| 
 1998
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Week 13
November 29, 1998 Bills 21
New England 25
Attendance: 58,304
FOXBORO, Mass. Buffalo's Doug Flutie was returning home as a conquering hero. By
game's end, it was New England's Drew Bledsoe who captured the crowd and the victory.
| Scoring
Summary |
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
F |
| Bills |
0 |
6 |
9 |
6 |
21 |
| New England |
0 |
14 |
3 |
8 |
25 |
First Quarter
Second Quarter
NE Edwards 2 pass from Bledsoe (Vinatieri kick), 9:44. Drive: 8 plays, 66 yards,
4:25. Key plays: Bledsoe 15 pass to Carter; Bledsoe 33 pass to Glenn; Bledsoe 12 pass to
Coates; Irvin 7-yard pass interfernce penalty to Bills 1. New England 7, Buffalo 0.
NE Cullors 12 pass from Bledsoe (Vinatieri kick), 4:37. Drive: 7 plays, 47
yards, 3:49. Key plays: Canty 30 punt return to Bills 47; Bledsoe 12 pass to Glenn;
Bledsoe 13 pass to Coates. New England 14, Buffalo 0.
BUF FG Christie 34, 2:21. Drive: 11 plays, 60 yards, 3:16. Key plays: Canty
26-yard pass interference penalty to midfield; A.Smith 10 run. New England 14, Buffalo 3.
BUF FG Christie 26, :00. Drive: 3 plays, 55 yards, :18. Key play: Flutie 55 pass
to K.Williams. New England 14, Buffalo 6.
Third Quarter
BUF Moulds 84 pass from Flutie (pass failed), 10:57. Drive: 2 plays, 80 yards, :50.
New England 14, Buffalo 12.
NE FG Vinatieri 44, 5:06. Drive: 11 plays, 34 yards, 5:51. Key plays: Bledsoe 9
pass to Glenn on 3rd-and-5; Edwards 5 run on 4th-and-1. New England 17, Buffalo 12.
BUF FG Christie 22, :50. Drive: 10 plays, 63 yards, 4:16. Key plays: Flutie 23
pass to Reed; Flutie 17 pass to Moulds; Flutie 10 run. New England 17, Buffalo 15.
Fourth Quarter
BUF Reed 4 pass from Flutie (pass failed), 6:14. Drive: 14 plays, 67 yards, 8:28.
Key plays: Law 5-yard defensive holding penalty on 3rd-and-16 to give first down on Bills
27; Flutie 11 run; Flutie 22 pass to K.Williams on 3rd-and-10; Israel 19-yard pass
interference penalty to Patriots 5. Buffalo 21, New England 17.
NE Coates 1 pass from Bledsoe (Vinatieri run), :00. Drive: 10 plays, 82 yards,
1:52. Key plays: Bledsoe 11 pass to Coates; Bledsoe 8 pass to Glenn on 3rd-and-1; Bledsoe
10 pass to Jefferson on 4th-and-9; H.Jones 25-yard pass interference penalty in end zone
puts ball on Bills 1. New England 25, Buffalo 21. |
For the second time in two weeks, Bledsoe, unbothered by his fractured
right index finger, guided the Patriots to a dramatic come-from-behind victory.
"I think maybe (Drew is) Massachusetts' top quarterback tonight not the
other guy," Patriots backup quarterback Scott Zolak said after Sunday's 25-21 New
England victory.
Bledsoe suffered the injury to his finger last Monday as he rallied the Patriots,
capping the winning drive with his 25-yard scoring pass to Shawn Jefferson with 29 seconds
left in a 26-23 win over Miami.
On Sunday, his winning 1-yard touchdown pass to Ben Coates with no time left came
after Buffalo was called for pass interference in the end zone on a last-second
desperation pass.
"In all the 'Hail Mary's I've thrown going back to the eighth grade I've
never had anything good happen on any one of them," Bledsoe said. "This is the
first positive thing that's happened, and it couldn't have come at a better
time."
Before the winning drive, it appeared Flutie would walk away the hero.
Flutie led the Bills back from a 14-0 deficit to a 21-17 lead on a 2-yard touchdown
pass to Andre Reed with 6:14 left. And the former Natick, Massachusetts, High School and
Boston College star also threw for an NFL career-high 339 yards and two touchdowns before
New England got the ball at its own 18-yard line with 1:52 and no timeouts left.
"I understand the way Doug is appreciated around here. He deserves it, and I'm not
jealous of his popularity one bit," Bledsoe said. "But at the same time, I am
the quarterback of the Patriots, and when people come to these games, hopefully they are
cheering for our team."
Bledsoe was the happy recipient of what the Bills claimed was a gift from the
officials. They said Shawn Jefferson was out of bounds on a 10-yard catch that gave the
Patriots a first down at the Buffalo 26 with six seconds left. And they were livid about
an end zone interference call against safety Henry Jones that gave New England one more
play.
