Moments after the Baltimore Ravens finished working over the Buffalo Bills on Sunday, Drew Bledsoe offered what must have sounded to him like a perfectly reasonable explanation for the horrid throw that assured his team of its fifth loss in six outings this year.
"That was an unbelievably poor call," Bledsoe said after the game, referring not to his decision to throw the ball into heavy traffic at the goal line, but of the yellow flag that didn't fly seconds before Baltimore safety Chad Williams grabbed the errant pass and sprinted 93 yards with it. "Ray Lewis just grabbed ahold of Lee Evans, grabbed him right around the waist, basically tackled him. I saw him grab him and I thought 'OK, I just throw the ball at Lee, we'll get the call, first and goal.'"
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Except that it didn't quite work out that way.
"And instead, they don't throw the flag, the ball gets tipped and it goes back the other direction," Bledsoe continued. "That was as blatant as it gets. Holding, pass interference, we don't get the call."
So this is what it's come to. With the game -- or at least a chance to get back into it -- on the line, the highest-paid player in Buffalo's football history no longer seeks touchdowns, but penalties.
And then whines when he comes up short of that incredibly feeble goal.
In case Bledsoe missed that part of the game film while preparing this week, the Ravens are as good as they come at pouncing on mistakes, turning enemy blunders into purple points quicker than you can say "Deion Sanders."
Speaking of whom, Well-Past-Prime-Time should send Bledsoe a gift certificate from his tailor to say "Thank You" for Bledsoe's generosity on Sunday. While he couldn't get his offense into the end zone, he did hand Sanders at least one more week's worth of highlight appearances.
First there was the screen pass in the first quarter that didn't come close to working. With Willis McGahee surrounded by Ravens, Bledsoe threw it in his general direction anyway. The same Chad Williams who would later grab the aforementioned loose ball created this one, tipping it directly into the hands of Sanders, who pranced untouched for the only touchdown Baltimore would need. Ê
Early in the fourth quarter, with Buffalo in field-goal range and needing only to avoid a turnover in order to have a shot at trimming the Ravens' lead to eight, Bledsoe lobbed a hideous throw that hit Sanders right between the numbers in the end zone.
Sanders' first interception and subsequent score drew a few gasps and a few groans from the hundreds watching the big-screen projection television at the Third Ward Club, site of a political fundraiser on Sunday and BillStuff's first-half vantage point.
While a few jerseys bearing No. 11 could be spotted in the crowd, the faint enthusiasm generated by Jeff Posey's recovery of a fumble coughed up by Baltimore quarterback Kyle Boller and forced by Aaron Schobel had already waned by the time Deion went into his relatively understated end-zone dance.
It disappeared completely in the next few moments. Ê First came a drive that nicely summarized Buffalo's season: Incomplete pass by Bledsoe on first down, 1-yard run by Travis Henry on second, a 6-yard dump-off to Josh Reed when the Bills needed 9 yards on third down, punt.
Then, desperately needing a stop, or even another turnover, Buffalo's self-vaunted defense retreated before the Ravens' stumbling offense.
Boller, who would complete exactly two passes the rest of the afternoon after this drive, started things with a 47-yard bomb to Travis Taylor over Bills cornerback Terrence McGee.
The Ravens, who were without suspended running back Jamal Lewis, then set about proving that it didn't really matter who carried the ball for them. Chester Taylor and Musa Smith bore through the Buffalo defense, with someone named B.J. Sams completing the drive and giving Baltimore a 17-3 lead with 10 minutes left in the second quarter.
It might as well have been 170-3. The rest of the day recalled one of those feverish dreams you have when you're on the couch with the flu, a constantly looping, slow-motion sequence in which a happy ending is repeatedly approached, but constantly denied.
In this particular version, Bledsoe moves the Bills achingly close to a touchdown that would at least make things interesting, only to see all his most important throws end up in the hands of someone wearing purple.
