2003

Miami 20
Buffalo 3

Attendance:  73,319

Rick Anderson - One more game left in the season and Buffalo Bills fans are saying "Thank God." 

Any hope of redemption for the miserable performance the Bills had in the first meeting against the Miami Dolphins was quickly extinguished on the Dolphins first possession of the game. Jay Fiedler lobbed a throw into the far right corner of the endzone where Chris Chambers came under it and hauled it in. For the record that was the winning touchdown as the Bills couldn't muster more than 3 points against the Dolphins. The Dolphins went on to win 20-3 in yet another humiliating loss at home. 

The biggest disappointment was once again Drew Bledsoe, who instead of getting better, seems to be getting worse every week. Bledsoe had to take most of the heat for the loss as he was sacked six times and made two costly fumbles. Outside of that, he threw an interception that was returned for a Dolphin touchdown. He managed to get over 100 yards passing, but just barely, getting 114 yards by completing half of his 24 passes.

Even Bledsoe's main target the last two seasons, Eric Moulds, thought that Bledsoe was really off his mark Sunday.

"This is probably one of the worst games I've seen him play, but it's a team game and we have to help him," acknowledged Moulds. 

Bledsoe, who usually doesn't show much emotion, was visibly upset during his press conference after the game. 

"Right now I'm just so mad," fumed Bledsoe. "That is my reaction. I didn't see this season going this way. I'm trying to figure out what the answers are and I know some of them. But I am just so angry right now with the way things have gone that I am just kind of beside myself to be honest with you."

Bledsoe Discussed The Game Plan Against The Dolphins.

"We felt like we needed to try and hit some plays," said Bledsoe about going to the air game with the wind gusting around 40 miles per hour. "In retrospect, the way the game played out, maybe we should have pounded on them, and hopefully something breaks. But the plan today was to come out and try to throw it quick against their defense, and we didn't hit the plays we needed to."

The Bills have to make a crucial decision in the offseason on whether they want to cut the chord with Bledsoe or have him come back for one more year. If he is brought back, they have to pay him $6 million for the season. An option clicks into effect in November that is even scarier for the Bills. At that time they have to decide whether to pick up the option to pay him a $7 million bonus for a new 3-year deal. If at that time they decline to do so, they pay him $2 million.

Some say he could restructure his contract for less money, helping the Bills with the cap. In my book, that would still be a waste of money for what he is contributing to the team. It is high time to cut the strings and start developing the quarterback of the future for the franchise. Bledsoe has not even come close to what the Bills were hoping to get when they traded their first round draft choice for him.

Mistakes Plague The Bills From The Start

Bledsoe wasn't the only Bill to cough up the ball during the game. Nate Clements bobbled the ball on a punt return, giving the Dolphins the ball deep in Bills country. Travis Henry also fumbled twice, but one was recovered by Buffalo while they were in the Dolphins red zone. 

The Bills finally appeared ready to drive down to the Miami goal line. They had the ball on the Dolphins 29 in the 3rd quarter and Bledsoe threw right into the hands of Terrell Buckley, who picked off a Bledsoe pass and went 74 yards for a touchdown.

Two fumbles resulted in Miami field goals and that was all they needed to sweep the Bills in this season's series.

Henry ran 24 times for 67 yards, but with the wind conditions and the way Bledsoe was throwing, the Bills should have ran him 40 times to be effective.

Bills Defense Upset With Lack Of Offense

It got to the boiling point Sunday for the Bills defense. They have been threatening to sue for the lack of support and Sunday some of the defensive players let the offense have it after they had to go back on the field when the offense coughed it up. There were several verbal exchanges by offense and defensive Bills players as they went on and off the field.

The Bills did a credible job on defense, holding the Dolphins to just 178 yards. Jay Fiedler only got  only 46 in the air, hitting on 7 of 18. But his 23-yard touchdown to Chambers was all the Fins needed on this windy day. Ricky Williams was contained by the Bills, as he gained 111 yards on 29 carries, only a 3.8 yard average.

"It is frustrating," admitted London Fletcher. "You hold a team to 169 yards, an average of 3 yards per offensive play, you should win the football game. You have to give credit to the Miami Dolphins defense. They won the turnover battle. We played on a very short field the entire game."

"I hate to lose," said Lawyer Milloy. "I'm a sore loser. I don't care how you win the game, you just have to get it done, and we haven't been able to do that all year."

Then he added, "This is not the time to start pointing fingers, there is enough of that going on around here."

Bills Talk

Bledsoe, although he has a way to look calm even during the darkest and tense moments, talked about his dismal performance this year.
"It's probably my most frustrating season because I anticipated us being a much better team than we have been," admitted Bledsoe. "We started the season very strong and I really felt like we were going to be a contender in this league. We just simply have not played well enough offensively to get that done." 

Bledsoe talked about his mistakes.

"When it is cold the ball is slick and hard, but that is no excuse," he said. "I have to hold on to it and we have to hold on to it as a team.

"Early in the game there were a couple of plays I probably should have hit and then the interception was an avoidable play. I thought that they were both carrying my inside receiver down the field, then Buckley came off and it was just a horrible play. I thought that Bobby Shaw was going to come underneath of him, but when he came off I just didn't see him and it was just a horrible play. Overall, I think that the way that the game went, what I was trying to do, was I was trying to go through my reads as quickly as I could to get the ball out against what was a good pass rush and because of that, I made some poor decisions."

About getting sacked 6 times, Bledsoe said, "That's the way it is against these guys, particularly against their pass rushers. I have to make very quick decisions based on where I anticipate my guy is going to be. If it doesn't play out exactly that way, you saw what happens. If I hold onto the ball too long, then you risk losing the play. That's the way it was today."

The Bills offensive line came to Bledsoe's defense.

"I know I have to play better than I did today, and I put that responsibility on me," said Marques Sullivan. 

Sullivan then talked about Jason Taylor who got two and a half sacks.

"He's a great player, but I think we could have ran more at him and not give him so many pass rush opportunities. By running at him more, maybe we could have pounded him and took some of his quickness away from him."

The offensive line wants to run the ball more as Henry has proven that he can handle the load and take a lot of the pressure off the struggling Bledsoe.

"One thing we know we can do is run the ball," said Price. "We're confident we can run on anybody in the league. You want to establish that because it opens up everything else for us. When that's not open for us, then you're going to have some inconsistency trying to find an identity for that day. It's a must for us to establish the run game every game."

Price then talked about how the line just couldn't get into the rhythm. 

"The one thing about an offensive line is it's all about rhythm," insisted Price. "Against a team like that, you have to establish the running game because they can rush. That's what their strength is. And if you don't try to establish the run game, then you leave the door open for them to come and try to exploit us with the pass rush. We were never put in a situation where we could be physical and kind of wear them down. Then we got behind and we had to go into a two-minute mode. Once you do that, they've got the advantage."

Bills owner Ralph Wilson would not criticize Bledsoe.

Asked if he found fault with Bledsoe's play, Wilson said, "Heck no. Drew's a good quarterback, I haven't given up on him.

"I don't think that Drew has a heckuva lot of time to throw the ball," Wilson added. "The guys are right on top of him. By the time he gets back, boom. We've got to straighten the offense out all the way around. There's not much blocking. The whole scheme of it has to be straightened out. I just think we've got better players than we've shown."

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