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Bills Backers United

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2001

Preseason August 12, 2001

St. Louis 24
Bills 10

Attendance: 36,043

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) -- Third-string quarterback Marc Bulger is proving that anyone with an arm can run the St. Louis Rams offense. More importantly, the Rams defense might not the team's Achilles' heel any more.

Scoring Summary
	1	2	3	4	F
St. Louis	0	7	0	17	24
Bills	0	7	3	0	10
Second Quarter STL TD, TORRY HOLT 60 YD PASS FROM JOE GERMAINE (JEFF WILKINS KICK), 5:56. BUF TD, TRAVIS HENRY 25 YD RUN (STEVE CHRISTIE KICK), 8:41. Third Quarter BUF FG, STEVE CHRISTIE 35 YD, 11:35. Fourth Quarter STL TD, JUSTIN WATSON 5 YD RUN (JEFF WILKINS KICK), 1:21. STL FG, JEFF WILKINS 48 YD, 9:12. STL TD, CHRIS CUMMINGS 19 YD FUMBLE RETURN (JEFF WILKINS KICK), 9:25.

While Bulger orchestrated a game-winning drive in his second consecutive outing, the Rams' overhauled defense held up its end in sparking St. Louis to a 24-10 preseason victory over the Buffalo Bills on Sunday night.

"It's promising, obviously," said cornerback Aeneas Williams, one of eight new starters brought in during the offseason. "When you see guys making plays and not giving up the big play. Because when you have an explosive offense, the concern now is just don't allow the big play."

Except for Travis Henry's 25-yard touchdown run in the second quarter, the Rams defense limited the Bills to a 173 yards offense.

Coming off a 17-10 preseason-opening victory over Miami on Aug. 6, the Rams have allowed only 20 points in two games. Not bad for a unit that gave up 471 points -- the seventh highest total in NFL history -- last season.

Offensively, the Rams racked up 375 yards, but it was Bulger, a rookie free agent, who led the team to victory. He drove the Rams 71 yards on nine plays, capping it with Justin Watson's 5-yard run up the middle that gave St. Louis a 14-10 lead 1:21 into the fourth quarter.

The Rams then sealed the victory, scoring 10 points on consecutive plays with less than six minutes left. On the ensuing kickoff following Jeff Wilkins' 43-yard field goal, St. Louis' Chris Cummings recovered Avion Black's fumble and ran it in from 19 yards.

In the Rams' preseason opener, Bulger hit Jeff Robinson for a 3-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter breaking a 10-10 tie.

"The talent makes it a lot easier and the O-line, the way they've been playing makes it a lot easier," Bulger said.

Bulger, who went 10-for-15 for 112 yards, now is in contention to stick with the Rams after third-stringer Paul Justin tore a ligament in his right knee against Miami, ending his season.

Losing their preseason opener left the Bills with plenty of question marks.

Except for Henry's performance -- leading all rushers with six carries for 47 yards -- Buffalo's new West Coast offense sputtered.

Bills starting quarterback Rob Johnson was in for three series, going 3-for-5 for 13 yards and managing just one first down.

"We obviously would have liked to have moved downfield and put the ball in the end zone, but this was the first game for us and we'll look to improve," Johnson said.

The Bills' new-look defense -- Buffalo has switched to an attack-style 4-3 scheme -- also looked sloppy, missing numerous tackles and blowing pass-coverage assignments.

"I thought we were tackling well early, but tackling has to improve in the back end of our defense," Williams said. "I thought there were too many big plays in the passing game early. We missed some plays at the end, and we're hoping our younger guys can calm themselves down."

Torry Holt, with a 60-yard touchdown catch from backup quarterback Joe Germaine, also scored for the Rams. Germaine had another impressive performance, going 8-for-15 for 161 yards. Holt led Rams receivers with three catches for 106 yards.

Rams starter Kurt Warner was in for only one series, finishing 2-for-3 for 27 yards, marking his first pass attempts of the preseason. Warner did not attempt a pass against Miami.

The Rams could've ended the game earlier if not for some miscues of their own in the first half.

There were two missed field-goal attempts as Wilkins hit one wide left from 37 yards and Matt Simonton missed right from 46 yards. Then there was tight end Ernie Conwell -- wide open over the middle with a clear 20-yard path to the end zone -- who slipped and fell, dropping Warner's pass on the Rams opening drive.

The Rams lost starting defensive end Grant Winstrom to a knee injury in the first quarter.

Rams coach Mike Martz said Wistrom will be evaluated on Monday, but fears the injury might be serious.

"I would suspect he's going to be out for quite some time," Martz said. "I don't think it's good."

NOTES - Bills middle linebacker Sam Cowart, who missed the last two days with back spasms, did not play. ... Rams defensive end Leonard Little (bruised knee) dressed but was replaced in the starting lineup by Cedric Jones. ... Rams wide receiver Isaac Bruce, mourning the death of his brother, is expected to rejoin the team when it returns to St. Louis on Monday.

Game Breakdown
	STL	BUF
FIRST DOWNS 3RD-DOWN EFFICIENCY TOTAL NET YARDS Total plays Average gain NET YARDS RUSHING Rushes Average per rush NET YARDS PASSING Completed-attempted Yards per pass Times Sacked Yards Lost To Sacks Had Intercepted PUNTS Average Punt PENALTIES Penalty Yards FUMBLES Fumbles Lost TIME OF POSSESSION	18 7-16 375 61 6.1 94 25 3.8 281 20-33 7.8 3 19 0 5 38.2 5 33 1 1 32:16	10 4-13 173 51 3.4 92 27 3.4 81 12-24 3.4 0 0 1 8 43.4 8 53 2 1 27:44
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS Missed field goals St. Louis (Jeff Wilkins 37, Matt Simonton 46), Buffalo (None). St. Louis Rushing Robert Holcombe 9-36, Justin Watson 8-32, Anthony White 3-9, Aveion Cason 2-6, Yo Murphy 1-6, Joe Germaine 1-5, Larry Bowie 1-0. Buffalo Rushing Travis Henry 6-47, Curtis Alexander 3-15, Rob Johnson 2-15, David Dinkins 3-8, Alex Van Pelt 1-6, Larry Centers 1-2, Sammy Morris 7-0, Shawn Bryson 4-(-1). St. Louis Receiving Sherrod Gideon 4-50, Torry Holt 3-106, Justin Watson 3-25, Az-zahir Hakim 2-37, Robert Holcombe 2-26, Aveion Cason 2-12, Jeff Robinson 1-14, James Hodgins 1-12, Yo Murphy 1-9, Ricky Proehl 1-9. Buffalo Receiving Dan O'Leary 3-34, Travis Henry 2-19, Eric Moulds 2-13, Reggie Germany 1-8, Sammy Morris 1-5, David Dinkins 1-2, Larry Centers 1-0, Phillip Crosby 1-0. St. Louis Passing Joe Germaine 8-15-161-0, Marc Bulger 10-15-112-0, Kurt Warner 2-3-27-0. Buffalo Passing Alex Van Pelt 6-11-54-1, Jack Hawley 3-5-14-0, Rob Johnson 3-5-13-0, Pete Gonzalez 0-3-0-0.

Bills Backers United is a combined effort between the Bills Backers International Chapters located in Willow Grove PA, Laurel MD, Phoenix AZ, and Virginia Beach VA..