Bledsoe threw four interceptions in all, three in the fourth quarter. And save the "but they weren't his fault" nonsense. As mentioned above, Sanders' first interception was tipped by a fellow Raven and the last resulted from Bledsoe gambling, and losing, that a referee's call would go his way. The other two were just bad throws.
Then there was the fumble he lost, and the inevitable four sacks he absorbed.
J.P. Losman was in uniform for his first regular-season game on Sunday, but is still a few weeks away from being ready for the inevitable switch under center. While finances and ego dictate that Bledsoe continue in his caretaker role until then, you have to wonder what the team gains by letting him get sacked another dozen times.
In the decade-plus each has been in the NFL, no one has ever claimed that Shane Matthews is in any way better than Bledsoe. But under the circumstances, could he possibly be any worse?
To be fair, you can't blame Bledsoe for the bizarre game plan he was given by head coach Mike Mularkey and offensive coordinator Tom Clements.
Facing a fast, swarming defense that's shown flaws against the run this year, but still possesses a brutal pass rush, Buffalo's first-half play selection included 15 pass calls and just eight runs.
That was probably just as well. Since Henry's self-esteem is evidently far more important to the Bills' offensive brain trust than actually gaining yards and scoring points, McGahee, he of the 111 yards rushing a week ago, mostly stood on the sideline until his supposed better had piled up all of 6 yards on five carries and Buffalo trailed by two touchdowns.
Then there was the continued obsession with misdirection and trickery that marks the Mularkey/Clements Way. Two plays before Sanders' pivotal touchdown, Buffalo attempted a fake double-reverse, followed by a (probably) deep throw.
Of course, by the time Bledsoe and the rest of the Bills had narrowly avoided running into each other, Ravens filled the backfield. Only the obvious confusion that kept two receivers behind the line of scrimmage and in the general area where Bledsoe flung the ball on his way down averted a sack, fumble or intentional grounding call.
Such ornate plots rarely work in the National Football League for a simple reason -- the players are far too fast for such nonsense. Even if the Ravens had been deceived by Bledsoe's typically half-hearted play fakes -- which they weren't -- they possess more than enough team speed to compensate for any miscalculation.
If anyone can remember the last time a double-reverse ANYTHING worked in an NFL game, please email BillStuff at dstaba13@aol.com. The last instance I can recall involved James Lofton, then of the Green Bay Packers, racing 80-some yards for a touchdown against the New York Giants. That was in the last Monday Night Football game before the players went on strike 22 years ago.
The solemnly realistic types at the party where BS took in the second half had shifted their focus to other priorities by the fourth quarter. The alleged gamblers in the room discussed their various bets on the day's action around the league. Mark, the generous-to-a-fault host, encouraged everyone to have another bowl of chili. Jim and I discussed slovenly neighbors and politics.
All of which were more interesting than the pre-Halloween horror show Bledsoe put on Sunday afternoon.
BILLS MVP(s): Facing future Hall-of-Famer Jonathan Ogden, Schobel produced two of Buffalo's four sacks. McGahee didn't have huge numbers, with 16 carries for 58 yards, but gave the Bills the closest thing they had to a spark on offense.
THE OTHER GUYS' MVP: Bledsoe couldn't have done much more to help the Ravens to victory.
STAT(s) OF THE WEEK: The Bills were 5-of-15 on third down, 0-for-4 in the red zone and 0-for-3 after achieving first-and-goal. It doesn't get much more pathetically futile than that.
WING REPORT: Pizza Junction in North Tonawanda provided the fare at the Third Ward Club. The pizza lived up to its reputation as the "heaviest" in Niagara County, with thick, bready (not to be confused with doughy) crust and savory toppings. The wings were immense, well-cooked and very tasty -- a combination earning them a very solid B-plus.
BS FAN(s) OF THE WEEK: The entire gathering at Mark's deserves credit for keeping their spirits up and the obscenities to a minimum.
| Niagara Falls Reporter | www.niagarafallsreporter.com | Oct. 26 2004 |