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PART III : BUFFALO |
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After an early Sunday morning rise in Syracuse, we made the 2.5 hour trip West to Buffalo for opening day proper. Ralph Wilson Stadium is a few miles outside Buffalo and is surrounded by huge parking lots which make it one of the best spots in the league for tailgating! |
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And if there's tailgating to be done, then the Commissioner won't be far away! We hooked up with Joe for the 2nd time of the tour in Buffalo. We urge you again to check out his great website - www.tailgating.com
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This is Commissioner's2002 Tailgating America Tour. As you can see,- he gets about! We did suggest World Bowl XI to him, but we don't think the car park at Hampden is really ready for his giant RV just yet ... |
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You can even tailgate on your car bonnet! This burnt out wreck of a car belongs to a real character called Pinto Ron. Joe the Commish sent us over to see his setup and we were not disappointed! |
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First task was to drink some alcoholic concoction from a bowling bowl, and after doing so, toot your horn in support of the Bills! This earned you beads without having to remove your top. Great idea! But where was Pinto Ron? |
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Suddenly a guy got on top of the car with 2 bottles of ketchup and the crowd started edging back as the shout went up for ketchup. Then from the crowd a bespectacled gentlemen came forward with his hot dog asking for a little sauce. Bad move! To the roars of the crowd he was then then squirted all over with red and green ketchup! This of course was Pinto Ron! |
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Ralph Wilson Stadium is a nice simple stadium. However all the great history it holds was achieved on days with blizzards and wind chills, not 90 degree heat! It was a cauldron in there, and the sun beat down relentlessly. Sun burnt in Buffalo? You better believe it! |
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The Drew Bledsoe era was about to begin and the Bills fans were excited! When #11 was announced to the crowd - 70,000 fans in unison went "DRUUUUUUUUUUUUUU"! Could he live up to his billing? |
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Just before kickoff we were treated to an awesome fly past by some US fighter jets! Now this was more like opening day! |
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Bledsoe had an up and down 1st quarter. Firstly he led them on a 11 play drive culminating in a 49 yard FG from Mike Hollis. However on his 2nd possession he was picked off by new Jet CB Aaron Beasley. But the Bills D held again, and the Jets had to punt. BILL 3 JETS 0 (End of 1st) |
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The Bills third drive was aided by 2 personal fouls on the Jets. That plus 3 Bledsoe to Peerless Price connections all added up to a RB Travis Henry 5 yard touchdown! BILLS 10 JETS 0
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But just as soon as the Bills look to take the game over, the Jets roared back! Chad Morton fielded the ensuing kickoff and ran up the right sideline a 98 yard touchdown. BILLS 10 JETS 7 |
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And when Bledsoe threw his 2nd INT seconds later, to the other new Jet CB, Donnie Abraham, the game had turned. It took the Jets only 3 plays to take the lead, as Vinny Testaverde rolled right and found TE Anthony Becht (#88) in the end zone for a 1 yard TD. JETS 14 BILLS 10 |
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But back came Drew. Two more 1st down completions to Price and they were at the Jets 18 yard line. From there impressive 2nd year RB Travis Henry (#20) took over, carrying for 4,4,7 and finally 3 yards to get his 2nd TD of the day. The Jets replied, by tacking on a 34 yard John Hall FG just before HT. |
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17-17 at the HALF Kudos to the Bills for having cheerleaders! Most of the other tough blue collar cities in the NFL (Chicago, Pittsburgh, Cleveland etc.) don't. However we're not sure for how many weeks they can wear these outfits before the temperature starts to dip!
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After Hall added another FG early in the 3rd, Travis Henry put the Bills in a hole by fumbling. But Jets RB Lamont Jordan (subbing for an injured Curtis Martin) handed it right back, and Henry atoned for his mistake by scoring his 3rd TD of the day on a 2 yard run. BILLS 24 JETS 20 |
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Bledsoe stood tall in the pocket all day. At the start of the 4th Q, both teams had kicking woes. First the Jets Hall missed a 48 yard FG. Then ex Berlin Thunder P Brian Moorman had a punt blocked. This time Hall was good on a 33 yard FG. However his counterpart Hollis then missed a 50 yard FG, keeping it a 1 point ball game. BILLS 24 JETS 23 |
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Wayne Chrebet apologies to a Bills cheerleader for accidentally having an 18 yard scoring toss from Vinny just drop into lap. The successful 2 point conversion (another Becht catch) gave the Jets a 7 point lead with 4:41 left. JETS 31 BILLS 24 |
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The 2nd roughing the kicker call on Moorman of the day helped keep the Bills next drive alive but they faced a do or die with a 4th and 9 from the Jets 29 with only 34 seconds left. Bledsoe coolly dropped back and lofted a perfectly thrown ball to Eric Moulds who got open deep for a 2 yard TD. Can you say Overtime???!!! 31-31 AFTER 4 QTRS |
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Overtime was over before it even began ... The Jets won the toss and had the Bills kick off. Chad Morton fielded the ball on his own 4 yard, started right, then cut across mid field eluding kicker Hollis again, before sprinting the final yard down the left sideline. THE JETS WIN! THE JETS WIN! FINAL JETS 37 BILLS 31 |
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Game MVP had to be Chad Morton who returned 6 kicks for 278 yards and 2TD's. He became only the 2nd player in history to return an OT kickoff for a TD, and the 1st do it both in regulation and overtime. His return yardage was the 2nd highest in history, and he became the 5th player in history to return 2 kickoffs for scores in game. Not bad really! |
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We just about survived the heat! But it was well worth it. We'd have to rank Buffalo up there with Kansas City as being one of the top game day experiences you can have in terms of tailgating and great fans. We'd love to come back on a cold December - honest! |
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