The Buffalo Bills made a huge statement against the Washington Redskins Sunday as they blew out the Skins 34-17 in a shocker. Both the offensive and defensive units came up big and disproved all the naysayers by beating the highest scoring team in the NFL. Two Bills players also made big statements in this game. The much maligned Doug Flutie, who received negative press from the Buffalo media all week (including from me), played one of his strongest games of the season by passing for 211 yards on 16 completions for two touchdowns and NO interceptions. Antowain Smith, who has been struggling even more than Flutie as of late, got 68 yards on 20 carries and ran for two touchdowns.
This game, aside from the Miami victory a month ago, was the Bills best performance of the season. Both the offensive and defensive units came together and carried out a perfect game plan to dethrone the mighty Redskin offense. The Skins, who were 6-2 before the game, scored on their opening drive and it looked like it was going to be just as advertised - a Redskin blowout. However, it turned out to be just the opposite as the defense got out of their opening drive jitters and settled down to play a very strong game.
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Antowain Smith runs past Marco Coleman for a big gain |
"We were on the bench most of the game," said Redskin offensive guard Tre Johnson.
"We came into this one with a little more balance than we've had in the past," Linton said after the game. "We realized how important the running game is to set up the pass. We got Ruben (Brown) back, Moulds back and Jay Riemersma was hurt and he's healthy now. We've got all our cylinders clicking now. We've got our confidence back on offense and the sky's the limit from here."
"I won't say today was a rarity," said Bills DE Bruce Smith. "But I'll say today was the best the offense has played in two years. They just did everything that was asked of them and then some more, controlling the ball and putting points on the board."
Flutie, being trashed all week on radio talk shows and on Buffalo television stations, quieted all his critics with a solid performance. The important stat was that the Bills didn't have any turnovers, in the air or on the ground. The Bills had 204 yards on the ground (including Flutie's 41 yards on 4 scrambles) and a combined 413 yards. Flutie credited the return of Eric Moulds for part of the running success.
"We had Eric Moulds back on the field. That dictates coverage, it opens up the opportunity to run the ball. He didn't catch a ball in the first half, but they were rotating coverage away (from him). They played a 7-man front and we were hammering the ball and doing some other things. They finally said ‘The heck with this - we've got to try and stop the run.' (The Redskins) went to an 8-man front, he's one-on-one and he gets five catches in the second half. Just from that stand point, it makes life easier for us."
Like most games the past four weeks, the Bills gave up a touchdown on their opponent's opening drive. The Skins got the opening kickoff and proceeded to drive right down the field to score first. With a third and ten facing Brad Johnson, the Redskin quarterback found Michael Westbrook for a 23 yard gain to the Buffalo 40. Then on a reverse, Westbrook ran around right end for another 11 yards. The Bills defenders seemed in awe of the best offense in the NFL as the Skins continued to push deeper in Buffalo territory. After being sacked for a 4 yard loss, Johnson passed to Stephen Davis at the Bills 12, a 21-yard pickup. The league's leading rusher then picked up another 4 yards on a run down to the 8. On his third straight play, Davis plowed right up the middle for the touchdown.
When the Bills got the ball, two runs netted 4 yards. Doug Flutie, on third down, connected with Jay Riemersma for 23 yards down to the Washington 40. Flutie then hit Andre Reed for 11 yards and another first down. Facing a 3rd and 6, Flutie went back to pass, was pressured, escaped a couple of tackles and decided to take off. He just managed to pick up the six yards needed to move the chains. Reed was the recipient of an 11-yard Flutie pass down to the Skins 8. However, after Jonathan Linton picked up 3 yards, Flutie couldn't get the Bills in the endzone and the Bills had to settle for a 23-yard field goal from Steve Christie.
The Redskins took Christie's kickoff and mounted another long drive against the Bills defense. On third and four, Johnson hooked up with Westbrook for 8 yards and then Davis ran up the middle for 11 yards before Henry Jones was able to bring him down with the help of Kurt Schulz. On 3rd and 18, Johnson passed to Brian Mitchell, but Antoine Winfield tackled him ten yards short of the first down marker. Brett Conway attempted a 55-yard field goal, but it was wide left.
The Bills took over at their own 45 and mounted one of their most impressive drives in weeks. Antowain Smith led off by running up the middle for 6 yards. On third and 4, Flutie couldn't find a receiver open so he took off for a 13-yard gain. After picking up 2 yards, Linton found a hole on his next carry and bolted for another 10. A 4-yard run by Smith and a 3-yard plow up the middle by Linton were followed by a 6-yard Flutie-to-Riemersma pass for a first down at the Washington 11. Linton picked up 5 yards down to the 6 and, on the following play, Flutie made a perfect pass to Bobby Collins for a Buffalo touchdown.
Johnson led the Skins down the field on a 7 play, 38-yard drive that produced a tying 41-yard field goal by Conway. Highlights of the drive were passes of 35 and 7 yards to Albert Connell.
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Doug Flutie dives for a first down on a 4th down scramble |
"It's kind of like Michael Jordan dunking on two guys 7-feet tall," said Skins cornerback Darrell Green about Flutie's jitterbug around two defensemen.."They were high, they were tall, but he just went above them."
This is where Antowain Smith decided to make a statement. He got down to the Washington 9 when he carried up the middle for 6 yards. Smith gained another 5 yards the next play to give the Bills a first and goal at the 4. He got the ball again, but could only muster one yard as Marco Coleman took him down. Linton got the next carry and he got down to the one. On third and one, Smith got the call and the touchdown to put the Bills up 17-10. That ended the scoring in the first half.
