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Bills miscues ruin opening day
By RICK ANDERSON, MOP Squad Sports Staff Writer
Sep 13, 2004 - 7:39:00 PM

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Jimmy Smith of the Jaguars, hauls down a 45-yard pass to keep the Jacksonville drive alive late in the fourth quarter. Bills cornerback Nate Clements made the mistake of going for the pick instead of batting the ball away.
[AP Photo/Don Heupel]

It’s a brand new season for the Buffalo Bills, but nothing seems to have changed from last year. The Bills offense is having difficulty in getting into the end zone, the defense cannot stop a team late in the game when the game is on the line, and the team is still making crucial mistakes that should have been corrected in the preseason.

The Bills were on top of the Jacksonville Jaguars for most of the game and it was a last minute, 80-yard drive that killed the Bills. On the very last play of the game, Jaguars quarterback Byron Leftwich hooked up with Ernest Wilford with no time left on the clock to give the Jaguars a shocking 13-10 victory over the Bills.

This was a game the Bills had no right to lose. The offense was given ample opportunity to run up the score, but they could only produce one touchdown and a field goal. While Bills quarterback Drew Bledsoe didn’t really commit too many errors, his one sack was costly as it came on a 3rd and 1 at the Jacksonville goal line, thus forcing a field goal. Bledsoe is being paid big money to produce results and the game plan was so conservative that even backup quarterback Shane Matthews would have produced similar results. Bledsoe passed 26 times, completed 17 for 153 yards and one TD.

Bledsoe’s one touchdown pass came as a result in a breakdown of in the pass defense the Jaguars had, leaving Eric Molds all alone to catch Bledsoe’s pass.

The Bills defense played well enough to win except on the last drive by the Jaguars, when the wheels fell off. The Jaguars were faced with 4th down three times and three times the Bills couldn’t stop them.

THE GOOD, THE BAD & THE UGLY

THE GOOD

Bills improved on their mixture of run-pass, by running more than passing. The Bills ran 36 times and passed 26 times. The defense played well in the first half, but Byron Leftwich got better as the game wore on and beat them when he had to.

Willis McGahee showed flashes of his old Florida days when he was brought in to relieve Travis Henry, who was suffering from cramps. McGahee ran 9 times for 31 yards, while Henry got 75 yards on 23 carries.

THE BAD

Buffalo could only score 1 touchdown after 4 trips into the red zone. The defense set them up for most of those trips.

After playing good defense the entire game, the D couldn't stop the Jaguars when it mattered the most. The Jags converted on 3 straight 4th down attempts.

On 3rd and 1 on the goal line, Bledsoe was sacked when attempting to pass. This was when the Bills should have stuck to the ground as they would have had 2 more chances to plunge it into the endzone. 

THE UGLY

On the Bills last possession, Drew Bledsoe called two timeouts, thus ensuring the Jaguars at least 50 more seconds on the clock when the got it.

Nate Clements going for the interception instead of blocking the pass on the 4-14 play where it gained 45 yards and kept the Jaguars in the game.

London Fletcher kicking the ball after that play, stopping the clock and getting the Jaguars 5 yards closer to the end zone.

THE QUOTES

Drew Bledsoe had it all planned. He was going to do the honors of presenting the game ball to new Bills head coach Mike Mularkey. Fate didn’t cooperate and Bledsoe had to deal with the anguish afterwards.

"This is an emotional loss," admitted Bledsoe. "I really had thought long and hard about how gratifying it was going to be to walk in here and hand Mike Mularkey the game ball."

"I came into this game with a very strong belief that this was a good football team," Bledsoe continued . "I come out of this game with that same belief. But no matter how good we are, if we make those mistakes at key times it's going to be very hard to win."

Eric Moulds, who caught an easy touchdown, possibly cost the Bills another one when he took in a Bledsoe pass in the red zone and immediately coughed it up to the Jaguars.

"We didn't make enough plays when we had the opportunity to make them," put in Moulds. "The bottom line is, we got down there three times and didn't finish. They didn't do anything to stop us. We stopped ourselves."

Takeo Spikes put in one jarring hit where it ripped the helmet off the ball carrier. However, after doing a wild celebration, the Jaguars made an important first down the next play.

"I remember my high school coach telling me that once you've got them down, if you're a great team, you have to kill the mosquito with an ax," Spikes said.

Then he reflected on the winning touchdown that Wilford scored.

"I saw his face so I knew it was coming. "He (Wilford) made an unbelievable catch. I thought I knocked it out of his hands."

Nate Clements admitted that he made a glaring mistake that may have cost the Bills the game. On the 45-yard completion to Jimmy Smith on a 4th and 14, Clements went for the interception instead of just knocking the ball away.

"I'm going to look back at that one on film and kick myself," fumed Clement. "I should have played it safe. We didn't need an interception at that point. We needed the ball so we could run out the clock."

Rookie receiver Wilford was the star of the game. His spectacular retrieval of a lobbed Leftwich pass saved the day for the Jaguars.

"We've worked on it in practice, but I was still really nervous," said Wilford. "Byron put it in a perfect spot for me."

Copyright © 2004 Bills Thunder & Rick Anderson, all rights reserved.


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