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2000

Preseason August 24, 2000

Bills 16
Philadelphia 12

Attendance:

PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Donovan McNabb spent most of Thursday night wearing a baseball cap and Rob Johnson didn't even dress for the game.

Scoring Summary
	1	2	3	4	F
Bills	3	7	0	6	16
Philadelphia	6	0	3	3	12
First Quarter PHI FG, David Akers 42 yard, 6:37. BUF FG, Steve Christie48 yard, 10:38. PHI FG, David Akers 33 yard, 13:14. Second Quarter BUF TD, Sammy Morris 6 yard run (Steve Christie Kick), 14:27. Third Quarter PHI FG, David Akers 42 yard, 9:18. Fourth Quarter PHI FG, David Akers 45 yard, 0:11. BUF FG, Steve Christie 30 yard, 6:13. BUF FG, Steve Christie 33 yard, 14:33.

It was an uneventful evening for the starting quarterbacks as the Buffalo Bills beat the Philadelphia Eagles 16-12 in the preseason finale for both teams.

Alex Van Pelt, Johnson's replacement, was 15-of-28 for 163 yards, and rookie Sammy Morris ran for 101 yards and one touchdown to lead the Bills.

"It's kind of funny, Doug Flutie and I were joking that I'd probably get two carries -- we only have one play for the fullback," said Morris, who entered the game with four preseason carries.

Morris ended up playing a lot at halfback and carried 27 times. He also had one catch for 30 yards.

Steve Christie's 30-yard field goal with 8:47 remaining lifted Buffalo to its third victory in four games. Christie was helped off the field after getting hit on a 33-yarder with 27 seconds left. He suffered a bruise on the side of his right knee, but he is not expected to miss any action.

Buffalo coach Wade Phillips said Christie should be ready for the season opener.

"Certainly at the end of the game there's no reason to do that," Phillips said about the roughing penalty involving Christie.

McNabb was on the field for just four plays, completed one pass and threw an interception. Johnson, meanwhile, wore shorts, stood on the sidelines and joked around with teammates.

"After the two series, you want to go back out there and get on a positive, but it was time for the other guys," McNabb said.

David Akers had field goals of 42, 33, 42 and 45 yards for Philadelphia (1-3). But Akers, who made a 48-yard game-winning field goal last week, missed a 36-yarder with 4:51 remaining that would have given the Eagles a lead.

McNabb, who threw three first-half touchdowns in last week's 34-32 victory over Tennessee, threw an interception on the first play of the team's opening drive, and failed to move the offense on the next series.

After Corey Moore blew past Jon Runyon for a sack, McNabb's evening was over.

"It was fast, but long," McNabb said about the cameo appearance.

Meanwhile, Phillips elected to sit Johnson rather than risk an injury to his starter on the artificial turf at Veterans Stadium.

"That's how we planned it," Phillips said.

Flutie, Johnson's backup, is nursing a groin injury, and also didn't play. Johnson threw three touchdowns in Buffalo's 31-27 victory over the St. Louis Rams last week, and had a 125.0 rating in three exhibition games.

Morris' 6-yard run with 33 seconds left in the first half capped a seven-play, 62-yard drive and gave Buffalo a 10-6 lead.

A 27-yard over-the-shoulder catch by Kwame Cavil set up the touchdown.

Koy Detmer replaced McNabb and was 0-for-4. Former Notre Dame star Ron Powlus, fighting for a roster spot with Philadelphia, was 8-of-15 for 74 yards.

Travis Brown was 6-of-9 for 123 yards.

Doug Pederson, Philadelphia's starting quarterback last season, did not play amid rumors that he could be traded to the Cleveland Browns.

Eagles coach Andy Reid denied those rumors.

"That's not the case," Reid said. "Last week it was Koy and this week it's Doug and they're both here."

Brian Mitchell, who tortured the Eagles for years as a returner with Washington, had his longest punt return of the preseason, a 29-yarder in the first quarter. He also recovered a fumble, and ran for 28 yards on two carries.

Allen Rossum fumbled away a punt that would have given Philadelphia the ball at their 40 with 3:23 left.

Game Breakdown
	BUF	PHI
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 Sacked-yards lost PUNTS-AVERAGE PENALTIES-YARDS FUMBLES-LOST TIME OF POSSESSION	4-16 330 69 4.8 138 38 3.6 192 16-30 6.2 1-1 7-42.1 5-35 1-1 35:28	4-15 277 55 5.0 95 21 4.5 182 15-30 5.4 4-18 6-42.3 7-64 2-1 24:32
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS Missed Field Goals Philadelphia (David Akers 36). Buffalo rushing Sammy Morris 27-101, Alex Van Pelt 3-17, Antowain Smith 5-11, Lennox Gordon 3-9. Philadelphia rushing Brian Mitchell 2-28, Thomas Hamner 7-18, Darnell Autry 3-18, Stanley Pritchett 4-12, Ron Powlus 2-10, Koy Detmer 1-6, Jamie Reader 1-2, Duce Staley 1-1. Buffalo passing Alex Van Pelt 15-28-0-163, Mike Cawley 1-2-0-30. Philadelphia passing Travis Brown 6-9-0-123, Ron Powlus 8-15-0-74, Donovan Mcnabb 1-2-1-3, Koy Detmer 0-4-0-0. Buffalo receiving Kwame Cavil 3-52, Sammy Morris 2-41, Jeremy Mcdaniel 2-24, Bobby Collins 2-22, Avion Black 2-16, Sheldon Jackson 2-10, Kevin Drake 1-17, Peerless Price 1-8, Lennox Gordon 1-3. Philadelphia receiving Jamie Reader 3-34, Dameane Douglas 3-31, Thomas Hamner 3-21, Todd Pinkston 1-35, Gerald Williams 1-33, Darnell Autry 1-27, Jeff Thomason 1-10, Luther Broughton 1-6, Torrance Small 1-3.

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..