated of the Bills’ dynamic duo at cornerback – interceptions tend to make people take notice, and Byrd collected more of those than any other Bill. But when Alworth, Houston’s Charley Hennigan, and the other top receivers in the AFL played against Buffalo, more often than not, they were looking at Edgerson’s No. 24 across the line of scrimmage ... and their quarterback was thinking about throwing the ball somewhere else.

Booker wore a Bills uniform from 1962-69, intercepting 23 passes while helping the team to three AFL championship games and two titles. He had no desire to play anywhere else, but head coach John Rauch was in house-cleaning mode after a third consecutive losing season, and the veteran cornerback was shipped to Denver for a draft pick in August 1970. It was a good news/bad news situation: he was reunited with Saban, who had taken over as the Broncos coach in 1967, but his post-Buffalo career lasted just six games before a knee injury ended his season and he decided to retire.

Edgerson returned to Buffalo to plant his roots, spending many years as the Director of Equity and Diversity at Erie Community College. The recipient of the 1993 Ralph Wilson Jr. Distinguished Service Award, he was inducted into the Western Illinois Hall of Fame in 1996 and the Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame in 2001.

“That one was the best,” he told Miller of the latter honor, “because I was put in because of the things I did in the community, not because of the things I did on the football field. So to me, it was more meaningful than all of these other honors.”

This fall, when his name is unveiled on the wall of Ralph Wilson Stadium, he may change his mind.

References:
“Game of My Life: Memorable Stories of Buffalo Bills Football,” by Sal Maiorana
“Rockin’ the Rockpile,"” by Jeffrey Miller
Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame

Indianapolis Colts at Buffalo Bills Gameday Preview

TELEVISION

RADIO

HISTORY

REGULAR-SEASON SERIES RECORD: Bills lead, 34-30-1.

LAST MEETING: November 12, 2006 – Colts 17, Bills 16
Stadium Wall preview

Olean Times Herald postgame coverage:
A Painful Loss For The Bills
POLLOCK: Close just didn’t get it done for the Bills
POLLOCK: Bills Must Solve Woes on Offense

After blowing up their offensive line during the bye week, the 3-5 Bills managed to beat Green Bay despite just 184 yards of total offense, but didn’t have nearly as much success the following Sunday in Indy. The Colts’ pass rush pressured J. P. Losman all afternoon, sacking him four times on just 16 passing attempts, and the Buffalo offense never did find the end zone – Terrence McGee scored their only touchdown on a 68-yard fumble recovery to tie the game at 10 just before halftime.

Rian Lindell, who had already connected on three previous field goal attempts to keep the Bills in the game, lined up for a 41-yarder to put them into the lead with just over six minutes remaining. But the kick sailed wide right, and the Colts ran out the clock to improve to 9-0.

LAST TIME IN BUFFALO: November 23, 2003 – Colts 17, Bills 14

Olean Times Herald postgame coverage:
Bills season a profound disappointment
MORITZ: Colts exuded confidence

Buffalo (4-7) held an improbable 14-3 lead early in the fourth quarter, but the Colts mounted two late touchdown drives to cap the comeback victory. Edgerrin James powered across for the go-ahead score on fourth-and-goal from inside the 1 with just 1:38 on the clock, and the Bills’ last-minute comeback attempt ended with a Drew Bledsoe interception at midfield.

Buffalo Bills at Atlanta Falcons Gameday Preview

TELEVISION

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HISTORY

REGULAR-SEASON SERIES RECORD: Atlanta leads, 5-4, including a 3-1 home record. The Bills have never won in the Georgia Dome; their only road win in the series came in 1973, when the Falcons still played at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium.

LAST MEETING: September 25, 2005 – Falcons 24, Bills 16
Stadium Wall preview

Olean Times Herald coverage:
POLLOCK: Buffalo ‘D’ stands for depressing

The Bills managed to keep the Michael Vick Experience from adding them to his personal SportsCenter highlight reel, but matched up against J.P. Losman’s dreadful 10-for-23, 75-yard performance, the Falcons mustered more than enough offense to cruise to their third win of the season. Warrick Dunn and T.J. Duckett did most of the damage on the ground, combining for 172 of Atlanta’s 236 rushing yards, while Vick went an efficient 15-for-27 for 167 yards and two first-half touchdown passes.

The Bills’ afternoon went from bad to worse late in the second quarter, when Pro Bowl linebacker Takeo Spikes suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon while trying to track down the elusive Falcons quarterback. From my seats in Section 109, I had a good view of Spikes’ frustration as he slammed his helmet to the turf, knowing his season was done long before the Bills’ medical staff delivered the bad news.

LAST TIME IN ATLANTA: December 23, 2001 – Falcons 33, Bills 30

Olean Times Herald coverage:
POLLOCK: Bills suffer another late meltdown

Flu-ridden quarterback Chris Chandler needed an IV at halftime of the Falcons’ home finale, but Bills defenders were probably the ones feeling sick after he torched them for a franchise-record 431 yards and two long touchdown passes. Buffalo rallied from a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit to tie the game on an Alex Van Pelt-to-Eric Moulds pass with 0:48 left, but Chandler quickly drove Atlanta into field goal range, and Jay Feely nailed the 52-yarder as time expired to send the Bills home for Christmas with a gruesome 2-12 record.

FALCONS OVERVIEW (2009 RANKINGS)

OFFENSE (#18 total yardage, #20 rushing, #15 passing, #16 scoring)

DEFENSE (#28 total yardage, #20 rushing, #30 passing, #20 scoring)

OUTLOOK:

Welcome to the 2010 preseason. Atlanta’s top two offensive players, running back Michael Turner and franchise quarterback Matt Ryan, have both missed recent games due to injury and are questionable (at best) again this week. Then again, with an incredible NINETEEN players on injured reserve – a team record, I’m guessing – the Bills aren’t likely to be in an overly sympathetic mood. Chris Redman versus Brian Brohm in a battle of Louisville quarterbacks, anyone?

With both teams out of the playoff picture, the most intriguing battle in this game appears to be the race between future Hall of Famers Terrell Owens and Tony Gonzalez to see who can get to 1,000 career receptions first. Owens currently leads 996-994, but considering that the increasingly frustrated Bills wideout has caught four or more passes in a game just four times this season while Gonzo is averaging over five catches per week, my money might just be on No. 88.

Happy Holidays to everyone at Two Bills Drive. When’s the draft again?

LINKS

Falcons depth chart | regular-season stats
Bills depth chart | regular-season stats

Welcome to the Blogosphere:
ESPN AFC East (Tim Graham) | NFC South (Pat Yasinskas)
Atlanta Journal-Constitution (D. Orlando Ledbetter)

New England Patriots at Buffalo Bills Gameday Preview

TELEVISION

RADIO

HISTORY

REGULAR-SEASON SERIES RECORD: Patriots lead, 58-40-1, including a 26-21-1 edge in Buffalo.

PLAYOFF RECORD: Patriots lead, 1-0.

LAST MEETING: September 14, 2009 – Patriots 25, Bills 24
Two Bills Drive preview

Olean Times Herald coverage:
A depressing loss for the Bills
POLLOCK: Patriots spoil a ‘good story’ for the Bills
Bills Notebook: Patriots stretch win streak to 12 over Bills
POLLOCK: Can’t blame Bills loss all on McKelvin

With just 5:32 remaining in the game, Fred Jackson took Trent Edwards’ swing pass and scampered 10 yards into the end zone, giving the Bills a 24-13 lead in front of a stunned national audience and a suddenly-quiet Gillette Stadium sellout crowd. How could this be happening with a team starting three offensive linemen who had never played a down in the NFL, and a coordinator who had just inherited the job 10 days before the game? Could this really be the night the Bills put all their ignominious records against the Patriots to rest? Were the football gods finally smiling on Buffalo for a change?

We should have known better. Instead, after spending the entire preseason working toward shocking the rest of the league, the Bills merely managed to find yet another creative – and heartbreaking – way to let victory slip from their grasp. (Literally, in this case, when Leodis McKelvin’s fumbled kickoff return ended up in the arms of Stephen Gostkowski at the Buffalo 31, giving Tom Brady a short field for the eventual game-winning score.)

Not that Brady needed much help. After a shaky start that included a pick-six to Aaron Schobel, the Patriots’ career passing leader settled into rhythm in the second half, completing 11 of 13 passes on New England’s two fourth-quarter touchdown drives and finishing the game 39-for-53 for 378 yards. A dozen each of those passes went to wideouts Randy Moss and Wes Welker, but when the game was on the line, Ben Watson was the player the Buffalo defense couldn’t cover. Twice in the final 2:06, Brady found the big tight end open over the middle for a touchdown – the latter one giving his team its only lead of the game – and so it was that Watson added his name to the lengthy list of Bills-killers on the Patriots’ roster.

LAST TIME IN BUFFALO: December 28, 2008 – Patriots 13, Bills 0
Two Bills Drive preview

Olean Times Herald postgame coverage:
Bills close out season with a loss
Patriots miss out on playoffs
POLLOCK: Once again, Jauron leaves us wondering
Notebook: Bills’ schedule locked in for 2009

At 8:25 that morning, as I sat in Lot 1 outside Ralph Wilson Stadium and watched a 75-mph wind gust peel back a corner of the fieldhouse roof, I debated whether my usual foul-weather mantra of “This is FOOTBALL weather!” had finally met its match. Choosing safety over tailgating fellowship, I decided to wander over to Danny’s to visit the WGR broadcast for a while instead of dodging airborne debris in the parking lot. (Wise decision, as I discovered when I returned to find out that a flying canopy had taken a chunk out of the windshield of the car parked next to mine.) Howard Simon was just about to begin his 10 a.m. airshift when ESPN showed a live shot from inside the stadium, and we stared in amazement at the sight of both goalposts twisted off-kilter by the wind. This should be fun.

Oh yeah, the game ... With the wind continuing to howl at a sustained 30-40 mph clip, making any semblance of a downfield passing game all but impossible, both teams opted to rely on their running games. New England used just two short dumpoffs to fullback Heath Evans on their first field goal drive, and didn’t throw a single pass in their 11-play, 43-yard drive to LaMont Jordan’s game-sealing touchdown. Fred Jackson ran well for the Bills, but just three of his 27 carries took place inside the Patriots 30. And when Gostkowski’s second field goal made the score 13-0 early in the fourth quarter, forcing Trent Edwards to throw into the wind to attempt a comeback, the game was as good as over.

(This recap originally appeared in the preview for the September 14, 2009 game.)

Buffalo Bills at Kansas City Chiefs Gameday Preview

TELEVISION

RADIO

HISTORY

REGULAR-SEASON SERIES RECORD: Buffalo leads, 20-16-1.

PLAYOFF RECORD: Buffalo leads, 2-1.

LAST MEETING: November 23, 2008 – Bills 54, Chiefs 31
Two Bills Drive preview

Olean Times Herald coverage:
Jauron sticking with Edwards, for now
POLLOCK: This was the Edwards we hoped to see

The Bills found the win column for the first time in a month against the hapless Chiefs. Leodis McKelvin made his first NFL interception count, returning it for a 64-yard touchdown and a 20-14 second-quarter lead, and the Bills poured on the points from there. Trent Edwards had one of the best games of his young career, going 24-for-32 for 273 yards and two touchdowns, good for a career-best 121.0 passer rating.

The Bills improved to 6-5, but would win just one more game the rest of the season. Kansas City fell to 1-10 with the loss, on the way to a 2-14 finish and the No. 3 overall pick in the 2009 draft.

Buffalo Bills vs. New York Jets Game Day Preview

TELEVISION

REGULAR-SEASON SERIES RECORD: Bills lead, 53-44.

PLAYOFF RECORD: Bills 1, Jets 0.

LAST MEETING: October 18, 2009 – Bills 16, Jets 13 (OT)
Stadium Wall preview

How often does a team rush for over 300 rushing yards and still lose? Not very ... but with help from rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez, who completed more passes to Bills defenders (five) than to his own wide receivers (three, all to newly-acquired Braylon Edwards), the Jets managed to find a way to accomplish that rare feat.

The last of those picks came in overtime, after New York had seemingly moved into position for a short field goal to win it. But a holding penalty knocked them backward, and holder Steve Weatherford added a pick of his own on a botched long-range attempt to keep Buffalo alive. Paul Posluszny would notch Sanchez’s fifth and final gift on the Jets’ next possession, setting up Rian Lindell’s 47-yarder to give the Bills their first AFC East victory since 2007.

Ryan Fitzpatrick came on in relief of the injured Trent Edwards (concussion), finishing the game 10-for-25 for 116 yards, including a 37-yard touchdown pass to Lee Evans (4 catches - 68 yards), and an interception.

LAST TIME IN TORONTO: December 7, 2008 – Dolphins 16, Bills 3
Stadium Wall preview

Olean Times Herald postgame coverage:
Bills trounced in Toronto
POLLOCK: How do the Bills repair this ongoing mess?
Notebook: Dome was no home for Bills

Buffalo Bills vs. Miami Dolphins Game Day Preview

TELEVISION

RADIO

HISTORY

REGULAR-SEASON SERIES RECORD: Dolphins lead, 52-34-1.

PLAYOFF RECORD: Bills 4, Dolphins 1.

LAST MEETING: October 4, 2009 – Dolphins 38, Bills 10

Olean Times Herald coverage:
Dolphons thump the Bills
POLLOCK: Clearly, QB is a problem for the Bills
Bills Notebook: Loss was Buffalo s worst since Nov. 07
POLLOCK: The Bills have plenty of concerns

Just 15 seconds after Miami Dolphins kicker Dan Carpenter’s 33-yard field goal opened the scoring early in the second quarter, rookie cornerback Vontae Davis ran back a Trent Edwards interception 23 yards to give the Dolphins a 10-0 lead. The home team never looked back from there, trampling the Bills to pick up their first win of the season and match Buffalo’s 1-3 record.

Aided by a 250-46 advantage in rushing yards courtesy of the Ronnie Brown-Ricky Williams tandem, Dolphins quarterback Chad Henne won his first career start with an efficient 14-for-22, 115-yard, 1-touchdown performance. Meanwhile, the defense made life miserable for Edwards (14-of-26, 192 yards, 1 TD, 3 INT), harassing him all afternoon, racking up six sacks, and helping build a 31-3 lead before the Bills finally managed to find the end zone on Josh Reed’s short touchdown catch in the fourth quarter.

LAST TIME IN BUFFALO: December 9, 2007 – Bills 38, Dolphins 17

Olean Times Herald postgame coverage:
Bills find a QB and two running backs
POLLOCK: Suddenly, Bills-Browns has meaning
Bills’ Notebook: Jauron gets 50th win; Lindell sets record

Through the years, Ralph Wilson Stadium has been notoriously unkind to young quarterbacks, and Dolphins second-round pick John Beck was no exception. He tripped on his first play from scrimmage, took three sacks on five dropbacks, lost a fumble that George Wilson returned for a Bills touchdown, and lasted just three Miami possessions before Dolphins head coach Cam Cameron mercifully pulled the plug and sent in Cleo Lemon. Beck hasn’t started a game for the Fins since that day, and with a new quarterback-of-the-future on the roster, he probably never will.

He wasn’t the only one having problems, though. First-round pick Ted Ginn jump-started the Bills offense by muffing a punt early in the game, turning the ball over at his own 28, and it took Trent Edwards just three plays to find Robert Royal for the first of four touchdown passes on the day. The two would hook up again a few minutes later, and by the time Wilson crossed the goal line to give Buffalo a 21-0 lead just 10:25 into the game, everyone in the stadium knew a beatdown was at hand.

Lemon had his own problems, fumbling four times (losing one) and throwing interceptions on back-to-back second-quarter drives. Buffalo added another score on Lee Evans’ highlight-film catch, and led 31-7 at the half. The Bills were in cruise control for most of the second half, with Edwards capping off his afternoon by hitting Evans for a 70-yard touchdown.

NOTES:

• Edwards finished the game 11-for-23 for 165 yards. The stats weren’t spectacular, but he managed the game well and never turned the ball over.
• Marshawn Lynch, injured late in the Week game in Miami, ran for 107 yards on 23 carries.
• Fred Jackson (15-115) also hit triple digits, marking the first time two Bills backs had accomplished that feat since Thurman Thomas and Darick Holmes combined to trample the Redskins for 229 yards in November 1996.
• Samkon Gado led Miami with 52 yards on 12 carries, and scored both Dolphins touchdowns.
• Buffalo improved to 7-6 with the win.
• Miami dropped to 0-13, but finally managed an overtime win against Baltimore the following week.

This recap originally appeared in the preview for the Oct. 26, 2008 game.

Buffalo Bills vs. Jacksonville Jaguars Gameday Preview

TELEVISION

RADIO

HISTORY

REGULAR-SEASON SERIES RECORD: Bills lead 5-3, and are 3-1 in Jacksonville.

PLAYOFF RECORD: Jaguars 1, Bills 0.

LAST MEETING: September 14, 2008 – Bills 20, Jaguars 16
Stadium Wall preview

Olean Times Herald coverage:
A hardy win for Edwards and Bills
POLLOCK: Edwards comes of age as Bills’ QB
Notebook: A hot start for the Bills
POLLOCK: Williams taking heat for Jags’ losing start

If the 2006 game at Houston was J.P. Losman’s “hey, we might have ourselves a quarterback” moment, then one might argue the same for Trent Edwards’ performance against the Jaguars on a sweltering afternoon in Jacksonville.

The Bills took a 10-3 lead into the half on Marshawn Lynch’s 11-yard touchdown, but after Maurice Jones-Drew’s 2-yard run tied the game on the opening drive of the third quarter, the Jags gambled that an onside kick would work. It did, and they added another three points before Buffalo ever touched the ball in the second half. Another Josh Scobee field goal made it 16-10 early in the final stanza, and when the offense took the field at their own 26 with eight minutes remaining, they knew they might not get another shot if they blew this one.

