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Bills Win Ugly 27-24 In OT  Bills Win...Ugly: It was the worst game the team played all year. Rob Johnson threw a pick and fumbled. The offensive line stunk again. The defense gave up two long scoring passes, and the Bills squandered a 10 point lead in the first half against one of the two worst teams in the league. Yet, somehow the Bills managed a victory behind two Steve Christie field goals and the outstanding play of Eric Moulds. Doug Flutie came off the bench for the injured Johnson in overtime and led the Bills down to the winning score. Complete Analysis. Secondary and Offensive Line Weak: The secondary had their worst game of the season and the offensive line had yet another horrendous outing. The unit that probably was the worst in the game however, was the coaching staff. They didn't have the team ready for the game and that was obvious in this ugly win. Gameday Grades. Johnson Latest: The latest news on the Rob Johnson is similar to the first reports. He will miss two or three games with his separated shoulder. He hopes to be able to begin throwing next week. Johnson spoke to the media today and partially blamed the artificial turf for the extent of the injury. Coach Phillips seems to be committed to returning to Johnson as the starter no matter how Doug Flutie performs. Of course, we've heard that before in 1998 when Flutie replaced in injured Johnson and didn't give the job back until the end of last season. Johnson Injury Update: The Bills starting quarterback separated his throwing shoulder in overtime when he was hit after the throw by Neil Smith. He is expected to miss 2-4 weeks. This is once again Flutie's team for the next few weeks at least. It will be interesting to see how he plays behind this offensive line. Flutie seems to thrive on chaos and this offense certaintly causes that. There were no other glaring injuries to come out of the game. Injury Page. Saturday October 14, 2000 Early Inactives: The Bills will once again be without the services of Jay Riemersma and Corey Moore against the Chargers as expected. They are two of the four early inactives announced by the Bills on Friday. The other two inactives is injured defensive end Shawn Price and tackle Jon Carman. Game Sold Out: The Bills have sold out their fourth straight home game of the season and now have had the blackout lifted for the 12th time in the last 13 home games. The next home game against Chicago will have a tough time selling out however. Friday October 13, 2000 Injury Update: The Bills have added three players to their injury report and one of them may not be available on Sunday. Bill Conaty has a groin strain and is listed as questionable. If he can't play, Joe Panos will back up Jerry Ostroski at Center. Doug Flutie and Phil Hansen were also added as probable with minor injuries and should be available. Injury Report. Common Threads: The Bills and Chargers are both desperate for a win when they hook up on Sunday. The Chargers are winless and the Bills are on a three game losing streak. The two clubs have a lot more in common than just their desperation for a win. The Bills press release lists 17 connections between the two teams that haven't met in Buffalo in 15 years. Among the most interesting links: Rob Johnson played for Chargers coach Mike Riley at USC. Doug Flutie and Jim Harbaugh were teammates way back in 1987 in Chicago. Also, Antowain Smith and Chargers RB Robert Chancey were little league and high school teammates. John Holecek and Chargers Safety Rodney Harrison were also high school teammates. Thursday October 12, 2000 Bills Get Extension: With less than 700 tickets left for Sunday's game the Bills got a 24 hour extension from the league in order to get rid of them and lift the blackout. The club cites Monday's holiday as a reason for the extension. Look for the blackout to be lifted sometime tommorow. This will be the 12th home game televised in the last 13 home games. Players Only Meeting: The veterans have had enough, and they called a players only meeting to try to right the ship after three straight losses. Some of the veterans talking included Phil Hansen, Henry Jones, Ruben Brown, and John Fina. One of the things being discussed is simplifying the offensive gameplan and getting back to basics instead of using a number of different formations. The players are hoping the meeting will give them a spark. Chargers QB Rotation: The Chargers have decided to use two QBs on Sunday. Jim Harbaugh will start but Moses Moreno will play the second quarter. After that, the second half is up in the air. Wednesday October 11, 2000 Injury Update: The Bills have listed Jay Riemersma as doubtful on the official injury report and he probably won't play on Sunday. Corey Moore is giving it a go in practice today and has a shot at playing. One