2003

Bills 0
New England 31

Attendance:  68,436

Rick Anderson - The 2003 season began with the Buffalo Bills presenting the New England Patriots a gift. The gift was a 31-0 blowout of the Patriots which shocked the football world . The Bills gave the Pats the present fully wrapped with colorful paper and a bow on top. It also had a card with a message: This is payment for the past few years the Pats dominated the Bills. It was a bitter pill for the Patriots to swallow and the worst blemish on an otherwise splendid season. 

Like what millions of Americans did the day after Christmas, the Patriots returned their gift back to where they got it. The present was returned completely intact, right down to the original wrapping.

Patriots head coach Bill Belichick must have conjured up the Gods of Vengeance to extract revenge on the Bills, completely duplicating the embarrassment the Bills gave them in the season's opener. The Patriots did onto the Bills what the Bills did onto them as they blasted Buffalo with the exact 31-0 score to end the regular season.

Not only was the score a complete reversal, but so was the final play of the game.

In the season opener, the Pats had the ball on the Bills 1-yard line and the Bills defense stopped Antowain Smith from scoring on the last play of the game. On the final play of the final game of the regular season, the Bills attempted passing instead of running in from the 1-yard line. Travis Brown's pass to tight end Dave Moore was picked off by Larry Izzo, effectively preserving a duplicate shutout of the Bills and it climaxed the complete reversal of fortunes.

"This team wanted to keep that zero on the board," proclaimed Izzo. "It was a just a hard-sell play action and I was able not to bite up on it."

Never in sports history has something like this ever happened. To turn the 31-0 blowout they received in Buffalo completely around 180 degrees and hand the same exact 31-0 trashing right back in their faces, including a duplication of the game's final play, seems too ironic to be true. But it did happen and nowhere in the annuals of sports will one find such a duplication and reversal.

Belichick, in all his wizardry, must have summoned up a mighty spell to cast on Buffalo for the black eye it gave his team in the season's opener. Maybe the Grand Wizard of football will repeat his magic to win another Super Bowl like he did two years ago. Belichick had to pull a few rabbits out of his hat to even get to the playoffs back then, let alone win it all. His Patriots had to have the good fortune to receive a couple gifts from the referees in their two victories over the Bills that year, including an overtime ruling when a Bills receiver was ruled out of bounds. That play turned the entire game around in the Patriots favor. And who can ever forget the "Tuck Rule" controversy that gift-wrapped a playoff victory for the Pats over the Raiders in that post season?

Once again it appears as if Belichick has the planets and the stars aligned in favor of his Patriots for some more post season magic.

Reversal Of Fortunes

The Bills and Patriots are two teams going in opposite directions. Not only did they reverse the scores from the first and last games of the regular season, but the Pats hopes are sky high where the Bills outlook has sunk to its lowest point in years. After all the offseason acquisitions to bolster the Bills defense, along with the signing of Patriot linebacker Lawyer Milloy a few days before the opening game, both the Bills players and fans were ecstatic over what they thought would be a season where they would not only make the playoffs, but go deep in them. After beating the Pats 31-0, people were even proclaiming the Bills could be Super Bowl bound. Nothing could have been further from the truth.

After beating Jacksonville in week 2 and taking a 2-0 record into Miami the next week, fans and experts alike were penciling the Bills in the playoffs and maybe even the team to beat. Then the roof fell in on Bills quarterback Drew Bledsoe and his Bills. Bledsoe, who looked like the quarterback that led the NFL in the first half of last season, suddenly started showing the flawed characteristics that led to the Bills demise in the second half of the season. He was being pressured and started to lose his composure. He was sacked and threw interceptions. That trend continued throughout the rest of this season and now the Bills have to be wondering if they can ever win with Bledsoe.

Bledsoe didn't look confident against the Pats as he threw an interception on his very first pass of the day. Bledsoe threw the ball right into the hands of Pats linebacker Mike Vrabel which led to the Pats second touchdown and the Bills were already in the hole 14-0. For the day, Bledsoe completed only 12 of 29 passes for 83 yards, was sacked 4 times and had that opening interception. He was fortunate that he only had one of his passes picked off as there must have been at least 4 other occasions where his misguided missiles hit enemy hands.

