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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) -- It was the Buffalo Bills, not the San
Diego Chargers, who needed two quarterbacks to pull out a victory
Sunday.
|  | | Buffalo Bills kicker Steve Christie got a second chance Sunday, and he wound up celebrating after his 46-yard FG in overtime was good. |
Doug Flutie, taking over for injured Rob Johnson, marched the
Bills 31 yards to Steve Christie's 46-yard field goal in Sunday's
27-24 overtime win over the Chargers.
Flutie was forced into the game in overtime after Johnson
separated his right shoulder on Neil Smith's hit at the end of the
Bills' first possession of overtime. Johnson will miss 2-4 weeks.
On the Bills' next possession, set up by Henry Jones'
interception at the Buffalo 41, Flutie swiftly moved the Bills to
the winning score.
"You don't want to let your teammates down. You want to go in
and give them the best opportunity to win -- don't make mistakes and
make the couple of plays that you can," said Flutie, making his
second straight appearance for Johnson, who hurt his elbow in last
weekend's 22-13 loss at Miami.
"I just went in the last handful of plays and tried to execute
to secure that, to take advantage of the opportunity the rest of
the team had given us."
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TOM DONAHOE'S BREAKDOWN |
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Buffalo rallied late to tie the game with 10 fourth-quarter points behind Rob Johnson, who had a strong
game.
But Johnson was knocked out of the game late with a separated shoulder, so
Doug Flutie will be Buffalo's
quarterback for the next couple of weeks. So while there might be no
quarterback controversy now, there could be one down the road when Johnson
gets healthy. That depends, of course, on how Flutie plays.
The Bills continue to struggle running the football, though they did get
some production in this game from rookie Sammy Morris.
For San Diego, now 0-7, it was a frustrating defeat. The Chargers seemed to be in
control and let it slip away.
Chargers quarterback Jim
Harbaugh was effective for the third consecutive game, but threw a costly
interception in overtime that led to Buffalo's winning field goal.
This was a tough defeat for the Chargers, who really deserved to win. The
Chargers are off to their worst start since they opened the 1975 season
0-11.
But San Diego hasn't quit -- the Chargers played hard today. I expect the Chargers
to win some games before the season is over.
Tom Donahoe, ESPN.com's NFL analyst, was formerly the Steelers' director
of football operations.
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The Bills also got a break on the winning field goal with 6:34
remaining. Christie's first attempt bounced off the right goalpost.
But it didn't count because the play had been called dead when
Buffalo center Jerry Ostroski false-started.
Christie's second attmempt just sneaked over the bar.
It was a sloppy, dramatic and intense see-saw battle between two
teams desperate for a victory.
The Chargers (0-7) squandered a 10-point fourth-quarter lead and
are off to their worst start since opening the 1975 season 0-11.
The Bills (3-3), coming off three losses to AFC East rivals,
avoided losing four straight for the first time since 1985.
"We're totally stoked, very happy we got a win. We rallied,"
said Johnson. "We hadn't played well all game, but when it was on
the line, we made the plays and we got it into overtime."
Oddly, it was the Chargers who intended to use two quarterbacks,
only to watch their experiment failed miserably.
Chargers coach Mike Riley lived up to his word and pulled
starter Jim Harbaugh despite a solid first quarter.
Enter Moses Moreno and enter chaos.
Moreno, who missed the last three games with a right shoulder
injury, fumbled the snap on his first play from scrimmage. Then, on
the Chargers' next drive, Moreno fumbled when sacked by Sam Cowart.
Both turnovers led to touchdowns as the Bills went ahead 14-3
and Moreno was done.
"Bad decision by me," said Riley, admitting he considered
leaving in Harbaugh, who had just hit six straight passes to set up
John Carney's field goal. "It was unfortunate. I would never have
expected that. I still have a lot of confidence in (Moreno). I just
felt we couldn't let it go on any longer."
Said Harbaugh: "I figured I would get in at some point. I
didn't know it was going to be that quick."
Harbaugh, coming off a three-interception performance in last
weekend's 21-7 loss against Denver, finished 21-for-33 for 287
yards, with two interceptions and two touchdowns.
Curtis Conway had seven catches for 143 yards and a touchdown,
while Jeff Graham finished with nine catches for 113 yards and a
touchdown. Jermaine Fazande, on a 2-yard dive, also scored for San
Diego.
Johnson, sacked four times, finished 29-for-47 for a career-high
321 yards and one interception. He has now failed to finish three
of his last six starts.
Eric Moulds had a career-high 11 catches for 170 yards, his
third 100-yard-plus game this season. Sammy Morris rushed for a TD
and the Bills also got a rare score from an offensive lineman as
Ostroski pounced on Jonathan Linton's fumble as it rolled into the
end zone.
After falling behind 24-14, the Bills got back into the game in
the fourth quarter.
Johnson, shrugging off boos from the sellout crowd, drew the
Bills close with a 99-yard drive capped with an 11-yard screen pass
to Shawn Bryson two minutes into the fourth quarter.
The Bills forced overtime when Johnson marched the team 69 yards
to set up Christie's 29-yarder with seven seconds left.
"This was a situation where this could've been a big loss for
us, but I think this game showed what kind of character we have as
a team," Moulds said.
Game notes
The Chargers lost defensive lineman Michael Mohring with
a right knee sprain. Mohring, who will undergo an MRI on Monday,
was hurt covering a kickoff late in the first quarter. ... The loss
was San Diego's first in its last seven trips to the Buffalo-area,
going back to 1964, when the Chargers lost the AFL championship
game at Buffalo's War Memorial Stadium.
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ALSO SEE
NFL Scoreboard
San Diego Clubhouse
Buffalo Clubhouse
Bills' Johnson out 2-4 weeks with separated shoulder
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