"We were robbed," Jones said. "Terry Glenn jumped for the ball, but no
one even grabbed him."
Coates scored on the next play and, with the Bills already in the locker room, kicker
Adam Vinatieri ran for a two-point conversion against no opposition as the Patriots stayed
in the thick of the playoff race.
"Well, they (the officials) gave them the game," Buffalo coach Wade Phillips
said. "They might as well give them the extra point."
The pass that didn't count in his statistics, to Glenn in the end zone, may have been
the most important. If no penalty had been called, the Bills would have won.
"He wasn't playing the ball, but he did make contact with the receiver,"
referee Walt Coleman said. "That's pass interference."
That came one play after the pass to Jefferson on fourth-and-9 kept the drive alive at
the Buffalo 26. After the interference call, Bledsoe, under pressure from Sam Rogers,
found Coates in the back right corner of the end zone.
Sunday's win also helped Bledsoe who suffered an emotional blow after losing a fumble
on the Patriots' last play of a 7-6 loss at Pittsburgh in the 1997 AFC playoffs proved to
skeptics that he could lead a team.
"Drew played with a lot of heart," Flutie said. "He put the naysayers
down who questioned his heart."
| Game
Breakdown |
|
BUF |
NE |
FIRST DOWNS
Rushing
Passing
Penalty
THIRD DOWN EFF
FOURTH DOWN EFF
TOTAL NET YARDS
Total Plays
Avg Gain
NET YARDS RUSHING
Rushes
Avg per rush
NET YARDS PASSING
Sacked-Yds lost
Gross-Yds passing
Completed-Att.
Had Intercepted
Yards-Pass Play
KICKOFFS-EndZone-TB
PUNTS-Avg.
Punts blocked
FGs-PATs blocked
TOTAL RETURN YARDAGE
Punts Returns
Kickoffs Returns
Interceptions
PENALTIES-Yds
FUMBLES-Lost
TIME OF POSSESSION |
23
7
11
5
7-14
0-0
428
71
6.0
99
31
3.2
329
1-10
339
21-39
0
8.2
5-0-0
4-32.0
0
0-0
77
3-6
4-71
1-0
21-107
1-0
34:01 |
24
4
16
4
5-13
2-2
259
61
4.2
44
14
3.1
215
4-31
246
28-43
1
4.6
4-0-0
4-47.0
0
0-0
114
1-30
5-84
0-0
9-80
1-0
25:59 |
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING BUFFALO, A.Smith 21-58, Flutie 5-30, T.Thomas 3-5, Gash
1-4, Linton 1-2. NEW ENGLAND, Edwards 13-40, Bledsoe 1-4.PASSING
BUFFALO, Flutie 21-39-0-339. NEW ENGLAND, Bledsoe 28-43-1-246.
RECEIVING BUFFALO, Moulds 8-177, K.Williams 4-74, Reed 4-53,
Riemersma 2-17, T.Thomas 2-6, Early 1-12. NEW ENGLAND, Coates 10-70, Glenn 8-104, Carter
3-24, Cullors 3-24, Jefferson 2-18, Edwards 2-6.
PUNT RETURNS BUFFALO, K.Williams 3-6. NEW ENGLAND, Canty 1-30.
KICKOFF RETURNS BUFFALO, K.Williams 4-71. NEW ENGLAND, Cullors
4-75, Sullivan 1-9.
TACKLES-ASSISTS-SACKS BUFFALO, Cowart 7-1-0, Perry 6-4-0, Jones
4-1-0, Schulz 4-1-0, B.Smith 4-0-1, Rogers 3-3-0, Hansen 3-1-0, Northern 3-0-0, Irvin
2-1-0, Greer 2-0-0, Simmons 2-0-1, T.Smith 2-0-0, Washington 1-2-1, Price 1-0-0, Wiley
1-0-1, Linton 1-0-0, Smedley 0-1-0, Pike 0-1-0. NEW ENGLAND, Eaton 9-4-0, Bruschi 5-5-0,
Clay 5-3-0, Milloy 5-2-0, Law 5-0-0, Sullivan 4-1-0, Whigham 3-3-0, Thomas 3-2-0, Israel
3-1-0, T.Jones 3-1-0, Spires 2-0-1, Stuckey 2-0-0, Slade 1-1-0, Canty 1-0-0, Carter 1-0-0,
Edwards 1-0-0, Jefferson 1-0-0, Moore 1-0-0.
INTERCEPTIONS BUFFALO, T.Smith 1-0. NEW ENGLAND, None.
MISSED FIELD GOALS BUFFALO, Christie 35 (WL). NEW ENGLAND,
Vinatieri 47 (WR). |
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