Holcomb guides Bills to win over Dolphins

The Buffalo Bills piled up a 17-0 lead on the Dolphins on their first 3 possessions and then held on for their football lives as the Dolphins came back strong in the second half. The Bills beat the Dolphins 20-14, but it certainly wasn't easy.

It took a fumble recovery by Troy Vincent with under 1 minute remaining after the Dolphins were driving deep into the Bills territory. Ronnie Brown had the ball punched out of his grasp as he was being hauled down by Nate Clements. Had the Dolphins not fumbled, they were in prime position to take the lead with only a few seconds remaining.

The Bills went with Kelly Holcomb at quarterback, after J.P. Losman had started the first four games. Holcomb hit 20-of-26 for 169 yards passing and a touchdown. Holcomb did what was necessary to get the job done and secure the Bills a victory.

"It's good to get a win anytime in the NFL," acknowledged Holcomb. "We had our backs up against the wall. It's the fifth game of the season, you don't want to say it's a must-win, but that's what it felt like, a must-win situation for us and I think the guys responded well."

The Dolphins did everything they could to give the Bills the game. They committed 18 penalties (a team record), and coughed up the ball 5 times (two fumble recoveries and three picks). Still, the Dolphins were in the game until the end when a fumble ruined their chances of taking the lead.

The Bills ran the ball more in this game with Willis McGahee running 31 times for 86 yards, scoring the first touchdown of the game. Eric Moulds finally got his first touchdown of the season and caught 7 passes for 59 yards.

Quarterback Controversy brewing

Holcomb is blocking the path of Losman's advancement as an NFL quarterback. All the controversy that the move to Holcomb has generated has the media and Bills fans buzzing. Most think that Losman should have started Sunday, even though he probably would have lost the game. It is an interesting scenario that Bills coach Mike Mularkey has put himself in.

The week leading up to the game, the Bills players themselves seemed to be backing the decision to bench Losman and start Kelly Holcomb against the Dolphins. Receivers Moulds and Lee Evans have not been getting as many receptions as they anticipated and they fully support going to the veteran quarterback.

While there is a firestorm of controversy and debate because of the switch of quarterbacks, the team itself seems united about the decision. They want to win now as opposed to throwing away the season to groom a young quarterback.

"When you have a young guy, you don't run a lot of plays that we ran today because he's not used to seeing those types of defenses," described Moulds. "When you have a veteran guy that has played a long time, you can put more on display."

Losman is pretty upset over the demotion. He is trying his best to deal with the fact that Kelly Holcomb replaced him as the starting quarterback against the Dolphins. With Holcomb steering the Bills to their first victory since opening day, Losman may be on the bench next week when they take on the Bills. This just doesn't sit well with the second year quarterback.

"You just have to understand the situation, take your man pills and swallow it," Losman said in the Bills locker room. "It's going to be tough, but that's what you have to do."

"It's very, very hard as far as someone telling you you're not playing this week, that they're going with someone else," continued Losman. "But I've been playing football so long that you deal with things like this. I've been a freshman before, a sophomore before. You have to understand the situation you're in, take your man pill, swallow it. It's going to be tough to swallow. But that's what you've got to do."

"This team is ready to win and they're not going to wait for some young quarterback to come in here and go through some growing pains."

When asked about starting next week, Holcomb said, "I'm not worried about that to be honest with you. That's the coach's decision."

And what is the coach saying about who will start next week against the Jets?

"I'm going to leave it as it is," answered Mularkey, playing the guessing game.

"We think it is an advantage as a team, when you have two different types of quarterbacks, to play it out as long as we can," Mularkey said. "I think it's an advantage regardless of what other people think."

Mularkey did tip his hat in a "Ask the coach" session on the Bills web site. A fan asked him about Losman’s chances of starting again.

"J.P. is going to be a big part of the future of this team," answered Mularkey. "I've said that before. He's been tremendous in his attitude with the situation and he's probably shown his teammates his leadership skills more with the situation that has taken place than what he has done prior to it. At some point he'll be back in there. We don't know when that is but we'll see."

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