SB Nation - Eric Moulds

Opponent History: Buffalo Bills vs New England Patriots

sireric — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 12:58:10 -0000

Buffalo Bills (5-8) vs New England Patriots (8-5)
Sunday, December 20, 2009 at 1:00 PM EST
Ralph Wilson Stadium, Orchard Park, NY

Well, this is easily the worst week of the year for doing this post. I get to go back and review all of the pathetic showings the Buffalo Bills have had versus the New England Patriots over the last five years. This will be the 100th meeting between these two teams, with the Patriots hold a commanding 58-40-1 record against the Bills thanks in large part to two long winning streaks. The first was an eleven game win streak that lasted from 1983 to 1987. The second is still active and sits at 12 games. In fact, over the last 18 games versus the Patriots, the Bills are 1-17. Ugly with a capital 'U'. Needless to say, if you want to skip the jump, I don't blame you.

Sunday, October 3, 2004: Patriots 31, Bills 17
This game was tied at half time, but it was all down hill from there. Daniel Graham caught a two-yard pass from Tom Brady to give the Pats the lead, and Richard Seymour picked up a fumble and rumbled 68 yards to seal the deal for the Pats. This game had several big plays in it; Eric Moulds caught a 41-yard pass form Drew Bledsoe for a touchdown, and Terrence McGee returned a kick off 98 yards for another Bills score. The Patriots sacked the statuesque Bledsoe six times and intercepted him once.

Sunday, December 11, 2005: Patriots 35, Bills 7
This game was over shortly after kickoff. The Patriots' offense scored a single touchdown in every quarter. After they scored in the fourth quarter, their defense decided to chip in when James Sanders returned an interception 39 yards for a score. The Raiders' newest signee, one mister J.P. Losman, then hit Josh Reed for a meaningless 51-yard touchdown to eradicate the shutout. The Pats' defense sacked Losman twice and picked him off thrice.

Sunday, October 6, 2006: Patriots 28, Bills 6
Brady was only mediocre in this game. The father of a boy named J.E.T. finished 18/27 for 195 yards and only two touchdowns. For Brady, versus the Bills, that is mediocre, and it was of course still plenty to beat the Bills. The Losman-led Bills offense did next to nothing all game, unless you consider committing four turnovers and getting flagged for nine penalties an accomplishment. Aaron Schobel had two sacks, and Chris Kelsay added another if that helps.

Sunday, November 18, 2007: Patriots 56, Bills 10
Randy Moss and Brady had a nice little game of pitch and catch in this one. Moss finished with 10 catches for 128 yards and four touchdowns. Brady finished 31/39 with 373 yards and five touchdowns; hell Matt Cassel was even 2/2 passing. The Bills' defense should have stayed home for this one, as the Patriots embarrassed the Bills en route to a perfect 16-0 regular season.

Sunday, December 28, 2008: Patriots 13, Bills 0
This time, the Bills' defense showed up, actually holding the Patriots to just 13 points and only 241 total yards. The offense, however, thought they would stay home this time. Looking at the stats for this game, one would have to wonder what happened to the Bills in this one. They committed only one turnover, they were flagged for only three penalties and Fred Jackson rushed for 136 yards on 27 attempts. Trent Edwards finished 14/25 for 128 yards in one of the windiest games ever played at the Ralph.

In case you where curious, I added it up. The Patriots have outscored the Bills 163-40 in the last five games at the Ralph. Excuse me, I need to go vomit.

Opponent History: Buffalo Bills at Kansas City Chiefs

sireric — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 13:00:22 -0000

Buffalo Bills (4-8) at Kansas City Chiefs (3-9)
Sunday, December 13, 2009 at 1:00 PM EST
Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City, MO

Two long-time rivals get re-acquainted this week when the Buffalo Bills travel to Arrowhead Stadium to take on the Kansas City Chiefs. This will be the 41st all-time meeting between these two storied franchises, dating all the way back to November 6, 1960, when the Bills lost to the Dallas Texans 45-28 in their first-ever meeting. The Bills hold the all-time series lead 22-18, even with this being the sixth time in the last seven meetings that the Bills have had to travel to Kansas City. Recaps of the last five meetings between these two teams are after the jump.

November 19, 2000: Bills 21, Chiefs 17
Elvis Grbac and Tony Gonzalez beat up on the Bills' defense in this one. Grbac finished with 341 yards and two touchdowns, and those two touchdowns were both hauled in by Gonzalez, who had nine total catches for 76 yards and the two scores. The Bills countered with Rob Johnson. Yes, you read that correctly. Johnson only had 196 yards passing, but he did throw two touchdowns - one each to Jay Riemersma and Eric Moulds - and he was the leading rusher with 42 yards, including a score of his own. The rushing score came with under three minutes to play and gave the Bills the win. If you can believe this, Grbac was sacked more than Johnson, too. The Bills had five sacks - two each by Sam Rogers and Marcellus Wiley, and one by Keith Newman. Chris Mohr even hit Daryl Porter for a 44-yard gain on a fake punt.

November 17, 2002: Chiefs 17, Bills 16
Almost exactly two years to the day after their last meeting, the Chiefs again scored 17 points against the Bills; this time, however, their defense holds the Bills' offense to only 16 points in victory. In the battle of the running backs, Travis Henry got the better of Priest Holmes. Henry finished with 126 yards on 24 carries and added another 38 yards on four catches. It is a safe bet that he went out and fathered another child to celebrate his good day. Holmes finished with 104 yards on 31 carries and added 23 yards on three catches. Holmes, however, put the ball into the end zone, while Henry did not. Mike Hollis hit three field goals and Moulds brought in a nine-yard pass from Drew Bledsoe for a score, but it was a nine-yard scramble by the ever fleet-footed Trent Green that proved to be the decisive score. Chidi Ahanotu recorded the only Bills sack.

October 26, 2003: Chiefs 38, Bills 5
The Bills started the game by blocking a punt out of the end zone for a safety; it was pretty much all downhill from there. Three straight Kansas City touchdowns - two by Priest Holmes - would provide all the scoring Chiefs needed. After Rian Lindell hit a meaningless field goal, Gonzalez and that Holmes guy each scored to put the game away. Holmes was again out-rushed by Henry, 83 to 124 respectively, but again it was Holmes who put it in the end zone. Henry again fathered a child after the game as per his post-game ritual.

November 13, 2005: Bills 14, Chiefs 3
After Lawrence Tynes opened the scoring with a field goal for Kansas City, the Chiefs' offense went and hid. The Bills didn't do much better, and were in fact out-gained on the day 316-209. The Bills, however, benefited from two J.P. Losman-to-Lee Evans touchdown passes to get the win. The Bills sacked Green six times, with Aaron Schobel (2.0), Justin Bannan, Angelo Crowell, London Fletcher and Ryan Denney doing the honors.

November 23, 2008: Bills 54, Chiefs 31
Turnovers were the story of this game. The Chiefs had five turnovers and the Bills had none. Neither defense could stop the other offense, but Leodis McKelvin's two interceptions, one of which he took back 64 yards for a touchdown, helped put the Bills over the top. The Bills kicked the ball off eleven times. Think about that - when was the last time the Bills kicked the ball off ten or more times in a game? I also have to throw some love Trent Edwards' way. He had his best day as a pro in this game, completing 24 of 32 passes for 273 yards and two touchdown passes. He also scrambled for 38 yards and two more scores.

Mike Holmgren's Greatest Managerial Achievement

John Morgan — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 05:45:48 -0000

More photos » by Charlie Riedel - AP

Even in red, a Seahawk.

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Mike Holmgren selected Steve Hutchinson 17^th overall in the 2001 NFL Draft, seven picks after selecting Koren Robinson and 23 picks before he selected Ken Lucas. If Robinson could have kept off the bottle, that would have been a hell of a start to a draft. He swapped first round picks with Green Bay for Matt Hasselbeck, drafted Heath Evans, Alex Bannister, and John David Booty's older brother, Josh.