Edwards made sure they didn’t, putting the Bills on the move with a 12-yard completion to Roscoe Parrish, setting them up inside the Jaguars’ 10 with a 37-yard rainbow to Lee Evans, and capping off the drive by lofting a perfectly-placed throw to James Hardy for the rookie’s first NFL touchdown. Kyle Williams ended Jacksonville’s next drive with a sack, and when Parrish broke loose on the punt return to give the Bills the ball deep in Jaguars territory, the game was over but for Rian Lindell’s insurance three-pointer.

Edwards finished the game 20-of-25 for 239 yards and the touchdown, good for a 119.8 passer rating. On the other side of the ball, the Buffalo defense managed to keep Jacksonville’s potent tandem of Jones-Drew and Fred Taylor under 100 combined rushing yards.

Buffalo Bills vs. Tennessee Titans Gameday Preview

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REGULAR-SEASON SERIES RECORD: Oilers/Titans lead, 24-14.

PLAYOFF RECORD: Bills 2, Oilers 0, Titans 1*.

LAST REGULAR-SEASON MEETING: December 24, 2006 – Titans 30, Bills 29
Stadium Wall preview

Olean Times Herald coverage:
POLLOCK: Even with loss, the Bills are improved
POLLOCK: For Losman, it’s time for next season

Vince Young may have earned the AFC Offensive Player of the Week award for his performance at the Ralph – completing 13-of-20 passes for 183 yards and two touchdowns, plus a scintillating 36-yard broken-field scramble that found the end zone just before halftime, leaving multiple defenders in his wake – but the real story of the game was Buffalo’s inability to stop Travis Henry. The fourth-leading rusher in Bills history pounded his former teammates for 135 yards on 25 attempts, not including a 60-yard run called back by a penalty. He was at his best on Tennessee’s final drive, carrying the ball eight times for 41 tough yards to move the team into position for Rob Bironas’ game-deciding 30-yard field goal.

The Bills had a last-minute chance to come back, but J.P. Losman’s fourth-down heave from the Tennessee 28 found the hands of cornerback Reynaldo Hill instead of Josh Reed, and a Young kneeldown ran the final seconds off the clock.

Should they have tried a 45-yard field goal instead? Perhaps… but anyone sitting in the scoreboard end zone can tell you how Bironas, the guy who nailed a 60-yard field goal to beat the Colts earlier in the month, just barely snuck a 42-yarder over the crossbar earlier in the game. Rian Lindell had already kicked five field goals on his way to a career-high 17 points; his confidence had to be at its peak… and he still didn’t think he could make the kick. Maybe a better question to ask is why the Bills have gotten into the habit of taking the wind at the beginning of the game, instead of having it at their back in the deciding moments of the fourth quarter.

Losman finished the day with a touchdown and two interceptions to go with his 266 yards passing, but consistently moved the team – with only two punts, Brian Moorman spent most of the game holding for kicks instead – and put 29 points on the board. (The last time Buffalo lost a game when scoring that many points? It happened twice in 2002, Drew Bledsoe’s first season here.) Tennessee went four for five on third-down chances in the fourth quarter; the only failed conversion was on their final offensive play, when Young dove into the line to set up Bironas’ kick.

(This recap originally appeared in the Hall of Fame Game preview.)

LAST TIME IN NASHVILLE:  December 14, 2003 – Titans 28, Bills 26

Pat Williams’ 28-yard fumble return early in the third quarter gave the Bills a 17-6 lead, but the defense – aided by Drew Bledsoe’s sack/lost fumble at his own 18 – faded down the stretch, allowing career backup Billy Volek to throw two touchdown passes to put the Titans ahead for good. Following Volek’s 1-yard sneak to give the home team an eight-point lead with 4:23 remaining, Bledsoe worked the two-minute drill to perfection, finding tight end Mark Campbell for a diving touchdown with 0:24 on the clock. Of course, Buffalo went for two and the tie, and appeared to have succeeded on Bledsoe’s pass to Bobby Shaw. But as Shaw rolled over, he held up the ball to show the referee he’d made the catch ... and promptly dropped it. Incomplete. Yeah, it was that kind of day for the Bills, who dropped to 6-8 (and officially out of playoff contention) with the loss.

Buffalo Bills vs. Houston Texans Gameday Preview

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REGULAR-SEASON SERIES RECORD: Bills 3, Texans 1. Houston is 1-1 at Ralph Wilson Stadium.

LAST MEETING: November 19, 2006 – Bills 24, Texans 21
Stadium Wall preview

Olean Times Herald coverage:
POLLOCK: This is the Losman the Bills counted on

As we trudged up the seemingly neverending Reliant Stadium ramps to our seats high in the upper deck, a Texans fan wearing a David Carr jersey and using a team-logo flag for a cape spotted our Bills gear and emphatically informed us, “I’d rather have one David Carr than TEN J.P. Losmans!!”

Pity we didn’t see him on the way out afterward. I would have asked if he still felt the same way after witnessing Losman’s greatest game in a Bills uniform, which began with twin first-quarter 83-yard touchdown passes to Lee Evans – whose 265 total receiving yards would break Jerry Butler’s 27-year-old single-game team record – and ended when he found a toe-tapping Peerless Price in the back of the end zone with just nine seconds remaining to secure a stunning comeback victory.

Losman finished the game 26-of-38 for a career-best 340 yards, becoming the first Buffalo quarterback to surpass the 300-yard benchmark more than once in a season since Drew Bledsoe’s 2002 Pro Bowl campaign. (And if you needed any more proof of how mediocre the offense has been lately, this was the last 300-yard outing put up by any Bills quarterback – 45 games ago.)

As you all know, J.P. didn’t turn out to be “The Next Jim Kelly” after all ... but on that afternoon in Houston, we believed.

LAST TIME IN BUFFALO: September 11, 2005 – Bills 22, Texans 7
Stadium Wall preview

Olean Times Herald coverage:
An encouraging start for the Bills
Notebook: Lindell gets foot in Bills’ record book
PEZZIMENTI: Texans left with plenty of questions
POLLOCK: Bills’ Vincent still putting up numbers

J.P. Losman was efficient, not spectacular, in winning his first career start, but this game surely belonged to the Bills defense. They made David Carr’s life miserable, sacking the Texans quarterback five times and harassing him into a horrid 9-for-21, 70-yard, three-interception performance. Buffalo’s veteran safeties accounted for all three picks (two by Troy Vincent), and Lawyer Milloy and London Fletcher also added a fumble recovery as the Bills allowed just 120 yards in total offense, the tenth-lowest total in franchise history.

With the Texans offense going nowhere, the Bills were content to ride four Rian Lindell field goals to a second-quarter 12-0 lead. Houston finally managed to put a drive together, with Carr diving at the pylon for a one-yard touchdown to put his team on the scoreboard, but Losman responded with his first career touchdown pass – a one-yarder to reserve offensive tackle Jason Peters, lined up at tight end on the play – to restore Buffalo’s double-digit lead before halftime. Lindell added another three points following Milloy’s fumble recovery midway through the fourth quarter to complete the scoring.

Losman completed 17 of 28 passes for 170 yards and the touchdown to Peters, while Willis McGahee led the Bills’ ground attack with 117 yards on 22 carries. Facing double coverage for most of the afternoon, the Texans’ star wideout, Andre Johnson, managed just three catches for 18 yards.

Buffalo Bills vs. Carolina Panthers Gameday Preview

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REGULAR-SEASON SERIES RECORD: Bills lead, 3-1, and are 1-0 in Charlotte.

LAST MEETING: November 27, 2005 – Panthers 13, Bills 9
Stadium Wall preview

Olean Times Herald postgame coverage:
Bills’ playoff hopes thrown for a loss
PEZZIMENTI: Smith isn’t all about the numbers
Notebook: Bills had Reich stuff going on in pregame

Buffalo held the lead for most of the second half in this dull affair, but with just 2:16 remaining, Jake Delhomme found tight end Michael Gaines for the game’s only touchdown to go in front for good. Neither Delhomme (20-27-0, 191 yards) nor J.P. Losman (16-29-1, 197 yards, 5 sacks) managed 200 yards passing, and the Panthers defense held Willis McGahee to a quiet 53 yards on 21 carries.

LAST TIME IN CHARLOTTE: October 25, 1998 – Bills 30, Panthers 14

Under the Sunday-night lights and in front of a national audience, Doug Flutie’s 282 passing yards – a new NFL career-best for the veteran quarterback – helped the Bills make short work of the Panthers in their inaugural trip to Ericcson Stadium. Flutie continued to impress in his second start for the injured Rob Johnson, finishing the game 18-for-22 and tossing two touchdown passes to Eric Moulds.

Buffalo jumped out to a quick 10-0 first-quarter lead on Moulds’ first score. Carolina tried to stay in the game for a while, pulling within three points on a short William Floyd touchdown run, but it only took three plays – the final one an 82-yard Flutie-to-Moulds hookup – for the Bills to regain their double-digit lead. They poured it on in the third quarter, cashing in on Bruce Smith’s fumble recovery with a Thurman Thomas touchdown run, and cruised to an easy win to improve to 4-3 on the season.

Buffalo Bills vs. New York Jets Game Day Preview

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REGULAR-SEASON SERIES RECORD: Bills lead, 52-44.

PLAYOFF RECORD: Bills 1, Jets 0.

LAST MEETING: December 14, 2008 – Jets 31, Bills 27
TBD preview

Olean Times Herald postgame coverage:
Bills fumble away another season
POLLOCK: Jauron’s call could cost him his job
Bills notebook: Jets sweep for the first time since ‘02
POLLOCK: Jauron’s call still remains indefensible

With the Bills nursing a three-point lead and starting a drive at their own 10-yard line with 4:20 remaining in the game, four consecutive Marshawn Lynch runs took more than two minutes off the clock and pounded the ball out to the 27. Even though – or perhaps because – they knew what was coming, it looked like the Jets defense wanted no part of trying to tackle the Buffalo running back.

And then ...

On the last play before the two-minute warning, J.P. Losman took the snap, pivoted, and ... instead of handing off to Lynch again, started rolling out to his right, apparently intent on throwing a short pass to fullback Corey McIntyre. Based on the Bills’ recent track record of come-from-ahead losses, the result of the play should have been inevitable: absolute disaster. Safety Abram Elam coming untouched off the right side of the defense, bearing down on Losman from behind. Sack. Fumble. Ball bouncing perfectly into the hands of defensive end Shaun Ellis, who scooped up the early Christmas present at the Buffalo 11 and rumbled into the end zone for the go-ahead touchdown.

Two desperate Losman interceptions later, the Bills had found yet another creative way to lose a football game. There were reports of a shouting match between head coach Dick Jauron and offensive coordinator Turk Schonert following the game; afterward, Jauron took responsibility for the play call.

Buffalo Bills vs. Cleveland Browns Game Day Preview

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REGULAR-SEASON SERIES RECORD: Browns 9, Bills 5. Cleveland is 4-2 at Rich/Ralph Wilson Stadium.

PLAYOFF RECORD: Browns 1, Bills 0. Thanks, Ronnie Harmon ...

LAST MEETING: November 17, 2008 – Browns 29, Bills 27
Two Bills Drive preview

Olean Times Herald coverage:
Monday Night Meltdown
Notebook: McKelvin’s kick return among few bright spots
POLLOCK: Losses taking their toll on Bills’ Edwards

The Bills continued to cement their status as “Not Ready For Prime Time Players” with their ninth consecutive loss under the lights. (Of course, another game was added to that streak last month.) How long has it been since their last primetime win? Check the name of the quarterback:

Primetime games since 2000:

Date	Score	Bills Starting QB
Sunday, Sept. 3, 2000	Bills 16, Titans 13	Rob Johnson
Monday, Dec. 11, 2000	Colts 44, Bills 20	Rob Johnson
Saturday, Dec. 23, 2000	Bills 42, Seahawks 23	Doug Flutie
Thursday, Oct. 18, 2001	Bills 13, Jaguars 10	Rob Johnson
Sunday, Dec. 2, 2001	49ers 35, Bills 0	Alex Van Pelt
Sunday, Sept. 21, 2003	Dolphins 17, Bills 7	Drew Bledsoe
Sunday, Oct. 26, 2003	Chiefs 38, Bills 5	Drew Bledsoe
Sunday, Nov. 14, 2004	Patriots 29, Bills 6	Drew Bledsoe
Sunday, Oct. 30, 2005	Patriots 21, Bills 16	Kelly Holcomb
Saturday, Dec. 17, 2005	Broncos 28, Bills 17	Kelly Holcomb
Sunday, Sept. 21, 2007	Cowboys 25, Bills 24	Trent Edwards
Saturday, Dec. 17, 2007	Patriots 56, Bills 10	J.P. Losman
Monday, Nov. 17, 2008	Browns 29, Bills 27	Trent Edwards
Monday, Sept. 14, 2009	Patriots 25, Bills 24	Trent Edwards

Come-from-ahead heartbreakers, blowouts, they’re all in there. Early on, this game looked like it would end up in the latter category: Trent Edwards started the game with an interception on the Bills’ first offensive play and added two more before the end of the first quarter, then spent most of the rest of the night trying to regain his confidence with dumpoffs to Marshawn Lynch, who ended the night with 10 receptions while Lee Evans was shut out for the first time in 68 games. Fortunately for Buffalo, the 3-6 Browns were unable to muster more than six points from Edwards’ early Christmas presents, and Rian Lindell’s 26-yard field goal at the gun sent them into the locker room trailing just 13-10.

The teams swapped three-pointers in the third quarter, before Browns running back Jerome Harrison stunned both the defense and the Ralph Wilson Stadium crowd with a 72-yard sprint to the end zone that appeared to salt the win away for Cleveland. Not even close. Leodis McKelvin took the ensuing kickoff 98 yards for the second touchdown in 27 seconds, and the Bills were back in the game. Following Phil Dawson’s fourth field goal and a pair of punts, the Bills offense took the field trailing 26-20 with just over five minutes left. Lynch broke free for a long run down to the 1, Edwards capped off the drive with a sneak on the next play, and remarkably, the Bills took their first lead of the game with 2:35 remaining.

However, that merely set the stage for Dawson’s heroics. The Browns quickly moved to the Bills 39, but three straight Brady Quinn incompletions brought the veteran kicker on for his fifth attempt of the night. Some Bills fans began to celebrate, thinking that the 56-yarder was outside his range. No such luck, and the Browns retook the lead.

The Bills still had a shot, though. Cleveland decided to kick away from McKelvin, but Fred Jackson alertly snared Dawson’s pop-up and returned it to the 44, and with 1:33 and a timeout left, there was plenty of time to move into range to give Lindell a shot at winning it. Edwards started the drive by rifling a 22-yard strike to Robert Royal, setting up a first down at the Browns 34.

And then, someone on the Bills sideline decided they’d gone far enough, that even with the below-freezing temperatures and the nine-mph headwind, they were content with letting Lindell try one from long range. Three consecutive Lynch dives into the middle of the line netted five yards, the 47-yarder sailed wide, and two Quinn kneeldowns ended the game.

(Aside: I won’t repeat the words I used in Section 237 that night, as soon as I saw Lynch take the handoff on first down. But you can safely assume that it was a profane variation of, “You’re kidding me,” followed by, “Hope you make this, Rian.”)

Buffalo Bills vs. Miami Dolphins Gameday Capsule

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REGULAR-SEASON SERIES RECORD: Dolphins lead, 51-34-1. Buffalo is 14-28-1 overall in Miami, but 12-10 in Joe Robbie/Pro Player/Dolphin Stadium.

PLAYOFF RECORD: Bills 4, Dolphins 1.

LAST MEETING: December 7, 2008 – Dolphins 16, Bills 3
***game played at Rogers Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada***
Stadium Wall preview

Olean Times Herald postgame coverage:
Bills trounced in Toronto
POLLOCK: How do the Bills repair this ongoing mess?
Notebook: Dome was no home for Bills

LAST TIME IN MIAMI: October 26, 2008 – Dolphins 25, Bills 16
Stadium Wall preview

Olean Times Herald postgame coverage:
A dismal day for the Bills in Miami
POLLOCK: Buffalo’s ‘D’ had big part in this loss
Notebook: A new deal for Jauron?
POLLOCK: For Bills, it was just one bad quarter

DOLPHINS OVERVIEW (2009 RANKINGS)

OFFENSE (#19 total yardage, #3 rushing, #30 passing, #26 scoring)

DEFENSE (#17 total yardage, #3 rushing, #26 passing, #t21 scoring)

SPECIAL TEAMS: (#20 punt returns, #27 kickoff returns, #11 punt coverage, #2 kickoff coverage)

LINKS

Dolphins depth chart | 2009 regular-season stats
Bills depth chart | 2009 regular-season stats

Welcome to the Blogosphere:
AFC East (Tim Graham, ESPN)
Dolphins in Depth (Armando Salguero, Miami Herald)
The Daily Dolphin (Edgar Thompson and Brian Biggane, Palm Beach Post)
Miami Dolphins (Omar Kelly and Mike Berardino, Sun-Sentinel beat writers)
Season Ticket (Ethan Skolnick, Sun-Sentinel columnist)

New Orleans Saints at Buffalo Bills Gameday Preview

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HISTORY

SERIES RECORD: 4-4.

LAST TIME IN BUFFALO: September 9, 2001 – Saints 24, Bills 6

Olean Times Herald coverage:
Saints put a crushing on the Bills
Moritz: A tale of two halves for Saints
Notebook: Knight has big day for Saints
POLLOCK: Bills are looking at a rough start
POLLOCK: Bills’ Achilles heel … losing Cowart’s skill

At halftime of the first game of the Gregg Williams era, the Bills were seemingly doing everything right, holding Ricky Williams to just five rushing yards and clinging to a 6-0 lead at the break. The second half was a different story, though, as Bills quarterback Rob Johnson discovered a new favorite receiver. Unfortunately for Buffalo, it was Saints safety Sammy Knight, who tied a New Orleans franchise record with a three-interception game.

The Bills lost not only their home opener, but Pro Bowl linebacker Sam Cowart, who ruptured his Achilles tendon in the first half and never played another down for the team.