On their second possession of the second half, Flutie hit his favorite receiver Eric Moulds for 11 yards. Then with 2nd and 6 from their own 42, Flutie lobbed a pass to Riemersma for a 23 yard pickup down to the Redskin 35. Former Bill Matt Stevens made the tackle on the play. Flutie went to Moulds again for 8 yards and Linton went over left guard to pick up the first down. Flutie then scramble again, this time for 14 yards down to the Washington ten. Smith got the carry on the next play and he dashed all the way for his second touchdown of the game. The Bills used up 8:10 off the clock on that 9 play, 75-yard drive.
The Bills defense, recovering from their early game lapses, started coming on strong as they forced to Skins to go 3 and out. The Bills took energy from the defense and started yet another drive. On second down, Flutie connected with Reed for 15 yards and once again the Bills were in Redskin territory. Smith, having one of his best games of the season, rammed the ball up the middle for four yards. With a third and 6, Flutie hit Moulds for a big 19-yard play down to the Washington 26. Then Smith got the carry again and broke through for 11 yards to the Skins 15. He rammed to the Skins 10 on another 5-yard pickup. However, the Bills got tagged with an ineligible receiver as Flutie threw it away when he was about to be sacked on the next play. With 3rd and 9 at the Washington 14, Flutie threw up the middle to Moulds. Moulds made the grab and broke the tackle of Darrell Green and danced into the endzone untouched to put the Bills up 31-10.
The Redskins finally were able to get into Buffalo territory and on 3rd and 6 from the Buffalo 39, Johnson threw incomplete to Larry Centers. The Skins went for it on fourth down and Johnson's pass to Connell went incomplete and the Bills took over.
The Bills were able to get down to the Redskins 42, but no further and Chris Mohr punt put the ball on the Skins ten. Johnson wasted no time and threw a 22-yard completion to Westbrook. The Skins got a huge break after Schulz intercepted a Johnson pass at the Bills 20 and the Bills were called for pass interference by Kevin Irvin. On third down from the Bills 19, Johnson found Connell open for a touchdown to reduce the Bills lead to 31-17.
After the Henry Jones recovered the on-side kick by Conway, the Bills went to their ground control game. Linton burst through for 9 yards on his first carry of the series and then broke loose and galloped 17 yards and was tackled by Champ Bailey at the Washington 12. The Bills were pushed back ten yards after a holding call on Riemersma. Linton then racked up 8 yards down to the 14. Linton picked up another 5 yards and then 6 more yards to get to the Skins 3 yard line. Wade Phillips challenged the spotting of the ball, thinking that the Bills may have advanced far enough for the first down. But after review, the spotting was upheld and Christie kicked a 20-yard field goal to put the Bills up 34-17.
Desperately trying for a comeback, Johnson had the game taken away from him when Pat Williams sacked him and the ball came loose. Bruce Smith recovered it and the Bills sent the fans heading for the exits.
The Bills had five scoring drives in their first six possessions of the game and completely dominated the clock and the scoreboard. Riemersma had his best day in the NFL as he caught 4 passes for 86 yards, a 21.5 yards per catch average. Moulds came back from his hamstring injury, but didn't catch a pass until the second half. But then he caught 5 for 61 yards and one touchdown. Reed, who was rumored to have been demoted to second string this week (a rumor adamantly denied by the Bills brass), caught four passes for 51 yards.
"No, I did not ever think of taking Doug out of the game," joked Wade Phillips to begin his postgame press conference. "Our defense played tremendously well. We felt that if we could run the ball and they couldn't, that would be a big difference in the ball game. We played well in the third quarter against the wind, and I think that was a big key."
"Now, all of a sudden, the offense is great," said Flutie who didn't have any interceptions after throwing eight picks in his last three games. "Well, we're still doing the same thing we did last week, the same thing we did the week before. Put Ruben Brown and Eric Moulds back into the equations and a healthy Jay Riemersma and it makes all the difference in the world. "
Taking a page from Marv Levy, Flutie continued, "We're not as great as everyone says we are and we're not as bad as everyone says we are. To win football games, it's never easy. We've had some good games, but this was a very, very efficient game. We've won two out of three on the road against good teams, against great defenses."
Asked to describe his fourth down scramble for eight yards, Flutie said, "I thought I was going to have a shot at Jay (Riemersma) into the middle, it was taking too long and it was time to move. I started to run up in there and I saw a defense end in the corner of my eye, so I had to avoid him, backtrack and go around the corner. Normally, I wouldn't have made the cut, but because it was fourth down, I had to take a chance. I had no clue what was coming behind me when I made the cut back into the middle. But I knew I just had to make those guys miss and take my chance and see if I could get the first down." When asked if going for it on fourth down was because of the strong winds that were whipping around that end of the stadium, Phillips said, "Yea, the wind was really blowing on the one end. Both teams had less than 50% (kicking field goals) in warm-ups down at that end. Your chances weren't good there. I thought our chances making it on fourth down were better than kicking a field goal at that time." Everyone expected the winner to come away from this game with at least 34 points, but no one expected Buffalo to be the team racking up the points. Flutie had maintained that the Bills would need to score between 30-40 points to beat the Skins. He then proceeded to strap on his chin strap and put up 34 points.
The Bills defense must get a lot of credit for stopping the vaulted Washington offense. Phillips was very pleased by the defensive effort.
"Our defense played great," he said. They've been playing well - they played well last week. To hold this team down rushing, especially the leading rusher in the league (Davis) to just 33 yards was outstanding. We've got a good run defense."
After two victories during a 3-game road swing, the Bills return home for a showdown with the first place Miami Dolphins who have only lost one game and that was against Buffalo. Buffalo is now at 6-3 and a victory over the Dolphins would put them very much in the race for the top spot in the AFC East.
Copyright © 1999 Bills Thunder & Rick Anderson, all rights reserved.
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