Holmgren built the 2005 offense that weekend. He won the draft. In a draft that produced someday Hall of Fame candidates: Richard Seymour, Drew Brees, LaDainian Tomlinson, Steve Hutchinson, Casey Hampton, Steve Smith, Reggie Wayne and Adrian Wilson, Holmgren won. The Panthers picked Dan Morgan, Kris Jenkins and Steve Smith with their first, second and third round selections, but still Holmgren's was better. He built the unit that would lead Seattle to its first and only Super Bowl.

Well, not quite.

The Bears cut Bobby Engram August 29 and Holmgren signed him August 31. Engram signed a two-year contract that paid him less than $500,000 annually. He was the 101^st highest paid receiver in 2001.

Engram received a 60k raise his second season and took on punt return duties to compensate. He averaged 10.7 yards per return and returned one to the house. That was the season Engram became the darling of Football Outsiders metrics. Targets to Engram ranked 26^th in total value and 13^th in value per target. He was ninth and second in 2003.

Holmgren struggled to fill out a roster and his teams were notoriously thin and talent poor defensively, but man did that man know early 21^st-century offense. He squeezed maximum value from slot receivers. Engram wasn't some schlub. He won the first ever Biletnikof trophy in 1994 and still holds most of Penn State's receiving records. Unlike Deon Butler, Engram wasn't a steady four-year starter with time to burn. Joe Paterno suspended him for the entire 1992 season after he was caught burglarizing an apartment and stealing a stereo with teammate Ricky Sayles. All charges were dropped against Engram after police determined Sayles convinced Engram the two were allowed to take the stereo.

The 1996 draft class included Keyshawn Johnson, Terry Glenn, Eddie Kennison, Marvin Harrison, Eric Moulds, Terrell Owens, Muhsin Muhammad, Amani Toomer and Joe Horn. Engram was the eighth wide receiver selected, behind Johnson, Glenn, Kennison, Harrison, Moulds, Alex Van Dyke, Bryan Still and Muhammad. Engram never broke through with the Bears, struggling to receive for 38 year old Dave Krieg, Eric Kramer, Rick Mirer, Steve Stentstrom, Cade "AIDS" McNown and Shane Matthews, but he was good. Engram ended his career with Chicago with consecutive seasons of over 900 yards receiving before an ACL tear ended his 2000 season.

Holmgren didn't cash in a high pick or find a serviceable safety in the second, the kind of feats any GM can stumble into, he did that thing that separates the best general managers from the merely competent: found freely available talent and turned it into a long term asset.

Engram is a free agent after Kansas City cut him earlier this season. His time with the Chiefs was a tornado-obliterated double wide in a Rolls Royce career. Or maybe an efficient Elise is more Bobby's style. His short stop in the nation's dust mite might and probably will end Engram's fourteen-year career.

But maybe week 17, should the Tennessee Titans be out of it, Seattle can IR Patrick Kerney and sign Engram for one last perfectly-timed, Hasselbeck-to-Engram curl route for eight and the first.

Opponent History: Buffalo Bills vs New York Jets

sireric — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 13:00:23 -0000

Buffalo Bills (4-7) vs New York Jets (5-6)
Thursday, December 3, 2009 at 8:20 PM EST
Rogers Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Woot! A Thursday night game! As this is a Thursday night game this week, I probably should have had this up sooner, but I didn't even think of that until just now, so that is why this gets posted now.

These two teams have a long history against each other, dating all the way back to 1960 when they first met. Fast forward 50 years, and this will be meeting No. 99 between these two franchises. The Bills hold the edge 54-44 all time, including a stretch from 1987 to 1992 where the Bills won ten straight games. The last five meetings between these two teams in Buffalo are after the jump.

Sunday, November 7, 2004: Bills 22, Jets 17
In what seems to be a common theme in Bills/Jets games, the Bills ground out 157 yards on the ground, spearheaded by Willis McGahee's 132 yards on 37 attempts - one for a touchdown. When the Bills have big days running the football against the Jets, they normally win. Lee Evans added a touchdown catch and Rian Lindell kicked two field goals; Big Pat Williams even tackled Curtis Martin in the end-zone for a safety. For the Jets, Chad Pennington got knocked out of the game, and former Cowboy Quincy Carter had to finish up. Carter hit Santana Moss for a 51-yard touchdown to make it close late, but the Bills held on for the win.

Sunday, October 16, 2005: Bills 27, Jets 17
Another Bills win over the Jets, another 177 rushing yards from Buffalo. McGahee was once again the workhorse with 143 yards on 29 attempts and a touchdown. Kelly Holcomb added two touchdown passes, one each to Jonathan Smith and Eric Moulds to help pace the Bills' scoring. This time, the Bills had Vinny Testaverde to go against, and the speed rushers of the Bills took advantage. (Please note use of sarcasm.) Ryan Denney (2.0), Tim Anderson (1.0), Sam Adams (1.0), and Angelo Crowell (1.0) all recorded sacks for the Bills.

Sunday, September 24, 2006: Jets 28, Bills 20
The Bills controlled time of possession and moved up and down the field with ease, but turnovers and costly penalties killed them. The Bills ran for 169 yards, once again led by Willis McGahee (who finished with 150 yards), and J.P. Losman even passed for 328 yards. A Victor Hobson fumble return for a touchdown and a key Losman interception gave the Jets the win. Chris Kelsay picked up the lone Bills sack.

Sunday, September 30, 2007: Bills 17, Jets 14
This was the starting debut of Trent Edwards. With the Bills holding a slim 10-7 lead halfway through the fourth quarter, Dick Jauron shows lots of faith in his young QB by going for it on a fourth and one. Jauron's faith was rewarded when Edwards hit Michael Gaines in the end zone for some much-needed insurance points. Less then four minutes later, Leon Washington crossed the goal line for the Jets to pull the Jets to within three points, but the Bills' defense would hold on for the win.

Sunday, November 2, 2008: Jets 26, Bills 17
After Jay Feely hit a field goal for the Jets, the Bills came back with a Derek Fine touchdown pass from Edwards to make it 7-3. It was all downhill from there. Feely hit two more field goals and Abram Elam's 92-yard pick six put the game away for the Jets. The Bills rushed for only 30 yards, and Kris Jenkins singlehandedly shut down the Bills' running game. Jabari Greer added a 42-yard pick six to make it look a little more respectable.

Opponent History: Buffalo Bills vs Miami Dolphins

sireric — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 13:00:15 -0000

Buffalo Bills (3-7) vs Miami Dolphins (5-5)
Sunday, November 29, 2009 at 1:00 PM EST
Ralph Wilson Stadium, Orchard Park, NY

The Buffalo Bills have begun to play division opponents for the second time. The first meeting this year had the Bills heading into Miami with high hopes for the season, while the Miami Dolphins had just lost Chad Pennington for the year and were still without a win. We all know how that match-up ended.

Chad Henne, he of the too-small helmet and scrunched up forehead, leads the Dolphins into Buffalo this week. The last five meetings at the Ralph after the jump.

Sunday, October 17, 2004: Bills 20, Dolphins 13
Drew Bledsoe. Jay Fiedler. Need I say more about the suck involved in this game? Both sides got a touchdown and two field goals out of their offenses, but the difference was a Takeo Spikes pick-six. The Bills' D came to play in this game, recording five sacks along the way. Aaron Schobel (2.5), Ron Edwards (2.0) and Pat Williams (0.5) did the honors. Other than that, there isn't a whole lot to tell.

