Possibly a more realistic article from "The Buffalo News"
tennessean.com
BUFFALO POINT OF VIEW
Referee's call a matter of opinion
By Larry Felser / The Buffalo News
It was worse than "wide right."
Worse than any of the four Super Bowl losses.
Even worse than "no goal!"
"I had my plane ticket to Jacksonville for the next round," said quarterback Rob Johnson, who completed three passes for first downs in a pressure-filled, do-or-die, last-minute drive which resulted in a 41-yard clutch field goal by Steve Christie which seemed to win the game for Buffalo, 16-15.
"I thought we won the game," said Wade Phillips, the saddened Buffalo coach who had rolled the dice on Johnson as his starter and should have ended up taking bows for his risky decision.
"I thought we won and they took it away from us."
By "they," Phillips meant referee Phil Luckett and his officiating crew, specifically line judge Byron Boston who made the call on Tennessee's "Home run, throw back,' the gadget kickoff return which ended Buffalo's season.
Did the zebras snatch victory away from the Bills? Since the play has been shown on television numerous times since the game ended, your opinion is as good as mine. We may be arguing about it for the next 10 years.
Frankly, I think the Bills got jobbed. I agree with Ron Jaworski of ESPN. "I think it was an illegal forward pass," said Jaws, shortly after the game ended.
The fact that Luckett was the zebra who reviewed the return on instant replay added to the uproar. He's the same official who fouled up the coin toss before the overtime kickoff of an important Pittsburgh-Detroit game last Thanksgiving, forgetting that the Steelers' Jerome Bettis had called "we'll receive!"
Luckett awarded first possession to the Lions, instead.
He's also the referee who gave the phantom touchdown to Vinny Testaverde of the Jets, thereby knocking Seattle out of the playoffs single handededly.
Luckett shouldn't even be allowed in the same area code with a postseason NFL game.
The outcome of this one not only ended Buffalo's season, but ruined a gutsy second-half comeback from a 12-0 deficit, a rebound which appeared to have propelled the Bills toward the Super Bowl.
Until Kevin Dyson's 75-yard run after Frank Wycheck's bizarre lateral with three seconds left, this had been a memorable, back-alley defensive brawl in which every first down came at a heavy price, every passer's drop back into his pocket fraught with danger.
The Johnson-Doug Flutie controversy? Who played quarterback in this game was a moot point until Buffalo's final drive, in which Johnson, with no time out remaining, behind an offensive line with three players manning positions they normally don't play, star tight end Jay Riemersma and veteran running back Thurman Thomas on the bench with injuries, finally pierced the tough Tennessee defense.
Johnson had inauspicious statistics (10-of-22, 131 yards), but this was not a day for passers. Inauspicious stats or not, Johnson clearly outplayed Tennessee quarterback Steve McNair, who passed for half his yards.
Titans Coach Jeff Fisher obviously was reluctant to allow McNair to throw downfield against Buffalo's No. 1 ranked defense and that helped keep Tennessee without a touchdown in the second half until the zany kickoff return.
If the Bills carried anything out of this bitter loss it was a sense that with Johnson, Moulds, Price, Riemersma, Sam Cowart and a flock of other developing young players they have a robust future.
There was also evidence that potential has blossomed into maturity in many of the players. Instead of moping over the loss, many of the Bills took responsibility on themselves and their teammates. That's not easy for young players to do.
As Moulds said, "it's their job to make the calls, mine to catch passes. We put ourselves in position to lose this game."
"We had our opportunities," said Phil Hansen. "I didn't see the replay. It's not going to change things now."
Phillips, while clearly not happy with the officiating, also felt too many mistakes were made; too many bad decisions made. Those included a ball that was snapped too soon and resulted in the sack of Johnson by super pass rusher Jevon Kearse in the end zone for a critical safety; of too many illegal movements; of veteran left tackle John Fina telling the coaches he was fit to play when he truly wasn't then giving up another critical sack to Kearse.
After the hasty snap from center which led to the safety, Johnson and center Jerry Ostroski had to be separated on the Buffalo sideline.
"Just two guys who were ticked off," said Johnson. "He thought he was supposed to snap it one one count and I thought it was on another. That doesn't mean we're going to hate each other for the rest of our lives."
For owner Ralph Wilson, getting over the loss will be easy.
"This team," he says, "has a great future." |
