The Bills Finally Get to Smile

When the Bills selected a Stanford quarterback in this April's draft the late Bill Walsh called Marv Levy to tell him that he'd made an excellent choice. Trent Edwards was a final apple in Walsh's eye and he showed why Walsh was an admirer in a 17-14 victory over the New York Jets.

The rookie was outstanding in his first NFL start, completing 22-of-28 passes for 234 yards and a crucial touchdown pass in the fourth quarter. The Jets defense had stopped the Bills, clinging to a 10-7 lead with seven minutes to play, on three straight attempts inside the 10 when Dick Jauron put the game in Edwards' hands. They called a gutsy play-action rollout pass and Edwards, with pressure bearing down, found the tight end Michael Gaines for six points and a cushion that his team would need.

The cushion loomed large because a tired Bills defense almost let the Jets back into the game. On their next drive the Jets answered with a Leon Washington touchdown run and then forced a Bills punt just after the two-minute warning. Starting from their 26 the Jets moved the ball quickly through the air and were at the Buffalo 39 with 11 seconds to play when their luck ran out. Chad Pennington, trying to get into Mike Nugent's kicking range, was intercepted by Terrence McGee and the Bills had their first victory of the season.

It was Pennington's second interception of the fourth quarter. Earlier, Jabari Greer made a nifty read and jumped a pass intended for Laveranues Coles and set up Edwards' touchdown pass. Those two throws undermined an otherwise efficient game for Pennington. He was 32-of-39 for 290 yards overall and hooked up with Coles for a score but New York's inability to establish their running game left the Jets unable to convert his accuracy into points.
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On Friday I said that the Jets should be able to sustain long drives against them but they weren't because the Bills came ready to play. They stifled Thomas Jones all day and never gave up a big play that would have turned the tide of the game. Pennington's numbers were impressive but many of his completions were checkdowns forced by a steady pass rush. If the Jets had avoided mistakes that could have resulted in death by a thousand nicks for the Bills but those mistakes came too often.

We've mentioned the two interceptions but the Jets also committed nine penalties for 65 yards. Nugent missed a field goal just before the half that would have sent the Bills to the locker room dejected at being down after playing a strong first half. Instead it was 0-0 at the break and when play resumed there was a more confident Bills team on the field.

That Bills team rattled off a 10-play touchdown drive the first time they had the ball and a 12-play jaunt that ended with a field goal with Edwards playing a leading role each time. He never looked like a rookie in the final 30 minutes and the Jets anemic pass rush and cushiony corners played right into his hands. The Bills also got a good game from Marshawn Lynch. There are a lot of reasons to smile in Upstate New York this afternoon and, thanks to those two rookies, the future is one of them.