Sunday, October 9, 2005: Bills 20, Dolphins 14
The score and date looks eerily similar to the year before. This time, the Bills jumped out to a 17-0 lead on the strength of a Willis McGahee one-yard touchdown run, an Eric Moulds touchdown from Kelly Holcomb, and a Rian Lindell 24-yard field goal. Gus Frerotte led the Dolphins back by hitting Will Heller and Randy McMicheal for scores to bring the Fish back to within three points. Lindell would hit his second field goal of the day to cap the scoring and help preserve the win for Buffalo. Chris Kelsay and Ryan Denney each had a sack in this game.

Sunday, December 17, 2006: Bills 21, Dolphins 0
J.P. Losman tossed three touchdown passes, one each to Robert Royal, Josh Reed, and Lee Evans. That was more then enough scoring, as the Bills' defense shout out the Cleo Lemon/Joey Harrington lead Dolphins offense. Schobel and Kelsay proved yet again that they are only effective against the Dolphins by getting another half-sack each.

Sunday, December 9, 2007: Bills 38, Dolphins 17
The Bills jumped out to a 21-0 lead thanks to a George Wilson fumble return for a touchdown and not one but two Trent Edwards-to-Robert Royal touchdown passes. Samkon Gado put the ball in the endzone for the Dolphins twice, but those scores sandwiched a Lindell field goal and an Evans touchdown catch. Evans would catch one more to continue his dominance over the Dolphins. Both Fred Jackson and Marshawn Lynch rushed for over 100 yards in this game. Being that Cleo Lemon was at QB for the Dolphins, this was of course a good day for the Bills' D numbers-wise. Four sacks and two interceptions (one each by Donte Whitner and Terrence McGee) added to the eight fumbles by the Dolphins. Of course, the Bills were only able to recover 3 of those 8.

Notice a pattern? The first two games had the Bills playing the Dolphins almost a year apart to the day and winning by almost identical scores. The second two have the Bills winning by identical margins (21) almost a year to the day apart. The dates are also the same - 17 and 9. Weird.

Sunday, December 7, 2008: Dolphins 16, Bills 3
The Bills' first-ever regular season game played in Toronto gave the Canadian fans quite the show. The Bills had almost nothing on offense that day, gaining only 163 total yards. J.P. Losman was the Bills leading rusher with 53 yards. Of course Losman offset his rushing prowess by getting sacked 4 times...

Opponent History: Buffalo Bills at Jacksonville Jaguars

sireric — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 12:50:01 -0000

Buffalo Bills (3-6) at Jacksonville Jaguars (5-4)
Sunday, November 22, 2009 at 1:00 PM EST
Jacksonville Municipal Stadium - Jacksonville, FL

This is a little later than we normally start to look at next week's opponent, but after the events of the past two days, it seemed appropriate to push it back a little bit. This will be the tenth meeting between the Bills and the Jaguars, including their first ever meeting in the 1996 AFC Wild Card playoff game. The Bills hold a 5-4 lead in the all-time series. This is also the fifth ever meeting to take place in Jacksonville, where the Bills hold a 3-1 victory edge. With the exception of two contests, these have been very close games, with the average margin of victory being a little over a touchdown. Recaps of last five meetings are after the jump.

Sunday, September 14, 2003: Bills 38, Jaguars 17
Completely unable to run the football, Drew Bledsoe and the Bills went to the air. Bledsoe passed for 314 yards and two touchdowns, while Travis Henry proved to be useful in the red zone by pushing in three goal line touchdowns to pace to Bills' offense. Alex Van Pelt even got into the game late and completed one pass for 14 yards. Eric Moulds had a nice day, with 7 catches for 133 yards and a touchdown.

Sunday, September 12, 2004: Jaguars 13, Bills 10
This was another good day for Moulds, but his 8 catches for 75 yards and a touchdown weren't enough. The Bills had a 10-6 lead in the closing seconds of the game, but Byron Leftwich hit Ernest Wilford in the back of the end zone as time expired to give the Jags the win. I remember that I couldn't watch this game, but I was watching a different game looking for updates. The scroll on CBS kept saying that the game was over and the Bills had won, so I was happy. When they showed the game break, I got really pissed.

Sunday, November 26, 2006: Bills 27, Jaguars 24
This time it was the Bills scoring as time expired to get the win. The Bills jumped out to a 17-7 lead on the strength of two Willis McGahee touchdown runs and a Rian Lindell field goal. The Jags pulled closer by adding a David Garrard-to-Marcedes Lewis touchdown pass to the Maurice Jones-Drew TD run they already had to make the score 17-14 at the half. After a Roscoe Parrish punt return for a touchdown and a Josh Scobee field goal, Garrard hit Matt Jones with 28 seconds left to tie the game up. But the Bills got into filed goal range in just 28 seconds, and Lindell hit a 42-yarder to give the Bills the win as the clock hit zeroes.

Sunday, November 25, 2007: Jaguars 36, Bills 14
This game was never really close. Fred Taylor and Jones-Drew combined for 124 yards and two touchdowns, and Josh Scobee hit five field goals as the Jags rolled over the Bills. Anthony Thomas and Roscoe Parrish found the end zone for the Bills as lone bright spots.

Sunday, September 14, 2008: Bills 20, Jags 16
This was probably the one game that I blame the high expectations from the previous year on the most. The Bills headed into heavily favored Jacksonville and pulled out a win. With the Jags leading 16-10 late in the fourth quarter, Trent Edwards hit James Hardy in the back of the end zone on a beautiful fade pass to give the Bills a 17-16 lead. Lindell added an insurance field goal to help seal it for the Bills. Buffalo would win their next two game to move to 4-0 on the season before starting a downward spiral that would crush all of our hearts.

Web Rumblings: Buffalo Bills Links, 11/16

MattRichWarren — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 12:31:10 -0000

More photos » by John Russell - AP

about 1 month ago: Tennessee Titans running back Alvin Pearman is pushed out of bounds by Buffalo Bills defenders Ashton Youboty (26) and John Wendling (21) in the first quarter of an NFL football game in Nashville, Tenn., Sunday, Nov. 15, 2009. (AP Photo/John Russell)

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Titans Owner Bud Adams Flipping The Bird : SPORTSbyBROOKS.com Video
Titans owner Bud Adams was seen giving the double finger salute to the Bills sideline during the game yesterday. Way to go. Pictures and video.

QB strategy amounts to convince and repeat : Jerry Sullivan : The Buffalo News
"That's what this seemed like — the slow, inexorable demise of another failed franchise quarterback."

Bills notebook: Juggled O-line drops the ball : The Buffalo News
The Bills' line committed five more false start penalties this week and had to shift guard Andy Levitre to LT when Demetrius Bell went down with an injury.

Game Recaps
Titans fourth quarter blitzes Bills | BuffaloBills.com
The recap of the game from Chris Brown at the team site.

Johnson express steamrolls over Bills : Buffalo Bills : The Buffalo News
Mark Gaughan focuses in on Chris Johnson in his postgame analysis.

Quarterly report: Bills-Titans : Buffalo Bills : The Buffalo News
The News' Mark Gaughan breaks down the Bills' 41-17 loss to the Titans quarter-by-quarter, analyzing statistics, key plays and more.

WGR 550 SportsRadio - Immediate Reactions, Wk10
Nick Mendola offers his reactions immediately following the Bills game when the pain is still fresh.

WGR 550 SportsRadio - Titans Rush Their Way To 41-17 Win Over Bills
The Buffalo Bills came out of their bye week with a 41-17 loss at the hands of the Tennessee Titans on Sunday afternoon at LP Field

Scott Pitoniak: Same old, same old for the sinking Bills
The Rochester writer gives his take on the collapse by the Bills in Tennessee.

