| 
 1998
|
Week 17
December 27, 1998 Bills 45
New Orleans 33
Attendance: 39,707
NEW ORLEANS (AP) The Buffalo Bills showed they have two winning quarterbacks, and
the New Orleans Saints raised questions as to whether they even have one.
| Scoring
Summary |
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
F |
| Bills |
21 |
7 |
3 |
14 |
45 |
| New Orleans |
0 |
14 |
7 |
12 |
33 |
First Quarter
BUF A.Smith 1 run (Christie kick), 14:25. Drive: 1 plays, 1 yard, 0:05. Key play:
B.Smith 18 fumble return to New Orleans 1, following Price's sack of Collins. Buffalo 7,
New Orleans 0.BUF Moulds 66 pass from R.Johnson (Christie kick), 12:06.
Drive: 3 plays, 65 yards, 0:49. Buffalo 14, New Orleans 0.
BUF R.Johnson 12 run (Christie kick), 6:13. Drive: 4 plays, 49 yards, 1:29. Key
plays: Schulz 1 interception return to New Orleans 49; R.Johnson 13 pass to Riemersma;
R.Johnson 24 pass to Moulds. Buffalo 21, New Orleans 0.
Second Quarter
BUF Gash 1 pass from R.Johnson (Christie kick), 12:15. Drive: 9 plays, 81 yards,
4:27. Key plays: 15-yard roughing passer penalty on Warner; R.Johnson 11 pass Riemersma on
3rd-and-7; R.Johnson 6 run on 3rd-and-3; R.Johnson 37 pass to Early. Buffalo 28, New
Orleans 0.
NO Davis 1 run (Brien kick), 6:29. Drive: 11 plays, 69 yards, 5:46. Key plays:
Tolliver 15 pass to Cleeland; Tolliver 16 run on 3rd-and-10; Tolliver 9 pass to Hastings;
Perry 19 run. Buffalo 28, New Orleans 7.
NO Cleeland 5 pass from Tolliver (Brien kick), 1:56. Drive: 6 plays, 56 yards,
2:25. Key plays: Tolliver 8 pass to Dawkins plus 15-yard roughing passer penalty on Wiley;
Tolliver 20 pass to Guliford. Buffalo 28, New Orleans 14.
Third Quarter
BUF FG Christie 35, 7:18. Drive: 13 plays, 45 yards, 7:42. Key plays: A.Smith 15
and 12 runs; Linton 3 run on 3rd-and-2; R.Johnson 10 pass to Reed on 3rd-and-7. Buffalo
31, New Orleans 14.
NO Bech 10 pass from Tolliver (Brien kick), 1:00. Drive: 11 plays, 72 yards,
6:18. Key plays: Tolliver 17 pass to Cleeland; Tolliver 10 pass to Wilcox; Perry 6 run
plus 15-yard personal foul on H.Jones. Buffalo 31, New Orleans 21.
Fourth Quarter
BUF L.Johnson 23 pass from R.Johnson (Christie kick), 14:55. Drive: 3 plays, 33
yards, 1:05. Key plays: Cummings 21 kickoff return to New Orleans 18 after Buffalo face
mask penalty on M.Martin outs ball on 33 negating Cummings TD. Buffalo 38, New Orleans 21.
BUF Linton 8 run (Christie kick). 6:39. Drive: 7 plays, 35 yards, 4:35. Key
plays: M.Martin 23 interception return plus 5-yard face mask penalty on Poole putting ball
on New Orleans 35; R.Johnson 12 pass to K.Williams. Buffalo 45, New Orleans 21.
NO Craver 1 run (pass failed). 1:57. Drive: 17 plays, 67 yards, 4:42. Key plays:
Tolliver 11 and 10 passes to Cleeland; Tolliver 18 pass to Bech; Tolliver 11 pass to
Cleeland; Tolliver 13 pass to Bech. Buffalo 45, New Orleans 27.
NO Bech 72 pass from Tolliver (pass failed). 1:44. Drive: 1 plays, 72 yards,
:10. Key play: Kelly recovered onsides kick after Smedley touched ball. Buffalo 45, New
Orleans 33. |
Ron Johnson, who lost his starting job to Doug Flutie because of an injury
in the fifth game of the season, threw for three touchdowns and ran for another in
Buffalo's 45-33 over the Saints on Sunday.
"I wanted Rob to get a chance to play and he did, and had a good game,"
Bills coach Wade Phillips said. "Rob did well. I thought he would."
The Bills (10-6) clinched a playoff berth thanks to Green Bay's 30-22 victory
over Tennessee last week. Flutie, who could have played against the Saints if needed, said
he expects to be ready for the Dolphins.
"I expect to play against Miami," Flutie said. "The reason I came
down from the CFL was to win a Super Bowl."
Johnson, who was 1-3 before Flutie took over as starter, finished 12-of-18 for
216 yards against the Saints and had a far easier time than his counterpart, the bumbling
Kerry Collins.