LAST REGULAR-SEASON MEETING: October 2, 2005 – Buccaneers 19, Bills 3
**Game played at the Alamodome, San Antonio, Texas**
Stadium Wall preview

Olean Times Herald coverage:
POLLOCK: For Losman, Bills, another painful day
POLLOCK: Mularkey is mum on QB change

Like the 2001 game, the Bills took an early lead, but the Saints roared back to secure a double-digit win. First-year starter J.P. Losman was harassed into a miserable 7-for-15, 75-yard performance and eventually benched for backup Kelly Holcomb, who didn’t fare any better.

For me, the lasting image of this game was Terrence McGee’s scintillating kickoff return on the final play of the first half, one which came oh-so-close to giving the Bills the lead back at the break. But with time long expired, McGee tripped over fallen teammate Mark Campbell at the Saints 5, and the score remained 13-7 as the teams headed to the locker room ... and I slumped into my seat in the Alamodome’s upper deck, after briefly considering going over the railing in front of me. It was that kind of day.

Buffalo Bills vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers Preview

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HISTORY

SERIES RECORD: Buccaneers lead, 6-2.

LAST REGULAR-SEASON MEETING: September 18, 2005 – Buccaneers 19, Bills 3
Stadium Wall preview

Olean Times Herald coverage:
Tripped up in Tampa
Notebook: Plenty of lowlights for Bills in loss to Buccaneers
POLLOCK: Bills had blunders all around

Brutal afternoon for the Bills in the Tampa heat. How bad was it? At the end of the third quarter, down 16-3, the Bills had one first down and 49 net yards. The Bucs defense harassed quarterback J.P. Losman into a horrid 11-for-28 performance, including a second-quarter safety when linebacker Shelton Quarles ran him out of the back of the end zone. Meanwhile, taking advantage of London Fletcher’s second-quarter departure due to a strained hamstring, rookie “Cadillac” Williams trampled Buffalo for 128 yards and a touchdown on 24 carries.

LAST TIME IN BUFFALO:

This of course, is a trick question: There is no “last time in Buffalo,” because the Buccaneers have never played a regular-season game here.

Buffalo Bills vs. New England Patriots Game Day Preview

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REGULAR-SEASON SERIES RECORD: Patriots lead, 56-40-1. They’re 30-19 at home, including a perfect 7-0 since moving into Gillette Stadium in 2002.

PLAYOFF RECORD: Patriots lead, 1-0.

LAST MEETING: December 28, 2008 – Patriots 13, Bills 0

Olean Times Herald postgame coverage:
Bills close out season with a loss
Patriots miss out on playoffs
POLLOCK: Once again, Jauron leaves us wondering
Notebook: Bills’ schedule locked in for 2009

At 8:25 that morning, as I sat in Lot 1 outside Ralph Wilson Stadium and watched a 75-mph wind gust peel back a corner of the fieldhouse roof, I debated whether my usual foul-weather mantra of “This is FOOTBALL weather!” had finally met its match. Choosing safety over tailgating fellowship, I decided to wander over to Danny’s to visit the WGR broadcast for a while instead of dodging airborne debris in the parking lot. (Wise decision, as I discovered when I returned to find out that a flying canopy had taken a chunk out of the windshield of the car parked next to mine.) Howard Simon was just about to begin his 10 a.m. airshift when ESPN showed a live shot from inside the stadium, and we stared in amazement at the sight of both goalposts twisted off-kilter by the wind. This should be fun.

Oh yeah, the game ... With the wind continuing to howl at a sustained 30-40 mph clip, making any semblance of a downfield passing game all but impossible, both teams opted to rely on their running games. New England used just two short dumpoffs to fullback Heath Evans on their first field goal drive, and didn’t throw a single pass in their 11-play, 43-yard drive to LaMont Jordan’s game-sealing touchdown. Fred Jackson ran well for the Bills, but just three of his 27 carries took place inside the Patriots 30. And when Gostkowski’s second field goal made the score 13-0 early in the fourth quarter, forcing Trent Edwards to throw into the wind to attempt a comeback, the game was as good as over.

LAST TIME IN FOXBOROUGH: November 9, 2008 – Patriots 20, Bills 10

Olean Times Herald coverage:
A patently bad day for the Bills
POLLOCK: Sinking Bills are starting to unravel
Bills Notebook: Moss, Welker catch up on records
POLLOCK: Edwards still confident as Bills struggle

In what has become an annual tradition, the Bills put up little resistance in a double-digit loss at One Patriot Place. It may show up in the record books as only a 10-point margin, but New England dominated the game far more than the final score might indicate.

The Pats won the toss, deferred, forced a quick three-and-out, drove 71 yards to Matt Cassel’s 13-yard touchdown run, added a field goal following the first of two Trent Edwards interceptions, and played keepaway for the rest of the afternoon. Buffalo did manage to drive to the 4-yard line midway through the second quarter, but as usual, the drive ground to a halt and Rian Lindell was called on to break the shutout with a 25-yard field goal.

Another Stephen Gostkowski field goal made the score 13-3 midway through the third quarter. Marcus Stroud and George Wilson gave the struggling Bills offense a chance to do some damage early in the fourth when they combined for a strip-sack of Matt Cassel, forcing a fumble Wilson recovered at his own 44. But after a sack knocked them out of Lindell’s range and Kevin Faulk fair-caught Brian Moorman’s punt at his own 8, the Patriots offense put the game out of reach with a clock-grinding, 19-play, 92-yard drive capped off by BenJarvus Green-Ellis’ 1-yard plunge at the two-minute warning.

Leodis McKelvin broke the ensuing kickoff return all the way back to the Pats’ 14-yard line, and Edwards found James Hardy for a touchdown on the next play to cut the Patriots’ lead to 20-10, but the ensuing onside kick didn’t work and the game ended with three Cassel kneeldowns.

NOTES:

• New England held the ball for 37:40, and outgained the Bills 370-168.
• Edwards had a forgettable afternoon, completing 13-of-23 passes for just 120 yards and two interceptions to go with his touchdown pass to Hardy.
• Lee Evans caught just two passes for 22 yards, but those catches were good enough to keep his 67-game reception streak intact ... until it ended eight days later against the Browns, eight games shy of tying Peerless Price (75) for second place in team history behind Eric Moulds (121) ...
• The rushing attack never got on track; Marshawn Lynch led the team with a paltry 46 yards on 14 carries, while running mate Fred Jackson managed just 4-14 ...
• Rian Lindell’s 32-yard field goal in the second quarter was the 134th of his career in Buffalo, pushing him past Scott Norwood for second place on the Bills’ all-time list behind leader Steve Christie (234) ...
• With Sammy Morris and LaMont Jordan sidelined for the Patriots, Green-Ellis took advantage of his playing time to register his first career 100-yard rushing game. The undrafted rookie from Ole Miss finished the game with 105 yards on 26 carries.
• Wes Welker was uncoverable, catching 10 passes for 107 yards – his ninth straight game with at least six receptions, breaking the previous league record.
• New England improved to 6-3 with the win, moving a game ahead of the 5-4 Bills, whose three-game showdown against the rest of the AFC East resulted in a tumble from the top to the bottom of the division.

This recap originally appeared in the preview for the December 28, 2008 game.

Buffalo Bills vs. Detroit Lions Game Day Preview

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PRESEASON SERIES RECORD: Lions lead, 16-11-1.

REGULAR-SEASON SERIES RECORD: Lions lead, 4-3-1.

LAST REGULAR-SEASON MEETING: October 15, 2006 – Lions 20, Bills 17
Stadium Wall preview

Olean Times Herald coverage:
Bills stumble in Motown
POLLOCK: Bills take a step back in loss to Lions
POLLOCK: Marinelli got away with a dubious call

An ugly game all around. The defense was equally bad against the run and the pass, as both Kevin Jones (23 carries-127 yards) and Roy Williams (10 catches-161 yards) notched their season highs in the Lions’ first win of the year.

By the time the Bills finally made it past midfield on the final play of the first quarter, the hometown team had taken advantage of drive-starts at their own 49 and the Buffalo 24 to build a 10-0 lead. J.P. Losman’s 44-yard strike to Roscoe Parrish cut the lead to three; the two teams spent most of the rest of the quarter trading punts before Detroit quarterback Jon Kitna capped off an efficient two-minute drill by finding Williams for a 28-yard touchdown with 0:40 remaining in the half. Terrence McGee found a seam on the ensuing kickoff, taking the ball all the way to the Detroit 23 and setting up Rian Lindell’s 53-yard field goal to make the score 17-10 at the break.

Following another Jason Hanson field goal early in the fourth quarter, the Bills countered with Losman’s 4-yard touchdown pass to Ryan Neufeld. A Ko Simpson interception gave the offense one more shot, but they couldn’t get past their own 40-yard line before the drive stalled. Detroit burned most of the remaining time off the clock before giving the ball back, and any hopes for a last-play miracle ended with the ball cradled in Lions defensive end Kalimba Edwards’ arms as time ran out.

Losman finished 21-for-34 for 207 yards and two touchdowns, but also took five sacks and turned the ball over twice while running for his life most of the afternoon. This game, and the beatdown by New England the following week, provided more than enough reason for the Buffalo coaching staff to overhaul the offensive line during the bye week.

(Reprinted from the Aug. 28, 2008 Two Bills Drive preview.)

Buffalo Bills vs. Pittsburgh Steelers Game Day Preview

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PRESEASON RECORD: Steelers lead, 5-2, and are 3-0 in Pittsburgh.

REGULAR-SEASON SERIES RECORD: Steelers lead, 11-8.

PLAYOFF RECORD: Steelers lead, 2-1.

LAST REGULAR-SEASON MEETING: September 16, 2007 – Steelers 26, Bills 3

Olean Times Herald coverage:
Steelers give Bills a crushing loss
Notebook: Tough homecoming for Posluszny
POLLOCK: Time is getting close for a QB change in Buffalo
POLLOCK: Whether he likes it or not, Losman s part of problem

The Bills have a long history of futility at the confluence of the Three Rivers. Frank Reich remains the last quarterback to beat the Steelers in Pittsburgh, and the team hasn’t won a regular-season game there since Lou Saban was the coach. This trip was no different; as usual, the Steelers dominated both the scoreboard and the time of possession, harassing yet another Bills quarterback – J.P. Losman this time – into a miserable afternoon. Rian Lindell’s third-quarter 24-yard field goal, set up by a long Terrence McGee kickoff return, would be the only score of the day for Buffalo.

“We didn’t perform at the level we needed to on the offensive side,” Dick Jauron said afterward. “Our return game was pretty good. They gave us a couple of chances, and we were close a couple of other times. Our defense fought. It was 12-0 at halftime. We felt good coming in, but that was – not very good, and here we are, two scores out of this thing. All in all, it was a very disappointing day for us, to suffer our second loss and not perform at a very high level on the offensive side. We have a lot of work to do.”

Buffalo Bills vs. Green Bay Packers Game Day Preview

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REGULAR-SEASON SERIES RECORD: Bills lead, 7-3.

PRESEASON RECORD: Packers lead, 9-3, and are a perfect 6-0 in the state of Wisconsin (four games at Lambeau Field, two in Milwaukee, the last in 1991).

LAST REGULAR-SEASON MEETING: November 5, 2006 – Bills 24, Packers 10

Olean Times Herald coverage:
Bills pack away a win
Notebook: With McGahee out, ‘A’ Train goes into high gear
POLLOCK: Bills get a gift from the Packers
POLLOCK: A win is nice, but Bills still have worries

Look at the box score, where Green Bay outgained Buffalo 427 yards to 184 and dominated time of possession, and you might get the idea that the score above is wrong and the Packers actually won the game.

Then again, the box score won’t tell you that on first-and-goal at the 1, with the Pack driving for the tying score after a 43-yard J.P. Losman-to-Lee Evans bomb had put the Bills ahead 17-10 midway through the fourth quarter, Nate Clements tipped Brett Favre’s pass into the eager hands of Ko Simpson. The rookie safety sprinted to the Green Bay 27 before running back Ahman Green managed to make the touchdown-saving tackle, but the Packers defense had no answer for Anthony Thomas. Losman handed off to him on three consecutive plays, the last one for 14 yards and a touchdown with just 3:08 remaining, and Favre’s 0-for-Orchard Park streak continued.

Losman finished a pedestrian 8-for-15 for 102 yards, but despite being sacked five times behind a reworked Bills line, managed to avoid turning the ball over. Anthony Thomas, filling in after Willis McGahee left the game early on with a rib injury, added 95 yards on the ground.

Simpson’s big play was Favre’s second interception of the day, and the first one was equally costly, with London Fletcher stepping in front of a pass meant for Donald Driver and returning it 17 yards for the Bills’ first touchdown. Buffalo dodged another major scare at the end of the first half, when another Packers turnover – this one on a shotgun snap that bounced off Favre’s facemask and was recovered by Aaron Schobel at his own 10 – sent the home team into the locker room with a 10-0 lead.

LAST TIME AT LAMBEAU FIELD: December 22, 2002 – Packers 10, Bills 0

Olean Times Herald coverage:
POLLLOCK: Bills’ offense sputters in Green Bay

Midway through the fourth quarter, Nate Clements scooped up the loose football and took off for the end zone, sure that his touchdown return would put the Bills ahead 7-3 in a game dominated as much by the Wisconsin wind as either team’s defense.

Not so fast. Although Ahman Green had appeared to take the requisite two steps after catching Brett Favre’s swing pass to make it a catch and a fumble, the play was ruled an incompletion over the protests from the visitors’ side of the field. Favre hit Donald Driver for an 11-yard touchdown on the next play, and the 10-0 score must have looked like 100-0 to a Bills offense which only dented the Green Bay 40-yard line three times, turning the ball over twice and missing a field goal. Drew Bledsoe got the ball back twice more after Driver’s score, but defensive end Vonnie Holliday – who spent the entire game in the Buffalo backfield, ending up with a franchise-record five sacks – forced the Bills quarterback to fumble on both drives, thwarting any chance of a miraculous comeback.

Both Favre and Bledsoe would make the Pro Bowl following the 2002 season, but certainly not from their performances in this game. With below-freezing temperatures and 25-mph gusts combining to send the wind chill into the low teens, both quarterbacks tossed two interceptions, and Bledsoe added a pair of lost fumbles to account for four of Buffalo’s six turnovers.

With no threat from the passing game, the Packers defense concentrated on stuffing Travis Henry, holding the Bills back to just 46 yards on 20 carries. Green was more successful against a Buffalo front seven that had problems stopping the run all season, racking up 116 yards on 26 attempts and adding another 17 on two receptions.

Chicago Bears at Buffalo Bills Game Day Preview

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PRESEASON SERIES RECORD: Bears lead, 11-1-1.

REGULAR-SEASON SERIES RECORD: Bears lead, 6-4.

LAST REGULAR-SEASON MEETING: October 8, 2006 – Bears 40, Bills 7
Stadium Wall preview

Olean Times Herald coverage:
Bears dominate the Bills
Notebook: Bills avoid worst road loss in franchise history
POLLOCK: This isn’t the statement Bills wanted
POLLOCK: Bears put Bills, Crowell in their place

The first sentence of Chuck Pollock’s game story (the first link in the above list) sums it up nicely: “The scoreboard read 40-7 ... but it wasn’t that close.”

While the Bills were busy fumbling and bumbling their way to five turnovers and a stat line a high school team would mock, Chicago – aided by three drive starts on the Buffalo side of midfield – merely scored on each of its first five possessions to put the game out of reach before halftime.

How dominant a performance was it? After Brian Moorman bobbled a low snap, blowing up a fake punt at midfield on their opening drive, the Bills never crossed the 50 again until the two-minute warning. Not for long, though. On the next play, J.P. Losman threw the second of his three interceptions, and the Bears headed into the locker room with a comfortable 27-0 lead.

Buffalo finally managed to get inside the Chicago 30 on its first drive of the second half, but defensive end Alex Brown stepped in front of a screen pass meant for Willis McGahee, and the Bears were cruising. Two more Robbie Gould field goals and a gift-wrapped touchdown courtesy of Terrence McGee’s fumbled kickoff return made the score 40-0 before Losman found Lee Evans for a 5-yard touchdown, breaking the shutout with just 1:06 remaining in the game.

“It was a disappointment playing a really good football team and not to have them battle until the end. That’s what we wanted to do,” Bills coach Dick Jauron said the next day. “We wanted to play a sound game and once again, when you lose the turnover battle five to one, the games can get out of hand like it did yesterday, particularly against a good football team. They deserved the victory. They outplayed us. They made the plays and we did not.”

NOTES:

• The Bills defense barely slowed down the Bears’ rushing attack. Thomas Jones averaged over 5 yards per carry on his way to a 110-yard afternoon, and Cedric Benson bulled through the line for two short touchdowns.
• Rex Grossman finished 15-for-27 for 182 yards and two touchdowns before giving way to backup Brian Griese at the beginning of the fourth quarter.
• The No. 3 scoring defense in the league stuffed the run early and often, holding McGahee to 50 yards on 14 carries before the Bills were forced into catch-up mode. Losman had a miserable day, going 14-for-27 for 115 yards with three sacks and three interceptions, and added a fumble for good measure.
• The Bears improved to 5-0, on their way to a 13-3 record and a Super Bowl appearance. Buffalo fell to 2-3, and would finish the season with the first of Jauron’s three consecutive 7-9 records.

LAST TIME IN BUFFALO: September 29, 2002 – Bills 33, Bears 27 (OT)

Olean Times Herald coverage:
Bills’ victory ‘Bears’ out Bledsoe’s leadership
Moulds beats McMillon’s ‘PERFECT’ coverage
Notebook: Bledsoe brings new life to Bills
POLLOCK: Bills’ attitude reminiscent of breakthrough ‘87 team

This time, Travis Henry’s game ended much better than it began.

For the second consecutive game, the opposing defense returned a first-quarter fumble by the young Bills running back for a touchdown. But while Buffalo ended up losing the previous game, dropping a 28-23 decision in Denver, Henry atoned for Bears safety Mike Brown’s 62-yard score by catching a 26-yard touchdown pass from Drew Bledsoe 1:58 into overtime.

The scoring throw was one of four on the day for Bledsoe, who finished the game 28-for-36 for 328 yards. It also marked Bledsoe’s fourth career overtime game-winner, breaking the NFL record he had previously shared with Terry Bradshaw. Afterward, Bledsoe jokingly downplayed the accomplishment, saying, “I guess I just don’t do enough in regulation. I need to get more done in regulation so I don’t have to keep dealing with this.”

