1999

Bills 30
Cincinnati 3

Attendance: 

CINCINNATI (AP) -- Doug Flutie showed why he's the Buffalo Bills' starting quarterback, even if his coach is reluctant to say so.  

Flutie scrambled 25 yards to sustain a late first-half drive, then threw a 22-yard touchdown pass as the Bills pulled away to a 30-3 exhibition victory Saturday night over the struggling Cincinnati Bengals.

Flutie's dash and his pass to Kamil Loud in the back of the end zone got the Bills (2-1) rolling in the first half, and backup Rob Johnson kept them going against Bengals backups in the second half.

The Bills had 10 penalties for 100 yards and dropped one pass after another, but still dominated. They had a 22-6 advantage in first downs, rolled up 385 yards to 108 for Cincinnati, and held the Bengals to 30 net yards passing.

"It shows you how talented we are that we do have a team that even though we're making those mistakes, we can win pretty handily," Flutie said. "We had 30 on the board; we could have easily had 44 and probably more."

A day earlier, coach Wade Phillips stuck to his line that he was getting both Flutie and Johnson -- who lost his job after an injury last year -- ready for the season.

Flutie looked ready on Friday against a defense that blitzed often and eventually got burned _ oft-beaten cornerback Corey Sawyer let Loud get past him for his first pro touchdown.

Flutie should have had another touchdown, but Sheldon Jackson dropped what could have been a 48-yard touchdown pass early in the second half.

"I'm ready for the regular season," said Flutie, who was 11-of-23 for 123 yards. "This preseason stuff I'd like to get over with. It's time to start playing."

Johnson started the second series of the second half and was 8-of-13 for 135 yards, including a 6-yard touchdown pass to Loud and a 24-yard pass to Peerless Price that set up another score.

Price, a second-round draft pick who grew up in nearby Dayton, had three catches for 47 yards as a contingent of family and friends cheered him on.

There was a lot for the home crowd to boo as the Bengals (0-3) had another dismal showing on offense. Cincinnati has lost its first three preseason games for the fifth time in franchise history.

A week after a 16-0 loss at Detroit, the offense produced only Doug Pelfrey's 44-yard field goal in five series behind starting quarterback Jeff Blake, who was 5-of-12 for 38 yards.

"It was a struggle, you're right," coach Bruce Coslet said. "We're just not executing. Our line is not meshing. We have three guys in new positions and two new guys. I'm not making excuses, I'm just giving you reasons.

"When Corey (Dillon) is not in there, we can't make first downs. It's not fair to judge Jeff Blake because he had no prayer."

In the last two games, the first-string offense has had the ball for 12 series and managed only nine first downs and one field goal. The offense failed to get a first down in half of those 12 series.

Blake would like to think that the offense is simply saving itself for the regular season.

"I know what the offense is capable of," Blake said. "We've always scored points in the past and I see no reason that we're going to stop now. We've got two weeks (before the season opener) and a lot can happen in two weeks."

The biggest cheer of the night came when first-round draft pick Akili Smith made his pro debut in the second quarter. Smith, who signed on Tuesday, completed one of his two passes for five yards as the Bengals went three-and-out in Smith's only series.

The Bengals also developed another major problem when punter Brad Costello, limited by a sore hip, had to leave the game after shanking his first kick for 19 yards. Costello missed last week's game because of the injury.

Pelfrey did the punting for the second consecutive game and provided another moment for the fans to boo -- his 19-yarder was caught by Blake on the fly on the sideline in the second half.

Both coaches made a challenge under the new replay rules, and both lost. Coslet lost his challenge of a fumble in the first half, and Phillips waved his arms angrily after the officials stuck by their ruling that the Bills had too many men in the huddle in the second half. 

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