The Best of One Bills Drive - Oct. 29, 2000

(Greg D. Tranter and Budd Bailey have written a book about the history of the football stadium in Orchard Park called "One Bills Drive." It has been published by Reedy Press. The books covers the top 50 games played in the stadium's history from 1973 until January 2025. However, there are several other games that qualified as thrilling - but they couldn't crack the top 50. Those contests deserve to be remembered too, so we'll offer them in this space a couple of times per week during the season.)

Score by Quarters:

                                       1        2       3       4       Final

New York Jets (L, 6-2)   7        0       10     3       20

Buffalo (W, 4-4)             7       10      0       6        23

Scoring Summary:

Quarter – Team – Play

1 – Bills – Morris 1-yard run (Christie kick)

1 – Jets – Testaverde 12-yard pass to Baxter (Hall kick)

2 – Bills – Christie 20-yard field goal

2 – Bills – Jones 45-yard interception return (Christie kick)

3 – Jets – Hall 40-yard field goal

3 – Jets – Testaverde 10-yard pass to Chrebet (Hall kick)

4 – Bills – Christie 29-yard field goal

4 – Jets – Hall 36-yard field goal

4 – Bills – Christie 34-yard field goal

Recap:

Rob Johnson, who had been named the starting quarterback to start the season, had steered the Bills to a 2-3 record and then separated his shoulder in overtime in a win over the Chargers that would keep him out of the lineup for four games. Doug Flutie came off the bench and led the Bills to Steve Christie’s 46-yard game-winning field goal over San Diego. 

Flutie was inserted as the starter the following week in a 31-27 loss to Minnesota. Next up was the first place 6-1 Jets who were flying high, one game ahead of Miami and Indianapolis in the ultra-competitive AFC East. It was the diminutive quarterback’s second start of the season.

The teams traded first quarter touchdowns. The Bills score culminated a 55-yard nine-play drive with Sammy Morris carrying the ball the final yard. Jets quarterback Vinny Testaverde immediately answered with a 12-yard touchdown pass to Fred Baxter.

In the second quarter the Bills defense stepped up big, forcing three turnovers that resulted in 10 points and a 17-7 Buffalo lead. Bills safety Keion Carpenter intercepted a Testaverde pass early in the quarter that set up a Christie field goal. On the Jets’ next possession, safety Henry Jones picked off a Testaverde aerial and returned it 45 yards for a touchdown. “When I came down to my zone drop and saw the ball overthrown, I kind of figured I had it,” Jones said. “I knew Vinny was going to be the last one to get me, but Keith Newman was in front of him, so I knew I had clear sailing.”

New York had a chance to cut into the Bills lead before halftime, but Sam Rogers’ sack of Testaverde forced a fumble that was recovered by Sam Cowart.

The Jets came out with vengeance in the third quarter, scoring on both of their possessions. Chad Hall kicked a field goal to cut the lead to seven and then Testaverde drove the Jets 93 yards in eight plays for the tying touchdown. The Bills had squandered a lead for the fourth time in five games and it was looking like this one might slip away as well. Buffalo moved into scoring territory early in the final quarter, but Christie’s 44-yard field goal attempt was blocked.

Buffalo’s defense stepped up again three plays later. Newman forced a Curtis Martin fumble that Cowart recovered at the Bills 47-yard line. A 52-yard Flutie-to-Moulds pass put the ball at the Jets one-yard line. “The pass was supposed to go outside,” Moulds said. “but Doug saw the situation where I could just adjust if he goes to the middle of the field a little. I made the play and it just stuck to my hands.” The Bills settled for a go-ahead field and a very tenuous three-point advantage.

On the Jets’ ensuing drive, Cowart made the defensive play of the game. With New York facing a third and one at the Bills’ 13-yard line, Cowart read the screen pass to Robbie Anderson and dumped him for a five-yard loss. The Jets settled for the tying field goal with 2:25 left. “They had run a screen two plays earlier on Sam, where he didn’t get to the back” Bills defensive coordinator Ted Cottrell said. “He recognized it. The next time they ran the screen, he made the big play.” 

“I thought we were in good shape at that point,” Jets safety Victor Green said. “I thought we were headed to overtime, and I like our chances in overtime.”

He didn’t count on some Flutie magic. The Bills quarterback drove his team 57 yards in 10 plays while completing four of six passes for 44 yards to set Buffalo up at the Jets’ 16-yard line. Christie booted the 34-yard game-winning field goal as time expired for an exhilarating victory for Buffalo.

“Doug played probably his best game against the Jets (in the last three years),” head coach Wade Phillips said. “They contained him pretty well, they knew a lot more about our spread (offense), but he still made plays. That scramble for a first down that he made shows you that the magic is still there.”

“You always hear the adage that young guys have to learn how to win,” Bills tight end Jay Riemersma said. “I think maybe we learned something today.”

Noteworthy: The Bills forced four Jets turnovers and had none of their own. Cowart was the defensive player of the game with 11 tackles and two fumble recoveries. … The Bills defense held Martin to only 46 yards on 18 carries (2.6-yard average). … Flutie completed 18 of 35 passes for 253 yards. Moulds caught six passes for 137 yards. It was his third consecutive 100-yard receiving game, tying a club record. … It was the fifth consecutive sellout for the Bills in as many home games for the 2000 season.

Legacy: The win over the Jets propelled the Bills to four consecutive wins, three with Flutie at the helm, before Johnson returned from injury. The enigmatic Johnson directed a come-from-behind win over Kansas City to put Buffalo in a tie for second place, one game behind division leading Miami. Then the Bills lost their next four in a row to knock them out of any chance for the playoffs.

The Jets had even more drama from that point. They needed only one win in any of the final three games to qualify for the playoffs, but lost them all. Several players said New York coach Al Groh had worked the team too hard during the season, leaving the tanks empty for the stretch run. Groh surprised everyone on December 31 by resigning his job with the Jets to take the head coaching spot at the University of Virginia.