Buffalo Bills fall apart in loss to Tennessee Titans | Democrat and Chronicle
Sal Maiorana takes us through the loss, punctuated with a Hall of Fame quote: "It's hard to watch," - Jim Kelly

Optimism tough after Buffalo Bills' latest fiasco | Democrat and Chronicle
More bullet points from Sal.

Buffalo Bills 2-minute read | democratandchronicle.com | Democrat and Chronicle
Sal Maiorana takes a look back to his Six Points to the game and answers the questions posed there.

Buffalo Bills report card | democratandchronicle.com | Democrat and Chronicle
Lots of "D" and "F" grades this week.

Revitalized Titans crush Bills in fourth quarter | Democrat and Chronicle
A quick game summary following the 41-17 loss.

Niagara Gazette - BILLS: Johnson leads Titans to 41-17 win
The AP recount of the Bills loss to the Titans.

Recap: Tennessee vs. Buffalo
The Sports Network gives its rundown of the game details.

Wrap-up: Titans 41, Bills 17 - AFC East Blog - ESPN
Buffalo lost 41-17 in a game that started out well but fizzled in the second half.

Bills Daily Gameday Grades
Here are the Bills fan site's position by position grades.

Bills-Titans report card : Buffalo Bills : The Buffalo News
As you might expect the grades for the Bills are "C" and worse.

Other Notes
Injury update – Inside The Bills
Demetrius Bell and Ashton Youboty will both be re-evaluated today after suffering injuries during the game yesterday.

Bills Problems Start With O-line | Ed Kilgore | wgrz.com
Sure, there is a long list of reasons a competitive game turned into a rout in the final few minutes, but as I see it, the dysfunctional o-line deserves to be singled out as the key reason this Bills season is going nowhere fast.

Bills' Owens shows frustration : Buffalo Bills : The Buffalo News
Allen Wilson looks back at T.O's performance against the Titans and his season overall.

Buffalo Bills NFL News Updates - CBSSports.com Rapid Reports
- With his touchdown reception at the 9:10 mark in the first quarter, Lee Evans has moved into sole possession of third place for most touchdowns (36) in franchise history. Only Andre Reed (86) and Eric Moulds (48) have more. Evans has a TD reception in each of the Bills' last three road games.
- With his interception at 5:21 in the second quarter off Titans QB Vince Young, Bills rookie FS Jairus Byrd has now tied Archie Matsos for the most INTs by a rookie/first-year player in franchise history with eight picks.
- Coach Dick Jauron on QB Trent Edwards' performance: "There was some good obviously, but some things that were missed. That's why in the last series, with the last three minutes, we decided to get Ryan (Fitzpatrick) out there." Edwards was 18-of-28 for 185 yards with one TD and one INT.

Opponent History: Buffalo Bills at Miami Dolphins

sireric — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 12:15:09 -0000

Buffalo Bills (1-2) at Miami Dolphins (0-3)
Sunday, October 4, 2009 at 4:05 PM ET
~~Joe Robbie~~ ~~Pro Player~~ Land Shark Stadium - Miami, FL

Make no mistake about it, folks: two very desperate football teams face off this Sunday in Miami. At 1-2 and 0-3, respectively, neither the Buffalo Bills nor the Miami Dolphins can afford to fall back any further off the pace being set by the red-hot New York Jets. With Chad Pennington gone for the season and Joey Porter possibly unavailable as well (keep your fingers crossed), this is an opportunity that the Bills need to take advantage of. Kick 'em while they're down, and kick them hard.

I am happy to report that, although it took until Week 4 to get there, we have finally come to a team that the Bills have a winning record against over their last five meetings. Keep in mind that since this is a division opponent, this post covers the last five times these two teams have played in Miami. Those last five meetings are re-visited after the jump.

December 5, 2004: Bills 42, Dolphins 32
Terrence McGee started this game by taking the opening kickoff 104 yards to the end zone for a very quick 7-0 lead. Drew Bledsoe would add four touchdown passes - two to Lee Evans (21, 69), one to Eric Moulds (30) and one to Tim Euhus (15) - to pace the Bills offensively. What seems amazing to me about this game is how on earth Miami scored 32 points, and totaled 403 yards on the day, while throwing five interceptions and losing two fumbles. McGee, Rashad Baker, Nate Clements, Takeo Spikes, and even Pat Williams recorded interceptions in this game. Williams returned his 20 yards for a score. Aaron Schobel and Chris Kelsay split a sack in this game. How does a defense play so well and so badly all in the same game? If not for Williams' pick-6 and McGee's return to open the game, the Bills could have conceivably recorded 7 turnovers and lost the game. Weird.

December 4, 2005: Dolphins 24, Bills 23
This is the game that Lee Evans and J.P. Losman were an unstoppable duo for the first quarter. Unfortunately, there were three more quarters to play, and the Bills' offense packed up and went home after the first 15 minutes. Losman hit Evans three times for scores of 46, 56, and 4 yards to give the Bills an early and commanding 21-0 after 12:46 had gone by in the game. Olindo Mare got Miami on the board with a 23-yard field goal; add a London Fletcher sack of Gus Frerotte in the end zone for a safety, and the Bills led 23-3 after three quarters. That's when the immortal Sage Rosenfels entered the game. Rosenfels engineered three scoring drives - ending in a Ricky Williams 5-yard TD run, and Ronnie Brown 23-yard TD catch and a 4-yard Chris Chambers TD grab that came with six seconds left on the clock - and Miami escaped with the win. Fletcher had two sacks on the day counting his safety, and Aaron Schobel had a sack and an interception.

September 17, 2006: Bills 16, Dolphins 6
This was the Daunte Culpepper sack-fest. The Bills sacked Culpepper seven times, with Ryan Denney (3.0) leading the way. Three Rian Lindell field goals of 33, 45, and 43 yards, as well as a Josh Reed touchdown reception from Losman, accounted for the scoring for the Bills. Losman only had 83 yards passing on the day, and Willis McGahee rumbled for 91 yards on 25 carries, but it was enough for the Bills. Angelo Crowell had a sack and an interception for the Bills.

November 11, 2007: Bills 13, Dolphins 10
During the Dolphins' horrible 1-15 season (stupid Ravens!), the Dolphins had enough in them to give the Bills a pretty big scare on this day. After a 38-yard Jay Feely field goal, a Chris Kelsay sack of Cleo Lemon for a safety, and a Lemon five-yard TD scramble, the Dolphins led the Bills 10-2 going into the fourth quarter. A Marshawn Lynch 3-yard "Beast Mode" touchdown and a "Beast Mode" two point conversion tied the game up with 9:46 to play. Exactly nine minutes later, Rian Lindell won the game for the Bills with a 34-yard field goal. After the game was over, a gigantic wind gust came out of the western New York area as Bills fans everywhere released the breath they were holding.

October 26, 2008: Dolphins 25, Bills 16
After Chad Pennington hit Anthony Fasano for a two-yard scoring pass giving the Dolphins a 7-0 lead, the Bills rattled off 16 straight points to go up 16-7. Rian Lindell hit on three field goals, and another Marshawn Lynch "Beast Mode" TD dive accounted for the Bills' points. After that, however, it was all Miami. Three Dan Carpenter field goals and a Ricky Williams TD run would have been enough, but for the third straight game between these two teams in Miami, there was a safety. This time it was Joey Porter stripping Trent Edwards in the end zone and Duke Preston falling up top of the ball first. Lee Evans had another huge day versus the Dolphins with seven catches for 116 yards. (Note to Lee Evans FF owners: Evans kills the Dolphins.)

Opponent History: Buffalo Bills at New England Patriots

sireric — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 11:47:55 -0000

Buffalo Bills (0-0) at New England Patriots (0-0)

Monday, September 14, 2009; 7 PM ET, Gillette Stadium

It's opening week of the NFL! Some of you are eagerly anticipating this weeks action like a giddy little 5-year-old kid at Christmas, while others are dreading this season like it is the bubonic plague. Whether you have high hopes or are a Negative Nancy, one thing is certain: it's time for some football, and in about 12 hours, the Titans and Steelers kick-off the show.

