Two-minute drilled: Turnaround shocks Bills
Buffalo lets game effort by offense go to waste as Losman coughs up fourth-quarter fumble on stunning play
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Sunday's loss might rank right behind the Music City Miracle on the list of grab-defeat-from-jaws-of-victory games in Buffalo Bills history.
The Music City Miracle loss to Tennessee in 2000 was worse because it was a playoff game. But at least Tennessee did something great, by drawing up a lateral-throwback-kickoff return to win the game.
The Bills' 31-27 loss to New York wasn't about the Jets taking the game, it was about the Bills giving it to them.
The Bills were two or three 3-yard runs away from icing an upset victory. Instead, J.P. Losman's rollout pass with 2:06 remaining went horribly wrong, and his sack-induced fumble was returned 11 yards for the winning touchdown by New York's Shaun Ellis.
Shock, exasperation and anger were the prevailing emotions for the Bills afterward.
Bills owner Ralph C. Wilson Jr. could only shake his head in disbelief after leaving the locker room.
Had he seen anything like it? "Never," he said.
Wilson tried to crack a half-hearted joke, saying, "I think I should get back into the insurance business."
But don't get the wrong impression. Wilson wasn't in a joking mood. Asked again to comment on the much-reported contract extension for coach Dick Jauron, Wilson said only:
"Did you see that fumble? It was terrible wasn't it?"
Yes, it was, particularly since the Bills played so hard and so much better in many ways than in their previous losses, which now number seven in their last eight games.
"I've never been this disheartened before in my life," Bills safety Bryan Scott said. "This one stinks. I don't know what else to say."
"I've never given one away like that at the end," Bills defensive tackle Marcus Stroud said. "Christmas came early for them. We gift-wrapped that one and gave it away."
While they mostly restrained their direct criticism, many Bills players were not happy about the play call.
The Bills faced a second-and-5 play from their own 27. Running back Marshawn Lynch had just rushed for 4, 5, 3 and 5 yards on consecutive plays. The Bills had rushed for a season-high 187 yards against the No. 4-ranked run defense in the NFL.
Bills coach Dick Jauron took the blame. He said he made the call, not offensive coordinator Turk Schonert.
"It turned out to be one of those times in the game that's pretty good for a pass because it's right before the two-minute mark," Jauron said. "So if it's incomplete you don't give them any more time. ... They are stacked in the box playing the run. I thought it was a good time. It just ended up backfiring on us."
How common is it for Jauron to jump in and call an offensive play?
"I don't do it often," Jauron said.
Schonert described the play, which was a rollout pass to the right.
"It was second-and-5 and we thought they were going to stack the box," Schonert said. "An incomplete pass doesn't hurt us because it still takes us to two minutes. So [Jauron] thought we'd catch them and throw a quick pass to the fullback [Corey McIntyre] in the flat. The fullback got stuffed and never made it out to the flat. And then you've got to just throw it away and protect the ball."
Losman did not immediately throw it away. Jets safety Abram Elam was blitzing off the Bills' left side. Because the Jets rushed more men than the Bills had to block, Losman was responsible for recognizing that the man farthest away from the play (Elam) was going to be unblocked.
Elam, however, caught Losman from behind and swatted the ball out of his hands as he was pulling the quarterback to the ground.
Actually, the Jets were expecting a rollout to the Bills' left, not to the right.
"They had two different approaches in that 'gotta-have-it' situation," Jets coach Eric Mangini said. "Typically, run right or roll left. I felt like if we took that pressure off the edge, we had a shot if it was a run to our right, and then we had a chance to chase it down from behind if it ended up being that pass to the [Jets'] left. That was the thought process there."
Jets quarterback Brett Favre was stunned the Bills risked a pass.
"All I could say was, 'Wow,'" Favre said. "There were several things on that play that make you scratch your head."
Bills receiver Josh Reed acknowledged the pass was a surprise.
"One of the points of emphasis we work on in practice is four-minute drives, hand the ball off, secure it, keep it in bounds, keep the clock running," Reed said. "On top of that, the way we were running it, get a few more first downs, which we knew we were going to do, the game's over. So yeah, it was definitely a surprise. Coach always says the ball is going to bounce crazy ways. But when you've got control over what you can do, that drives the knife in even deeper."
The Bills (6-8) were far from perfect. They started slowly, falling behind, 14-3. They gave up 165 rushing yards to the Jets, including a 47-yard touchdown run by Leon Washington late in the first half. Their passing game wasn't great, producing 148 yards on a 24-of-39 day by Losman.
However, they got 127 rushing yards from Lynch and another 31 from Fred Jackson. The Bills' offensive line, particularly middle men Duke Preston, Derrick Dockery and Brad Butler, combined to neutralize Jets star nose tackle Kris Jenkins.
Jackson capped a 64-yard fourth quarter drive with an 11-yard TD run up the middle. The score came with 5:30 left and put Buffalo ahead, 27-24.
It should have been the winning touchdown. Instead, the Jets improved to 9-5 and stayed alive in the race for the AFC East title.
"Again, a call I wish I had back," Jauron said.
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