Collins completed just three of 12 passes for 23 yards, and was sacked twice,
intercepted once and also had a fumble before being pulled in the first quarter for Billy
Joe Tolliver. Collins has committed 14 of the Saints' 32 turnovers in his 23 quarters of
play since coming to the team from the Carolina Panthers.
"I've been inconsistent since coming here," Collins said. "But at times
I've played well and the team has played well. I still think I can do that here."
The Saints, who had scored just three offensive touchdowns in December, appeared
totally confused as they fell behind 28-0. New Orleans, however, did end up with its
highest point total of the season.
"Our guys don't quit," Saints coach Mike Ditka said. "They don't play
good, but they don't quit."
Before the Saints gained their first yard, they had four incomplete passes, a 5-yard
penalty, a timeout, a sack, fumble and touchdown scored against them.
The Bills scored after a fumble by Collins and an interception.
Johnson threw touchdowns of 66 yards to Eric Moulds, 3 yards to Sam Gash and 23 yards
to Lonnie Johnson.
Collins was yanked with 2:46 left in the first quarter, and Tolliver recharged the
Saints' offense, completing 23 of 41 passes for 296 yards and three touchdowns.
"I don't know if I had an up game or a down game," Tolliver said. "We
lost the football game, and that's all that counts." Notes: For the 12th straight
season, Bruce Smith has recorded 10 or more sacks, tying him with Reggie White for the NFL
record for most double-digit sack seasons. ... Going into the game, Saints punter Mark
Royals led the NFC in punting with a 45.9 yard average. ... Bills wide receiver Eric
Moulds became Buffalo's franchise leader in receiving yards, breaking Andre Reed's team
record. He finished the regular season with 1,368 yards. ... C.J. Piazza a member of the
sideline chains crew was removed on a cart late in the first half after complaining of
faintness. He later returned.
| Game
Breakdown |
|
BUF |
NO |
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 |
21
10
10
1
7-12
1-2
308
56
5.5
130
33
3.9
178
5-38
216
12-18
0
7.7
8-5-2
3-39.3
0
0-0
107
3-25
2-58
2-24
10-77
2-1
29:36 |
26
6
16
4
10-18
0-0
366
76
4.8
75
19
3.9
291
4-28
319
26-53
2
5.1
6-3-2
4-50.3
0
0-0
160
2-8
6-152
0-0
6-45
2-1
30:24 |
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING BUFFALO, Linton 13-60, A.Smith 12-42, R.Johnson 4-23,
P.Williams 2-5, Gash 1-1, Van Pelt 1-(minus 1). NEW ORLEANS, Perry 9-45, Tolliver 2-21,
Craver 5-8, Davis 3-1.PASSING BUFFALO, R.Johnson
12-18-0-216, Van Pelt 0-0-0-0. NEW ORLEANS, Collins 3-12-1-23, Tolliver 23-41-1-296.
RECEIVING BUFFALO, Riemersma 3-26, Moulds 2-90, Reed 2-20,
K.Williams 2-19, Early 1-37, L.Johnson 1-23, Gash 1-1. NEW ORLEANS, Cleeland 10-112, Bech
4-113, Craver 3-16, Guliford 2-26, Hastings 2-17, L.Smith 2-11, Dawkins 1-12, Wilcox 1-10,
Perry 1-2.
PUNT RETURNS BUFFALO, K.Williams 3-25. NEW ORLEANS, Guliford
2-8.
KICKOFF RETURNS BUFFALO, K.Williams 1-37, Cummings 1-21. NEW
ORLEANS, Guliford 6-152.
TACKLES-ASSISTS-SACKS BUFFALO, Wiley 4-2-1, Cowart 5-1-0,
Schulz 4-1-0, R.Jackson 4-1-0, Holecek 4-0-0, H.Jones 4-0-0, Smedley 4-0-0, Price 3-0-2,
M.Martin 3-0-0, Greer 2-0-0, Perry 2-3-0, Irvin 2-1-0, Simmons 2-1-0, Washington 2-1-0,
Cummings 2-0-0, Northern 1-0-0, B.Smith 1-0-1, P.Williams 1-0-0, Rogers 0-1-0, Brandenburg
1-0-0, Linton 1-0-0, Moran 1-0-0, Porter 1-0-0. NEW ORLEANS, Bordano 8-1-1, Fields 6-2-2,
Weary 4-0-0, Drakeford 4-0-0, W.Martin 3-1-1, Knight 3-2-0, J.Johnson 3-0-0, Golver 2-0-0,
Molden 2-0-0, Warner 2-2-0, Wilson 1-1-0, Cota 1-0-0, Kelly 1-0-0, K.Mitchell 1-0-1,
Tomich 1-0-0, Hewitt 0-1-0, Dawkins 1-0-0, Little 1-0-0, Poole 1-0-0, Turley 1-0-0, Wilcox
2-0-0.
INTERCEPTIONS BUFFALO, M.Martin 1-23, Schulz 1-1. NEW ORLEANS,
None.
MISSED FIELD GOALS None. |
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