For those of you who were around last year, you might be familiar with this exercise. Every Wednesday (we're delayed a day thanks to MNF), I will be digging into the archives and reviewing the last five times the Bills have played their opponent for the upcoming Sunday (or Monday, or whatever other day). I need not remind any of you that the Bills' history versus the Patriots isn't pretty. I would therefore say that unless you are a masochist, really like me for some odd reason, or just can't get enough Buffalo Rumblings and feel you have to read everything, I might suggest staying away from the jump. It isn't pretty.

November 14, 2004: Patriots 29, Bills 6
The Bills offense racked up a pitiful 125 total yards. The Patriots, meanwhile, rolled for 428, including 208 of that on the ground. Adam Vinatieri kicked five field goals and Tom Brady tossed two touchdown passes, one to David Patten, the other to Christian Fauria. The Bills' lone bright spot was a Johnathan "Freddie" Smith 70 yard punt return; the team then doused those good feelings by failing to convert the two point try. Drew Bledsoe and J.P. Losman combined to throw four interceptions, get sacked three times and lose one fumble, while passing for 75 yards. I must throw this in for Kurupt: Chris Kelsay did record a sack of Brady in this game.

October 30, 2005: Patriots 21, Bills 16
After Rian Lindell kicked his third field goal of the game with 4:53 gone by in the fourth quarter, the Bills had a 16-7 lead. Two Corey Dillon one-yard touchdown plunges later, the Patriots came from behind to get the win. The Bills out-gained the Patriots 394 yards to 273, and even won the turnover battle three to one in this game. But 12, count them, 12 penalties for 74 yards hounded the Bills all night. Willis McGahee rushed for 136 yards and Eric Moulds had nine catches for 125 yards, including a 55-yard touchdown grab from Kelly Holcomb. The Bills nearly doubled the Patriots' time of possession (39:20 to 20:40), proving once again that it isn't how long you have the ball, but what you do when you have it that matters. Oh, and Chris Kelsay recorded a half-sack sack in this game.

September 10, 2006: Patriots 19, Bills 17
Yet another year when the Bills played the Patriots to start the season. On the strength of a London Fletcher five-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown, a Rian Lindell 53-yard field goal, and an 18-yard Anthony Thomas touchdown scamper, the Bills held a 17-7 lead at halftime. The Patriots defense shut down the Bills for the second half, and after a Stephen Gostkowski 32-yard field goal tied it up with with 9:33 left to play, the Pats defense came up with the winning score by sacking J.P. Losman in the end zone for a safety, Ty Warren doing the honors. You might not believe this, but Chris Kelsay recorded a sack in this game also.

September 23, 2007: Patriots 38, Bills 7
After Stephen Gostkowski opened the scoring with a 24-yard field goal, the Bills answered right back with a Marshawn Lynch 8-yard Beast Mode scoring plunge. It was all downhill after that. Vince Wilfork crashed through the Bills' line and hit Losman in the knee, kick-starting the Trent Edwards era in Buffalo Bills history. Randy Moss almost single-handedly downed the Bills, finishing with five catches for 115 yards and two touchdowns. Once again, the Bills' offense disappeared, although with an obviously-not-yet-ready Edwards at the controls, it is at least a little understandable, as they total a meager 193 yards on the day. The Patriots, on the other hand, got 177 yards just rushing, to go with the 485 total. Unfortunately, there was no Chris Kelsay sack to report; I think he started to regress.

November 9, 2008: Patriots 20, Bills 10
This game wasn't as close as the score indicates. The Patriots held a 20-3 lead with 1:57 left to play, when 15 seconds later Edwards hit James Hardy for his second career touchdown catch in what most would call "garbage time." The Bills' offense managed only 168 total yards of offense, and Trent was picked off twice. The Patriots, meanwhile, went for 370 yards, most of that by two guys: Wes Welker (10 catches, 107 yards) and BenJarvus Green-Ellis (26 carries for 105 yard and one TD). Positive note: the Bills held Randy Moss to -2 yards rushing on the day; he did make 5 catches for 53 yards, but we kept him in check on the ground. For the second straight game in Foxboro, Chris Kelsay failed to record a sack.

History of the Bills: 1999-2003

MattRichWarren — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 10:00:09 -0000

Eric Moulds (ESPN)

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Yeah, we know. Buffalo Bills training camp is ongoing. We'll have an open thread up for today's two practices - as well as a recap - but for now, enjoy reminiscing about Buffalo's last playoff appearance (and not necessarily the way that particular game ended).

1999 - Home Run Throwback
11-5 record, 2 of 5 in AFC East, 4 of 16 in AFC, 5 of 31 in NFL
The Cleveland Browns rejoined the league in 1999 and were added to the AFC Central. The Bills lost linebacker Chris Spielman, wideout Quinn Early, tight end Lonnie Johnson, and running back Darick Holmes in free agency. Buffalo selected Ohio State cornerback Antoine Winfield in the first round and in the second added wide receiver Peerless Price. The other major change to take place in 1999 was the expiration of the Rich Stadium naming rights deal. The Bills' home stadium had been named after Rich Foods for 25 years - ever since the move from The Rockpile. The stadium was renamed Ralph Wilson Stadium in honor of team founder and President Ralph Wilson, Jr.

1999 was a season that will live on in infamy as long as the Buffalo Bills remain an NFL franchise, and forever in the city. Right now, it's the last time the Bills made a trip to the playoffs, and the way in which their season ended remains one of the most famous and controversial plays in NFL history.

On the first play of the year Thurman Thomas suffered an internal injury and was lost for the first ten games of the year. After losing the opening game to the division rival Colts and Peyton Manning, the Bills won three straight games on the back of the defense. 17-3 over the Jets, 26-0 over the Eagles, and forcing three turnovers in a 23-18 win in Miami. The offense stepped up the following week gaining 365 yards in a win over the Steelers to push the record to 4-1. Doug Flutie enjoyed an outstanding day completing 21 of 32 passes for 261 yards and 3 TDs while adding another 39 yards on 7 rushes. The next two weeks saw Buffalo's offense sputter. Flutie threw an interception on the first play of week 6 en route to three on the day in a loss to the Raiders. The next week was not any better with WR Eric Moulds, TE Jay Riemersma, OG Ruben Brown, LB John Holecek, and DE Phil Hansen all out with injuries. Flutie threw two more picks, lost a fumble, and completed only 24 of his 50 passes in the Bills second straight loss, dropping them to 4-3. Buffalo's defense turned the tide the next week in another difficult week for Flutie. It was the quarterback's third straight week with three turnovers but the defense held the Ravens in check and the Bills squeaked out a win. The next week the offense played mistake-free football and the defense was dominant and the Bills beat the Redskins holding the team to 19 minutes of possession. The next week the Bills beat Miami 23-3 to improve to 7-3, only a half game behind the Dolphins (whose only two losses had come to the Bills) and Colts for the division lead. But a loss to the 3-6 Jets knocked the Bills back down to 7-4 before a win before the bye brought them back up to 8-4, a full two games behind the streaking Colts. After the late bye, desperately needed for Buffalo with their top three running backs ailing, the Bills gave the Giants everything they could handle before a defensive stand and last-minute field goal gave the Giants a 19-17 win. The 8-5 Bills were now three games behind Indianapolis with three to play and tied with the Dolphins a Wild Card berth. After a victory in Arizona the Bills were 9-5 with New England coming to town. The Colts had also won, thus clinching the AFC East crown. Buffalo was playing for a wild card spot. In a dramatic but low-scoring game, the Patriots and Bills slugged it out to a 10-10 tie with six seconds remaining. The Bills knew their playoff chances were good win or lose but a win would lock it up. Patriots kicker Adam Vinatieri pushed the kick wide right but had another chance in overtime to win with a 44-yard attempt. This one fell short and Buffalo marched down the field for the winning Steve Christie kick. It clinched a wild card spot for Buffalo and in the final game of the season Buffalo's backups beat Indianapolis in a meaningless game for the Bills to run Buffalo's record to 11-5 and drop Indy to 13-3. Indianapolis had clinched the AFC East but was still fighting with Jacksonville who won in week 17 and gained home field advantage with a 14-2 record. In the final game, quarterback Rob Johnson got his only start of the year. Andre Reed passed Art Monk that day to rank second in career receptions, passed Steve Largent to rank fourth in career receiving yardage, and recorded his 50th catch of the year to give him his 13th career season with 50+ catches tying Jerry Rice for the NFL record.