Ruben Brown A No-Show

Another element came to light before the game with the Patriots when it was announced that Ruben Brown was "excused" from the game. Bills coach Gregg Williams said that "personal reasons" were the factors that determined that they would allow him to miss his first game after playing 71 straight. Bills GM Tom Donahoe emphasized that Brown was not suspended, but "inactive."

Rumors have come out of One Bills Drive that Brown was unhappy with Bills offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride and the play calling all season. In fact, one source claimed that Brown confronted Gilbride during the week. Brown did not practice all week with the Bills and said on his radio show early in the week that it would have been hard for him to get motivated playing the last game of the season.

This comes at a time when the Bills needed some final stand, one last show of support for not only their coach, who is likely to get fired next week, but also for pride. What Brown did to the Bills and his teammates was to abandon ship. He had enough of the coaching staff and decided to make a statement to everyone by quitting on the team. Brown, who was voted to the Pro Bowl for the 8th straight year, may have played his last game in a Bills uniform last week against Miami.

Pats Employ Old Bills To Success

Not lost to the Patriots is the fact that they had several ex-Bills in their lineup and used the revenge factor there also. Not only did Antowain Smith gain 74 yards on 15 carries against his former team, but Larry Centers, who is normally a relief valve receiver coming out of the backfield, ran the ball 4 times for 9 yards. Also in the lineup on the defensive side was Ted Washington, who made his presence known.

"It was poetic justice," reflected Centers after the game.

To add insult to injury, the Patriots used the no-huddle offense throughout the game, taking a page out of the Bills of the early 90s when Jim Kelly ran it so well. Tom Brady, who the Patriots chose over Bledsoe to lead the team when Bledsoe was traded to Buffalo, had an outstanding game. He threw for 4 touchdowns completing 21 of 32 passes and had twice the poise in the pocket than Bledsoe did.

With the Bills finishing the season at 6-10, Bledsoe had his worst season as a pro. Many Bills fans don't want the Bills to retain his services next year.

"I absolutely couldn't imagine us being in this situation," admitted Bledsoe after the game. "I've done everything I could to try to get the ship righted and look for the answers. We just didn't find them. It has been a very, very, very tough season."

Tough Decisions Ahead For Bills

The offseason is going to be a time of turmoil for the Bills. They must first decide on whether Gregg Williams deserves to get a contract offer. Most experts have him looking elsewhere for employment next season, but with Donahoe, you never know. Williams was his man from the start and he may try to find excuses for the season, absolving Williams from a lot of the blame. Once scenario is for the Bills to fire Gilbride, using him as the scapegoat for the Bills offensive woes this year. That would not go down well with season ticket holders, as well with other Bills fans who packed Ralph Wilson Stadium this season, giving the Bills a sellout for all 8 games. Any sign of retaining anything from these past 3 years in the coaching ranks, especially both Williams and Gilbride could result in a huge drop in the season ticket base.

Ralph Wilson would be wise to show that the team plans to address the problem right at the source. If Donahoe is not willing to accept the mistakes he made during his reign as GM, and that includes keeping Bledsoe, then maybe it is time for Wilson to find a new GM as well.

Bills Talk

The Bills felt they were living in some sort of reverse deja vu. With the Pats turning the tables 180 degrees, a lot of players were in a state of shock.

"I looked up at the scoreboard and I felt like I was in a dream," said London. "I couldn't believe what the score was resembling." 

In the other locker room, the Patriots were saying the Bills got what they deserved. <p>

"It's amazing, said Matt Light. "It's poetic justice."

Alex Van Pelt, who couldn't play the last two weeks because of a sprained hand, was aghast over how the season went.

"I feel like going to a hypnotist and trying to have the memory of this season erased," Van Pelt said. 

Williams, who may have coached his last game as Bills head coach and finished with an overall record of 17-29 with Buffalo, could read the writing on the wall.

"It's been a long season," Williams said. "I'm obviously disappointed it hasn't ended in the way that we'd like it to. It was a tough loss today."

Antoine Winfield, who is now a free agent and may not return with the Bills said, "I don't know what we need, but I know we need to win. There's definitely going to be a lot of changes."

Winfield could be one of those changes.

Copyright ©2003 WGBB