Dolphins get buried in Bills avalanche

By Rick Anderson

Drew Bledsoe sneaks in from 2 yards out for the Bills first score.

[AP Photo/David Duprey]

Suddenly the sky opened up and unleashed a tidal wave of snow. The 73,287 lifted their hands to the heavens and rejoiced. It was party time and the Miami Dolphins felt like unwelcome guests. With the winds swirling the blinding snow in circles around Ralph Wilson Stadium, the Buffalo Bills were circling the wagons.

With the help of Old Man Winter, timely Dolphin penalties and an aerial circus by Drew Bledsoe, the Buffalo Bills came from behind and upstaged the Dolphins 38-21 before frozen and delirious Bills fans. The thousands of Dolphins fans in the stands left with a further reminder of how cruel playing December games in Buffalo can be for opponents.

This was a wild and wacky game reminiscent of old AFL shootouts. There were enough game-breaking plays for an entire season. The Dolphins opened up the game as if they were going to blow the game wide open. Ricky Williams had a career and a Dolphin record-breaking game by galloping 228 yards before he had to leave with a leg injury.

Williams was on pace to break the NFL single game record of 278 yards until Nate Clements put him out with a helmet to the thigh collision. Williams broke a Dolphins single-game franchise record and broke the team record for most yards in a single season 1,284 yards. All that glory went for not as the Bills took advantage of timely Dolphin penalties, turnovers and the snow to stage a miraculous comeback.

4th and 4 backfires on Fish

The turning point of the game came late in the first half. With the Dolphins up 14-10 and facing a 4th and 4 at the Bills 36, Miami coach Dave Wannstedt decided to gamble and go for it. Instead of running Williams through the porous Bills line, he put in a passing play. Ray Lucas went back to pass and when he brought his arm back, the ball slipped out of his hands backwards. As the ball rolled around for what seemed to be ages, Chidi Ahanotu finally picked it up and was able to lumber all the way down to the Dolphin 31.

Bledsoe hit Moulds at the 20 for an 11-yard gain. Then he hit Price as he got free in the right corner of the endzone and Bledsoe's pass hit the mark. Suddenly, the Bills have climbed back to take the lead after being down 14-3. The momentum had swung the Bills way and more was about to come.

Wannstedt tried to defend his choice to pass on that fourth down.

"You know when you're on the road you're going to have to score points against Buffalo," said Wannstedt. "You could just feel it out there. The momentum of the whole thing obviously swung into their favor, and that's what you've got to try to prevent.''

Bledsoe finally gets rolling

Maybe it was the snow. Some say it was the presence of Jim Kelly on the sidelines cheering the Bills on. Whatever it was, after Bledsoe hit those two straight completions right before halftime, one could tell that the Bledsoe of the early part of the season was back. For the month of November, Bledsoe was only average at best. He was held under 300 yards every game and the offense, which had been averaging over 30 in the previous 2 months, had stalled and sputtered. Now it was kicking and alive again.

Bledsoe finished completing only 15 passes out of 27. But with Henry running as well as he did, Bledsoe was able to go deep on numerous occasions and find his two favorite receivers. He got over the 300 mark by 6 yards and had 3 touchdown passes. Not only that, he scored on a quarterback sneak from the 2 yard line for the Bills first touchdown. That play was controversial as it appeared as if time ran out on the play clock and Wannstedt challenged the call to no avail. The play clock cannot be challenged and the Dolphins lost a time out as a result.

In the second half, Bledsoe took to the air again, hitting Price over the middle and the did a 180 degree spin to shake off Arturo Freeman and had nothing but snow in front of him. He outraced all the Dolphin defenders for a 73-yard touchdown and the Bills were going for the kill. At that time, it was 24-21 Bills. The Dolphins would not score again.

"That was huge," said Bledsoe about Price's score. "It really got us going again."

Randy McMichael tried to stretch to reach a first down (he was still 5 yards short) and Kendrick Office knocked the ball out of his hands. Antoine Winfield plopped on the ball and the Bills were in business again.

Bledsoe, who is a consummate professional, knows that it is best to go long right after a huge turnover like that. He threw deep to Moulds, but it appeared as if the Dolphins were going to intercept when Sam Madison leaped up for the ball. It bounced off his hands and up in the air. Moulds took his right forearm and brought it into his chest, making a sensational catch. He turned it into a 57-yard score and the Bills were up by 10.

In the fourth quarter with the winds swirling and the snow coming down so hard that it made visibility difficult, Bledsoe hooked up with Moulds again, this time on a 47-yard pass down to the Dolphins 3. On 3rd and 1, Henry slammed up the middle and got into the endzone standing up. That finished the scoring as the Bills had a 38-21 lead and finished the Fins.

Run Ricky Run

And he's off! Ricky Williams starts off a career day by galloping 45 yards on the Dolphins opening play for a touchdown. He gained 228 yards in a losing cause.