After leading the Bills to a 10-5 record and resting in the final game of the season, Wade Phillips stunned the football world when he named Rob Johnson the team's starter for the playoff game against the Tennessee Titans (formerly the Houston Oilers franchise). Johnson's first mistake was a Jevon Kearse strip/sack in the end zone which resulted in a safety. After the kick the Titans marched down the field and scored on a Steve McNair touchdown run giving them a 9-0 lead. After a controversial replay moved a ball spot giving the Titans a first down, Tennessee advanced into Buffalo territory at the end of the first half but mercifully missed a field goal and leaving the halftime score 12-0 in favor of the Titans. Buffalo's offense responded in the second half scoring a touchdown on the first drive to make it a 12-7 Titan lead and another Buffalo score gave Buffalo a 13-12 lead after the two-point conversion failed. An Al Del Greco field goal put Tennessee back on top 15-13 with only 1:48 to play. With no timeouts and little time Buffalo's offense executed a two-minute offense to near-perfection and Johnson threw a 19-yard completion to Peerless Price without his shoe on to put Buffalo into field goal range. Steve Christie knocked home the field goal with 16 seconds left. On the ensuing kickoff Titans tight end Frank Wycheck was given the ball by the fielder and ran to his left before turning and firing the ball across the field to wide receiver Kevin Dyson. Dyson returned the kick 75 yards for the game-winning TD. The play was reviewed by replay where it was confirmed to be a lateral and not a forward pass. The homerun throwback, later dubbed the "Music City Miracle", handed Buffalo it's last playoff loss to date. Longtime special teams coach Bruce DeHaven was made the scapegoat and fired after coaching the Bills since 1986.

Buffalo's rushing offense was very good in 1999. They ranked 8 in rushing yards behind 695 from Jonathan Linton who played in several games for an injured Antowain Smith who was second on the team with 614 yards. Doug Flutie added 476 and Thurman Thomas contributed 152 in only three starts and five games in his last year as a Bill. Flutie also threw for the most yards by a Bills QB (3171) since Jim Kelly in 1993 and ranked in the top ten in completions, attempts, yards, and passing touchdowns. Eric Moulds led the team in receiving for the second time catching 65 passes for 994 yards, The Bills defense finished first in the league allowing only 4045 yards and second in points with 229 points allowed, an average of less than 14 points a game. Fullback Sam Gash (with no rushes on the year) and guard Ruben Brown were the only two Bills selected to the Pro Bowl. The Bills did not add a player to the Wall of Fame in 1999 but added longtime trainer Ed Abramoski. Abramoski was head trainer for Buffalo from 1960 (when he accompanied Ralph WIlson from Detroit) until 1995. In 1999 the second Bills player was selected to the Hall of Fame as AFL era guard BIlly Shaw joined O.J. Simpson in Canton. Shaw is the only player inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame without ever playing for the NFL. He was named to eight AFL All-Star teams and was a member of the all-time AFL team.

2000 - End of an Era
8-8 record, 4 of 5 in AFC East, 9 of 16 in AFC, 17 of 31 in NFL
The Bills had severally mortgaged their future salary cap space for one last go in 1999. On a sad day in Buffalo history, the Bills released Thurman Thomas, Andre Reed, and Bruce Smith two days after the Music City Miracle. Thomas hadn't been the leading rushing since 1996, Reed hadn't been the leading receiver in two seasons, and Smith had his lowest single-season sack total since his rookie year (outside of his injury-filled five-game 1991 season). Other salary cap cuts were fullback Sam Gash, and a host of defensive players including Kurt Schulz. The Bills hoped to restock via the draft but were disappointed by the haul. Defensive end Eric Flowers was supposed to replace Smith but had only four sacks in his two years in Buffalo. Travares Tillman was brought in to replace Schultz and played only two years in Buffalo as well. LB Corey Moore, WR Avion Black, RB Sammy Morris, DE Leif Larsen, and WR Drew Haddad and LB DaShon Polk all failed to make large impacts in Buffalo. Both quarterbacks, Doug Flutie and Rob Johnson, entered training camp with legitimate shots at being the starting QB in 2000. Ultimately Flutie would tear his groin in the preseason and Johnson won the job.

To open the 2000 season the Bills played host to the same Tennessee Titans that had knocked them out of the playoffs the year before on a questionable call. This time, the Bills would avoid a late-game charge by the Titans and back-up quarterback Alex Van Pelt, in for an injured Rob Johnson, led the Bills to a 16-13 win. In week 2 Johnson bounced back and led the Bills to a victory over the Green Bay Packers. In week three the Bills turned it over four times in a loss to the division-rival Jets. After the bye the team lost two straight games to the Colts and Dolphins before a last-second field goal in regulation and a Doug Flutie-led field goal drive in overtime beat the Chargers. It was Flutie's first appearance of the year due to his injury. The next week Flutie started for Buffalo but they ran into the juggernaut Vikings offense and lost a high-scoring affair 31-27. The Bills then beat the Jets at home on a last-second Christie field goal, 23-20. The following week Christie tied it again on the final play of regulation and in overtime booted through the game-winner. The following week Flutie once again started for the Bills against Chicago. The Bills knocked the Bears' QB from the game and third-string Shane Matthews came in and turned the ball over four times. Just before the end of the first half Johnson was inserted under center to test his injured shoulder. He led the team on a field goal drive and took the lead before going back to the bench to start the second half. Flutie came back in at the start of the second half and led the team to a touchdown in the second half and the defense thoroughly dominated the Bears' offense in a big win for Buffalo to move them to 6-4 on the year. Rob Johnson started the next week and scored a diving touchdown with under three minutes left to lift the Bills to a victory and a 7-4 record. They were one game behind the Dolphins and tied with the Jets and Colts in the AFC East but lost to the Buccaneers in a game where they outgained Tampa Bay 433 to 180 but still lost by two touchdowns. The Dolphins could now clinch the division by beating the Bills and a 24-0 halftime lead all but ensured it. After two straight losses to Bills were now 7-6 and in danger of missing the playoffs. At 16-6 late in the third quarter of the next game against the Colts, Rob Johnson was sacked by former Bill Jeff Burris. Johnson fumbled and Indianapolis ran it in to go up 23-6 and held on to win 44-20 in a wild second half. The loss eliminated the Bills from the playoff chase with their third straight defeat. An Adam Vinetiari kick in overtime handed the Bills their fourth straight loss in a game where Rob Johnson was once again knocked out due to injury. After the game Ralph Wilson fired G.M. John Butler. A season-ending rout of the Seahawks led by Flutie evened the Bills' record at 8-8. After the season, Wade Phillips refused to make changes to his coaching staff and was fired.

