1999

Philadelphia 0
Bills 26

Attendance: 70,872

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) -- The Philadelphia Eagles are in trouble. They can't run, can't pass and can't play defense.  

In short, they just can't win.

Looking to smooth their sputtering offense and plug the gaping holes in their defense, the winless Eagles accomplished neither in a 26-0 loss to the Buffalo Bills on Sunday.

Their mood matched the score.

"It's frustrating," quarterback Doug Pederson said. "You're sitting there scratching your head, wondering where do we go from here."

Try the Meadowlands, where they won their last road game three seasons ago.

Steve Christie kicked four first-half field goals, Doug Flutie threw a 15-yard touchdown pass to Jay Riemersma and Antowain Smith capped the scoring with a 4-yard run late in the third quarter for the Bills, who had 377 yards to 169 for Philadelphia and posted their first shutout since 1992.

"The defense kept them to field goals in the first quarter, but the offense was terrible," Pederson said.

The Eagles, who had two touchdowns nullified by offsides penalties in the first half, showed a little spark with the passing game, but that was it.

Pederson, playing with a bruised throwing shoulder, completed 14 of 26 passes for 137 yards with no interceptions. But two sacks resulted in lost fumbles. Pederson was replaced by Donovan McNabb with 11:43 to play. He also had limited success (6-of-11, 34 yards).

"It's the same thing over and over," Eagles coach Andy Reid said. "I've got to find a way to change and get this done the right way."

Philadelphia's receivers dropped passes, and the Eagles running game went nowhere, totaling 22 yards. Running back Duce Staley rushed 10 times for 6 yards.

The two Philadelphia fumbles led to 10 Buffalo points. Buffalo's running game clicked for 191 yards including Smith's 64 on 16 carries.

It added up to another bad trip for the Eagles, who have not won a road game since Dec. 14, 1996, when they edged the New York Jets. Philadelphia is 0-17-1 in its last 18 road games.

The Bills, coming off a 17-3 win over the New York Jets, managed to keep their focus on the Eagles despite a Monday night trip to Miami coming up next. Flutie, replaced by Rob Johnson with 13:47 to play, completed 18 of 26 passes for 175 yards, with one interception and one TD; he also rushed five times for 32 yards.

"You don't get many games in the NFL where you can take it easy in the second half," Flutie said. "We think we're a good football team; we'll find out this week."

Andre Reed had three catches to bring his career total to 900. Reed, who had three catches for 41 yards, is third on the NFL's career list behind Jerry Rice (1,146) and Art Monk (940).

Reed shrugged. "I'd be remiss to say it doesn't mean anything, but it wouldn't be possible without a bunch of other guys doing their job," Reed said. "I can't worry about being ranked up there with those guys, I just want that Super Bowl ring.

The Bills (2-1) built a 9-0 lead in the first quarter on Christie's first three field goals. Buffalo had problems inside the red zone in the quarter, failing to get in on first-and-goal from both the 3 and 4 and also from the 19.

But the Bills drove from midfield for a touchdown and a 16-0 lead late in the half after Bruce Smith's ball-jarring sack of Pederson. Phil Hansen's recovery and return set Buffalo up at the Philadelphia 48. It was the first sack of the season for Smith, and it came against a team that allowed nine sacks of Pederson and McNabb last week.

Flutie threw 14 yards to fullback Sam Gash and scrambled for 13 more before hitting Riemersma for a 15-yard touchdown and a 16-0 lead. Christie added a 36-yard field goal as the half ended.

Antowain Smith's 4-yard touchdown run capped a Buffalo drive of 60 yards and ate up 4:27 of the clock in the third quarter.

"We played a little conservative today," Bills coach Wade Phillips said. "Our defense was playing good so I felt we should play that way. I was proud of our rushing game; we were very efficient today." 

NOTES - It was the sixth time in Bills history the team held opponents to no touchdowns two straight weeks, the last coming in 1988. Back judge Bobby Skelton injured his knee when he got tangled up with Buffalo's Daryl Porter in the second quarter and did not return for the second half. Bills left guard Ruben Brown and Philadelphia right tackle Jermaine Mayberry both sustained a hamstring injuries and did not play in the second half. Rob Johnson was shaken up and came out with 4:44 to play, and was replaced by Alex Van Pelt. Bruce Smith flew to Virginia immediately after the game to be with his ailing father, George.

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