1997

Miami 6
Bills 9

Attendance: 78,011

The Buffalo Bills had six fumbles, one muffed punt, several bad plays and no touchdowns and still, somehow, wound up beating the Miami Dolphins. Steve Christie kicked three field goals and the Bills won for the second time in three weeks without reaching the endzone as they beat the Dolphins 9-6, in a game where Dan Marino left in the third quarter. "We got a win," Bills quarterback Alex Van Pelt said. "It wasn't pretty. The conditions weren't great, but we got out of there with a division win, a big win against a rival. That's all that matters."

The Bills won because they recovered five of their own fumbles and held the Dolphins without a touchdown despite playing a defense that was restructured on Friday. With linebackers Chris Spielman and Damien Covington nursing serious injuries, Buffalo switched from its 3-4 alignment to a 4-3. It then held Miami to 230 total yards and the two field goals in a steady rain. "There were so many heroes, I don't even know where to begin," Bills coach Marv Levy said. "Our defense, under extremely trying circumstances, did a spectacular job."

Marino sprained his left ankle in the first half before leaving the game for good with 11:25 left in the third quarter after he was intercepted by defensive end Sean Moran. He completed only four of 14 passes for 67 yards and one interception before being replaced by Craig Erickson. "He wasn't able to move around out there," Dolphins coach Jimmy Johnson said. "We came up short because we didn't take advantage of our opportunities."

Christie kicked field goals of 41, 40 and 39 yards for the Bills. The Dolphins moved into Buffalo territory in the final two minutes before Erickson was intercepted by Bills cornerback Jeff Burris at the Buffalo 19 with 1:01 remaining.

Buffalo (5-4) now is tied for second place with Miami and New England in the AFC East, one game behind the New York Jets. The Bills play the Patriots next week at Rich Stadium. The Dolphins play the Jets in New Jersey. "A lot of what happens the rest of the season depends on us," Bills offensive tackle Jerry Ostroski said. "Today was a prime, bad-weather Buffalo win. You do what you have to." Buffalo fumbled six times and muffed a punt on the slick turf at Rich Stadium, but only turned the ball over once.

Van Pelt was solid if not spectacular in his first NFL start in place of Todd Collins, completing 13 of 22 passes for 89 yards. Levy would not say whether he would remain the starter against the Patriots. "I felt good," Van Pelt said. "I felt like I was getting the ball to the right guys. A few slipped. I may not have thrown the perfect passes, but I tried getting them to the right person." Erickson was 8-for-18 for 121 yards for the Dolphins, who had at least five dropped passes. Olindo Mare kicked field goals of 27 and 35 yards for Miami.

Christie's 39-yard field goal gave the Bills a 9-6 lead with 10:42 remaining in the game after wide receiver Eric Moulds gained 29 yards on a reverse. "As (an) offense, we want to have a good showing, but we'll take the win," Moulds said. "If we have to win by three points, two points or one point, we will because it's the most important thing." Mare tied the score at 6-6 on his second field goal with 14:21 remaining in the fourth quarter after Miami's drive stalled at the Buffalo 18.

The Bills, who haven't scored a first-quarter touchdown this season, overcame three fumbles on one drive before jumping to a 3-0 lead on Christie's 41-yarder with 4:40 left in the opening period. Christie gave them a 6-0 lead when he nailed the 40-yarder with 11:42 left in the second quarter. He also missed from 41 and 65 yards. Two weeks ago, Christie hit three field goals to beat Indianapolis 9-6. "All of our games are becoming close," Christie said. "It's the way it's going to be. At least the offense was good enough to get us close enough to give us a chance."

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