The Bills offense clicked under Johnson, who threw for 177 yards a game and 12 touchdowns in his 12 games but the team was only 4-7 in games he started. He was sacked 49 times (third-most in the league) in only 11 starts, a rate of 4.5 a start. Flutie went 4-1 as a starter but averaged only 154 yards a game. Together the two combined for over 3800 passing yards and 20 touchdowns, both would have been top ten in the league. While they were a top ten offense, the scoring didn't mesh with the yardage and the Bills fell to 20 in points scored. The defense under coach Phillips was once again remarkable, allowing the third-fewest yards. But like the offense the defense numbers didn't mesh. The defense ranked 18 in points allowed despite the low yardage totals. Once again no Bill rushed for more than 600 rushing yards with Shawn Bryson leading the way toting the rock for 591 yards. One very bright spot on the offense was Eric Moulds who caught a then-team record 94 receptions for 1326 yards (second-most in team history) and five scores. Defensive end Marcellus Wiley led the defense with 10.5 sacks and linebacker Sam Cowart had 88 tackles to go with his 5.5 sacks, two interceptions, and two fumble recoveries.

Wide receiver Eric Moulds, guard Ruben Brown, nose tackle Ted Washington, and linebacker Sam Cowart were selected to the Pro Bowl and Cowart and Brown were second team All-Pro selections. Two AFL names joined the Bills Wall of Fame in 2000 as offensive lineman Bob Kalsu and safety Geroge Saimes were added. Kalsu was honored for holding down the fort at right guard in his rookie campaign before leaving the team to serve and die for his country in Vietnam. Saimes was a standout in the Bills' defensive backfield on both AFL Championship squads and was selected to the All-time AFL defensive team.

2001 - Salary Cap Prison
3-13 record, 5 of 5 in AFC East, 16 of 16 in AFC, 29 of 31 in NFL
After firing John Butler and Wade Phillips, Ralph Wilson needed to find a new general manager and coach. First he selected Tom Donahoe to fill the GM spot. Donahoe had led the Steelers to perennial appearances in the playoffs as general manager and was greeted with open arms by Buffalo fans. Donahoe's first act was to hire Titans defensive coordinator Gregg Williams as head coach. Donahoe inherited a team $5M over the salary cap and major changes were needed. After a substantial evaluation of the roster by Williams and Donahoe they parted ways with Doug Flutie to save $5M. Linebacker John Holecek, defensive end Marcellus Wiley, and kicker Steve Christie all joined Flutie in San Diego where Butler was hired following his release from Buffalo. Other cap casualties were RB Antowain Smith, RB Jonathan Linton, OL Jamie Nails, DT Ted Washington, P Chris Mohr, and safety Henry Jones. The Bills' draft was better than the previous year. After the Bills traded their top pick to the Bucs and moving down in the process they selected cornerback Nate Clements. (Tampa Bay selected Kenyatta Walker - not exactly an all-world tackle.) In the second round Buffalo used their pick on defensive end Aaron Schobel and the pick from Tampa to select running back Travis Henry. All eleven draft picks made the final roster after the salary purge and the complete overhaul of the roster. The only major free agent addition was fullback Larry Centers and the Bills signed a punter from NFL Europe named Brian Moorman.

Buffalo began the year with four straight losses of two touchdowns or more. It was obviously a rebuilding year with a new coach and several new players. To make matters worse the Bills lost Pro Bowl linebacker Sam Cowart in the season opener with an Achilles tear. He would be gone for the season. Rob Johnson also could not stay healthy and left both the week 3 game against Pittsburgh and the week 4 game against the Jets giving way to Alex Van Pelt. After the bye week Buffalo won their first game 13-10 over the Jaguars. The next week Buffalo would travel to San DIego to play several former mates. Doug Flutie scrambled on a broken play and scored the winning touchdown in a 27-24 loss for Buffalo that included a blocked field goal at the end of regulation. The next week saw Payton Manning run a 33-yard naked bootleg for a score in a loss to the Colts and continued Buffalo's losing streak. The streak went a total of six games mostly without the services of quarterback Rob Johnson. Three were one score games and the final was a 35-0 shutout at the hands of San Francisco in a game where the team committed five turnovers. A one point win against the 1-11 Panthers gave Buffalo an ugly 2-10 record. Following two three-point losses the Bills got their final win of the season defeating the New York Jets 14-9 capitalizing on the Jets' three turnovers. A week 17 loss in Miami with third string quarterback Travis Brown at the helm dropped the Bills to a miserable 3-13 record.

Alex Van Pelt and Rob Johnson both started 8 games for the Bills in 2001. Van Pelt threw more passes, had more passing yards, and threw far more touchdowns than Johnson. Van Pelt also had a better winning percentage (2-6 to 1-7) as starter. Both the offense and defense were in the bottom five in scoring. Ultimately it was a forgettable year for Bills players. Some moral victories could be had in Travis Henry's rookie performance gaining 729 yards in 12 starts and Eric Moulds and Peerless Price both gaining close to 900 yards through the air. Rookie corner Nate Clements started 11 games and had three interceptions and fellow rookie Aaron Schobel tallied 6.5 sacks. The future was looking all right but the present was pretty awful. Offensive coordinator Mike Sheppard was fired after a single season on the job, replaced by Kevin Gilbride. Fullback Larry Centers and guard Ruben Brown were named to the Pro Bowl. (preseason cuts DT Ted Washington and DE Marcellus Wiley also made the squad.) During the season, Jim Kelly and Fred Smerlas were added to the Bills Wall of Fame. Kelly ranks number one in every major passing category in Bills history and at the time held every major single-season record as well. Smerlas was a great defensive tackle for Buffalo in the 1980s and played 155 straight games, the second-longest streak in team history. On a completely different tone from the season, former Bills coach Marv Levy was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame prior to the 2001 season. Levy is the winningest coach in team history (123 wins), led the Bills to 8 playoff appearances in 11 years, and currently ranks 17 on the list of all-time wins. He became the third Bill to earn enshrinement joining players O.J. Simpson and Billy Shaw.

2002 - Escape from Salary Cap Prison
8-8 record, 4 of 4 in AFC East, 10 of 16 in AFC, 17 of 32 in NFL
For coach Williams' second season the Bills made several key changes. Kevin Gilbride came in as the new offensive coordinator. DE Phil Hansen retired and the Bills cut some dead weight from the roster by releasing injury-prone QB Rob Johnson and former top pick DE Erik Flowers. LB Sam Cowart also did not re-sign after missing 2001 with an Achilles injury. Now that they had some salary cap space, the team also brought in some free agents signing Rams linebacker London Fletcher and Broncos OL Trey Teague. On draft day Buffalo selected massive Texas tackle Mike Williams fourth overall. In the second they picked WR Josh Reed and traded up to pick DE Ryan Denney before selecting Coy Wire in the third. Prior to day two of the draft Buffalo sent the Bills 2003 first round pick to New England in exchange for QB Drew Bledsoe. Bledsoe had become expendable with the emergence of Tom Brady the year before. The NFL also had a notable addition with the arrival of the Houston Texans. A division was added in each conference and both conferences were re-aligned. The Seahawks moved to the NFC. The Colts moved from the AFC East to the newly created AFC South leaving Buffalo, New York, Miami, and New England as the four teams in the division.