2009 Hall of Fame Game: Bills at Titans

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Bills Bookshelf: “Then Levy Said to Kelly …”:  The Best Buffalo Bills Stories Ever Told

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REGULAR-SEASON SERIES RECORD: Patriots lead, 55-40-1. Thanks to their recent winning streak, they’re now 26-21-1 in Buffalo, 19-15 at Rich/Ralph Wilson Stadium.

PLAYOFF RECORD: Patriots lead, 1-0. Forty-five years ago today, on Dec. 28, 1963, the Patriots defeated Buffalo 26-8 in a tie-breaker game at War Memorial Stadium to win the AFL Eastern Division championship.

LAST MEETING: November 9, 2008 – Patriots 20, Bills 10

Olean Times Herald coverage:
A patently bad day for the Bills
POLLOCK: Sinking Bills are starting to unravel
Bills Notebook: Moss, Welker catch up on records
POLLOCK: Edwards still confident as Bills struggle

In what has become an annual tradition, the Bills put up little resistance in a double-digit loss at One Patriot Place. It may show up in the record books as only a 10-point margin, but New England dominated the game far more than the final score might indicate.

The Pats won the toss, deferred, forced a quick three-and-out, drove 71 yards to Matt Cassel’s 13-yard touchdown run, added a field goal following the first of two Trent Edwards interceptions, and played keepaway for the rest of the afternoon. Buffalo did manage to drive to the 4-yard line midway through the second quarter, but as usual, the drive ground to a halt and Rian Lindell was called on to break the shutout with a 25-yard field goal.

Another Stephen Gostkowski field goal made the score 13-3 midway through the third quarter. Marcus Stroud and George Wilson gave the struggling Bills offense a chance to do some damage early in the fourth when they combined for a strip-sack of Matt Cassel, forcing a fumble Wilson recovered at his own 44. But after a sack knocked them out of Lindell’s range and Kevin Faulk fair-caught Brian Moorman’s punt at his own 8, the Patriots offense put the game out of reach with a clock-grinding, 19-play, 92-yard drive capped off by BenJarvus Green-Ellis’ 1-yard plunge at the two-minute warning.

Leodis McKelvin broke the ensuing kickoff return all the way back to the Pats’ 14-yard line, and Edwards found James Hardy for a touchdown on the next play to cut the Patriots’ lead to 20-10, but the ensuing onside kick didn’t work and the game ended with three Cassel kneeldowns.

NOTES:

• New England held the ball for 37:40, and outgained the Bills 370-168.
• Edwards had a forgettable afternoon, completing 13-of-23 passes for just 120 yards and two interceptions to go with his touchdown pass to Hardy.
• Lee Evans caught just two passes for 22 yards, but those catches were good enough to keep his 67-game reception streak intact ... until it ended eight days later against the Browns, eight games shy of tying Peerless Price (75) for second place in team history behind Eric Moulds (121) ...
• The rushing attack never got on track; Marshawn Lynch led the team with a paltry 46 yards on 14 carries, while running mate Fred Jackson managed just 4-14 ...
• Rian Lindell’s 32-yard field goal in the second quarter was the 134th of his career in Buffalo, pushing him past Scott Norwood for second place on the Bills’ all-time list behind leader Steve Christie (234) ...
• With Sammy Morris and LaMont Jordan sidelined for the Patriots, Green-Ellis took advantage of his playing time to register his first career 100-yard rushing game. The undrafted rookie from Ole Miss finished the game with 105 yards on 26 carries.
• Wes Welker was uncoverable, catching 10 passes for 107 yards – his ninth straight game with at least six receptions, breaking the previous league record.
• New England improved to 6-3 with the win, moving a game ahead of the 5-4 Bills, whose three-game showdown against the rest of the AFC East resulted in a tumble from the top to the bottom of the division.

LAST TIME IN ORCHARD PARK: November 18, 2007 – Patriots 56, Bills 10

Olean Times Herald postgame coverage:
Brady, Moss and undefeated Patriots rout Bills
Bills Notebook: Patriots’ 56 points most against Bills at home
POLLOCK:  How will the befuddled Bills respond?

With the undefeated Patriots juggernaut rolling into town to face a suddenly resurgent Buffalo squad on a four-game winning streak of its own, few were surprised when the NFL and NBC dumped an unattractive Bears-Seahawks game to reroute the Maddencruiser to Orchard Park for a Sunday Night Football prime-time matchup. Question was, would this be “Must-See TV,” or would viewers be changing the channel early in yet another New England blowout?

If they’d only known ...

After Laurence Maroney’s 6-yard run and a 43-yard pass from Tom Brady to Randy Moss gave the Patriots a quick 14-0 first-quarter lead, J.P. Losman responded by looking deep to Roscoe Parrish. As Pats cornerback Ellis Hobbs slipped while trying to adjust to the ball, Parrish made the catch and glided into the end zone, the 47-yard touchdown catch giving the Ralph Wilson Stadium crowd a glimmer of hope that their team might be able to make a game of it. But as the numbers continued to change on the visitors’ side of the scoreboard while the Bills couldn’t find their way back across the midfield stripe, it quickly became obvious that there would be no “fantastic finish” on this night. Brady connected with Moss for three more touchdowns before the first half ended, and with the score 35-7 at the break, some of the writers in the press box were already wrapping up their game stories.

The onslaught continued in the third quarter. Brady added his fifth touchdown pass of the night, on a fourth-and-1 throw to tight end Ben Watson that brought more than a few catcalls from Bills fans annoyed at the mounting score. Those fans weren’t much happier with their own team when Dick Jauron decided to send out Rian Lindell for a 52-yard field goal attempt while trailing 42-7. Up in the broadcast booth, John Madden tried to rationalize the move, saying, “Maybe Dick Jauron thinks a field goal would be a positive thing.” He didn’t sound convinced.

The Patriots converted another short fourth-down play at the Bills’ 10 late in the quarter, leading to a louder murmur from the few well-chilled diehards still left in the stands, while Madden and Al Michaels debated whether or not kicking the field goal would have been more insulting than going for it against a thoroughly demoralized Bills defense.

Kyle Eckel’s 1-yard run on the first play of the final period increased New England’s lead to 49-10. Less than a minute later, Patriots safety James Sanders punched the ball out of Dwayne Wright’s grasp, with Ellis Hobbs catching the ball on the fly and running it back 35 yards to make the score 56-10 – marking the worst loss in Bills history – and Madden was reduced to musing, “When it rains, it pours.”

Hey, at least it wasn’t a snow joke.

NOTES:

• With Marshawn Lynch (ankle) sitting out this game, Anthony Thomas got the start and rushed for 31 yards on 11 carries, tying him with Losman (4-31) for the team lead ...
• Losman had a rough day passing, completing 15 of 26 attempts for 173 yards. He threw one interception in addition to the touchdown pass to Parrish, and was sacked four times ...
• Brady was an off-the-charts 31-for-39 for 373 yards and 5 touchdowns, good for a 146.1 passer rating. That is not a misprint. As previously noted, four of those touchdowns went to Randy Moss, who finished with 10 catches for 128 yards ...
• New England controlled the ball and the clock, running 70 plays to the Bills’ 36 ...
• The Bills dropped to 5-5, but maintained their hold on second place in the division ahead of the thoroughly awful Jets and Dolphins ...
• The Patriots improved to 10-0, moving closer to clinching the AFC East before Thanksgiving, on their way to the first 16-0 regular season in NFL history. (Of course, we all know how that ended.)

  This recap originally appeared in the preview for the November 9, 2008 game.

Buffalo Bills vs. Denver Broncos Game Day Preview

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REGULAR-SEASON SERIES RECORD: Thanks to their AFL-era domination, the Bills lead 17-15-1, and actually have a winning record (6-4-1) in Denver. However, the Broncos have won the last five games, including Buffalo’s only previous visit to Invesco Field (which opened in 2001).

PLAYOFF RECORD: Bills 1, Broncos 0.

LAST MEETING: September 7, 2007 – Broncos 15, Bills 14

With the clock ticking toward zero, the Broncos’ kicking team scrambled onto the field to attempt a game-winning 42-yard field goal. Jason Elam couldn’t possibly have time to get the kick off, could he? Answer: yes, as the Bills fans counted down the final seconds in disbelief.

The last-play loss stung, to be sure. But after the game, the Bills players and fans were concerned with the outcome of a different battle, this one far more serious. After a collision on the second-half kickoff left him motionless on the Ralph Wilson Stadium turf with a cervical spine fracture, tight end Kevin Everett was fighting for his life in a Buffalo hospital.

As we now know, Everett not only survived, but has made a remarkable recovery from his injury.

LAST TIME IN DENVER: September 22, 2002 – Broncos 28, Bills 23

Late in the first quarter, DT Chester McGlockton returned a Travis Henry fumble 24 yards for the first score of the game. Denver made it 14-0 on a one-yard Clinton Portis touchdown run the next time they had the ball, and Buffalo never managed to catch up despite Drew Bledsoe’s touchdown passes to Josh Reed and Eric Moulds. Portis, in for injured starter Olandis Gary, recorded the first 100-yard game of his career as the Broncos outrushed the Bills 163 - 49.

Buffalo Bills vs. New York Jets Game Day Preview

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REGULAR-SEASON SERIES RECORD: Bills lead, 52-43.

PLAYOFF RECORD: Bills 1, Jets 0.

LAST MEETING: November 2, 2008 – Jets 26, Bills 17

Olean Times Herald postgame coverage:
Bills can’t close the deal on Jets
POLLOCK: This was a bad loss for the Bills
‘Vintage’ Favre leads Jets
Bills notebook: Greer matches Spikes with TD picks
POLLOCK: Reflections of Bills’ loss to the Jets

The Bills, in the midst of a four-game skid, kept finding new and innovative ways to lose. This week’s installment? At one point, the Buffalo offense ran 27 consecutive offensive plays ... and was outscored 7-0 by the Jets defense during that stretch.

Leading 7-6 and facing third-and goal from the New York 14 on the final play of the first quarter, Trent Edwards dropped back and fired a pass to Roscoe Parrish, who had bailed him out on another third-and-long play earlier in the possession. Unfortunately for the Bills, Parrish slipped while trying to make his cut. Strong safety Abram Elam didn’t. Ninety-two yards later, Elam and his teammates were celebrating in the end zone in front of a stunned Ralph Wilson Stadium crowd.

The offense tried to regroup, setting off on another long drive. But with Marshawn Lynch sidelined after sprinting the length of the field in a futile attempt to catch Elam, Fred Jackson was stuffed for no gain on fourth-and-1 from the New York 8-yard line, and the Jets headed into the locker room with the score 13-7.

The teams swapped field goals early in the second half, before Thomas Jones’ seven-yard touchdown run gave the visitors a two-touchdown lead at the end of the third quarter. And when Rian Lindell’s 43-yard kick hooked wide early in the fourth, the situation appeared grim for the hometown team.

Ah, but Brett Favre still has that gunslinger’s heart. Content to dump the ball off to his backs and tight ends for most of the game, the veteran quarterback, pressured by Paul Posluszny, heaved the ball in the general direction of Jerricho Cotchery. An alert Jabari Greer jumped the route, made the pick, and sprinted 42 yards to the end zone, tying a club record with his second pick-six of the season. Lindell’s extra point cut the margin to 23-17 with 10:53 remaining, and if the defense could hold one more time, the Bills would be right back in the game.

That defensive stand never happened. The Jets played keepaway for the next 8:41, combining a heavy dose of running plays with a few short, safe passes, and Jay Feely’s fourth field goal of the afternoon restored their two-score lead with just 2:16 on the clock. Buffalo moved quickly downfield on their last-chance drive, but cornerback Darrelle Revis picked off a pass in his own end zone to end the threat, and two Favre kneeldowns finished off the win.

NOTES:

• The Bills managed just 30 yards on 17 carries, the tenth-worst rushing performance in franchise history. Lynch ended up with 9 carries for 16 yards, while Jackson managed just 15 yards on his 7 attempts.
• Neither quarterback had a particularly strong game. Favre finished 19-of-28 for 201 yards, no touchdowns, and Greer’s interception; Edwards completed 24 of 35 passes for 289 yards and a touchdown, but took five sacks and turned the ball over three times (two INTs and a fumble).
• With Lee Evans double-covered and Josh Reed out, Edwards was forced to look for different targets. Robert Royal led the team with 70 yards on five receptions, with Lynch (3 catches-52 yards) and Parrish (3-51) also contributing. Rookie Derek Fine made his first NFL catch a memorable one, hauling in a 9-yard touchdown pass on the Bills’ first possession.
• Thomas Jones ran for 69 yards and a touchdown on just 12 carries, a 5.8-yard average, and added another 38 on six receptions.
• The win pulled the Jets into a first-place tie with the Bills and Patriots at 5-3, with the Dolphins a game behind.

LAST TIME IN THE MEADOWLANDS: October 28, 2007 - Bills 13, Jets 3
Times Herald coverage:
POLLOCK: Has Losman recreated QB controversy?
Notebook: Edwards, now 3-1, gets credit for Bills’ win

Pinned inside his own 20 and with the Bills clinging to a 6-3 lead late in the fourth quarter, J.P Losman went for broke. Spotting Lee Evans streaking down the right sideline, Losman – in the game for the injured Trent Edwards – uncorked one of his patented deep balls.

“It seemed like it hung in the air forever,” Evans said. “I just tried to go up and make a play on it. It was a matter of who wanted to make the play the most.”

Jets rookie cornerback Darrelle Revis tried to fight Evans for the ball, managing to get his hands on it, but the Bills wide receiver won the battle. And when safety Abram Elam collided with Revis, knocking both defenders out of the play, Evans had clear sailing to the end zone for an 85-yard, game-clinching touchdown.

New York countered by bringing in Kellen Clemens off the bench to replace Chad Pennington; while he did manage to move the ball, he also threw two interceptions, the last on a Hail Mary to George Wilson as time expired.

NOTES:

• The 85-yard score marked the fifth-longest play in team history, and the longest since the club-record 95-yarder from Todd Collins to Quinn Early, Dec.1, 1996 in Indianapolis.
• The touchdown was the 25th of Evans’ career, moving him past Frank Lewis and into a tie with Pete Metzelaars and Peerless Price for sixth on the team’s all-time list. He’s currently alone in fifth with 32, with the late Bobby Chandler (34) next on the list.
• Second-year left tackle D’Brickashaw Ferguson had problems trying to stop Aaron Schobel all afternoon; the Bills defensive end finished the game with a sack and two forced fumbles, including one recovered by Chris Kelsay.
• The Bills improved to 8-1 under Dick Jauron when allowing fewer than 15 points. That record now stands at 12-3.

Miami Dolphins vs. Buffalo Bills Game Day Preview

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REGULAR-SEASON SERIES RECORD: Dolphins lead, 50-34-1.

PLAYOFF RECORD: Bills 4, Dolphins 1.

LAST MEETING: October 26, 2008 – Dolphins 25, Bills 16

Olean Times Herald coverage:
A dismal day for the Bills in Miami
POLLOCK: Buffalo’s ‘D’ had big part in this loss
Bills Notebook: A new deal for Jauron?
POLLOCK: For Bills, it was just one bad quarter

When Marshawn Lynch’s touchdown run put Buffalo up 16-7 on the opening drive of the third quarter, most Bills fans probably thought their team was well on the way to locking up its eighth victory in the last nine games against the hated Dolphins.

So much for that idea. The Bills never scored again, and Miami took advantage of four fourth-quarter turnovers – plus a safety on a sack/strip by Joey Porter – to cruise home with a nine-point win.

“Just watching the tape, it seemed like that once one thing went wrong, another thing went wrong, and it just kind of kept going and going,” Bills quarterback Trent Edwards said. “We never stopped the bleeding or could put some points on the board. We never could give our defense a rest and it was just one of those games where the floodgates just opened in the fourth quarter. I’ve been part of those games before in the past and it’s frustrating to come in the next day to watch the film and you just have to listen to your coaches and make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

The Dolphins took an early lead as Chad Pennington went after injured cornerback Terrence McGee on back-to-back plays, then finished the drive with a 2-yard touchdown pass to a wide-open Anthony Fasano. The Bills seemed poised to counter, but two first-half trips inside the Fins’ 20 – including a first-and-goal at the 5-yard line that bogged down at the 1 – produced just six points. A third Rian Lindell field goal on the last play of the half gave the visitors a slim 9-7 lead, but they headed into the locker room knowing they’d left some points on the field.

“It’s just all about everybody finishing,” tackle Jason Peters said. “If one player doesn’t block, the play’s not going to work. We just all have to get on the same level and finish our blocks and that’s the difference. If you don’t finish, you’re not getting in.”

Lynch left no doubt on his touchdown run, powering over left end for the 8-yard score to put the Bills up by nine. Pennington responded, once again targeting McGee on a 64-yard catch-and-run by Ted Ginn. The drive stalled, but rookie kicker Dan Carpenter’s field goal brought the Fins back within a touchdown. A quick Buffalo three-and-out set up Ricky Williams’ three-yard touchdown run to put the Fins ahead, and the Bills’ fourth-quarter ineptitude kept them there.

Edwards started handing out presents on the first snap of the final period, when cornerback Will Allen intercepted a pass meant for Lee Evans and returned it to the Buffalo 34. The Dolphins offense failed to move the ball, but Carpenter’s second field goal extended their lead to 20-16. The young Bills quarterback was equally generous on their next drive, extending the ball on a third-and-1 sneak at the Miami 31, only to have linebacker Joey Porter pull it out of his grasp.

“I can’t reach the ball like that,” Edwards said afterward. “I don’t have a ton of experience with QB sneaking like that. It didn’t really feel like we had gotten the first down and I was trying to get a little more of a push and felt I could reach it out a little bit. When I reached it out, they took it out of my hands. It’s a learning experience that won’t happen again.”

