As Travis Henry trotted back and to his right, with the Buffalo Bills a scant 40 feet from posting the first points in Sunday night's clash with the Miami Dolphins, an anguished male voice rose above the din at Judi's Lounge on Military Road.
"Nooooooooooooooo," came the gravelly wail.
Yes.
For reasons known, hopefully, only to offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride, the Bills chose -- at the game's pivotal moment, two plays after Takeo Spikes' 29-yard fumble return put them at Miami's 16-yard line -- to let Henry throw the ball.
"Throw," in this useage, isn't really the right word, as it implies some sense of purpose and aim. "Lob," "heave," or "shot-put" would be far more accurate.
You can't put all the blame on Henry. After all, the third-year running back reached the Pro Bowl last year by running with and catching the football, not sending it airborne.
And directly into the arms of Miami cornerback and senior trash-talker Patrick Surtain.
There were only about a dozen problems with the call. For space purposes, we'll only deal with the top five.
The tactic, used with devastating effectiveness over the years by the likes of Paul Hornung, Gale Sayers and (whispering) O.J. Simpson, is virtually obsolete in today's National Football League.
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In that sense, the call wasn't that wildly out of place. The tenacious defense played by both teams, antedulivian offensive game plan incorporated by Miami, and Buffalo's complete inability to master the forward pass -- no matter who did the passing -- made Miami's 17-7 win more closely resemble a game played in 1943 than 2003.
But here in the 21st century, the decision to let an aerial amateur loft a scoreless game into the air is, at best, mystifying.
About the only people at Judi's not enraged by Gilbride's choice of plays were Tanya and Carla, sisters in blood and in their love of the Dolphins. The two bravely wore jerseys bearing Miami linebacker Zach Thomas' No. 54, though it should be noted they chose the seats closest to the door.
Buffalo coach Gregg Williams, a week after signing off on a less potentially fatal gamble in Jacksonville, explained after the game that the Bills had been practicing the play for weeks.
Perhaps the time would have been better spent working on pass protection and run blocking. The complete lack of either ultimately doomed Buffalo to its first loss of the season.
While Buffalo's defense lived up to the national hype spurred by its thorough dominance during blowouts of New England and the Jaguars, the offensive line gave Henry nowhere to run and Bledsoe no place to hide.
A blown snap count by left tackle Jonas Jennings and whiffed block by his counterpart on the right, Mike Williams, snuffed the Bills' best, last chance to pull out a win that would have been the most unlikely in the storied series' history.
You can't put 100 percent of the blame on the blockers -- on one of the very few occasions they afforded Bledsoe enough time to set his feet and scan the secondary, he fired a perfect spiral to Miami safety Brock Marion in the end zone.
The blunder by Bledsoe, who had also killed Buffalo's first drive with an ugly interception, occurred on the series following Henry's floater. On each occasion, the Bills defense had the offense's back, either by stuffing the Dolphins on three straight plays or forcing a turnover.
To be fair, the defense did abet Miami's first scoring drive with three penalties -- each of which gave the Dolphins a fresh set of downs -- for 34 of the 76 yards covered by the drive.
But there wasn't much more Buffalo's defenders could have done to win this one. Cornerback Nate Clements even provided the Bills' only point with a weaving 54-yard interception return, which briefly injected life into the almost-clinically depressed crowd at Judi's.
Not that everyone in attendance had lost faith. Mark, a former City Hall reporter for another Niagara Falls newspaper, brandished a Buffalo media guide from the 2000 season, given to him by BillStuff in honor of his 30th birthday.
"Touch The Book," Mark urged his fellow revelers repeatedly after Miami took a 10-0 lead in the third quarter. "Lay hands on The Book."
The borderline blasphemous superstition almost worked, particularly after The Book was opened to "The Book of 1994," a list of scores from past seasons that included Buffalo's 42-31 win in the same stadium during a Sunday night game, a victory that included a comeback from a double-digit deficit.
On the next play, Clements made the sole end-zone appearance by a ball-toting Bill.
When the usually dead-on Olindo Mare missed his second field goal of the night, Buffalo was in position to tie it or even take the lead, provided the offense did something, anything.
But then, as mentioned above, the Bills' bookend tackles made like doormats, putting the game back on the shoulders of a defense which had already done more than its share.
At that point, the sledgehammer wearing No. 34 finally cracked the worn-out unit. Ricky Williams carried on eight straight official plays (Kevin Thomas' drive-sustaining illegal contact penalty expunged Jay Fiedler's only attempt of the drive), scoring the clinching touchdown on his 42nd carry.
The game's final moments were spent with Bledsoe lumbering around the field, trying to lead the Bills to a cosmetic touchdown while attempting to remain ambulatory for next week's visit by the Philadelphia Eagles. Meanwhile, Tanya and Carla, who had been rather sedate for much of the evening, started the countdown to victory.
"Sixteen, 15, 14 ... " they chanted. Until Tanya's boyfriend, an increasingly irritated Bills fan, pointed out that they were reciting the numbers displayed on the play clock, not the game clock.
That didn't dim their enthusiasm when the clock that mattered approached zero. By that point, most of the people they might have annoyed were on their way home, having departed after Williams' touchdown-upon-review.
Not all the Bills faithful left early, though. Mark, for instance, clutched The Book until the bitter end.
"We'll get 'em in the Snow Bowl," said Mark's father, Mel, alluding to Miami's visit to Orchard Park in December.
BILLS MVP: Despite a holding penalty that kept the Dolphins' first scoring drive alive, Nate Clements' spectacular runback after his second interception put the Bills back in it, at least briefly.
THE OTHER GUYS' MVP: Maybe it was the whole-draft trade by Mike Ditka that brought him to New Orleans as a rookie. Maybe it was spending three years with the Saints. Maybe it's the dreadlocks. Whatever the reason, Ricky Williams has always had his vocal critics, even after leading the league in rushing last year.
After Sunday night, they should shut up.
CONTROVERSIAL PLAY THAT MEANT ALMOST NOTHING: Williams' touchdown came after an insufferably long review. The post-game talk shows were dominated by fans distraught over the decision that his momentum hadn't been stopped and his knee hadn't touched the ground before he pushed the ball over the goal line.
Maybe it had, and maybe it did. But it doesn't matter either way. To that point, Buffalo's offense had gained a total of 71 yards. Whether the Dolphins had gone for it on fourth down and come up short, or kicked a chip-shot field goal for a 13-7 lead, the Bills would have had to cover more ground than they had all night to steal the game.
And they had shown absolutely no evidence during the previous 48-plus minutes that they were capable of doing so.
WING REVIEW: Last season's undisputed champion, and only recipient of BS's reluctantly given A+ rating, was in midseason form.
Judi's hots had kick and flavor, while the mediums and butter-garlic changes-of-pace were meaty and almost perfectly cooked.
But you don't win the Super Bowl, or an A+, in September. So it's a very strong A for now, with Judi's late-season shot at another perfect score well-earned.
BS FAN OF THE WEEK: Mark never lost his faith, nor his sense of perspective. He did almost blow this designation, however, by turning to "The Book of Flutie" passages when things got really desperate.
Honorable mention goes to Tanya and Carla for standing firm in the face of a hostile crowd.
| Niagara Falls Reporter | www.niagarafallsreporter.com | September 23 2003 |