NFL Recap (Jacksonville-Buffalo)
Posted: Sun October 18, 1998 at 7:18 p.m. EDT
BUFFALO 17, JACKSONVILLE 16
BUFFALO, New York (Ticker) -- Doug Flutie performed some
magic against his former college quarterbacks coach in his first NFL start
in nine years and knocked the Jacksonville Jaguars from
the ranks of the unbeaten.
Flutie fooled the Jaguars with a fourth-down, one-yard bootleg run
around left end for a touchdown with 13 seconds left and Steve Christie converted
the extra point to lift the Buffalo Bills to a 17-16
victory over the Jaguars. The play capped off a 12-play, 70-yard drive
which featured a 38-yard pass from Flutie to Eric Moulds to the
Jacksonville 1 with 28 seconds left.
Flutie said afterwards that the winning touchdown came on a broken
play and was actually supposed to be a pitch left to running back Thurman Thomas.
"It was not a naked bootleg," said Flutie. "It was a pitch to
Thurman, but he ran the other play and I ran the pitch for Thurman. He
didn't hear the audible and I just took off."
Jaguars coach Tom Coughlin was the offensive coordinator and
quarterbacks coach at Boston College when Flutie won the Heisman Trophy in
1984. Obviously aware of Flutie's propensity to run rollout plays in
fourth-down situations, Coughlin was disgusted with his defense's late
reaction to the play.
"It was a bad way to lose. Everyone in the ballpark knows that it's a
naked bootleg," said Coughlin. "They just did what they had to do at the
end and we didn't."
After running untouched around the left side, Flutie leaped into the
stands for a Lambeau Field-type celebration with the fans. When Flutie ran
to the sidelines, he leaped into the waiting arms of Bills star defensive
end Bruce Smith.
"Big players make big plays," said Bills coach Wade Phillips of the
5-10 Flutie. "It was a great game and we knew that was the way it was going
to be. I thought our guys played their hearts out."
The Bills actually thought they had scored on the long pass to Moulds,
who made a leaping catch down the left sideline at the Jacksonville 5 in
front of late-breaking safety Chris Hudson and then
slithered toward the end zone. The side judge immediately signaled for a
touchdown as Moulds reached across the end zone with the nose of the
football, but the back judge overruled, claiming Moulds had his knee down
before the ball crossed the goal line.
"They were in a two-coverage and kind of left me alone," said Moulds.
"Doug threw a great pass and I just used my run-after-catch ability. I
thought I was in. I didn't know what the call was because I was over there
celebrating."
"We ran four seam routes and I tried to keep my eyes toward the middle
of field," said Flutie. "I pumnped and basically threw it blindly to an
area out there."
Buffalo quickly regrouped after a brief celebration and Flutie
immediately spiked the ball on the ensuing play to stop the clock with 25
seconds left. With no timeouts left, the Bills were unwilling to gamble on
a running play. Flutie attempted a quick pass to the left corner of the end
zone to Moulds, who was covered tightly by Deon Figures as the throw
fell incomplete. On the next play, Flutie badly overthew a quick pass to
the right corner of the end zone intended for Andre Reed.
With 4th-and-goal at the 1, Flutie faked a handoff up the middle to Antowain Smith, looked
left for a pitch to Thomas, who was not positioned in the right spot, and
then tucked the ball away and took off for the left side.
"It's really discouraging for that to happen," said Jaguars middle
linebacker Tom McManus.
"Especially Flutie, that little guy, he's a good player."
The Bills (3-3), who previously handed the San Francisco 49ers their
first loss of the season on October 4th, won their third straight for the
first time since 1996.
Jacksonville's loss leaves Denver and Minnesota as the only remaining
unbeaten teams in the NFL. The Jaguars (5-1), who play at Denver next
week, lead the Pittsburgh
Steelers (4-2) by one game in the AFC Central.
Flutie was starting for the injured Rob Johnson, who lost the
opportunity to play against his former team due to a rib injury suffered in
last Sunday's game at Indianapolis. Johnson was traded by the Jaguars to
the Bills last February in exchange for a first-round pick. But Flutie came
to the rescue, completing 23-of-28 passes for 213 yards and two touchdowns
to lead the Bills to a 31-24 win over the Colts.
The relief performance and Johnson's injury earned Flutie his first
start since October 15, 1989, when he played for New England. Contending
with a swirling wind for most of the day, Flutie completed 18-of-39 passes
for 228 yards, including a 12-yard touchdown to Moulds in the second
quarter.
The windy conditions especially hampered Jacksonville's Mark Brunell, who was
prevented from effectively throwing the deep ball and finished 16-of-28 for
just 119 yards.
Mike Hollis kicked
three field goals and rookie Tavian Banks scored on a
one-yard run for the Jaguars. Banks, who was playing for the injured Fred Taylor, sprained his
foot in the first half and did not return in the second half. He had 30
yards on eight carries.
"We're not putting enough points on the board," said Coughlin. "We end
up with field goals, not touchdowns. They scored 17 points and that's what
our defense shoots for."
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