History of Pro Football in Buffalo

Scoring Summary

New England

First Quarter
NE FG, ADAM VINATIERI 22 YD, 15:00. Drive: 11 plays, 49 yards in 6:10. Key plays: Redman 10-yard run to Buffalo 40; Bledsoe 9-yard pass to Glenn on 3rd-and-2 to Buffalo 23; Redman 13-yard run to Buffalo 12.

Second Quarter
BUF FG, STEVE CHRISTIE 25 YD, 8:41. Drive: 7 plays, 23 yards in 3:31. Key plays: Buffalo takes over on downs at New England 30; Flutie 13-yard run to New England 17; Morris 13-yard run to New England 4.

Third Quarter
BUF TD, SHELDON JACKSON 1 YD PASS FROM DOUG FLUTIE (STEVE CHRISTIE KICK), 3:29. Drive: 4 plays, 55 yards in 1:58. Key plays: Flutie 19-yard pass to Rimersma to New England 36; Flutie 32-yard run to New England 1.

Fourth Quarter
NE TD, KEVIN FAULK 13 YD RUN (ADAM VINATIERI KICK), 10:15. Drive: 5 plays, 37 yards in 2:40. Key plays: Brown 7-yard punt return to Buffalo 37; Faulk 13-yard run to Buffalo 24; Carter 3-yard run on 3rd-and-2 to Buffalo 13.

Overtime
NE FG, ADAM VINATIERI 24 YD, 14:41. Drive: 14 plays, 83 yards in 5:52. Key plays: Bledsoe 17-yard pass to Wiggins to New England 45; Brown 20-yard run to Buffalo 35; 9-yard pass interference penalty on Bills' Watson on 4th-and-5 to Buffalo 21; Bledsoe 14-yard run on 3rd-and-6 to Buffalo 3.

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2000

Regular Season December 17, 2000

New England 13
Bills 10 (OT)

Attendance: 47,230

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) -- Adam Vinatieri had never seen conditions this bad, even back home in South Dakota.

Nearly blinded by driving snow, heavy winds and hampered by a slick field, Vinatieri found enough solid footing to kick a 24-yard field goal with 19 seconds left in overtime, lifting New England to a 13-10 win over Buffalo on Sunday.

"I've played in snow and I've played in wind, but to have snow, wind and everything going at the same time, it was pretty tough," Vinatieri said.

It was sweet redemption for Vinatieri, who missed seven of 11 previous field-goal attempts at Buffalo, including a 27-yarder at the end of regulation.

"Whenever you come to Buffalo. You've got to come to expect some crummy weather, especially at the end of the season," he said. "I'm just happy that I have to play here once a year."

Vinatieri then offered a solution to playing at Ralph Wilson Stadium.

"I think they just need to dome it," he said, laughing.

It was a sloppy game played in miserable conditions featuring 40 mph winds and wind-chill temperatures approaching zero. Conditions were so poor that by overtime, most of the field was blanketed in snow, covering most of the yard lines. The Patriots (5-10) didn't return to Boston until after 10 p.m. because Buffalo's airport was closed due to the storm.

Patriots' Drew Bledsoe finished 13-for-26 for 156 yards and 331 yards of total offense.

He capped his 19th career fourth quarter-overtime comeback by marching the Patriots 83 yards on 14 plays to set up Vinatieri's game-winner.

"I've kind of always enjoyed the changeup," Bledsoe said, referring to the changing weather conditions. "It changes the way you do things, and a lot of times it comes down to the team that can manage the game best ultimately wins it."

The key, Bledsoe said, was the Patriots' ability to adjust when the weather turned extreme.

"We scrapped about half of our game-plan throwing wise, and changed some things in our running game, because we didn't want to toss the ball in this wind," he said.

J.R. Redmond led the Patriots with 66 yards rushing before leaving the game in the third quarter with a right knee injury. Kevin Faulk tied the game at 10 when he rumbled in for a 13-yard score 4:45 left in regulation.

The Bills were undone by blown scoring opportunities.

Three times, Doug Flutie marched Buffalo inside the Patriots 12, only to come up empty.

Steve Christie had two field goals blocked, including a 30-yarder by defensive tackle Chad Eaton with six minutes left in overtime, while Flutie fumbled, mishandling a handoff to Antowain Smith, at the New England 1 -- the game's lone turnover.

"You can't take anything for granted," said Flutie, who played in similar conditions during his years in the Canadian Football League. "I felt like we controlled the entire game."

