Steam-rolled in San Diego

Drew Brees had all day to slice up the Bills secondary in San Diego 48-10 blowout.

[AP Photo/Denis Poroy]

J.P. Losman said it was like getting punched in the face. Most of his teammates probably felt they were run over by a train.

This was a good old fashioned butt-whupping! The San Diego Chargers spanked the Buffalo Bills big time Sunday in 84 degree weather just north of the border. The Bills defense couldn’t stop Drew Brees as the Chargers abashed the Bills 48-10.

The Chargers took a 35-10 halftime lead and never looked back. The Bills were struck down by a hot Brees blowing in their faces the first half as he completed his first nine passes. In the first half alone, he threw for 265 yards and 4 touchdowns.

Brees was a pitching machine, finishing the game completing 28 of 33 for 339 yards and 4 strikes. The Bills D came up short time and again. The main worry before the game was whether they could stop LaDainian Tomlinson, the powerful back who some consider the top back in the league. The Bills actually did shut Tomlinson down somewhat, limited him to just 67 yards on 19 carries. But maybe they over played Tomlinson as it gave Brees the opportunity to slice the Bills secondary apart.

The Bills knew they were in trouble as soon as they walked out on the field. The temperature was 10 degrees warmer than the average for this time of year, with it hovering in the mid 80s and the sun basking down. When the Chargers first touched the ball, they marched down the field 75 yards on 9 plays. Tomlinson plunged over the pile from 1 yard out to start the rout.

The Bills came back after a long kickoff return and got a 48 yard field goal from Rian Lindell, but the Bolts stormed back, going 72 yards on 10 plays, getting the seven when Antonio Gates hauled in a 27-yard pass from Brees. Bills punted and the storm surge continued. Eric Parker cradled a 23-yard pass from Brees, capping off a 8-play 72 yard drive. 21-3 Bolts.

Chargers again tore up the Bills defense on a 7-play 22-yard drive with Lorenzo Neal taking a 2-yard pass from Breese. 28-3 Chargers!

Just to break up the Charger scoring repetition, the Bills actually mounted a touchdown drive of their own.  Losman found Daimon Shelton from 3 yards out and that turned out to be the first and last time Buffalo found paydirt all day.

The Chargers upped their first half rout to 35-10 when Breese delivered a 29-yard pass to Keenan McCardell.

In the third quarter, the Bills semi-stopped the men in the powder blue jerseys, limiting them to just a field goal. But in the fourth quarter, the Chargers added another field goal and a 8-yard run by Michael Turner stuck a fork in the overdone Buffalo.

Secondary gets eaten alive

The Bills secondary was sliced up like a madman with a Marchette. Nate Clements, who will soon test the free agent waters for big money, certainly didn’t play like one of the top cornerbacks in the league. He wants top dollars, but Clements fell on his face more than two times during the game. He was victimized for two touchdowns when he let Eric Parker and Keenan McCardell get past him in the second quarter.

"I'm really just disgusted by the way I played," admitted Clements. "No excuses. I hold high standards for myself, and I didn't get the job done today. Guys on this defense hold each other accountable, and I didn't take care of business."

Clements wasn’t the only defensive back that was taken to the cleaners in this one. Troy Vincent also was burned often.

"He exploited us individually," said Vincent. "He exploited the scheme. I don't think we got many guys around him all day long even when we brought pressure. That's a problem. On the back end when there is no pressure it's very difficult to cover for long periods of time."

One of the reasons for the great success that Brees had was that the Bills geared up all week in anticipation of stopping powerful running LaDainian Tomlinson. Brees countered that by going into the freed up lanes left by the Bills D overplaying Tomlinson.

"They pretty much beat us across the board in every aspect of the game," concluded Clements. "We didn't compete as far as pass defense. Flat out, we just didn't get the job done."

Mike Mularkey probably made the biggest understatement of the season when he said "I told the team afterward they outplayed us."

Mularkey must think that his troops can’t read the scoreboard. He then continued to complete his hat trick of understatements... "I felt like they out-coached us. We didn't play good enough."

Copyright © 2005 Bills Thunder & Rick Anderson, all rights reserved.