Both units come together as Bills throttle Giants

Bills' Dave Moore breaks the shutout streak of 18 quarters without a touchdown on the road as he hauls in a 24 yard pass from Drew Bledsoe. The Giants' Brandon Short can't break up the play as the Bills won 24-7.

[AP Photo/Julie Jacobson]

With post season hopes unattainable, the Buffalo Bills came out and played their best game since October in handing the New York Giants an embarrassing 24-7 loss at home in Giants Stadium. The fans booed the Giants off the field at the end of halftime and the few remaining fans at game's end were even more unmerciful.

The Bills, on the other hand, had a balanced offensive attack and the defense once again played superior ball. Drew Bledsoe, who was suffering from symptoms of a mild concussion during the week, had his best game since the beginning of September. Bledsoe threw for 252 yards finally hit the endzone by tossing two touchdowns. Bledsoe completed 19 of 22 and looked much more comfortable in the pocket, even though he was sacked 3 times.

Last week, Bledsoe scored the first Bills touchdown in 4 weeks by running up the middle on a quarterback draw for one yard, but the Bills still hadn't had any receiving touchdowns. Bledsoe ended that drought quickly when he hit tight end Dave Moore for a 24-yard strike. That ended the 18 quarters of being shutout on the road.

"I remember the ball being in the air, and the next thing I remember was sitting on our bench," Moore reflected. "I don't even remember making the catch."

Then he hooked up with receiver Bobby Shaw for 22 yards for the second TD. In all, the Bills scored 17 points in the second quarter to take control of the game.

The first drive covered 73 yards on 6 plays. Bledsoe hooked up with Shaw for 16 yards, Eric Moulds for 11 and 22 yards before finding Moore in the endzone.

Right after the Bills first score, the Giants came right back when Amani Toomer caught a Kerry Collins pass and was off to the races for a 77-yard touchdown. This came only 17 seconds after the Bills had scored.

From that point on, the Bills defense shut the Giants down. Meanwhile, Travis Henry helped relieve some pressure off of Bledsoe by rushing 113 yards on 26 carries and one touchdown, a 13-yard scamper. On the touchdown run, Henry was turned loose thanks to a great block by Jonas Jennings on Giants defensive end Keith Washington. Bills tight end Mark Campbell also led interference for Henry into the end zone.

"That's the kind of guy you want to bust your tail for...You know he's going to get the most out of every play," lauded Campbell about Henry's toughness. "A lot of times today Travis took a hit and bounced off and kept going. It's amazing a guy could play like that with a broken leg."

Bledsoe came out in the third quarter after Henry's touchdown, as he received a helmet-to-helmet blow to the head by Keith Hamilton, who was given a roughing the quarterback call. That advanced the ball 15 yards and helped the 66-yard touchdown drive.

Alex Van Pelt relieved Bledsoe after that and completed 2 of 5 for 14 yards in mop up duty.

With Bledsoe receiving two minor concussions in consecutive weeks, one wonders if he will be kept out of next week's game against the Jets. Bills head coach Gregg Williams left that decision up to Bledsoe. If it were the NHL, Bledsoe would have to go a week without any symptoms in order to play. The NFL doesn't have such a rule.

Were was this team the last 5 weeks?

That's the question Bills fans are asking after such an easy win over the Giants. Sure, the Giants came in with the same 4-7 record the Bills had, but the Bills played a balanced attack that has been missing since probably the first two games of the season. Bledsoe looked to have regained his early season form and now the question is whether the two straight concussions he has received could prevent him from playing against the Jets next week?

Bledsoe still seems to hold on to the ball too long, but he was finding his receivers for once and didn't seem as perplexed with blitzers coming in on him. It is too late for this season, but if the Bills are to make a playoff push next season, they have to beef up the offensive line to give Bledsoe the time he needs to be effective. Also, improving themselves at receiver and tight end is a must. Bobby Shaw and Josh Reed have been shaky this season and have not effectively replaced Peerless Price, who went to Atlanta. A better line and better targets are the elements Bledsoe needs next season to get the Bills back to the post season.

Bills Talk

Bledsoe voiced some of his disappointment over a season gone sour.

"There is an overall sense of frustration because we feel like we've underachieved this season," Bledsoe admitted. "We've played three good games over the course of the season, today being one of them."

Jim Fassel, the Giants head coach, seems to be on his last legs as the coach. Rumors have persisted that if he didn't right the team, his days were numbered.

"It's hard to describe my feelings right now," bemoaned Fassel. "It's hard. It's just hard to watch them play that way."

Fassel's boss is not happy with the way the Giants' season went down.

"I'm very disappointed,'' related team owner Wellington Mara. "I never go into a season or game with high expectations. But I do go into some with higher hopes than others, and this year we had high hopes."

The Bills defense took pride that it kept its focus and didn't so south with the offense since September.

"We knew nobody was going to hang their head or mope around," insisted Takeo Spikes. "Everybody continued to fight. As a whole, we feel we're so close to being the kind of defense we want to be. We're fighting to be the No. 1 defense by the end of the season."

The other highly publicized newcomer to the defense, Lawyer Milloy, was a little more bitter than Spikes.

"It's disappointing, it really is," fumed Milloy. "Sometimes, we just sit back and look at each other and say, "We might have just let a whole season slip by.' We have a very good team. It's knowing how to win those close, ugly games. That's the difference. This is the NFL. We're fine when we're up by 14 points. But you have to get the mentality to win the war, also. That's what it's all about, you know. It's an attitude."

London Fletcher chipped in to the defensive rap in the locker room.

"We have high standards on defense," declared Fletcher. "We try to establish a standard in practice and carry it over into Sundays. We're not going to accept any letdowns. We feel like we play some good defense. But we want to be great, a defense that puts fear in opponents' hearts when they look at us on tape."

Gregg Williams talked about the strategy used on offense to get the receivers more running room after they caught the ball.

"Drew put the ball in spots where guys could run after the catch," described Williams. "That was a big emphasis all week long in practice. Give our guys a chance to put the ball on the right shoulder so they can make some yards after the catch and turn some underneath throws into big plays down the field."

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