Bills Notebook: Moorman and Lindell find their finishing kicks
Published: November 30, 2009, 12:12 am
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The day didn't start out too well for punter Brian Moorman and place-kicker Rian Lindell. But oh what an ending they had.
Moorman and Lindell delivered perhaps the two biggest plays for the Buffalo Bills in their 31-14 win over the Miami Dolphins.
Moorman drilled a 48-yard, coffin-corner punt that landed out of bounds at the Dolphins' 2- yard line with 7:02 remaining. The Bills' defense forced a three-and-out, and Roscoe Parrish's 12-yard punt return set up the offense at Miami's 39.
When the drive stalled, the Bills lined up for a 56-yard field goal. Lindell has made kicks beyond 50 yards many times in his career, but never from that distance. But interim head coach Perry Fewell's gamble paid off as Lindell split the uprights with room to spare to give the Bills a 17-14 lead with 3:35 left.
"It's just a matter of hitting it straight, really," Lindell said. "Especially going that way today [toward the tunnel], it was carrying a little bit more. ... When I hit it, I thought "Oh, there we go. I got it,' and then I was kind of, "I hope I got it.' But then it went in, so that was nice."
The Bills tacked on two more touchdowns to make the outcome seem more lopsided. But Lindell's right leg put the team in position to end its three-game losing streak.
"I think it's as big a kick as he's had in his career, to be honest," said Bills special teams coordinator Bobby April. "He's had some game-winners. But that was huge. Then we scored 14 so it doesn't look as big as it was. But at the time it was huge."
Huge indeed, especially considering Lindell and Moorman got off on the wrong foot.
Moorman's first punt needed a couple of good bounces to carry 39 yards. The Bills' next drive ended when Lindell's 44-yard field goal attempt sailed wide right.
But both players bounced back in a major way. Moorman's next punt traveled 66 yards, tying a season high, and he finished the day with a 51-yard gross average on five punts. His net average was an equally impressive 47 yards.
After missing his first field goal try, Lindell waited for a chance at redemption. He got it, just as Fewell said he would. Lindell's 56-yarder was the second longest in Bills history, behind Steve Christie's 59-yarder against Miami on Sept. 26, 1993.
"Well, both of us felt really good in pregame and going up to that point, so there was no reason to panic," Moorman said of the clutch kicks. "You take the good with the bad and forget about them and you move on, and that's what we were both able to do. That's a credit to Coach April never getting down on us, and Perry, too. Some coaches out there have a tendency to get fired up with their kickers whenever something goes wrong, but they're very positive.
"The first thing Perry said to Rian when he came off the field was, "Hey, we're going to need you later,' and darned if we didn't."
In less than a week, Kendall Simmons went from unemployment to being the Bills' starting right guard. Despite giving up a couple of sacks and committing a false start penalty, the veteran felt he did as well as could be expected under the circumstances.
"It was rough," said Simmons, who appeared in his first game since rupturing his Achilles last season in Pittsburgh. "It's one of those things where I really hadn't played in 18 months. I'm trying to get back used to the timing. I had some bad plays, but it is what it is. I just tried to play hard. [Right tackle] Kirk [Chambers] and [center] Geoff [Hangartner] definitely helped me out and put me in the right spot. Now I just hope I got all that bad stuff out of my system and going in the next five games just do the best that I can do."
Receiver Terrell Owens' 51-yard touchdown catch was his third of the season — he has one rushing — and 142nd of his career, which is third in NFL history behind Jerry Rice (197) and Randy Moss (143).
Owens has 145 touchdowns overall, tying him with Marcus Allen for fourth all-time. Owens trails only Rice (208), Emmitt Smith (175) and LaDainian Tomlinson (149).
Dolphins running back Ricky Williams (115) had his fourth 100-yard game against the Bills, tying Sam Cunningham and Edgerrin James for the second most by a Bills opponent. Curtis Martin leads the way with six.
Williams' 115 yards equaled Ronnie Brown's total in the Dolphins' 38-10 win earlier this season. The last time the Bills allowed two players on the same team to top 100 yards on the ground was 2007, when Ahmad Bradshaw had 151 yards and Brandon Jacobs added 143 for the New York Giants.
Sunday marked the first time a Bills opponent had two different 100-yard backs in separate games in a season since 2001, when James had 111 for Indianapolis on Sept. 23 and Dominic Rhodes gained 100 when the Colts visited Buffalo on Nov. 4.
Starting cornerback Terrence McGee missed his third straight game. He hasn't played since having minor knee surgery during the bye week.
McGee participated in practice on a limited basis last week, but the team determined that he was not ready.
Bills inactives were McGee, wide receivers James Hardy and Steve Johnson, cornerback Ashton Youboty, defensive tackle John McCargo and defensive end Chris Ellis.
The Dolphins recorded six sacks, the same number they had in the previous meeting, with Joey Porter receiving credit for 2½.
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