In the season opener, the Bills special teams could not compete giving up two kickoff return touchdowns including the game-winner in overtime to the Jets. Week 2 saw overtime as well but this time a Bledsoe to Price 48-yard bomb won it for Buffalo in the extra session. After a loss to the Broncos in week 3 the Bills found themselves in overtime again vs. Chicago. This one would end favorably and Drew Bledsoe's dump off to Travis Henry turned into a 28-yard touchdown reception. After a shootout loss to eventual AFC Champion Oakland the Bills got back on the winning track beating the expansion Texans and followed that with wins against Miami and Detroit. The 5-3 Bills then took on the defending champion Patriots in a highly anticipated game featuring Drew Bledsoe facing his old mates. Unfortunately Brady had four touchdown passes inlcuding two to former Bill Antowain Smith in a Patriot rout. Following the bye the once-hot Bills lost by one to Kansas City to even their record at 5-5. After a loss to the Jets the Bills were in real danger of completely collapsing but Bledsoe would have none of it. The next week against Miami he threw for 306 yards and three touchdowns as the Bills knocked out quarterback Ray Lucas to get a win over visitng Miami. Buffalo won despite a huge game from Ricky Williams, who carried 27 times for 228 yards and two scores. The following week Bledsoe threw four INTs against his old club and New England beat Buffalo 24-17 in a game that was never really that close. At 6-7 heading into week 15 the Bills needed to win out to have any chance at the playoffs. With Doug Flutie and the Chargers coming to town the Bills had to be ready. After Flutie tied the score in the fourth quarter Travis Henry ran in the winning score and Buffalo at 7-7 was still on playoff life support. That is until Vonnie Holliday sacked Bledsoe five times, forcing three fumbles in a 10-0 loss to Green Bay that eliminated Buffalo from the playoffs. The final week saw the Bills hand the Bengals their 14th loss of the year and even Buffalo's record at 8-8.

Bledsoe had a monster year throwing for the most yards in team history (4,359, second in the NFL) on the most completions (375) and attempts (610). He also endured the most sacks in team history (54). The Bills' passing offense ranked fifth in the league and overall the Bills offense was 11. Travis Henry rushed for 1438 yards, the most by a Bills running back since Thurman Thomas in 1992. Eric Moulds set a team record that still stand with 100 receptions and Peerless Price matched the previous team record with 94 receptions. Both also exceeded 1250 yards; Moulds with 1292 and 10 touchdowns, Price with 1252 and 9 TDs. The defense, Williams specialty in Tennessee, was still giving up too many points ranking 27 of 32 in scoring defense. With the potent offense if the defense had been more capable this team could have gone places. Drew Bledsoe, Travis Henry, Eric Moulds, and Ruben Brown were named to the Pro Bowl. Moulds and Brown were second team All-Pros. In 2002 the Bills added Super Bowl center Kent Hull to the Wall of Fame. Hull retired after the 1996 season. Also prior to 2002 the Hall of Fame welcomed QB Jim Kelly as a first-ballot Hall of Famer. Kelly joined O.J. Simpson and Billy Shaw as the only Bills players to gain enshrinement. Coach Marv Levy is also enshrined in the Hall of Fame.

2003 - Regression
6-10 record, 4 of 4 in AFC East, 9 of 16 in AFC, 20 of 32 in NFL
After winning five more games in 2002 than 2001 and featuring one of the most potent offenses in the league, you'd think the Bills would continue improving in 2003. The biggest weakness in 2002 was the defense and to aide in improving that weakness Buffalo brought in fired Bengals coach Dick LeBeau as a defensive consultant and assistant head coach. They also added players to their linebacker corps signing Jeff Posey when free agency opened and later inking LeBeau's former defensive terror in Cincinnati, Takeo Spikes. To help the run stopping ability of the defense the Bills signed massive defensive tackle Sam Adams. On offense, Peerless Price was a free agent but Tom Donahoe franchised the wideout before trading him to Atlanta for a first round pick to replace the one dealt for Bledsoe. Donahoe also traded for tight end Mark Campbell (to replace Jay Remiersma) and signed fullback Sam Gash (to replace the departed Larry Centers). To finally solve the revolving door that had existed at kicker since the release of Steve Christie in 2000, Buffalo signed kicker Rian Lindell. With the first-round pick they acquired from Atlanta, Buffalo selected injured Miami running back Willis McGahee. McGahee had been injured in the national championship game and wouldn't even be able to play in 2003. To add to the question marks, Buffalo had a top-flight running back in Travis Henry. In later rounds the Bills added DE Chris Kelsay, LB Angelo Crowell, and DB Terrence McGee. Just prior to the start of the season the Patriots cut safety Lawyer Milloy and the Bills swooped in and signed the Pro Bowler.

In the opening week Milloy would get a chance to stick it to his former team. He recorded a sack and an interception to go along with five tackles in a 31-0 blowout win. Sam Adams also had a memorable play. Adams dropped into pass coverage on a zone blitz, one of LeBeau's favorites, and picked off a Tom Brady pass. Adams rumbled, and I mean rumbled, in for the 37-yard interception return touchdown. Brady threw four picks on the day. In Week 2 the Bills kept rolling, running over Jacksonville with three Henry TD runs and two Bledsoe touchdown passes. The offense was great in the first two games but in week 3 Miami shut down Gilbride with a running game on Ricky Williams' back. Williams carried 42 times for 153 yards and Miami held the ball for 41 minutes. Buffalo's only points came on a Nate Clements INT return. With their two top running backs out with injuries, Buffalo fell to Philadelphia the next week and evened their record at 2-2. Henry returned the next week, playing through pain, and scored the winning touchdown in overtime against the Bengals. The following week Buffalo was manhandled by the winless Jets, scoring only 3 points and committing four turnovers. But Henry and the Bills would bounce back the next week beating Washington before falling to Kansas City the next week. Buffalo quarterbacks were picked off five times and the team committed seven turnovers in the loss and entered the bye 4-4. Drew Bledsoe's woes continued and in the game following the bye his longest pass was 18 yards and he was sacked three times in another Bills loss. The Bills offense was a no-show again the next week, failing to score a TD for the third straight week in a 12-10 loss to Houston. Buffalo scored a touchdown against the Colts but still lost 17-14, falling to 4-7 on the year. The cries for Williams' job that had already begun grew louder. A seventeen-point second quarter and three Schobel sacks in week 13 helped the Bills rout the Giants 24-7. At home against the Jets the Bills won again, raising their record to 6-7 on the back of another stellar performance by the dinged Travis Henry. A failed two point conversion at the end of the fourth quarter helped Tennessee hand Buffalo their eighth loss on the year and the Bills lost two more to finish the year 6-10. The Bills mustered only 3 points in Week 16 and in a rematch with the Patriots, New England returned the season-opening favor and beat Buffalo by the same score, 31-0, that the Bills had earlier in the year. Following the season the entire Bills coaching staff was dismissed, despite Buffalo climbing to the second ranked defense.

On the year Drew Bledsoe led the NFL with 49 sacks which led to Alex Van Pelt and Travis Brown appearing in 8 games total. The offense that was great the year before fell to 30 in points and yards.Bledsoe threw for only 2860 yards and threw more interceptions (12) than touchdowns (10). Travis Henry was once again solid on the ground going for 1356 yards and ten touchdowns. On defense, Aaron Schobel compiled 11.5 sacks to help the defense ranked second in yards and fifth in points. Guard Ruben Brown and linebacker Takeo Spikes represented Buffalo in the Pro Bowl. Bills linebacker Darryl Talley was added to the Wall of Fame in 2003. Talley never missed a game in his twelve years in Buffalo and played on all four Super Bowl teams. He is the Bills' all-time leading tackler with 1,137 and averaged 120 tackles a season. His 188 games for Buffalo ranks fifth in team history. Prior to the 2003 campaign two former Bills were slected for enshrinement in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Joining fellow lineman Billy Shaw was Electric Company guard Joe Delamielleure. Joe D. opened some huge holes for O.J. Simpson (another Bills Hall of Famer) and was a six-time All-Pro. Joe D. was also a member of the 1970s All-Decade team. The other Bill to be elected was wide receiver James Lofton. Lofton played in Buffalo for four years and while in town became the all-time leading receiver in NFL history.

Next week we finish up our look back at the first fifty years of the Bills with a look at the recent past under coaches Mike Mularkey and Dick Jauron. The Bills begin playing games in Toronto but struggle to make the playoffs.