Bills notebook
Big win a victory for statisticians
The Buffalo Bills’ victory over the Kansas City Chiefs stopped a four-game losing streak, kept them in the playoff hunt and boosted team morale that was in desperate need of repair going into the weekend. All were important, but the game also was a keeper for numbers crunchers.
Bills quarterback Trent Edwards was one of several players who sent team statisticians combing through the record books after he completed 24 of 32 passes for 273 yards, two touchdowns passing, two touchdowns running and no interceptions. All told, it resulted in a career-best quarterback rating of 121.0.
His performance, at the very least, provided some relief.
“We haven’t won too many games [recently],” Edwards said after the game. “It’s nice when it comes to the fourth quarter, and we can sit back and take it all in and relax.”
Edwards became the first Bills quarterback since Jack Kemp in 1966 to rush for two scores in the same game. Kemp did it four times. The only other Bills quarterback to run for two TDs in a game was Daryle Lamonica. Edwards also became the first QB since Joe Ferguson in 1973 to have rushing TDs in consecutive games.
It marked the ninth time in the second-year quarterback’s career in which he had a rating higher than 80.0. The Bills are 9-0 in those contests, including 6-0 this season. Edwards’ performance should take some pressure off, for now.
“I’ve always said that he’s not just a good quarterback, he’s a good football player,” Bills coach Dick Jauron said Monday after giving his players the day off. “This guy is mentally tough. He’s physically tough. . . . I have a lot of faith in this guy.”
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The Bills’ scoring output in their 54-31 victory was their second-most in team history, most ever for a road game and marked the sixth time, including playoff games, in which they scored 50 points or more.
Other regular-season games in which Buffalo scored 50 or more were:
58 against Miami in 1966; 52 against Pittsburgh in 1991; 51 against Cincinnati in 1979 and 50 against Kansas City in 1976.
Of course, the Bills had 51 points against the Raiders in the 1990 AFC championship game.
It was the 34th time in franchise history in which the Bills scored 40 points or more. The last six have occurred on the road.
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Bills running backs Marshawn Lynch and Fred Jackson are leading NFL backfield tandems with 67 catches this season. Lynch is tied with Lee Evans for the team lead with 42 catches while Jackson has 25.
If Jackson averages three catches per game over the final five weeks of the season and Lee Evans, Lynch, John Reed (31) and Robert Royal (29) continue at their current pace, it will mark the second time in team history that five players had 40 receptions or more.
The only time it happened was in 1994 with Andre Reed (90), Thurman Thomas (50), Pete Metzelaars (49), Bill Brooks (42) and Don Beebe (40).
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With the win Sunday, Bills coach Dick Jauron became only the fifth coach in team history with 20 victories, and he’s the only one with a losing record. Jauron, in his third season, is 20-23 with Buffalo.
Marv Levy leads with the list with a 112-70 record. Lou Saban (68-45-4), Chuck Knox (37-36) and Wade Phillips (29-19) were the others.
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The Bills (6-5) will play San Francisco (3-8) this Sunday. The six teams Buffalo has beaten (Seattle, Jacksonville, Oakland, St. Louis, San Diego and Kansas City) have a combined 16-50 record. The other five opponents that defeated the Bills (Arizona, Miami, New York Jets, New England and Cleveland) have a 32-23 record through 12 weeks.
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