After the Buffalo Bills' glorious comeback run crashed in pieces at Ralph Wilson Stadium on Sunday, Drew Bledsoe told reporters that the possibility of losing to the Pittsburgh Steelers had never crossed his mind in the days leading up to the regular-season finale.
From the looks of things, the possibility of a team with nothing to gain ending the Bills' season never occurred to his teammates or coaches. Or to anybody else not wearing black and gold.
Even BillStuff took this one for granted. We figured Buffalo might miss the playoffs because both the New York Jets and Denver Broncos won their games Sunday, but not because the Bills couldn't handle a team of backups and backups to backups.
Even if the season had ended with a seven-game winning streak, but no playoffs, we figured the Bills-Steelers meeting would be the perfect capper on a weekend packed with sports to open 2005, following hard on the heels of Saturday evening's amateur boxing card in downtown Niagara Falls (more on that below).
But no.
The first hint that something wasn't quite right came on the way into the stadium early Sunday afternoon, when a roar washed over those of us still streaming into our seats.
Another huge play by Buffalo's special teams, which had sparked the Bills' stunning turnaround? Maybe Terrence McGee's record-tying fourth touchdown on a kickoff return, or a fumble-inducing tackle by one of the gunners?
Nope. Not even close. These cheers came not from fans of the hometown team, but from the Pittsburgh faithful, the black-and-gold wearing horde that, for at least one afternoon, turned Orchard Park into Pittsburgh north.
This first auditory sign that it would be no ordinary Sunday was triggered by Nate Clements' fumbled punt return and the subsequent recovery by Pittsburgh's Larry Foote.
Moments later, Jeff Reed gave the Steelers a 3-0 lead with the first of his five field goals. It never got a lot better for the Bills, or their fans, from there.
Clearly surprised that the Steelers intended to actually compete when they had no tangible reason to do so, Buffalo's starters struggled against Pittsburgh's scrubs on both sides of the ball all day long.
The Steelers outran the Bills 157-92 and hassled Bledsoe into two crucial turnovers and only two third-down conversions in 12 chances, disabusing the fanciful notion that Buffalo's defense belongs in the same conversation with Pittsburgh's.
After a surreal first half in which the Bills played like they were the ones with the playoff spot and first-round bye locked up, they finally grabbed control for a fleeting moment.
Clements atoned for his early fumble with a 30-yard interception return that gave Buffalo a one-point lead early in the third quarter. After the defense finally managed to stop a Pittsburgh offense featuring their fourth-string running back and backup quarterback, Bledsoe engineered the Bills' best drive of the afternoon, moving them from their own 3-yard-line to Pittsburgh's 11.
Then, on third-and-1, a flashback to the season's futile first month. The obsession with cuteness that marked, and marred, Buffalo's game plans during an 0-4 start resurfaced. Rather than beating the needed three feet out of a defense comprised of second- and third-line Steelers, offensive coordinator Tom Clements dialed up a play-action pass.
Or maybe it was ordered by head coach Mike Mularkey. Whatever the case, the call invited disaster. And with the season on the line, disaster didn't have to be asked twice.
Bledsoe completed the pass to fullback Daimon Shelton for a first down, but an offensive pass interference call on Josh Reed negated the play. Buffalo got the 10 yards back on the next play, but had to settle for a field-goal attempt. Rian Lindell missed the kick, the Bills' hopes of finally seizing command plopping to earth along with the ball.
At that point, Pittsburgh reclaiming the lead was inevitable, and the Steelers did so when Reed nailed his fourth field goal seven seconds into the final quarter.
"One drive, Drew," yelled one fan seated near the BillStuff coverage team as Buffalo's offense took the field with the season on the line. "One (expletive deleted) drive."
Again, not even close.
Instead of saving the game and season for the Bills, Bledsoe got stripped of the ball by third-string Steelers cornerback Ricardo Colclough, and backup linebacker James Harrison took it into the end zone to effectively finish off Buffalo.
Oh, sure, there would be another field goal by Reed, and a Willis McGahee touchdown run with 1:18 remaining to create the false hope that permeates every onside kick.
But the coaches' failure to make the right call at the right moment, the highly acclaimed defense's failure to stop the Steelers' patchwork attack and Bledsoe's latest failure to play up to his salary had long since settled things.
And nobody saw it coming except the Steelers and their fans.
BILLS' MVP: McGahee ran for both of Buffalo's offensive touchdowns and ripped off 41 yards on four carries on the Bills' first scoring drive. Good thing they stopped pounding away at Pittsburgh's defense almost immediately thereafter.
STEELERS' MVP: Willie Parker, who spent most of the season watching Jerome Bettis, Duce Staley and Verron Haynes carry the ball for Pittsburgh, got 19 carries and turned them into 102 yards. Twelve carries came on a fourth-quarter drive that burned nearly nine minutes.
WHO WAS THAT? Last-string quarterback Brian St. Pierre picked up 2 yards on a fourth-and-1 from Buffalo's 37 on that epic drive. Let's not hear any talk about that great Bills defense for a while, huh?
FIGHT REPORT: The fighters who took part in the second amateur boxing card in little more than two months at Smokin' Joe's Family Fun Center -- the former Wintergarden -- in Niagara Falls on Saturday showed considerably more competitive spirit than did the Bills less than 18 hours later.
Seventeen-year-old Anthony Casal won the main event, outpointing Jordan Gaines of Buffalo behind a steady diet of jabs and counterpunches mixed with smooth defense.
Another member of Casal's Boxing Club, heavyweight Terry Carter, topped Lionel Thompson of Buffalo in one of the night's most exciting bouts.
In a super-heavyweight match, Lorenzo Davis of the Niagara PAL scored an upset of 2003 New York State Golden Gloves Champion Jamie Spotted Elk via second-round stoppage.
The card, co-sponsored by Smokin' Joe's, Casal's Boxing Club and the Niagara Falls Reporter, drew about 1,000 people to the downtown facility, with a VIP area overlooking the ring and an enthusiastic crowd voicing its support throughout.
WING REPORT: The pre- and post-game festivities in a motel parking lot near the stadium involved terrific steak subs made by Joe from Fortuna's Restaurant, hot dogs and sauerkraut whipped up by Mark, our generous-to-a-fault host, and venison chili created by Mike, a first-time BS participant, not to mention Frankie G's outstanding homemade Italian sausage. But no wings.
BS FANS OF THE WEEK: The Pittsburgh faithful were seen all over town Saturday and turned out Sunday as if the Steelers' season was on the line. They'll have a lot more cheering to do by the time their playoff run ends, quite probably in Jacksonville.
| Niagara Falls Reporter | www.niagarafallsreporter.com | Jan. 4 2005 |