NFL Recap (San Francisco-Buffalo)
Posted: Sun October 4, 1998 at 6:36 p.m. EDT
BUFFALO 26, SAN FRANCISCO 21
BUFFALO, New York (Ticker) -- The Buffalo Bills took
advantage of four turnovers and an NFL-record-tying 22 penalties by the San Francisco 49ers to post
a surprising 26-21 victory for their first win under coach Wade Phillips.
Rob Johnson
completed 19-of-27 passes for 254 yards with one touchdown and no
interceptions and Steve
Christie converted four field goals for Buffalo (1-3), which snapped a
six-game losing streak and improved to a league-best 9-1 following bye
weeks.
"I'm proud of our team obviously," said Phillips. "A lot of
adversity, a lot of people saying we can't win. A lot of people saying we
couldn't win this game for sure. I thought our guys played tremendous.
Our defense was all over the field making plays."
The 49ers (3-1) were their own worst enemy today, shattering their
single-game penalty record of 15 from December 8th, 1996 against Carolina.
The 22 penalties matched the league mark accomplished by the 1944 Brooklyn
Dodgers and 1944 Chicago
Bears.
"It's not like we are going to run sprints for each penalty or
anything like that," said 49ers coach Steve Mariucci. "It's something we
need to address. It wasn't any one penalty, the penalties snowballed and
we couldn't stop it."
San Francisco was penalized 178 yards, eclipsing the previous team
mark of 177 set on September 18th, 1994 at the Los Angeles Rams. The NFL
record is 209 by the Cleveland Browns in 1951.
After scoring a franchise-record 112 points over its first three
contests, San Francisco was held scoreless for the first 46-plus minutes
before avoiding its first shutout since 1977 with three touchdowns in the
final period.
"Certainly there is a sense of frustration when (the calls) goes
against you for you so long," added Mariucci. "We weren't going to get a
break, you have to make your own break. I thought we kept our cool. Not
only did we stop the bleeding, we got right back in it. It showed the
character of this team."
The 49ers were trying to become the first NFL team to accumulate at
least 500 yards of offense in four straight games, but settled for 377. It
was just San Francisco's sixth loss in its last 20 October games.
San Francisco is in a three-way tie for first place with the New Orleans Saints and Atlanta Falcons in the
NFC West. The 49ers play at New Orleans next week.
Eric Moulds caught
a 50-yard pass from Johnson on the first play from scrimmage to set up a
24-yard field goal by Christie 2:30 into the contest.
The Bills were stopped on on their next two possessions before safety
Henry Jones forced a
fumble by Niners running back Garrison Hearst and
cornerback Thomas Smith
recovered the ball at the 49er 30.
Johnson hit Kevin
Williams for 15 yards on the first play and Antowain Smith eventually
bulled six yards into the end zone with 1:27 left in the quarter to make it
10-0.
"There was a sense of urgency here," said Smith. "We were 0-3, been
losing with penalties, missed plays and missed tackles. We had to make a
change. We know how good of a team we are. We just had to put it together,
all three phases of the game."
Williams had four catches for 87 yards, while Moulds hauled in three
passes for 86 yards.
Rookie R.W.
McQuarters fumbled the ensuing kickoff at his own 34 and a 15-yard
unnecessary roughness call on safety Tim McDonald moved the ball
to the 18. Four plays later, Quinn Early beat Antonio Langham for a
five-yard touchdown reception 32 seconds into the second quarter.
Christie extended the lead to 20-0 three seconds before halftime with
a 19-yard field goal. The play capped a 63-yard drive that featured a
15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty on safety Lance Schulters and a
19-yard pass interference call on Langham.
Another turnover -- a fumble by 49ers quarterback Steve Young and 16-yard
return to the 49er 44 by defensive end Marcellus Wiley --
resulted in more points for Buffalo, as Christie nailed a 38-yard field
goal with 2:51 to go in the third quarter.
After Buffalo took its shutout into the final period, San Francisco
finally got on the board when Young hit Jerry Rice for 33 yards and
then eluded a sack before hooking up with fullback Marc Edwards for a 47-yard
scoring strike 1:44 into the quarter. Young found Rice for the two-point
conversion.
Christie answered with a 45-yard field goal 4:12 later to make it 26-8
before Young engineered a 79-yard drive that was capped with a nine-yard TD
reception by tight end Irv
Smith with 5:33 remaining.
Young added a 21-yard scoring pass to J.J. Stokes with 63
seconds to play to narrow the difference to 26-21 and the 49ers attempted
an onside kick.
The first kick was recovered by San Francisco, but Curtis Buckley was called
for offensive offside. The second try was recovered by Buffalo at
midfield, but an illegal touch penalty on the Niners moved the ball ahead
17 yards.
"I've never seen it like that," said Young. "We've got to clean it up
quick. We had three turnovers in the first half, penalties. It's almost
like you want to go back in and call a do-over. Too little too late. Even
with the on-side kick with one last gasp to win it, it just wasn't meant to
be."
Young finished 23-of-38 for 329 yards, his fourth straight game of
throwing for 300-plus yards, which ties Dan Fouts for the second-highest
streak in NFL history. Former 49er Joe Montana accomplished the feat in
five consecutive contests in 1982.
Young also led the team in rushing with 34 on five carries. Rice had
three catches for 54 yards and is averaging just 39.5 yards in four career
meetings with Buffalo.
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