1997

Bills 31
Baltimore 28

Attendance:

Billy Joe Hobert brought the Buffalo Bills back from a 25 point deficit, throwing a 36-yard touchdown pass to Mitchell Galloway with 28 seconds left for a 31-28 exhibition victory over the Baltimore Ravens.

Hobert went 21 for 27 for 242 yards and three scores in the second half to rally the Bills from a 28-3 hole. But he will start the season behind Todd Collins, who was six for 17 for 77 yards in the first half.

Coach Marv Levy, who selected Collins to replace the retired Jim Kelly, said he has no second thoughts about his decision. "Billy did a good job. I'm sure it was good for his confidence," Levy said. "It helped build our confidence in him."

Collins failed to generate any offense, leaving the Bills down 16-3 at halftime. He was sacked three times behind an offensive line that was ineffective throughout the preseason. "Pretty much the whole first half I didn't throw the ball well at all," he said. "It's just a matter of execution."

Buffalo trailed 28-24 before Hobert moved the team 86 yards in just over two minutes. The winning score came as Galloway got behind the Baltimore secondary in the left side of the end zone. "It's a big momentum thing," Galloway said. "We were just trying to make things happen. Once we started scoring, we got the momentum behind us and we kept on scoring."

The Ravens out gained Buffalo 242-89 in the first half while holding the Bills' struggling running game to 24 yards on 11 carries. Baltimore was ahead 16-0 before Buffalo got it's initial first down with six minutes left in the half. "I was very displeased that their first unit outplayed ours in almost every aspect--offense, defense, special teams," Levy said. "We've got a lot of getting better to do and a lot of things to work out."

Ravens quarterback Vinny Testaverde left midway through the first quarter after completing nine of 14 for 166 yards and a touchdown. He finished the preseason with three touchdown passes and no interceptions in 64 attempts.

Baltimore rookie linebacker Peter Boulware, who ended a five-week holdout, entered on the Ravens' third defensive play and caused Collins to fumble midway through the first quarter. Boulware had six tackles and two sacks in his NFL debut. "I wanted to prove to myself and to some people that even with me sitting out I could still come in a do a little something," he said.

Down 28-3 in the third quarter, Buffalo moved 81 yards in a drive capped by Hobert's 18-yard touchdown pass to tight end Jay Riemersma. A 1-yard TD pass to Tim Tindale got Buffalo to 28-16 with 7:44 left, and Riemersma recovered Tindale's fumble in the end zone with 3:05 remaining.

It was a flashback to last season, when the Ravens repeatedly lost the lead in the fourth quarter. "I can tell you this, it feels bad to lose," Baltimore running back Earnest Byner said. "That's one thing that we have to take care of from last year to this year. We got to find a way to win those games."

The Ravens took the opening kickoff and moved 80 yards in eight plays. Testaverde was four for five for 75 yards, including a 34-yarder to Michael Jackson on the first play and a 24-yard touchdown pass to Jermaine Lewis.

Buffalo, meanwhile, managed just one yard on its first 12 plays. Collins was 0 for 5 and Thurman Thomas gained nine yards on three carries.

Matt Stover kicked a 38-yard field goal for a 9-0 lead early in the second quarter. Minutes later, Lewis returned a punt 32 yards to set up a 7 yard TD run by Jay Graham.

Lewis fumbled a punt to set up a 40-yard field goal by Steve Christie as time expired in the first half.

Hobert entered the third quarter and immediately had an impact, although not in the fashion he desired. On his third play, he fumbled without being hit and Baltimore recovered at the Buffalo 18, scoring on a 2-yard pass from Eric Zeier to Eric Green.

The Ravens made it 28-3 on the next possession, Zeier hitting James Roe for a 30-yard score midway through the quarter.

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