Shop Fantasy Central Golf Guide Email Travel Subscribe SI About Us Pro Football Fantasy More Football Leagues

 

EVENTS
 Sportsman of the Year
 Heisman Trophy
 Swimsuit 2001

CENTERS
 Fantasy Central
 Inside Game
 Video Plus
 Statitudes
 Your Turn
 Message Boards
 Email Newsletters
 Golf Guide
 Cities
 

CNNSI.com GROUP
 Sports Illustrated
 Life of Reilly
 SI Women
 SI for Kids
 Press Room
 TBS/TNT Sports
 CNN Languages

COMMERCE
 SI Customer Service
 SI Media Kits
 Get into College
 Sports Memorabilia
 TeamStore

NFL SCOREBOARD: Recap
Recap | Box Score | This Week's Scoreboard
Buffalo 13, Jacksonville 10
Posted: Friday October 19, 2001 01:47 AM
Buffalo Bills
Related Info:
Team Page
City Page:
Buffalo
Message Boards:
Bills
NFL
 

Jacksonville Jaguars
Related Info:
Team Page
City Page:
Jacksonville
Message Boards:
Jaguars
NFL
 

JACKSONVILLE, Florida (Ticker) -- Rookie Jake Arians atoned for two misses in the first half by drilling a 46-yard field goal with 63 seconds remaining as the Buffalo Bills defeated the Jacksonville Jaguars, 13-10, for their first win of the season.

Arians' kick made it a happy homecoming for Buffalo quarterback Rob Johnson, who faced his former team for the first time.

"You've got to redeem yourself and you've got to want to redeem yourself," Arians said. "I couldn't let the team down. They got us down there."

With Mark Brunell entrenched as the starting quarterback, the Jaguars sent Johnson to the Bills in February 1998 for first- and fourth-round draft picks. When the teams met in Buffalo in October 1998, Johnson was unable to play due to a rib injury.

The Bills sealed Thursday's win when safety Travares Tillman intercepted Brunell on Jacksonville's final possession.

"Hopefully, this will springboard us the rest of the season," said Johnson, who completed 23-of-30 for 238 yards and a touchdown. "The first one is always the toughest, especially with how young we are and how banged up we are. Once you get one, you prove you can win."

Buffalo avoided its worst start since 1985, when it opened with six losses.

"We've still got a long season to go," first-year Bills coach Gregg Williams said. "I really thought the guys fought to the end, had tremendous effort. I thought Rob played lights out. I thought he did a really good job of directing our team."

The defenses dominated throughout as the Bills (1-4) managed a 3-0 halftime lead on Arians' 31-yard field goal with 2:58 left in the second quarter.

"We've got to play better," Jaguars linebacker Hardy Nickerson said. "The way we played tonight was unacceptable. It was embarrassing. We are all in this together. We are all disappointed and we've got to figure a way to help each other get better. We've got to figure this out and get ourselves back on track."

The Jaguars drove 76 yards in five plays on their first possession of the second half and took a 7-3 lead on Brunell's 20-yard touchdown pass to tight end Kyle Brady.

The Bills answered with a 63-yard, nine-play march and regained the lead on Johnson's 27-yard TD pass to Eric Mounds eight minutes into the third quarter.

"That was huge," Johnson said. "That's been hurting us in the past. Teams have scored and we haven't answered. To answer like that was great."

Jacksonville (2-3) tied it on Mike Hollis' 41-yard field goal with 3:54 remaining. But the Jaguars, who were held to 68 total yards in the first half, suffered their third straight loss after opening the season with two wins.

"This is without doubt a low point," Jacksonville coach Tom Coughlin said. "The game is one we had the opportunity to win and didn't win for obvious reasons. The first half was very, very poor. Very pathetic. I place the blame on the offense."

Jacksonville was without Pro Bowl left tackle Tony Boselli, who underwent season-ending surgery Monday to repair a torn labrum in his right shoulder. Jaguars star running back Fred Taylor missed his third straight contest with a groin injury.

Stacey Mack picked up the slack for Jacksonville by rushing for 84 yards on 15 carries, but Brunell threw for only 150 yards and was intercepted twice.

"I'm not going to say we gave it away, but we just did not execute good enough to win, and we're better than that," Brunell said. "That's the frustrating part."

The special teams cost the Jaguars three points early in the fourth quarter. Instead of going for it on 4th-and-inches from the 10, Coughlin sent in Holis to try a 27-yard field goal. But Joe Zelenka's high snap sailed through the hands of holder Chris Hanson and Jacksonville came away empty.

"I considered going for (the first down)," Coughlin said. "I like being the aggressor in that situation. I kicked the field goal thinking we would tie it up and have plenty of time to win the football game."

A 28-yard punt by Brian Morman from his own end zone gave Jacksonville a first down at the Buffalo 29 with 5:15 remaining. But the Jaguars could not pick up a first down and had to settle for Hollis' tying field goal.

On the Bills' ensuing possession, Johnson converted a 3rd-and-3 with a four-yard completion to Larry Centers to the Buffalo 46 at the two-minute warning.

Johnson and Centers connected again for an eight-yard completion that gave Buffalo a first down at the Jacksonville 33.

"(Centers) is a veteran, he's our stud," Johnson said. "We went to him and Jake then made an unbelievable field goal into the wind."

The Bills failed to pick up another first down as Johnson's pass to Eric Moulds was one-yard short of the first down on 3rd-and-5. But Arians, who earlier missed field goals of 39 and 41 yards, calmly split the uprights.

"Breaks haven't gone our way, but the breaks went our way tonight and we made the breaks go our way," Arians said.

"Jake came back," Williams added. "We talked about it at halftime. I said, 'Jake you're going to win this ballgame for us.'" Centers caught seven passes for 79 yards, while Travis Henry paced the Bills on the ground with 63 yards on 27 carries.


CNNSI Copyright © 2001
CNN/Sports Illustrated
An AOL Time Warner Company.
All Rights Reserved.

Terms under which this service is provided to you.
Read our privacy guidelines.