After a Miami punt pinned the Bills at their own 3, Porter beat Peters to the inside on a third-and-10 play, forcing another Edwards fumble. Center Duke Preston fell on the ball in the end zone to give up the safety; the ensuing drive ended with Carpenter’s third field goal, and Robert Royal fumbled away Buffalo’s last serious chance to score.

“We turned the ball over,” Peters said. “You can’t beat an NFL team turning the ball over four and five times. Every time we had a drive, we turned it over. We beat ourselves and the Dolphins capitalized on every time we turned the ball over and we left the game out there for them to get and they took it from us.”

NOTES:

• Pennington finished 22-of-30 passing for 314 yards and a touchdown, the first 300-yard passing game by a Bills opponent since Donovan McNabb’s 345-yard performance in the 2007 season finale.
• Ginn’s 175-yard day was the first, and to date only, 100-yard game of his career.
• The Bills defense kept the Miami rushing attack in check, holding Williams and Ronnie Brown to a combined 59 yards on 21 carries.
• Despite missing a few plays, Lynch managed 61 yards on just 13 carries; Fred Jackson chipped in another 40 on 10 attempts.
• Edwards completed 21-of-35 attempts for 227 yards, with two sacks (both by Porter), an interception, and two fumbles.
• Lee Evans caught seven passes for 116 yards, his third 100-yard game of the season, and extended his consecutive-game streak to 65. (That streak ended at 67 in the Monday Night game against Cleveland.)
• For Miami, the second-half comeback started a string of four straight wins before they crashed back to earth with a 48-28 loss to the Pats. They rebounded to eke out a 16-12 victory in St. Louis last week.
• The Bills went the opposite direction, losing the next three games and tumbling to the bottom of the AFC East, before a win against the woeful Chiefs stopped their skid.

LAST TIME IN BUFFALO: December 9, 2007 – Bills 38, Dolphins 17

Olean Times Herald postgame coverage:
Bills find a QB and two running backs
POLLOCK: Suddenly, Bills-Browns has meaning
Bills’ Notebook: Jauron gets 50th win; Lindell sets record

Through the years, Ralph Wilson Stadium has been notoriously unkind to young quarterbacks, and Dolphins second-round pick John Beck was no exception. He tripped on his first play from scrimmage, took three sacks on five dropbacks, lost a fumble that George Wilson returned for a Bills touchdown, and lasted just three Miami possessions before Dolphins head coach Cam Cameron mercifully pulled the plug and sent in Cleo Lemon. Beck hasn’t started a game for the Fins since that day, and with a new quarterback-of-the-future on the roster, he probably never will.

He wasn’t the only one having problems, though. First-round pick Ted Ginn jump-started the Bills offense by muffing a punt early in the game, turning the ball over at his own 28, and it took Trent Edwards just three plays to find Robert Royal for the first of four touchdown passes on the day. The two would hook up again a few minutes later, and by the time Wilson crossed the goal line to give Buffalo a 21-0 lead just 10:25 into the game, everyone in the stadium knew a beatdown was at hand.

Lemon had his own problems, fumbling four times (losing one) and throwing interceptions on back-to-back second-quarter drives. Buffalo added another score on Lee Evans’ highlight-film catch, and led 31-7 at the half. The Bills were in cruise control for most of the second half, with Edwards capping off his afternoon by hitting Evans for a 70-yard touchdown.

NOTES:

• Edwards finished the game 11-for-23 for 165 yards. The stats weren’t spectacular, but he managed the game well and never turned the ball over.
• Marshawn Lynch, injured late in the Week game in Miami, ran for 107 yards on 23 carries.
• Fred Jackson (15-115) also hit triple digits, marking the first time two Bills backs had accomplished that feat since Thurman Thomas and Darick Holmes combined to trample the Redskins for 229 yards in November 1996.
• Samkon Gado led Miami with 52 yards on 12 carries, and scored both Dolphins touchdowns.
• Buffalo improved to 7-6 with the win.
• Miami dropped to 0-13, but finally managed an overtime win against Baltimore the following week.

San Francisco 49ers vs. Buffalo Bills Game Day Preview

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REGULAR-SEASON SERIES RECORD: Bills 5, 49ers 4. The Bills are 2-1 at Rich/Ralph Wilson Stadium, with the only loss in 1983.

LAST MEETING: December 26, 2004 – Bills 41, 49ers 7

Olean Times Herald coverage:
POLLOCK: An interesting week ahead for the Bills

Staying on track for a potential playoff berth, the Bills rolled up a 41-0 lead on the hapless and helpless 49ers before Kevan Barlow scored a meaningless touchdown with 6:19 remaining to break the shutout.
San Fran quarterbacks Ken Dorsey and Cody Pickett were no match for the Buffalo defense, managing just 91 net passing yards, taking three sacks (including one which forced a fumble), and throwing three interceptions between them.

Meanwhile, with the game well in hand, Drew Bledsoe called it an afternoon early in the third quarter. Shane Matthews came in and threw a touchdown pass to Lee Evans – the rookie wideout’s second of the game – before giving way to J.P. Losman for the final few handoffs.

NOTES:

• Willis McGahee rolled up 102 yards and two touchdowns on just 15 carries, and Shaud Williams chipped in another 93 yards and a touchdown as the Bills’ running game trampled the overmatched Niners for 441 total yards ...
• The San Francisco defense never challenged Bledsoe, who finished 21-for-32 for 172 yards and a touchdown ...
• Evans totaled 92 yards on eight catches; Eric Moulds also had a good day, with eight receptions for 81 yards ...
• The Bills won their sixth straight game, and eighth in the last 10, to improve to 9-6. The victory set up a win-or-stay-home game against the Steelers in the final week of the season; unfortunately, we know how that turned out ...
• San Francisco dropped to 2-13, on their way to earning the No. 1 overall pick in the 2005 draft.

LAST TIME IN BUFFALO: October 4, 1998 – Bills 26, 49ers 21

As Wade Phillips began his second month as head coach with an 0-3 record, the Rob Johnson/Doug Flutie dispute was already beginning to rear its ugly head, the Bills spent the bye week stewing about their come-from-ahead loss to the Rams, and some writers were comparing their start to the 2-14 disaster in 1984. Four of the team’s veterans – Thurman Thomas, Bruce Smith, Henry Jones, and Andre Reed (who would miss this game with a dislocated shoulder) – decided the situation was serious enough to call a players-only meeting.

To add to their problems, the 49ers showed up in Orchard Park sporting a 3-0 record and the league’s top offense, led by superstars Steve Young and Jerry Rice and two-time 1,000-yard rusher Garrison Hearst. So when Thomas insisted the Bills would win this game, few people took him seriously.

So, naturally, the double-digit home underdogs jumped out to a 23-0 third-quarter lead on Antowain Smith’s 6-yard run, Johnson’s 5-yard pass to Quinn Early, and three Steve Christie field goals, then extended the margin to 26-8 before two late Young touchdown passes made the final score appear respectable. The team that talked about the importance of ball-control offense before the game dialed up a 50-yard bomb from Johnson to Eric Moulds on the first play from scrimmage. The base 4-3 defense they’d spent the offseason working on? Not this week. Switching back to the 3-4 appeared to confuse the 49ers, who were held to 65 yards on the ground – most of those on scrambles by Young – and counted six false starts among their franchise-record 22 penalties.

“A tremendous effort by the Bills defense,” the 49ers quarterback said after the game. “I thought they had some nice wrinkles and played a 3-4 defense all day. They beat us. They went out and beat us early, and made us make mistakes.”

And late in the game, when San Fran was trying to keep their comeback hopes alive with one last onside kick, who fell on the ball to secure a Buffalo win?

Future Hall of Famer Thurman Thomas, once more backing his words up with actions.

NOTES:

• Young finished the game 23-of-38 for 329 yards and three touchdowns, but most of the yardage and all of the scores came in the Niners’ unsuccessful fourth-quarter comeback. He led the team in rushing with 34 yards on five carries, but also gave the ball to the Bills twice with a fumble and an interception.
• The Bills throttled Hearst, who managed just 28 yards on 12 attempts and also lost a fumble.
• Rice, the other half of San Fran’s great QB-WR duo, was held to three catches for 54 yards.
• Johnson was coolly efficient in his first win as the Bills’ starting quarterback, completing 19 of 27 passes for 254 yards and a touchdown with no turnovers. Unfortunately for him, a rib injury early in the next game would sideline him for several weeks, and by the time he was read to come back, Flutie had taken a firm grasp on the starting job.
• 55 combined rushing and receiving yards gave Thomas 15,656 for his career, moving him into sixth place on the all-time yards-from-scrimmage leaderboard past Henry Ellard (15,603).
• The Bills, who improved to 1-3, would also win their next four games with Flutie at quarterback and finish the season 10-6. However, the infamous “Just give it to ‘em” loss in Foxboro dropped them into a tie with the Dolphins, who earned home-field advantage for the wild-card game via a six-point margin in “net division points,” and Buffalo’s postseason hopes would end with a 24-17 loss in Miami.

Buffalo Bills vs. Kansas City Chiefs Game Day Preview

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HISTORY

REGULAR-SEASON SERIES RECORD: Buffalo leads, 19-16-1. The Chiefs have had a distinct advantage at Arrowhead in recent years, going 5-1 in the last six games played there. The quarterback in the only Bills win? Rob Johnson, in 2000.

PLAYOFF RECORD: Buffalo leads, 2-1.

LAST MEETING: November 13, 2005 – Bills 14, Chiefs 3

Olean Times Herald postgame coverage:
Bills go back to the future
Green at a loss against Bills
Bills notebook: Villarrial, two others ejected in a ‘chippy’ finish
POLLOCK: The Bills’ QB dilemma solves itself
POLLOCK: Holcomb likely done after Losman’s rebirth

Down 3-0 in the second quarter, Bills quarterback Kelly Holcomb was knocked out of the game with a concussion on a sack/fumble by Kansas City defensive end Jared Allen. Enter once and future starting quarterback J.P. Losman. Pressed into service, Losman found Lee Evans on touchdown passes of 33 and 29 yards, and the Buffalo defense did the rest to send the Chiefs to their fifth straight loss in Rich/Ralph Wilson Stadium.

Larry Johnson managed to pad his stats, finishing with 132 yards on 27 carries, but the Bills made Trent Green’s life miserable with six sacks and three interceptions, and Kansas City never got past the Buffalo 14-yard line all afternoon.

NOTES:

• Terrence McGee, Angelo Crowell, and Rashad Baker took turns picking off Green; a fumble recovery by Jeff Posey on London Fletcher’s sack/strip accounted for the fourth Kansas City turnover.
• Losman completed 9-of-16 passes for 137 yards and the two touchdowns to Evans, was sacked just once, and didn’t turn the ball over.
• Willis McGahee had a quiet afternoon, finishing with 66 yards on 20 carries.
• The Bills fought back to 4-5 with the win, but would drop the next five games as the season spiraled to a dismal conclusion.

LAST TIME AT ARROWHEAD: October 26, 2003 – Chiefs 38, Bills 5
Olean Times Herald postgame coverage:
It’s another embarrassing road loss for the Bills
POLLOCK: At least kick teams played well for Bills
Notebook: Priest passes Christian in KC’s all-time TD list
POLLOCK: The Bills still have time to correct flaws

The infamous “Kansas City Massacre”, another in a string of prime-time flameouts by Buffalo. Believe it or not, the Bills were actually ahead early on; after forcing a three-and-out on Kansas City’s first possession, Pierson Prioleau blocked a punt through the end zone for a 2-0 lead. That lasted only slightly longer than Dante Hall’s 67-yard touchdown catch on the Chiefs’ next drive, though, and the rout was on. The halftime score was 28-5; after the first four Bills second-half possessions all ended in turnovers (two interceptions, a fourth-down sack, and a sack/fumble), Drew Bledsoe made way for Alex Van Pelt, who promptly threw two picks of his own.

NOTES:

• Buffalo turned the ball over seven times, the Chiefs none.
• Travis Henry’s performance was one of the few bright spots for Buffalo. Although most of his yards came in the second half, with the game out of reach, Henry finished with 124 yards on 22 carries for his second consecutive 100-yard game.
• Priest Holmes made the most of just 15 carries, piling up 83 yards and three touchdowns.
• The Bills special teams kept Hall in check, but the defense didn’t fare nearly as well. The diminutive receiver ended up with 107 yards on four catches, marking just the second 100-yard game of his four-year career.
• The Chiefs improved to 8-0 with the victory. They’d finish the season 13-3, earning a first-round bye, but would lose a 38-31 shootout to the Colts in their divisional playoff game.
• Buffalo dropped to 4-4 heading into their bye week, and would win just twice more that season, head coach Gregg Williams’ last in Buffalo.

Cleveland Browns vs. Buffalo Bills Game Day Preview

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HISTORY

REGULAR-SEASON SERIES RECORD: Browns 8, Bills 5. Cleveland holds a 3-2 advantage in Rich/Ralph Wilson Stadium, but hasn’t won here since December 1986.

PLAYOFF RECORD: Browns 1, Bills 0. Thanks, Ronnie Harmon ...

LAST MEETING: December 16, 2007 – Browns 8, Bills 0

Olean Times Herald coverage:
Bills snowed over in Cleveland
POLLOCK: Playoff hopes slip away for Bills
Notebook: Shutout loss first for Bills since 2003
POLLOCK: Leftover thoughts on Bills-Browns

Already facing an uphill fight to sneak into a wild-card spot, the Bills learned a painful lesson amidst the howling winds and swirling snow inside Cleveland Browns Stadium: When the field conditions are better suited for snowshoes than football cleats, small-but-quick players are just ... small.

While the Buffalo receivers slipped and slid into their cuts, the sturdy Browns trio of Braylon Edwards, Joe Jurevicius, and Kellen Winslow merely found open spots and waited for quarterback Derek Anderson to locate them. Meanwhile, Jamal Lewis plowed through the undersized Bills front seven for 163 yards on 33 carries, helping to control the clock and setting up two Phil Dawson field goals. Combined with a safety on a bad punt snap, Dawson’s kicks would give the Browns all the points they needed, as Buffalo was shut out for the first time since 2003.

A fortuitous bounce aided Cleveland’s first scoring drive, when Anderson’s pass deflected off Edwards ... but straight to Jurevicius. The veteran wideout’s heads-up play was good for a 25-yard gain, putting the ball at the Buffalo 30. The Browns managed one more first down on a swing pass to Lewis, but slid to a stop at the Buffalo 17, and Dawson’s wind-adjusted hook shot gave them a 3-0 lead.

It looked like the Bills were ready to answer on their next drive, with Marshawn Lynch breaking loose for a 29-yard gain down to the Cleveland 22. But on fourth-and-12 at the 24, the Bills decided going for it was a safer bet than a field goal attempt, and an incomplete pass turned the ball over on downs. They wouldn’t see the far side of the Browns’ 30-yard line again until less than a minute remained in the game.

As the second quarter began, the Bills were buried deep in their own end of the field, and Ryan Neill added to their misery when his punt snap sailed high over Brian Moorman’s head. The quick-thinking Moorman managed to catch up to the ball and boot it out the back of the end zone, costing Buffalo two points, but perhaps saving a touchdown. The Browns took over at midfield after the free kick and drove back to the 20, but also decided against a field goal and failed on their own fourth-down attempt. Just before halftime, Dawson somehow managed to slide a 49-yard kick between the uprights – caroming off the stanchion on the way through – and both teams headed for the locker room to thaw out, with the Browns holding an 8-0 advantage.

Reminiscing about the game earlier this week, Dawson confessed, “I don’t know how it could have gotten much more difficult then it was. Snow everywhere, not only coming down but already on the ground. You couldn’t see the field. The wind was just ridiculous. It was cold, it wasn’t quite as cold as some of the other ones we have had here, but when you mix all that together it was a pretty brutal day.”

The field was even more treacherous after halftime; anything but the shortest pass became almost impossible to complete, and the game devolved into a punting duel between Moorman and the Browns’ Dave Zastudil. The Bills had one final shot to tie the game late in the fourth quarter, taking over at their own 30 just after the two-minute warning. But facing fourth-and-ballgame at the Cleveland 10 with 0:15 remaining, Trent Edwards’ dump-off to Fred Jackson was stuffed for no gain. One kneeldown by Anderson, and the Browns escaped with a badly-needed win.

And in a fitting end to a forgettable day, the Bills’ team plane got stuck in the snow, stranding them in Cleveland overnight before they could catch a bus back to Buffalo.

NOTES:

• Really, how horrendous was the weather? Here’s how veteran beat writer Chuck Pollock saw it in the second column linked above: “… In 35 years of covering the Bills, Sunday’s game was the worst playing conditions I remember for a combination of wind and precipitation.”
• Remarkably, the teams combined for no touchdowns and no turnovers, just the third time in NFL history that’s happened. The Bills were also involved in one of the other games, a 9-6 win over the Colts in 1997 ...
• The win was the first for Cleveland in the series since the 1990 wild-card playoff game ...
• Neither Anderson (9-of-24, 137 yards) nor Edwards (13-of-33, 124 yards) had much luck throwing the ball in the inclement weather ...
• With 82 yards on 21 carries, Marshawn Lynch passed Thurman Thomas (881) for the fourth-best season by a rookie Bills running back. He would finish the year with 1,115 yards, coming up just shy of Joe Cribbs’ team rookie rushing record (1,185 in 1980).
• The shutout snapped Rian Lindell’s scoring streak at 52 games, the fourth-longest stretch in team history. Scott Norwood (92 games, 1986-91) still holds the franchise record ...
• Cleveland improved to 9-5, while the Bills fell to 7-7 – and with various tiebreakers against them, officially out of the playoff race.

LAST TIME IN BUFFALO: December 12, 2004 – Bills 37, Browns 7

Olean Times Herald coverage:
Buffalo’s defense crushes Cleveland
Browns’ Robiskie: ‘It was men against boys’
POLLOCK: Vincent’s return fuels a record-setting day for ‘D’

The Browns, spiraling downward to their second straight double-digit-loss season, were historically bad on a snowy, blustery afternoon in Orchard Park. How bad, you ask? Start with a franchise-low 26 yards of total offense – and that number was actually an improvement over the original postgame statistics, which credited them with just 17. Yeah, that bad.

