Two Bills Drive

‘"That’s Drew Bledsoe," Buchanon said. "He’s going to try to put it in tight places where people don’t expect him to put it."’

‘The Bills built their defensive game plan around stopping receivers Tim Brown and Jerry Rice, which seems reasonable enough. Unfortunately for them, that left Garner and Jerry Porter unchaperoned, and they combined for 294 total yards as the Raiders (after San Diego’s loss to Denver) became the league’s only unbeaten team.’

‘Hall of Famer and former Bills coach Marv Levy watched the game from the press box. He also coached at Cal.’

‘So the Bills finished with 479 yards. It will trash the Raiders’ defensive ranking. But it was all part of the plan.’

‘It was Porter’s career day. But it was Rice’s worst day in a while. He had four catches — and four drops. Although he finished with 77 yards and a touchdown, he left about 100 yards and a score or two on Ralph Wilson Stadium’s turf.’

‘“They just came out with a bunch of different formations and personnel,” said Bills linebacker London Fletcher. “The things you can’t have in a game are the big plays.” But the Raiders had them.’

‘It’s a victory the defense will gladly take. Buchanon knows the Raiders got away with one. “It was a long day for us,” he said. “There were a lot of missed tackles, a lot of missed assignments. We haven’t had our best game yet. That’s kind of scary.”‘

‘Goat – Bills quarterback Drew Bledsoe hadn’t thrown an interception in 175 attempts before Tory James picked off his pass in the third quarter. He tried to throw past Buchanon in the fourth, a mistake that gave the game to the Raiders. Bledsoe’s sixth career 400-yard game feels pretty empty.’

‘In a dizzying matchup of two of the NFL’s most prolific attacks, the Raiders’ No. 1-ranked offense on Sunday engaged in the expected scoring shootout with the pass-happy Buffalo Bills, with the two juggernauts racking up nearly 1,000 yards between them.’

‘You couldn’t miss Garner on Sunday, though, not even on a play when he didn’t touch the ball. Even so, that pickup on a blitz was a whisper compared with the thunderclap of his two touchdown plays. On an afternoon overloaded with big plays, Garner’s stood out.’

‘Buffalo presents myriad problems offensively, but Chuck Bresnahan tweaked the defensive scheme, turning the pass rush loose in the second half and rattling Bledsoe. Good on-the-fly adjustments on offense; most notably, freeing up Gannon and letting him scramble for the TD.’

‘It was a badly needed turnaround for a battered and exhausted Raiders defensive unit, one that managed to correct itself at the right time. "When we gathered ourselves back in, we started making plays down the stretch," said safety Rod Woodson, who freely admitted it wasn’t his best day. "But Phillip continues to make plays, and that’s key for us."’

‘Thirty-one points is usually more than enough to win in the NFL. Not only did the Bills not win, they lost by 18. “It’s not easy to do, but we did it today,” general manager Tom Donahoe said.’

‘Bledsoe will always be a good teammate and not point fingers, but he needs to know that it’s no secret he plays for a team that has a lousy defense, no defense really.’

‘But the Raiders also showed Sunday that they have other pieces of the puzzle, too — pieces still missing in Buffalo. Namely an opportunistic defense, dynamic special teams and a ton of Super Bowl-caliber experience.’