[AP Photo/Kevin Rivoli]

Williams put on a show for the fans at the Ralph. Such a performance was like what O.J. Simpson used to have back in the early 70s, when then Rich Stadium was still new. In fact, Williams 228 yards was the second most yardage by a running back in a losing effort. The record goes to Simpson himself, who had 273 against the Detroit Lions on Thanksgiving in 1976.

It happened quickly. After the Dolphins pinned the Bills back deep in their territory on the first drive, the Dolphins started off at the Bills 45. One play and Miami was on the board. Williams went around the left tackle and was gone. The Bills didn't lay a glove on him.

The next time Williams got the ball, he almost went all the way again. He was finally brought down after a 17 yard gain. In the third quarter, it was Williams once again breaking free up the middle and he romped 55 yards for another touchdown. He had 228 yards early in the fourth quarter when he got hit in the leg with the Clements' helmet and was played sparingly after that.

For being Williams first real game in winter conditions, he blossomed in the cold and the snow.

"I had been preparing for it, checking the forecast on my phone, looking on the computer every chance I got," remarked Williams. "I was a little nervous about it. It wasn't bad, you know. It was just cold. Once you get past the mental part of it being cold and you being miserable, then it's just football."

Henry sparks Bills offense

Williams' counterpart, Travis Henry, had his moment in the snow also. Henry's 151 yards on 35 carries helped take the heat off of Bledsoe and the air game. In fact, it was the most carries Henry has ever had in the NFL and allowed Bledsoe to cut down his throws to just 27.

Henry also caught 2 passes for 27 yards, so his all-purpose yardage of 178 is very comparable to one of Thurman Thomas' big games. Henry's increased role in the Bills offense pleases him and also Bledsoe. Henry broke the 1,000 yard mark, as did receivers Moulds and Price.

"It is a lot of fun to be a part of," Bledsoe said about his 1,000-yard trio. "To have two spectacular receivers like we have to have them both go over a 1,000 yards and then have a 1,000 yard rusher on offense is a credit to those guys and also to the guys up front blocking for them."

"It's a great accomplishment," acknowledged Henry about going over the 1,000 mark. "I give credit to my offensive line. Those guys were hyped up before the game. Without them none of this would be possible."

Bills Talk

It was like old times. The good old days when the Dolphins had to face the Bills late in December and post season play in January. Just like in the Bills 4-Super Bowl years, the Bills rose up when the weather got nasty.

The snow couldn't stop Bills running back Travis Henry and the Dolphins had a hard time containing him also as he ran for 151 yards. Here Dolphins' Tim Bowens heads up a gang of Dolphins in stopping the Bills runner.

[AP Photo/David Duprey]

Bledsoe liked the snow, as he had played in some miserable weather in Washington State and in New England.

"I have played in the cold weather for a long time now, from high school on and it has never really been a big factor to me as far as throwing the ball," remarked Bledsoe. " The only affect really is from the wind. If it's real windy then sometimes it will affect the ball a little bit."

Having Kelly on the sidelines was also motivation for Bledsoe, who faced Kelly a number of times.

"It was awesome and it is fun to have Jim around," said Bledsoe. "Obviously, he is a legendary figure around here and he is to me as well. To have him on the side is good for our team. He gets people pumped up, gets the crowd going and anytime we can have Jim Kelly around it is nothing but good for our team."

Ricky Williams reflected on his great game and how it still wasn't enough.

"It doesn't really mean anything," said Williams about his record-setting game. "My job is to help this team win, and I didn't do a good enough job."

Williams gave credit to his O-line for great blocking.

"We did a good job up front," admitted Williams. "The offensive line's been playing great. Teams know we're going to run the ball, and they still give me a chance to pick a hole and find a lane. I've also got to give credit to Norv (Turner, Miami's offensive coordinator). He did a wonderful job calling the game."

Wannstedt could not believe that Williams could run for so many yards and they still lost.

"That's the thing that just tears your heart out," Wannstedt said. "We gave up way too many plays. It's a shame. When you come up here and you know it's going to be windy and cold and snow, and you think, if we can run the ball, you'd like to think we had a chance. We ran the ball. Unfortunately, because of the big plays and the turnovers, it wasn't good enough to win.

"That's the disturbing thing. We ran the ball, thinking we could hold on to it. We just didn't make enough plays."

The Big-2 receivers for the Bills, Moulds and Price, put in an outstanding game. Moulds caught 5 for 130 yards, while Price had just two receptions, but both went for scores as he had 93 yards.

"It may seem like we're being selfish but at the same time, we're trying to help the team win," remarked Moulds "We feel so confident in our abilities that we want a chance to help the team win. That's the main objective. Peerless and I talked about it. We spent some time together and challenged ourselves to go out and make plays."

"I think we were the aggressor today," pitched in Price. "Coach Gilbride said that regardless of what they play, we're going to get back on track and that's exactly what we did. We didn't worry about the elements, we didn't worry about what the defense was giving us. We took our shots and we made plays."

Copyright © 2002 Bills Thunder & Rick Anderson, all rights reserved.