Jeff Garcia and Kelly Holcomb were both injured, giving rookie quarterback Luke McCown his second NFL start. McCown was a sitting duck behind a poor offensive line; he faced heavy pressure all day, threw two interceptions, and lost more yardage on seven sacks (74) than he gained passing (62). After being flattened by 350-pound Sam Adams on one play, “I went to bed last night just hoping I’d wake up this morning,” McCown said the next day.

“Luke got a bitter taste of the NFL,” Holcomb said of the Buffalo defense. “Those guys are like piranhas. When blood’s in the water, they go after it. They brought a lot of stuff ... a lot of new stuff. They blitzed a lot of guys. I guess that’s why we had ... how many yards did we have ... 17?”

Despite their ineptitude on offense, the Browns actually led 7-3 at the end of the first quarter. Linebacker Barry Gardner recovered Nate Clements’ fumbled punt return at the Buffalo 18; four plays later – following an offsides penalty on Aaron Schobel that negated Terrence McGee’s interception in the end zone – McCown found receiver Dennis Northcutt for Cleveland’s only score. They got another chance shortly thereafter when Drew Bledsoe and Willis McGahee couldn’t connect on a handoff, but Phil Dawson pushed a 45-yard field goal attempt wide right, and the Cleveland offense never crossed the Buffalo 40 the rest of the afternoon.

Meanwhile, the Bills – who seemed determined to match their visitors turnover-for-turnover in the early going – finally started to thaw out. Clements atoned for his earlier mistake, recovering a William Green fumble at the Cleveland 23, and Drew Bledsoe quickly hit Lee Evans for a 7-yard score. Willis McGahee added a 13-yard touchdown run on the next possession to send Buffalo into the locker room with a 17-7 halftime lead.

Rian Lindell’s second field goal provided the only points in the third quarter. That changed quickly in the fourth, though, as Schobel sacked Garcia – in for the shaken-up McCown – and forced a fumble recovered by Chris Kelsay at the Cleveland 6-yard line. McGahee bulled into the end zone on the next play, and the rout was on. Another three-and-out set up Lindell’s last three-pointer, and Shaud Williams led the second-stringers to the final score of the game, carrying nine times for 39 yards and a touchdown on the drive.

“I have to be honest,” interim Cleveland head coach Terry Robiskie said at his postgame press conference. “I think there was a point in time… it was men against boys.”

NOTES:

• The Browns finished the game with -3 net passing yards ...
• The Buffalo running game provided the bulk of the offense, pounding the Browns defense for 215 yards. Willis McGahee led the team with 105 yards on 27 carries, Williams chipped in with 42 more on 10 attempts, and Lee Evans added 48 on a reverse ...
• Bledsoe didn’t have much success in the passing game, completing 12 of 27 attempts for 100 yards, 1 TD, and 1 INT ...
• McCown was a dreadful 8-of-20 for 62 yards, with 1 TD and 2 INTs; Garcia completed his only attempt for a five-yard gain ...
• Other than his costly fumble, William Green was invisible, managing just five yards on 11 carries ...
• Rookie offensive lineman Kirk Chambers saw his first NFL action at tackle for the visitors, getting into the game for a few plays in the third quarter ...
• Cleveland fell to 3-10 in Robiskie’s second game as interim head coach; he inherited the job when Butch Davis walked out on the team. The Bills improved to 7-6 with the win, keeping their late-season playoff surge alive.

Buffalo Bills vs. New England Patriots Game Day Preview

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HISTORY

REGULAR-SEASON SERIES RECORD: Patriots lead, 54-40-1.

PLAYOFF RECORD: The teams have only met once in the postseason, with Boston taking the 1963 AFL Eastern Division tiebreaker 26-8 in the snow at the Rockpile. With the win, the Pats earned the right to visit San Diego for the AFC Championship game, where they were mauled 51-10 by the Chargers.

LAST MEETING: November 18, 2007 – Patriots 56, Bills 10

Olean Times Herald postgame coverage:
Brady, Moss and undefeated Patriots rout Bills
Bills Notebook: Patriots’ 56 points most against Bills at home
POLLOCK:  How will the befuddled Bills respond?

With the undefeated Patriots juggernaut rolling into town to face a suddenly resurgent Buffalo squad on a four-game winning streak of its own, few were surprised when the NFL and NBC dumped an unattractive Bears-Seahawks game to reroute the Maddencruiser to Orchard Park for a Sunday Night Football prime-time matchup. Question was, would this be “Must-See TV,” or would viewers be changing the channel early in yet another New England blowout?

If they’d only known ...

After Laurence Maroney’s 6-yard run and a 43-yard pass from Tom Brady to Randy Moss gave the Patriots a quick 14-0 first-quarter lead, J.P. Losman responded by looking deep to Roscoe Parrish. As Pats cornerback Ellis Hobbs slipped while trying to adjust to the ball, Parrish made the catch and glided into the end zone, the 47-yard touchdown catch giving the Ralph Wilson Stadium crowd a glimmer of hope that their team might be able to make a game of it. But as the numbers continued to change on the visitors’ side of the scoreboard while the Bills couldn’t find their way back across the midfield stripe, it quickly became obvious that there would be no “fantastic finish” on this night. Brady connected with Moss for three more touchdowns before the first half ended, and with the score 35-7 at the break, some of the writers in the press box were already wrapping up their game stories.

The onslaught continued in the third quarter. Brady added his fifth touchdown pass of the night, on a fourth-and-1 throw to tight end Ben Watson that brought more than a few catcalls from Bills fans annoyed at the mounting score. Those fans weren’t much happier with their own team when Dick Jauron decided to send out Rian Lindell for a 52-yard field goal attempt while trailing 42-7. Up in the broadcast booth, John Madden tried to rationalize the move, saying, “Maybe Dick Jauron thinks a field goal would be a positive thing.” He didn’t sound convinced.

The Patriots converted another short fourth-down play at the Bills’ 10 late in the quarter, leading to a louder murmur from the few well-chilled diehards still left in the stands, while Madden and Al Michaels debated whether or not kicking the field goal would have been more insulting than going for it against a thoroughly demoralized Bills defense.

Kyle Eckel’s 1-yard run on the first play of the final period increased New England’s lead to 49-10. Less than a minute later, Patriots safety James Sanders punched the ball out of Dwayne Wright’s grasp, with Ellis Hobbs catching it on the fly and running it back 35 yards to make the score 56-10 – marking the worst loss in Bills history – and Madden was reduced to musing, “When it rains, it pours.”

Hey, at least it wasn’t a snow joke.

NOTES: With Marshawn Lynch (ankle) sitting out this game, Anthony Thomas got the start and rushed for 31 yards on 11 carries, tying him with Losman (4-31) for the team lead ... Losman had a rough day passing, completing 15 of 26 attempts for 173 yards. He threw one interception in addition to the touchdown pass to Parrish, and was sacked four times ... Brady was an off-the-charts 31-for-39 for 373 yards and 5 touchdowns, good for a 146.1 passer rating. That is not a misprint. As previously noted, four of those touchdowns went to Randy Moss, who finished with 10 catches for 128 yards ... New England controlled the ball and the clock, running 70 plays to the Bills’ 36 ... The Bills dropped to 5-5, but maintained their hold on second place in the division ahead of the thoroughly awful Jets and Dolphins ... The Patriots improved to 10-0, moving closer to clinching the AFC East before Thanksgiving, on their way to the first 16-0 regular season in NFL history. (Of course, we all know how that ended.)

LAST TIME IN FOXBOROUGH: September 23, 2007 – Patriots 38, Bills 7

Olean Times Herald postgame coverage:
Patriots bury banged-up Bills
POLLOCK: Edwards gets the call quicker than expected
POLLOCK: Losman’s injury an opportunity

After two underwhelming performances by the offense to open the season, co-captains J.P. Losman and Lee Evans started grumbling about conservative playcalling. Supposedly, the coaches decided to go ahead and open up the gameplan against New England. We’ll never know if it would have worked, though, because that script lasted approximately ten seconds into the game ... or roughly the amount of time it took for defensive tackle Vince Wilfork’s elbow to wipe out Losman’s knee on the first play from scrimmage. (Wilfork was penalized, and subsequently fined. He spent most of the past year protesting his innocence, before finally admitting to Roger Goodell that the hit was dirty.) Bothered by the injury, Losman failed to evade Ellis Hobbs’ corner blitz two plays later, resulting in a sack/fumble that set up the Pats at the Bills 35 for a short field goal drive and brought third-round pick Trent Edwards onto the field for his NFL debut at quarterback.

The rookie didn’t show any sign of nerves on his opening drive, completing four of five passes before Marshawn Lynch’s eight-yard touchdown run put New England behind for the first time all season. John McCargo’s strip/fumble recovery on Tom Brady’s dive to the Buffalo 1 kept the score 7-3 well into the second quarter, but the offense couldn’t gain an inch from there, as momentum continued to shift toward the hometown team. Wes Welker brought Brian Moorman’s punt back across midfield, and Brady was in business. With Paul Posluszny in the locker room, lost for the season with a broken forearm, Sammy Morris gouged the Bills defense on the ensuing drive before Brady connected with Ben Watson for an eight-yard score. Following another Moorman punt, Brady found Randy Moss for his second touchdown pass of the day, and a 17-7 lead at the break.

Buffalo began the second half with two more three-and-outs, the Patriots scored on each ensuing possession, and the rout was on. Brady finished his afternoon with a perfect strike that Moss snared over Jabari Greer’s outstretched fingertips at the Buffalo 9-yard line, then took the rest of the way for a 45-yard touchdown to make the score 37-7 early in the fourth quarter. Stephen Gostkowski added the extra point, backup quarterback Matt Cassel began to warm up, and the tailgaters got an early start on their postgame revelry.

NOTES: The Pats moved to 3-0, while the Bills dropped to 0-3… Edwards finished the game with 10 completions in 20 attempts for 97 yards and an interception… Lynch ran for 74 tough yards on 20 carries and scored his – and the offense’s – second touchdown of the year… When Aaron Schobel and John DiGiorgio combined to sack Brady in the third quarter, Schobel tied Phil Hansen (61.5) for second place in the team record book. Schobel is now alone in second with 67 takedowns, well behind franchise record holder Bruce Smith’s 171. Eleven of those sacks have come against Brady, more than any other quarterback… With two catches for 23 yards, Peerless Price extended his consecutive-game reception streak in a Bills uniform to 74. (The streak appears to be done at 75, second to Eric Moulds’ 121.) Lee Evans is quickly rising up the list with an active 66-game streak of his own.

New York Jets vs. Buffalo Bills Game Day Preview

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HISTORY

REGULAR-SEASON SERIES RECORD: Bills lead 52-42, have beaten the Jets more than any other opponent, and currently own a three-game winning streak in the series.

PLAYOFF RECORD: Bills 1, Jets 0.

LAST MEETING: October 28, 2007 - Bills 13, Jets 3
Times Herald coverage:
POLLOCK: Has Losman recreated QB controversy?
Notebook: Edwards, now 3-1, gets credit for Bills’ win

Pinned inside his own 20 and with the Bills clinging to a 6-3 lead late in the fourth quarter, J.P Losman went for broke. Spotting Lee Evans streaking down the right sideline, Losman – in the game for the injured Trent Edwards – uncorked one of his patented deep balls.

“It seemed like it hung in the air forever,” Evans said. “I just tried to go up and make a play on it. It was a matter of who wanted to make the play the most.”

Jets rookie cornerback Darrelle Revis tried to fight Evans for the ball, managing to get his hands on it, but the Bills wide receiver won the battle. And when safety Abram Elam collided with Revis, knocking both defenders out of the play, Evans had clear sailing to the end zone for an 85-yard, game-clinching touchdown.
New York countered by bringing in Kellen Clemens off the bench to replace Chad Pennington; while he did manage to move the ball, he also threw two interceptions, the last on a Hail Mary to George Wilson as time expired.

LAST TIME IN BUFFALO: September 30, 2007 – Bills 17, Jets 14
Times Herald coverage:
Pennington, Jets ‘picked off’ again
Edwards’ inspirational play leads Bills
Notebook: Edwards forever linked with Lamonica
POLLOCK: Edwards makes a strong case as Bills’ quarterback

Led by a defense that held Thomas Jones to a season-low 35 yards and intercepted Chad Pennington twice in the fourth quarter, the Bills finally managed to hold on at the end of a game to record their first victory of the season.

Neither team could muster much offense in the first half. Shaun Ellis’ sack of first-time starter Trent Edwards knocked the Bills out of field goal range in their deepest drive, and the Jets never got inside the Buffalo 35-yard line until a last-second pass to Laveranues Coles set up Mike Nugent for a 37-yard attempt on the final play. Nugent bounced it off the right upright, though, and the teams left the field locked in a scoreless tie.

The Jets got the ball first after the break, but Mario Haggan’s third-and-short stuff of Jones brought on the punting team yet again. Starting at their own 44, the Buffalo offense finally began to show signs of life. A few short passes mixed in with a heavy dose of Marshawn Lynch got them to first-and-goal, and two more handoffs to Marshawn put the ball into the end zone for the game’s first score.

Pennington quickly matched Buffalo’s success with an efficient drive of his own, hitting Coles for the game-tying touchdown. Rian Lindell’s 46-yard field goal made it 10-7, and two plays later, Jabari Greer stepped in front of a Pennington pass to give the Bills great field position at the New York 25. Lynch was stopped on third-and-goal from the one; Dick Jauron, mistakenly believing the ball was on the two, sent out the field goal team. He reconsidered that decision during a timeout, though, and was rewarded with Edwards’ strike to backup tight end Michael Gaines to extend the lead to 17-7.

Pennington again responded, completing five of eight passes in a drive capped off by Leon Washington’s eight-yard touchdown run to pull back to within three. The defense forced another Buffalo three-and-out just inside the two-minute warning, giving Pennington one last shot. But as they were nearing field goal range, with time running out, he lofted an ill-advised, poorly-thrown pass that Terrence McGee easily caught along the sideline to end the final threat.

Buffalo Bills vs. Miami Dolphins Game Day Preview

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HISTORY

REGULAR-SEASON SERIES RECORD: Thanks in large part to that 20-game winning streak in the 1970s, the Dolphins lead, 49-34-1. Buffalo is 14-27-1 overall in Miami, but 12-9 in Joe Robbie/Pro Player/Dolphin Stadium. The Bills have won the last two games played there, and three of the last four.

PLAYOFF RECORD: Bills 4, Dolphins 1.

LAST MEETING: December 9, 2007 – Bills 38, Dolphins 17

Olean Times Herald postgame coverage:
Bills find a QB and two running backs
POLLOCK: Suddenly, Bills-Browns has meaning
Bills’ Notebook: Jauron gets 50th win; Lindell sets record

Through the years, Ralph Wilson Stadium has been notoriously unkind to young quarterbacks, and Dolphins second-round pick John Beck was no exception. He tripped on his first play from scrimmage, took three sacks on five dropbacks, lost a fumble that George Wilson returned for a Bills touchdown, and lasted just three Miami possessions before Dolphins head coach Cam Cameron mercifully pulled the plug and sent in Cleo Lemon. Beck hasn’t started a game for the Fins since that day, and with a new quarterback-of-the-future on the roster, he probably never will.

He wasn’t the only one having problems, though. First-round pick Ted Ginn jump-started the Bills offense by muffing a punt early in the game, turning the ball over at his own 28, and it took Trent Edwards just three plays to find Robert Royal for the first of four touchdown passes on the day. The two would hook up again a few minutes later, and by the time Wilson crossed the goal line to give Buffalo a 21-0 lead just 10:25 into the game, everyone in the stadium knew a beatdown was at hand.

Lemon had his own problems, fumbling four times (losing one) and throwing interceptions on back-to-back second-quarter drives. Buffalo added another score on Lee Evans’ highlight-film catch, and led 31-7 at the half. The Bills were in cruise control for most of the second half, with Edwards capping off his afternoon by hitting Evans for a 70-yard touchdown.

NOTES: Edwards finished the game 11-for-23 for 165 yards; not spectaular numbers, but he managed the game well and never turned the ball over ... Marshawn Lynch, who missed the game in Miami, introduced himself to the Dolphins defense with 23 carries for 107 yards ... Fred Jackson (15-115) also hit triple digits, marking the first time two Bills backs had accomplished that feat since Thurman Thomas and Darick Holmes did it in 1996 ... Waiver-wire pickup Samkon Gado led Miami with 52 yards on 12 carries and scored both their touchdowns ... Buffalo improved to 7-6 with the win, while Miami dropped to 0-13, keeping Bills fans’ hopes alive for an 0-16 season. Alas, they managed to sneak past a bad Ravens team in overtime the following week.

LAST TIME IN MIAMI: November 11, 2007 – Bills 13, Dolphins 10
Olean Times Herald postgame coverage:
A gritty win for the Bills
POLLOCK: Ugly or not, Bills found a way to win

For most of the afternoon, the Bills offense was just that: offensive. But with the game on the line, they managed to put together two fourth-quarter scoring drives to eke out a hard-fought win and keep Miami 0-for-2007.

The home team grabbed a quick 3-0 lead on the opening possession; the score stayed that way until after halftime, with cornerback Will Allen intercepting a deep pass intended for Evans to end Buffalo’s only scoring threat. Momentum seemed to shift early in the third quarter, when Justin Jenkins and John Wendling combined to down Brian Moorman’s punt at the Miami 2; three plays later, Chris Kelsay broke through the line and stuffed Cleo Lemon for a safety to bring the Bills to within a point. The offense turned in yet another three-and-out following the free kick, though, and Lemon redeemed himself, capping off a grinding 18-play series by outrunning Aaron Schobel to the pylon on the last play of the quarter.

Knowing they needed a touchdown of their own, J. P. Losman – a dreadful 6-16 up to that point – led an efficient drive, completing all four of his passes and converting a fourth-down quarterback sneak before handing off to Marshawn Lynch for the final three yards. Lynch then twisted and spun his way across the goal line on the two-point conversion to tie the game at 10.