Flutie took over for Rob Johnson, who was knocked out with a concussion in the second quarter. It might have been Flutie's final home game for the Bills.

Flutie finished 15-for-25 for 193 yards, including a 1-yard touchdown pass to Sheldon Jackson.

Bills coach Wade Phillips didn't know the extent of Johnson's concussion. Johnson was hurt when he was driven head first into the turf by defensive end Greg Spires.

It was the fifth time in 11 starts that Johnson was knocked out of a game this season.

The Bills (7-8) have now lost four straight for the first time since losing six in a row in 1985.

Christie kicked a 25-yard field goal in the second quarter, tying the score 3-3 after Vinatieri hit a 22-yarder in the first period.

The Patriots finished 2-6 on the road as they prepare for next weekend's season finale, when they play host to Miami.

"I know we aren't going to the playoffs this year," Pats coach Bill Belichick said. "But when you walk in the locker room, you can see this game meant a lot to these players."

NOTES - Eaton had a monster game with 12 unassisted tackles and two sacks in addition to the blocked field goal. ... Lee Johnson of the Patriots finished with seven punts, becoming the NFL's career leader with 1,159. He broke Dave Jennings' record of 1,154. Curiously, Johnson had to wait to set the mark after fumbling the snap on his third punt of the game. ... Eric Moulds had two catches for Buffalo to give him 90 on the season, tying the franchise record set by Andre Reed in 1994. ... Buffalo finished with a 5-3 home record, the 14th straight season they've finished .500 or above at Orchard Park.

Game Breakdown
	NE	BUF
FIRST DOWNS 3RD-DOWN EFFICIENCY 4TH-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 RETURN YARDAGE Punts-returns Kickoffs-returns Interceptions-returns PENALTIES-YARDS FUMBLES-LOST TIME OF POSSESSION	19 5-17 0-3 331 75 4.4 189 48 3.9 142 13-26 5.3 1-14 7-42.3 118 5-33 3-85 0-0 9-75 5-0 39:38	19 6-17 0-0 347 72 4.8 178 40 4.5 169 16-28 5.3 4-28 7-29.1 43 3-10 3-33 0-0 6-54 4-1 35:03
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS Missed field goals New England (Adam Vinatieri 27); Buffalo (Steve Christie 23, 30). New England rushing Jr Redmond 20-66, Kevin Faulk 14-52, Tony Carter 9-34, Troy Brown 2-23, Drew Bledsoe 2-14, Lee Johnson 1-0. Buffalo rushing Shawn Bryson 19-82, Doug Flutie 9-50, Sammy Morris 11-43, Antowain Smith 1-3. New England passing Drew Bledsoe 13-26 for 156 yards, 0 INT, 0 TD. Buffalo passing Doug Flutie 15-25 for 193 yards, 0 INT, 1 TD, Rob Johnson 1-3 for 4 yards, 0 INT, 0 TD. New England receiving Terry Glenn 6-70, Jermaine Wiggins 3-42, Troy Brown 2-15, Tony Carter 1-21, Kevin Faulk 1-8. Buffalo receiving Peerless Price 3-68, Jeremy Mcdaniel 3-38, Shawn Bryson 3-34, Sammy Morris 3-11, Eric Moulds 2-26, Jay Riemersma 1-19, Sheldon Jackson 1-1. New England tackles-assists-sacks (unofficial) Chad Eaton 12-0-2, Otis Smith 10-0-0, Ted Johnson 4-1-0, Bobby Hamilton 3-2-0, Lawyer Milloy 3-2-0, Willie Mcginest 3-1-2, Chris Slade 2-2-0, Lonie Paxton 3-0-0, Antonio Langham 3-0-0, Garrett Johnson 3-0-0, Tebucky Jones 3-0-0, Larry Whigham 3-0-0, Henry Thomas 2-0-0, Tedy Bruschi 1-1-0, Ty Law 1-0-0, Kato Serwanga 0-1-0. Buffalo tackles-assists-sacks (unofficial) John Holecek 12-3-0, Jay Foreman 10-5-0, Marcellus Wiley 7-5-1, Keith Newman 4-3-0, Henry Jones 3-4-0, Shawn Price 1-6-0, Travares Tillman 3-2-0, Ted Washington 4-0-0, Pat Williams 3-1-0, Chris Watson 1-2-0, Corey Moore 1-1-0, Raion Hill 1-0-0, Fred Jones 1-0-0, Ken Irvin 1-0-0. Interceptions None. Fumbles lost Buffalo (Rob Johnson). Opponent's fumbles recovered New England (Willie Mcginest).

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