J.P. Losman, the Buffalo Bills and the people who watch them had seen this one before.
The plot was simple and painfully familiar -- make some big plays and take a sizable early lead on the road, only to watch it inexorably slip away.
Losman's two 83-yard touchdown hookups with Lee Evans in the first quarter gave the Bills a 14-0 lead on Houston. They also conjured one of the darkest moments in Buffalo's recent football history, last year's collapse in Miami.
For those who have repressed the memory, Evans caught THREE scoring throws from Losman in the first quarter of that one. The Bills attempted to preserve the lead by doing absolutely nothing on either side of the ball for the rest of the day, allowing the immortal Sage Rosenfels to bring Miami all the way back for a stunning 24-23 win.
That disaster turned on a foolish play call that was poorly executed. With the Bills up 23-3 and three little yards from making it 30-3 in the third quarter, soon-to-be-former offensive coordinator Tom Clements ordered up the riskiest pass possible, one which was, of course, intercepted. From there, it was all Rosenfels.
After burning the Texans twice, the Bills again set about graciously returning the lead to the hosts.
Following a Rian Lindell field goal that made it 17-7 early in the second quarter, the Bills went three-and-out on their other two possessions in the second quarter.
"He's terrible," Tim, BillStuff's senior wing analyst and resident Losman hater, declared after the first Buffalo possession that didn't produce points.
"So, he doesn't get any credit for the two 83-yard touchdowns," I asked.
"No," Tim said flatly, staring at one of the screens at J.J.'s Lounge, the sports bar section of Casa Di Pizza on Elmwood Avenue. "No, he doesn't."
For most of the rest of the afternoon, it looked like the early heroics would once again be forgotten by everyone else, mere teases of potential to be buried by an avalanche of indecision and ineptitude.
While Losman and the offense began sputtering, Buffalo's defense remained equally generous against the run and the pass.
Houston's pair of journeymen backs, Walli Lundy and Samkon Gado (Walli? Samkon? What happened to runners with good, solid names like Larry and Walter and Earl?) led a running game that gouged out 188 yards.
It's not like the Bills were devoting all their resources to stopping the pass. Over a span stretching from late in the second quarter to midway through the fourth, David Carr -- the same guy who was benched three weeks earlier in favor of Mr. Rosenfels -- completed 22 straight passes.
But, as in Miami, the biggest single blunder in what looked like another Buffalo collapse belonged to Losman.
On third-and-9 from his own 6-yard line with seven minutes left in the third quarter and the Bills squatting on a three-point lead that seemed to shrink by the snap, Losman threw for Evans in the left flat, hoping the speedy wideout could slip upfield and past the first-down marker.
Except that it never got there. Houston's Dunta Robinson, like the rest of America, knew exactly where Losman was going and casually snagged the throw. A few unhindered steps later, it was 21-17, Houston.
"Johnny Utah! All right, buddy! Great job," Tim said, again invoking the name of Keanu Reeves' character from the 1991 classic "Point Break," which he insists is the "best movie about surfing bank robbers ever made."
Indeed, it appeared that the sizable group of fans who Tim commendably represents, those whom Losman can only satisfy by failing, would again go home secure that their assessment had been confirmed.
Another galling loss, one that would snuff Buffalo's absurdly minuscule playoff hopes, looked inevitable after Losman missed on two of three passes, giving the ball back to Houston with 2:17 left. The calls for first-year coach Dick Jauron to turn to Craig Nall while scoping out the pending crop of rookie and free-agent quarterbacks would only get louder from here.
With only two Buffalo timeouts remaining, the Texans needed only one first down to put the game away. Gado ran for a yard, then seven more. Then Houston's coaching staff made the sort of move that makes a 3-6 team a 3-6 team, a call that was, in its own way, every bit as brainless as Buffalo's decision to throw on the goal line in Miami with a 20-point lead.
Facing third-and-2 and averaging seven yards per running attempt, another handoff would have been the obvious and logical choice. The odds were heavily in favor of picking up the requisite six feet. And if Samkon or Walli couldn't cover the needed yardage, at least the clock would keep running, forcing the Bills to either use their final timeout or accept the ball with little more than a minute remaining.
Instead, Carr threw. But Buffalo cornerback Nate Clements, who opened the game with his first interception of the season, tipped the throw away from the clutches of Andre Johnson, the National Football League's leading receiver entering the day.
After a short punt, Losman took the ball at his own 45-yard line with 1:44 and that precious timeout remaining. And for the first time with a game on the line, he knew what to do with it. He dumped four straight to Anthony Thomas underneath, moving the Bills to Houston's 34. Then he zipped one to Lee Evans for 19 yards, stopping the clock with a spike.
With 15 seconds left, there was time for two, maybe three shots at the end zone.
Losman only needed one.
Until that moment, Peerless Price's main achievement of his second stint in Buffalo was landing a $1.8 million signing bonus, even though no one else wanted him after he washed out in Atlanta and Dallas.
But Price earned some of that money at the back of the end zone in Houston, not only holding on to Losman's fastball, but making like Bobby Chandler and getting both feet down before crossing the end line.
Nine seconds and one futile lateral later, it was over. Buffalo 24, Houston 21.
Just like that, the Bills won a game it looked like they had long since given away.
At 4-6, Buffalo's season remains alive, if only just.
But if playoff scenarios aren't quite realistic, the possibility that Losman might be around for longer than some might like is.
BILLS MVP: Losman set career highs in completions and yards. More important, he produced the first last-drive comeback win of his Buffalo career.
He has to share this with Evans, though, whose 265 receiving yards broke Jerry Butler's 27-year-old franchise record.
And Clements has been making plays like a guy who is about to become a free agent, giving Marv Levy a very interesting decision to make.
THE OTHER GUYS' MVP: Carr's the one whose brilliant performance will get lost in a bitter defeat. He hit 25-of-30 overall and scrambled for another 31 yards.
STAT OF THE WEEK NO. 1: After averaging 173 yards in each of the two previous weeks, Buffalo's offense rolled up 403 yards against Houston.
STAT OF THE WEEK NO. 2: The Bills' 24 points were the most they've ever scored, without the benefit of a defensive touchdown, with Losman as the starter.
WING REPORT: The BS coverage team may have set a new franchise record by going through six orders comprised of hots, mediums, barbecues and honey-mustards. A strong A-minus.
BS FAN OF THE WEEK: Tim's weekly "Point Break" reference triggered a rather lengthy discussion of underappreciated movies. When the talk turned to another classic from 1991 -- "Necessary Roughness," the Scott Bakula football movie featuring noted thespian Kathy Ireland as a place-kicker, with Jim Kelly and Evander Holyfield as prison football players -- Joe made a confession that was shocking and touching.
"I've seen that movie at least 100 times," Joe said. "Sinbad was in it."
Yes he was, Joe. Yes he was.
| Niagara Falls Reporter | www.niagarafallsreporter.com | November 21 2006 |