“He just gets better all the time, and he’s awfully good,” said coach Dick Jauron of his rookie running back. “He’s very talented. He’s a tremendously competitive guy, and, obviously, he has unique gifts. He’s been gifted, but he uses them. He doesn’t shirk. He doesn’t shirk on practice, and he definitely doesn’t shirk on game day. Anything you ask him to do, he’ll try.”

The defense – already gashed by Jesse Chatman for over 100 yards – held this time, forcing a punt from midfield. The Dolphins could have kicked away from Roscoe Parrish, but chose not to. Big mistake.

“We talked about it, but the one thing we felt we could do, we could hang it up and get it down inside the 10, and that really puts them in a bind,” Dolphins coach Cam Cameron said afterward.  “We didn’t get the coverage we needed, and obviously, it didn’t work out.”

Obviously.

Parrish caught the ball at the 10 and sprinted to midfield, setting the offense up nicely for a short drive into field goal range. Lynch converted two more third downs along the way before an ankle injury knocked him out of the game; Losman’s final pass, a nine-yard completion to Michael Gaines, brought in Rian Lindell for a 34-yard attempt. The kick was true with 0:50 remaining to put Buffalo in the lead for the first time, but a short kickoff gave Miami the ball at their own 45. This time, the Bills defense was up to the challenge. Following a short gain on first down, three straight Lemon incompletions brought Losman back out to run the final 19 seconds off the clock.

NOTES: Losman finished the game just 12-for-23 for 157 yards and an interception; Lemon wasn’t much better, completing 16 of 29 passes for 131 yards… Chatman racked up a career-high 124 yards on 27 carries, for a 4.6-yard average, and led the team with five catches for another 25 yards… Lynch gained 61 tough yards on 19 attempts, and added 24 yards on three receptions… The Bills improved to 5-4 with the win, while Miami dropped to 0-9.

San Diego Chargers vs. Buffalo Bills Game Day Preview

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REGULAR-SEASON SERIES RECORD: Chargers lead, 20-9-2, and have won the last two games in the series. They’re just 3-2 at Rich/Ralph Wilson Stadium, though, and two of those wins were over the horrid 1976 and 1985 Bills squads.

PLAYOFF RECORD: Bills 2, Chargers 1. As noted in KRC’s Historical Game of the Week, Buffalo defeated San Diego to win both of their AFL championships.

LAST MEETING: December 3, 2006 – Chargers 24, Bills 21
Stadium Wall preview
Olean Times Herald: Chargers put the squeeze on Bills

On a chilly, snowy afternoon at Ralph Wilson Stadium, the Bills knew that to slow down the league’s top-scoring team, they had to contain San Diego’s perennial Pro Bowl running back, LaDainian Tomlinson.

Easier said than done. Tomlinson ran over, around, and through the Buffalo defense for 178 yards and two touchdowns on 28 carries, including a 51-yard burst to give the Chargers a 10-0 first-quarter lead. Philip Rivers would extend that margin to 17-0 just before halftime, finding Antonio Gates in the back of the end zone with 0:24 left on the clock.

The young Chargers quarterback let the Bills back into the game on San Diego’s first possession of the third quarter, fumbling while dropping back to pass at his own 19. Chris Kelsay fell on the loose ball, and J.P. Losman hooked up with Robert Royal for a short touchdown to finally put some points on the board. The suddenly fired-up defense followed the score by forcing just their second three-and-out of the game, and when Jim Leonhard found a seam and returned Mike Scifres’ punt 32 yards to the Chargers 13, the Bills were in business. Willis McGahee bulled into the end zone from two yards out to cut the margin to a manageable 17-14 after three periods.

San Diego reasserted their control in the fourth quarter, mixing runs with short completions to burn eight minutes off the clock on a 13-play, 80-yard drive; when Tomlinson crossed the goal line to give the Chargers a 10-point lead, just 3:31 remained in the game. Losman marched the offense back down the field, getting a second chance when safety Clinton Hart fumbled an interception back to the Bills, and tossed a 6-yard touchdown pass to Peerless Price with 0:36 on the clock. Buffalo recovered the ensuing onside kick, but their chance to steal a victory slipped away when referee Ed Hochuli ruled that Sam Aiken had touched the ball before it traveled the full ten yards.

NOTES: Shawne Merriman celebrated his return from a four-game steroid suspension by creating havoc in the Bills backfield, sacking Losman twice and forcing two fumbles ... The Chargers defense kept McGahee in check; the Bills back managed just 26 yards on 16 carries ... Neither quarterback had a spectacular game, with Rivers completing 17 of 29 passes for 160 yards while Losman finished 21-of-37 for 184 yards, two touchdowns, and two picks ... Angelo Crowell fractured his lower leg in this game; the linebacker was immediately placed on IR, missing the last four weeks of the season ... The Bills failed to sell out before the television deadline for the second week in a row, marking the team’s first back-to-back blackouts since 1998 ... The Chargers improved to 10-2 – the first time in 45 years they’d started with such a lofty record – and would run the table, entering the playoffs as the AFC’s top seed. They didn’t stay long, though, as they lost their playoff opener to the Patriots (and Marty Schottenheimer lost his job shortly thereafter) ... Buffalo dropped to 5-7, but rebounded to win their next two games and finish Dick Jauron’s first season as Bills head coach at 7-9.

Buffalo Bills vs. Arizona Cardinals Game Day Preview

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REGULAR-SEASON SERIES RECORD: Bills lead, 5-3, including a win in their only previous trip to Arizona. The last time the Cards won a game against the Bills? 1984, in St. Louis.

LAST MEETING: October 31, 2004 – Bills 38, Cardinals 14

The “Hawk” was aloft in Ralph Wilson Stadium, with the scoreboard-to-tunnel jetstream in full force on a misty, blustery Halloween afternoon, and Josh McCown had no clue how to deal with the less-than-ideal conditions ... or the Buffalo defense. The Cardinals coaching staff tried to protect their young quarterback, but didn’t have much luck: his first-half stats included five completions for 37 yards, three sacks, several other quarterback pressures, and a roughing-the-passer penalty against Sam Adams. By halftime, McCown had to be wondering if there was an easier way to make a living.

Even their only scoring drive needed help, as a Troy Hambrick fumble (forced by Lawyer Milloy, recovered by Ryan Denney) was negated by Aaron Schobel’s offsides penalty four plays before Obafemi Ayanbadejo’s 4-yard touchdown run brought the Cards within 10-7 midway through the second quarter.

That glimmer of hope lasted a mere 13 seconds, or the amount of time it took Terrence McGee to run back the ensuing kickoff for an 87-yard touchdown. With their 10-point lead restored, a 30-mph wind in their face, and Drew Bledsoe also struggling with the inclement weather, the Bills were content to hand off to Willis McGahee and let Brian Moorman punt them out of danger for the remainder of the half.

The third quarter was a battle of field position, and even though they had the wind at their back, Arizona’s special teams couldn’t match Buffalo’s. Late in the quarter, Nate Clements ripped off a 34-yard punt return to set up the offense at the Arizona 19, and they only needed four plays to find the end zone for a 24-7 lead as the final quarter began.

Clements struck again after a Cardinals three-and-out, this time taking a bad Scott Player punt back 40 yards to the Arizona 22. A facemask penalty took the ball half the distance to the goal line, and the Bills offense did the rest. McGahee’s second scoring run was nullified by a holding penalty on Tim Euhus, but the rookie tight end redeemed himself with a 12-yard touchdown catch on the next play.

With the Cards offense still stuck in reverse, Player was called on to punt from his own end zone. This kick was even worse than the last one; even without another long return from Clements, the Bills offense took over at the 30. McGahee pounded over right guard to put his second touchdown back on the stat sheet, and with seven minutes remaining, the first-team offense retired to the sideline with a 38-7 lead. Arizona did manage a late score to make the final margin look a bit more respectable, but by the time Bryant Johnson pulled in McCown’s last pass, the outcome was long since decided.

NOTES: McGahee finished the game with more yards rushing (102) than Josh McCown had passing (101). Bledsoe wasn’t any better, completing 8 of 17 attempts for 81 yards ... Player was simply awful in the Ralph Wilson Stadium wind tunnel, averaging just 36.6 yards on 10 kicks, while Moorman managed 44.1 on his seven attempts ... The Bills defense held Emmitt Smith to 64 yards on 22 carries ... Star rookie wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald dropped two passes and didn’t register a catch for the only time in his career ... The Bills and Cards left the game with identical 2-5 records.

LAST TIME IN ARIZONA: December 19, 1999 – Bills 31, Cardinals 21

In their only previous trip to the Valley of the Sun, the Bills jumped out to a quick two-touchdown lead in a nationally-televised Sunday night game, but Arizona tied the score at 14 just before halftime. A Steve Christie field goal put Buffalo back in front, but clinging to that slim three-point margin late in the fourth quarter, they needed Doug Flutie’s touchdown pass to Jay Riemersma with 3:01 remaining to finally put away the pesky Cardinals.

“I was honing in on him,” Flutie said of Riemersma’s leaping catch in the back of the end zone. “I was putting the ball in a spot where only he could get to it, trying to be real careful with the ball. I put it in a good spot, and he got it. He’s got just a feel that you can’t coach.”

“I think Doug has a lot of confidence in me, and he knows where I’m going to be on certain routes,” Riemersma said. “That’s kind of the relationship we’ve developed, and the chemistry we have.”

Jake Plummer quickly took Arizona down the field, tossing a 26-yard touchdown pass to Rob Moore just after the two-minute warning, but Henry Jones alertly pounced on the ensuing onside kick and sprinted 37 yards to the end zone to apply the final touches on the Bills’ 31-21 win.

“I didn’t want to give Jake the Snake the ball back with timeouts left and time on the clock and his play-making ability,” Jones said. “I was really keyed in trying to get the ball. The ball took a great bounce, and when I saw it take that big hop I knew I could attack it. I don’t know if I saw a little gap out of the corner of my eye, but when it came down, no one was around so I took off with it.”

NOTES: The win by Buffalo officially eliminated division rivals New York and New England from the playoffs ... To counter an aggressive blitz package by Arizona defensive coordinator Dave McGinnis, the Bills pounded the ball in the second half, rushing for 105 of their 159 yards ... Flutie had a decent game, completing 21-of-32 passes for 239 yards and two touchdowns, but also threw two interceptions deep in Cardinals territory to keep the Bills from extending their lead ... The Buffalo defense stifled Arizona for most of the evening, holding them to 70 yards rushing and sacking Plummer twice (one each by Phil Hansen and Marcellus Wiley). “Jake the Snake” had a rough outing, finishing the game 11-of-29 for just 119 yards and tossing a pick to Donovan Greer.

Buffalo Bills vs. St. Louis Rams Game Day Preview

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REGULAR-SEASON SERIES RECORD: Bills lead, 5-4, including a win in their only visit to Saint Louis since the Rams moved there in 1995.

LAST MEETING: November 21, 2004 – Bills 37, Rams 17

On an unseasonably warm, 50-degree day, the Bills gave the Ralph Wilson Stadium crowd a different reason to talk about April. Make that Bobby April, who Mike Mularkey had hired as his special-teams coordinator after Rams head coach Mike Martz fired him at the end of the 2003 season. As it turns out, Martz just might have made a mistake with that move.

After St. Louis jumped out to an early 10-0 lead, Buffalo fought back with two Mark Campbell touchdown catches and Rian Lindell’s short field goal to tie the game at 17 just before the half.

The first half may have been even, but the second was anything but that. Jonathan Smith kick-started the Bills’ run with a 53-yard punt return, weaving his way through the Rams defense before Brandon Chillar finally managed to drag him down at the 5. From there, it only took Drew Bledsoe one play to find Campbell for his third touchdown of the day.

St. Louis quickly went three-and-out again on its next series, bringing on veteran Sean Landeta for another punt, and April’s “Special Forces” struck again. They wouldn’t need an assist from the offense this time, with Nate Clements doing the honors on an 86-yard touchdown return to put the Bills up 31-17.

(Aside: when I got home from the game that evening, I found that a poster on one of the Rams message boards claimed to have seen April waving across the field at Martz as Clements streaked down the sideline. Never could confirm that rumor, but four years later, the mental image still makes me laugh.)

And they weren’t done yet. Lindell popped the kickoff up to the 30-yard line, where old friend Erik Flowers was lined up with the Rams’ return team. Unfortunately for Flowers, Jason Peters – still a backup tight and special-teams terror back then – arrived simultaneously with the ball. Peters won, and the Bills were back in business. Offensive penalties kept them out of the end zone, but Lindell kicked his second field goal to push the lead to 34-17.

Meanwhile, the defense was beginning to make Marc Bulger’s life miserable. They sacked the beleaguered Rams quarterback six times, including three by Lawyer Milloy, and picked off three of his passes after halftime. Star running back Marshall Faulk fared no better, managing just 6 yards on 13 carries. And by the time Lindell added the final three points at the end of the third quarter, the 72,393 fans in attendance knew there would be no comeback on this day.

NOTES: Willis McGahee had a quiet 100-yard game ... Bledsoe wasn’t great, completing just 15 of 24 passes for 185 yards, but he did throw those three touchdown passes ... Campbell became the first tight end in team history with three touchdown catches in one game ... For what it’s worth, the Rams released Landeta the next day and fired April’s replacement at the end of the season ... The Bills stood at 4-6 after the win, kicking off a six-game winning streak that put them back in the playoff picture. They’d end the season at 9-7, with the Week 17 loss to Pittsburgh keeping them out of the postseason ... St. Louis finished 8-8, but in the NFC, that was good enough to earn a playoff berth. They’d go on to beat Seattle in the wild-card game before getting thumped by the Falcons in a second-round matchup.

LAST TIME IN ST. LOUIS: December 10, 1995 – Bills 45, Rams 27

The Bills, clinging to a one-game lead in the AFC East race and on a two-game losing streak, got back on track by traveling to St. Louis and pounding the Rams. Time and time again, Thurman Thomas (24 carries – 129 yards) and Darick Holmes (12-90) sprinted past an overly aggressive Rams front four, allowing the Bills to amass 222 yards on the ground. And when the Rams backed off their upfield charge, Jim Kelly picked them apart, throwing four touchdown passes for the tenth time in his Hall of Fame career despite playing with a bruised throwing shoulder.

The Rams led 10-7 at the end of the first quarter on Mark Rypien’s 6-yard touchdown pass to Todd Kinchen, but scores by Thomas and Holmes put the Bills up 21-13 at the half. The Kelly-to-Steve Tasker combination owned the third quarter as the special-teams star, in the lineup due to Andre Reed’s hamstring injury, toasted the Rams safeties for two touchdowns.

The defense was doing its part, too. They held Rams running backs to 73 yards and sacked Rypien four times, two by Bruce Smith, and didn’t allow them back into the end zone until the game was well out of hand. Rypien and backup Dave Barr combined for 401 passing yards, but with a three-touchdown lead for most of the fourth quarter, the Bills were more than happy to let them pile up meaningless statistics.

NOTES: Bill Brooks caught his eleventh touchdown pass of the season, breaking the team record formerly shared by Elbert Dubenion, Bobby Chandler, and Andre Reed ... Holmes ran for touchdowns of 1 and 38 yards, the first multiple-touchdown game of his career ... The Bills improved to 9-5, staying a game ahead of Indy and Miami. They would go on to capture their AFC East title in years and end Don Shula’s coaching career with an emphatic wild-card win before falling to Pittsburgh in a second-round playoff game.

Oakland Raiders vs. Buffalo Bills Game Day Preview

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REGULAR-SEASON SERIES RECORD: Raiders lead, 19-15, and have won the last four games, but are just 7-10 in Buffalo (4-5 at Rich/Ralph Wilson Stadium).

PLAYOFF RECORD: Bills 2, Raiders 0.

LAST REGULAR-SEASON MEETING: October 23, 2005 – Raiders 38, Bills 17
Stadium Wall preview

The Raiders were 1-4, sported one of the worst rushing games in the league, and Rich Gannon – the architect of the previous three Oakland wins in the series – was in the broadcast booth instead of on the field.

So, naturally, the Bills made LaMont Jordan look like the second coming of Jim Brown. Curtis Martin’s former caddy with the Jets, who came into the week averaging barely 60 yards per game, shredded the Buffalo defense for double that amount (122 yards on 28 carries) and three touchdowns. The Raiders finished the game with 162 rushing yards, their highest output in more than a calendar year, and also set season highs for points and total yardage.

But while those numbers may have been out of the ordinary for Oakland, they were anything but that for the Bills. A unit that had proclaimed itself among the all-time greats back in August, albeit before Takeo Spikes’ season-ending injury, allowed its fourth 100-yard rusher in six weeks. (Warrick Dunn and Ronnie Brown could only muster 97 apiece in the other two games, the slackers.)

The Bills led early, cashing in on their opening drive when Kelly Holcomb hit Lee Evans for a five-yard touchdown. However, by the time they managed another first down, Oakland had scored twice to take a 10-7 lead. Holcomb put together another efficient drive, setting up fourth-and-goal at the 1, when offensive coordinator Tom Clements made a curious call. Fullback Daimon Shelton – he of one career rushing touchdown, and no carries since the 2000 season – got the ball, but went nowhere, and the Raiders took over on downs. (Aside: that was Shelton’s only carry in a Bills uniform, and his last in the league.) A Rian Lindell field goal tied the game a couple of minutes later, but Jordan’s 1-yard plunge made the score 17-10 Raiders at the break.

Jordan struck again on the first possession of the second half, bursting through the middle of the line for his second touchdown to put Oakland up by 14. Holcomb found Josh Reed in the end zone on the first play of the fourth quarter to bring Buffalo back within striking distance, but that was as close as they’d get. Grinding down the Bills’ defensive line with a steady diet of Jordan and fullback Zack Crockett, the Raiders held the ball for all but 1:29 of the final period. Jordan tied the franchise single-game record with his third rushing touchdown at the 8:53 mark; then, following a quick three-and-out by Buffalo, it was Crockett’s turn to pile up some yardage and get into the end zone as the game ended.

