Two Bills Drive

It was the second week in a row, the Bills drew up a clutch play on the spot to take advantage of something they saw in the defense. It was a witty piece of play-calling on Bledsoe and OC Kevin Gilbride’s part. Of course, Bledsoe and Price had to execute it to perfection.

‘Drew Bledsoe threw for 463 yards in Buffalo’s 45-39 overtime victory over the Vikings on Sunday, shattering the franchise record for passing yards in a game. Vikings fans might remember a game eight years ago, when Bledsoe brought the Patriots back from a 20-0 deficit on the way to a 26-20 overtime victory. He threw 70 passes in that game, completing 45 of them.’

‘Culpepper was under pressure much of the day. Culpepper was sacked five times. Three of those times he fumbled. And those three fumbles led to 13 Buffalo points, including one that was recovered in the end zone for a fourth-quarter Bills TD. “They did a good job of getting to me,” Culpepper said. “That’s a part of the game. I don’t care if guys come and hit me, I have to be able to bounce back, stay in there, stand tough and tall. . . . I just have to hold on to the ball. If I get hit from the back? So what. I have to hold onto the ball.”

‘Brien, the Vikings placekicker Sunday, appears to have played his final game with the Vikings. In an overtime loss to Buffalo in the home opener, Brien missed a 44-yard field goal attempt at the end of the first half. Worse, he missed two extra points — both pulled left — in the second half.’

‘”We’re going to win as a team and lose as a team,” Moss said. “By our FG kicker missing those [extra points], I wasn’t really down on him. Of course, he could have made them. But what did we do on defense? What did we [I] do on offense? What did we do on special teams? Let’s not blame it on our kicker for missing those PATs. You can’t blame him. If you’re going to blame somebody, let’s blame the whole team, including the coaching staff. Because it was their fault and it was our fault for not making it happen. That’s really what it was.”‘

T.Henry – 12/30 yds, D.Bledsoe – 49 attempts / 35 completions for 463 yards, P. Price – 13 catches for 185 yards, A.Schobel – 3 sacks, Hollis 4 FGs of 5 attempts + 3 Extra Points.

Peerless Price, Nate Clements, Justin Bannan, Keith Newman & London Fletcher.

Plays and scores.

‘Buffalo’s Drew Bledsoe surpassed 30,000 yards in career passing Sunday, reaching the milestone faster than all but three other quarterbacks. Playing in his 126th career game, Bledsoe went past the mark on a 14-yard pass to Peerless Price midway through the second quarter against the Minnesota Vikings. He entered the game needing 72 yards to get to 30,000.’

‘“It took everything we had,” Bledsoe said, “but hopefully this is a step for us in the right direction.”’

‘The Vikings appeared to have the game won in regulation when Moe Williams scored on a two-yard TD run with 26 seconds left for a 39-36 lead. But Bledsoe was able to set up the game-tying field goal by driving the team 29 yards in 18 seconds.’

CAREER PASSING YARDAGE: Last week passed Joe Ferguson and now ranks 25th all-time. He is 51 yards away from #24 Randall Cunningham and 869 away from #23 Norm Snead. He enters Sunday\’s game at Minnesota needing 72 yards to become just the 24th QB ever to reach the 30,000 passing yards plateau. By comparison, Bills Hall of Famer Jim Kelly reached 30,000 on 9/17/95 in his 135th career game in the NFL.

‘Expect Prioleau to provide deep help for cornerback Nate Clements, who likely will be lined up against Moss.’

‘Bledsoe has averaged more than 300 passing yards in three previous games against the Vikings.’

‘"No question we were lucky," Donahoe said. "Under normal circumstances you don’t get those guys."’