slight surprise on the injury report is Shawn Price his knee is bothering him again and he is not practicing today. Injury Report. Bills Prepare For Chargers: This is a must win game for the Bills and it is a game that they can't lose. The winless Chargers come to town and there is no way the Bills can be looking past them since they are coming off three losses in a row of their own. If they somehow manage to lose this game, the season is over. Complete Preview. Kick Returns Latest: There may be something tricky brewing with the returns team this week. Special Teams coach Ronnie Jones said that he has "drawn up a play that gives us a good chance at a big return." So it will be interesting to watch the return game, maybe a reverse is on the horizon? The Bills will stick with Chris Watson as the main return man despite poor results so far. Tuesday October 10, 2000 Deadline Passes: The trading deadline ended today at 4:00pm without the Bills making any moves. That wouldn't surprise anybody, but there was speculation of the Bills possibly trading Antowain Smith since his agent asked for a trade. Chargers Game Closing In: Sunday's game is 1,500 seats away from a sell out. They need to sell those tickets before 1:00 on Thursday for the blackout to be lifted. When this game eventually sells out, it will be the fourth straight sell out this season. Bills Daily will be at the game and have it's usual gameday report on Monday night! Trading Deadline: 4:00 this afternoon the trading deadline will pass in the NFL. It usually passes with a whimper and we don't expect the Bills to make any moves. The agent for Antowain Smith is making noise, asking the Bills to trade his client. Smith has been active but did not play in the last two games and a trade is possible, although not likely. His stock isn't very high but there are teams that need a back. With the way the Bills running back corousel has been, there is always the chance that Smith will end up being the number one back again with the Bills. Monday October 9, 2000 Phillips Comments: The coach re-iterarated his post game comments by saying the club played poorly in the first half and better in the second half. He thought they would win it in the end but didn't. He feels the team is off to a tough start this season and they have to start winning now, starting with this week's game coming up. The coach was not happy with the many missed assignments that they had in the game. On the topic of the offensive line, the coach things they "will be alright". He feels everyone wants to blame the line for all the problems and that isn't fair. Injury Update: Coach Phillips said it looks like Rob Johnson will be able to practice this week and play on Sunday against San Diego. It is the status quo with the tendinitis in his elbow and it was a bit numb, so he couldn't throw for the moment. John Fina left the game in the final moments but is alright. On the other injured players, The coach doesn't feel that Jay Riemersma won't play this week but Corey Moore has a chance to play. Injury Page. Tight End Coach Goes To Hospital: Tight End coach Max Bowman was taken to the hospital today when he suffered from dizziness. Coach Phillips feels he will be alright. Flutie Gets To Play: Rob Johnson had is aching right elbow wrapped in ice after the game and he was seen grimacing in pain on the sidelines. The Bills have said his tendinitis only bothers him warming up, yesterday's game proved that isn't the case. We should no more about the extent of his elbow injury later today when the Coach meets the press at 3pm. There is a chance now that Doug Flutie will get the start on Sunday against San Diego, in the very least a QB controversy is certainly brewing. Other than Johnson, the Bills got out of the game relatively healthy as only John Fina seemed banged up in the final minutes also. Thomas Contributes: The "Thurman Bowl" was a factor in the game. Thomas had the fire in his eyes he always did as a Bill and that helped fire up the Dolphins, giving them the intensity they needed to dominate the game. Thomas also contributed with 50 yards offense. 24 yards rushing on 7 carries and 26 yards receiving including a nice screen pass reception for a first down. The Bills defense did stop him on another third reception late in the game to give the Bills a chance to take the lead before the ill-fated fumble. AFC East Has Poor Day: The loss put the Bills in a deep hole with a 0-3 division record and 2-3 overall record. The only glimmer of good news was that The Colts and Jets also fell on Sunday. This means the Bills remain in fourth place and only lost ground on the Dolphins. None of this will matter if the Bills don't start turning things around this Sunday against San Diego.  Last Week's News Archives2000 News Archives Index Latest News Main Page Back to Bills Daily Homepage |