NOTES: Raiders quarterback Kerry Collins was both efficient and effective, completing 19 of 27 passes for 261 yards, including a 22-yard touchdown to Randy Moss ... Holcomb also finished the game 19-27, but for only 159 yards. Neither quarterback threw an interception, but each lost a fumble ... Doug Gabriel was Collins’ primary target, pulling in 5 catches for 101 yards ... Sadly, Buffalo’s 126 net passing yards were nowhere near their season low; in fact, after seven games, the Bills had yet to hit 200 yards in that category ... Willis McGahee managed just 50 yards on 16 carries ... The Bills, who had evened their record at .500 with a win over the Jets the week before, fell to 3-4. They’d win just two games the rest of the season, paving the way for the end of the Tom Donahoe/Mike Mularkey era.

LAST TIME IN BUFFALO: October 6, 2002 – Raiders 49, Bills 31

On a gorgeous fall afternoon in Orchard Park, two Pro Bowl quarterbacks treated a sellout crowd at Ralph Wilson Stadium to a highly entertaining, AFL-style shootout. Drew Bledsoe continued his white-hot start in Buffalo by completing 32 of 53 passes for 417 yards and two touchdowns – his second 400-yard performance of the year, sparking talk of a run at Dan Marino’s single-season yardage record.

However, Rich Gannon was even better. The Oakland signal-caller didn’t pile up quite as many yards (23-38-357), but he tossed touchdown passes to three different receivers and ran for another score ... and more important in a track meet like this one, threw zero interceptions to Bledsoe’s three.

“We scored some points, but we’re going to have to avoid the mistakes where we give the other team points,” the Bills quarterback admitted afterward. “Two interceptions resulted directly in 14 points for their team. Playing somebody as good as the Raiders, you can’t spot them 14 points with turnovers and expect to have a chance.”

The game began with the two teams trading punts for most of the first quarter, before Gannon drew first blood with a 29-yard pass to Jerry Porter. The next time either punter would see the field (for anything other than holding for extra points), the scoreboard read 21-14 Oakland, with touchdown runs by Gannon and Charlie Garner matching Dave Moore’s and Peerless Price’s scores for Buffalo. Larry Centers would tie the game on a 5-yard run just before halftime, and both teams went to the locker room looking for answers on defense.

They didn’t find many. The Bills used a 30-yard field goal from Mike Hollis to take their first lead of the game, then traded touchdowns with Oakland to hold a slim 31-28 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

Enter Garner, for his second big play of the afternoon. “We knew coming in that Charlie Garner was a dangerous matchup,” Bills coach Gregg Williams said in his postgame press conference. “You see people every week on film misjudging his speed, and we made that a point of emphasis in practice.”

They apparently didn’t emphasize it enough. Garner, who torched the Buffalo defense for a combined 177 yards, put the Raiders ahead to stay when he caught a pass near midfield, eluded several tacklers, and went the distance to complete a 69-yard touchdown play.

Trailing 35-31, Bledsoe went to work, swiftly moving the Bills back inside the Oakland 30. He caught a break when rookie cornerback Phillip Buchanon dropped a sure interception on a pass meant for Peerless Price, but when he tried to make the same throw again on the next down, he wasn’t as fortunate. Buchanon again read the play correctly and held on to this one, sprinting 81 yards to the end zone to give the Raiders a double-digit lead midway through the fourth quarter.

The fired-up Oakland defense dumped Bledsoe twice on the next series, forcing a punt, and Gannon picked the Bills apart once more, needing just four plays to complete a 68-yard drive with a 20-yard touchdown strike to Jerry Rice. Tory James ended Buffalo’s last possession with his second interception, and the Raiders left Western New York as the league’s only unbeaten team.

NOTES: After five games, the Bills defense had yet to intercept a pass. That underwhelming streak would last until Game 7, when Miami quarterback Ray Lucas graciously came to their rescue by tossing four picks ... Price (7-126, 1 TD) and Eric Moulds (8-112) both topped the 100-yard mark, the second time in four games two Bills receivers would accomplish the feat ... The Raiders improved to 4-0 with the victory. They would go on to win the AFC Championship behind Gannon’s MVP season before crashing against Tampa Bay in Super Bowl XXXVII ... The Bills fell to 2-3, but rebounded to win their next three games before the ‘Bledsoe Bowl’ loss to New England started a tailspin that knocked them out of playoff contention. They finished the season 8-8.

2008 Wall of Fame - Bruce Smith

NOTE: This profile originally appeared on the Stadium Wall on May 11, 2008, the day Smith’s Wall of Fame selection was announced. The slightly edited version seen here was printed in The Coffin Corner, the newsletter-magazine of the Professional Football Researchers Association, in June.

Fact: Bruce Smith is one of the greatest players in NFL history.

He’d be quick to agree, of course, as would all but the most contrary Buffalo Bills fan, but the unbiased views of players and coaches around the league provide a truer measure of Smith’s impact on the game:

“He’s an opposing coach’s nightmare,” said Larry Beightol, one of several Jets offensive line coaches who tried – but failed, more often than not – to keep the perennial All-Pro from pummeling their quarterbacks. “You watch film of him, you don’t sleep that week. I don’t really think there’s a way to stop him. He’s at another level.” Veteran coach Jim Hanifan agreed, saying he was “the most formidable player since Deacon Jones.”

Colts tackle Zefross Moss was even more emphatic after Smith’s 11-tackle, three-sack performance against him in a 38-0 Bills beatdown: “He’s the greatest defensive lineman to ever play the game.”

You want numbers?

• 200 career sacks, more than any other player since the sack became an official statistic in 1982.
• A franchise-record 11 Pro Bowl selections in 15 seasons with the Bills.
• Two Associated Press Defensive Player of the Year awards, a feat previously accomplished only by first-ballot Hall of Famers Joe Greene, Mike Singletary, and Lawrence Taylor. (Reggie White would join the group two years later.)

A résumé like that is impossible to ignore. The day before the 2008 draft, a selection committee composed of Buffalo-area media and club personnel took all of ten minutes to name Smith the next member of the team’s Wall of Fame, with the ceremony set to take place at the Bills – Raiders game on Sept. 21. After that, an inevitable August 2009 appointment in Canton awaits.

And now, a few words from the always-quotable guest of honor:

“I always dreamed of being rich, to be someone special. I guess everything worked out OK.”
- Olean Times Herald, April 30, 1985

The Bills earned the No. 1 overall pick in the draft with a brutal 2-14 season in 1984, losing their first 11 games, allowing a franchise-record 454 points, and redefining “run for the bus” with a pathetic 52-21 finale in Cincinnati. The fans wanted Doug Flutie, but in January, he signed with the New Jersey Generals of the rival USFL. General manager Terry Bledsoe and director of pro personnel Bill Polian then concentrated their focus on Smith, the Outland Trophy winner and consensus All-American whose 16 sacks in his senior year at Virginia Tech eclipsed the performance of the entire Bills defensive line (10.5). The Baltimore Stars – who held his USFL rights – made a few preliminary overtures, but after signing a reported four-year, $2.6 million contract with Buffalo in February, Smith said, “I guess it’s every young boy’s dream to play in the NFL.”

Smith ranked near the top of most draft boards, but the evaluations weren’t uniformly positive. From the Times Herald’s draft-day preview:

“For the record, one scouting service tabbed the 6-3, 275-pounder as the best DE in the draft and rated only four players higher overall: running backs Herschel Walker (in the USFL) and Ethan Horton (North Carolina) along with wide receivers Eddie Brown (Miami) and Al Toon (Wisconsin).

“In assessing Smith’s strengths, the service noted, ‘He’s massive and extremely mobile with great initial quickness. Naturally strong. Can flat-out dominate a game when he plays up to his ability.’ On the negative side it added, ‘He doesn’t always play hard and has a weight problem.’ In summing up Smith’s future, it noted, ‘He could be King Kong in shoulder pads, or just another guy.’”

He started the first two games of his rookie season, but was relegated to pass-rushing duty after the Jets administered a 42-3 beating in Week 2, with running back Freeman McNeil gouging the Bills for a franchise-record 192 yards. The benching didn’t last long. Kay Stephenson’s head-coaching tenure staggered to a merciful end at 0-4, and when Colts RBs Randy McMillan (112 yards) and Albert Bentley (100) welcomed Hank Bullough to the top job by trampling the defense in another blowout loss, Smith regained his spot at right end – a position that he would keep, barring injury or suspension, for fifteen seasons.

“If someone is going to go out there and single block me, I don’t think that’s fair to the offensive lineman. I can’t be single-blocked.”
- Olean Times Herald, Oct. 22, 1989

By the end of the 1988 season, Smith was gaining recognition around the league ... and seriously thinking about leaving Buffalo. He’d made his second straight All-Pro squad despite missing the first four games to a drug suspension that stirred up the hate-mail crowd, and the Buffalo News was reporting that the team had hired detectives to follow him. So when the Broncos presented him with a five-year, $7.5-million offer sheet, he strongly suggested that the Bills not match it. At least one local sportscaster agreed with him, saying the team would be better off with the two No. 1 picks they’d receive in return (and without his off-the-field issues). Polian, by then the general manager, knew better. He matched the offer sheet, and Smith remained a Bill.

Bad news for the quarterbacks in the rest of the AFC East. He blew past the franchise sack record (previously set at 51 by Ben Williams) before the midpoint of his fifth year in the league, dumping favorite target Ken O’Brien three times as the Bills pounded the Jets. The season would come to a disappointing end in the wild-card playoff game at Cleveland, but better days were ahead.

“I think that, right now, on defense, I’m the hottest thing going. It’s as simple as that. When I walk down the street, I want people to say, ‘There goes Bruce Smith. He’s the best defensive player in the league.’ I don’t want them to say, ‘Hey, he’s second to Reggie White, or he’s second to Lawrence Taylor.’ I want them to say, ‘He’s the best there is in the league right now.’ ”
- Olean Times Herald, Dec. 10, 1990

Smith made that bold claim before a business trip to Indianapolis, where he proceeded to back up his bravado by sacking Colts rookie quarterback Jeff George four times – IN THE FIRST HALF. By the end of the game, an easy-as-it-looked 31-7 Bills victory, the shellshocked George was reduced to muttering expletives as Smith bore down on him yet again. Chuck Pollock’s column in the next day’s Times Herald began with the quote, “If you can do it ... it ain’t bragging!”

The performance against Indy gave him 19 sacks for the year – just three shy of Mark Gastineau’s record – with three games left on the schedule. The next game was a nationally-televised affair against the Giants, and he provided the New York media with something to write about: “Over the last 10 years, Lawrence Taylor has been the most dominant player in the league, but I think I’ve taken it up a notch above that. You’ve got to give credit to the person who deserves it. It would be an injustice if I don’t get the MVP.”

Although Taylor declined to discuss the comments, some of his Giants teammates took predictable offense. The media apparently agreed with Smith’s assessment, though, as the AP, UPI, Football News, and Pro Football Weekly all awarded him Defensive Player of the Year honors.

The individual accolades were piling up, but one thing was still missing ... a championship. Nobody knew it then, of course, but Scott Norwood’s final field goal attempt in Super Bowl XXV was the closest any of those star-studded teams would ever come to capturing the Lombardi Trophy.

“I have said over and over again, I am not in this game to be second best to anyone.”
- The Sporting News, Dec. 8, 1997

While the Bills never managed to cross that last river, Smith’s personal quest continued with a single goal: to be the best there ever was. The kid who tipped the scales at 300 pounds after his rookie season now played 30 pounds lighter than that, spending countless hours in the gym to sculpt his physique. He studied film until he became an expert at diagnosing plays from the line of scrimmage, the better to create havoc in the other team’s backfield. And if he felt disrespected – by contract disputes with management, stories suggesting someone else might be better, whatever – woe to the quarterback unlucky enough to face him in the next game.

He added another AP Defensive Player of the Year award to his trophy case in 1996, and probably should have repeated the honor in 1997. Switching to a 4-3 defense at midseason, after playing his first 12 seasons in a 3-4? Didn’t matter. He led the AFC in sacks again, made first-team All-Pro again, and did it on an aching knee that would require microfracture surgery after the season.

“I wish I had the opportunity to play in front of our fans one more time knowing that it was my last time. After 15 years in one place, the fans deserved better. I never got a chance to say goodbye.”
- New York Times, Feb. 27, 2000

By the end of the decade Smith was no longer the consistently dominant force he had once been, but he was still good enough to lead a playoff team in sacks, quarterback pressures, and forced fumbles. He took Drew Bledsoe down twice in a playoff-clinching overtime win in Foxborough, then added another 2.5 sacks against Steve McNair in the wild-card loss at Tennessee.

But he was about to turn 37, and he was due to make $4.8 million in 2000. With 10 players (including six starters) slated to hit free agency and the team already snug against the cap, general manager John Butler decided he had no other recourse than to lop off the aging, high-salaried core of the Super Bowl squads. Smith refused a 50 percent pay cut – as Butler knew he would – and joined Thurman Thomas and Andre Reed on the road out of Buffalo. He didn’t stay unemployed for long, though, as new Washington Redskins owner Dan Snyder jumped at the chance to throw a boatload of money at yet another big-name player.

“Being in the stadium with 70,000-plus fans — I felt their energy, and I hope that they felt mine.”
- Olean Times Herald, Oct. 20, 2003

Smith played in 217 regular-season games for the Bills, second only to Andre Reed’s 221. But on this afternoon, he walked out of the tunnel at Ralph Wilson Stadium toward the visitors’ sideline, wearing Redskins burgundy and gold. The uniform may have looked out of place, but the grin was instantly recognizable as the fans serenaded him with a familiar chorus of “Bruuuuuuuce.”

He came into the game with 196.5 sacks, two shy of taking Reggie White’s record and making it his own. Facing Bledsoe, a quarterback he’d flattened more often than any signal-caller not named O’Brien, must have seemed like a good omen. Not this time, though. He left Orchard Park with the same number, and the Bills rolled to an easy victory.

Although frustrated with the loss, Smith made sure to note the ‘hometown’ fans in his postgame comments. “It was certainly an emotional experience for me, coming back and seeing so many fans who were yelling and chanting and saying polite and kind words,” he said. “It was certainly a memorable experience for me. For all the years I’ve been here, they supported my career, and I just want to tell them thank you.”

“I know I’m not in second place any longer,” Smith said.
“When they print up the football cards, they won’t say, ‘Second place.’”
- Washington Post, Dec. 8, 2003

So who was the unfortunate record-breaker? Jesse Palmer, the Giants’ backup quarterback. (Smith knocked starter Kerry Collins out with a high ankle sprain earlier in the game.) He picked up one more sack two weeks later to make his career total an even 200 – the Bears’ Rex Grossman is the answer to that trivia question – then retired when Washington released him after the season.

Smith founded a commercial real estate development firm, Bruce Smith Enterprise, LLC, in 2004. The company is headquartered in Virginia Beach, where he, his wife Carmen, and their son Alston reside.

Precisely where he ranks in the pantheon of NFL legends is open to debate – Bruce or Reggie, and how does either one match up against Deacon Jones or Gino Marchetti? – but his place in Buffalo Bills history is secure. Simply put, he remains the best defensive player the franchise has ever seen, and that’s not likely to change for a long, long time.

Buffalo Bills vs. Jacksonville Jaguars Game Day Preview

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HISTORY

REGULAR-SEASON SERIES RECORD: Bills lead, 4-3, including two wins in three visits to Jacksonville.

PLAYOFF RECORD: Jaguars 1, Bills 0.

LAST MEETING: November 25, 2007 – Jaguars 36, Bills 14

Fresh off a 56-10 beatdown by New England – the worst margin of defeat in team history – the wounded Bills staggered into the Jaguars’ lair without Marshawn Lynch, still sidelined by a high ankle sprain suffered two weeks earlier against Miami. J.P. Losman had a pretty good idea his starting job was on the line, and the absence of Lynch – who had accounted for 34 percent of Buffalo’s total yardage and over half of their offensive touchdowns before the injury – didn’t exactly help his cause.

Fred Taylor gashed the defense for a 50-yard touchdown on the Jaguars’ opening drive, but the Bills quickly regrouped, keeping Jacksonville out of the end zone until fewer than three minutes remained in the game. However, the offense spent most of the game stuck in its own end of the field; when Josh Scobee’s fourth field goal made it 19-7 Jags midway through the third quarter, the Bills had been inside the Jacksonville 40 exactly once all afternoon.

Then, a lucky bounce of the football – into the leg of Jags special-teamer Chad Nkang, while he was trying to block for a punt return – gave Buffalo a shot to get back into the game. The Bills capitalized on the opportunity, with Roscoe Parrish’s 24-yard touchdown run on an end-around drawing them back to within one score.

But Jaguars quarterback David Garrard rallied his team to a quick field goal, Losman committed his third ugly turnover of the game, and two late Jacksonville touchdowns ended any doubt about the outcome. After the game, the Bills quarterback – who had proclaimed this “the biggest game of my career” earlier in the week – knew the end was near.

Dick Jauron didn’t draw out the suspense for long. “In terms of our quarterbacks, we’ll make the switch and Trent will be our starter going forward,” the Bills head coach said the next day. “We fully understand that it’s not only J.P., that’s not the only reason we’ve lost these couple games in a row, but it is the focal point of the offense. We do need a lot of consistency from that position and we need production. We need to stay on the field and score. We’re going to make the change and hope that we can get started again and play a real good game this Sunday against the Redskins and see if we can get us a win.”

NOTES: Anthony Thomas got the start in Lynch’s place. He finished with 46 yards on 15 carries and added eight catches for 45 yards and a touchdown, before leaving with an apparently career-ending torn calf muscle ... While the Bills defense did a good job of stacking up Maurice Jones-Drew, Taylor piled up 104 yards on 14 carries, and Garrard took advantage of the defense’s emphasis on stopping the run to throw for a season-high 296 yards, including a 59-yard catch-and-run touchdown to Reggie Williams ... Lee Evans (2 catches–19 yards) was a bystander for most of the game, never catching a pass until just 37 seconds remained ... Losman managed just 141 passing yards in the first 58:23 of the game before padding his stats on the Bills’ final drive, finishing 27 for 40 for 211 yards with one touchdown, two interceptions, and a lost fumble ... Buffalo fell below .500 (5-6) with the loss.

Seattle Seahawks vs. Buffalo Bills Game Day Preview

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