The Buffalo News from Buffalo, New York • 38

Page 4 The Buffalo NewsSunday January 7 1990 Sunday Billboard BILL WIPPERTBuffalo News HHbl 'X ZRSJ MW1 jflWML MB V'V gi MMybMBMK 'ML 4 HiiMiTiM UMiMMB llii1 A (fc lUok I elix Wright flips Don Beebe with 46 seconds to play in the first half The Big Picture: Do not adjust sets The big picture has faded to black The Super Bowl hopes were dashed Saturday when their valiant last second comeback fell just short in a 34 30 play off loss to the Browns at Cleveland Sta dium Play of the Game: The Bills had just scored to pull within three points 24 21 and momentum appeared to be shifting their way But Cleveland rookie Eric Metcalf returned the ensuing kick off 90 yards for a touchdown with 4:23 left in the third quarter or Metcalf the son of former St Louis return great Ter ry Metcalf it was the first kickoff return for a TD in his brief NL career Drop Everything: Jim Kelly threw for an NL career high 405 yards de spite seeing his receivers drop nine catchable balls The most damaging of course was Ronnie muff in the left corner of the end zone with nine seconds to play Quote of the Day: According to Thurman Thomas it came in the huddle after fatal drop Thomas said Harmon came back to the huddle and told Kelly he had waited too long to throw him the ball and that he would have had a TD if the ball had been deliv ered sooner Best Direct Quote: Coach Marv Levy asked about his team's nine dropped passes: am I going to do say onto the ball look at the ball catch the How do you explain it? The first time I ever saw Brooks Robin son play he made three errors and you know what a great fielder he Hit of the Day: Specials teams star Steve Tasker nearly converted Cleve Gerald McNeil into crushed ice early in the second quarter McNeil eschewed the fair catch on Kidd's towering punt and paid the price when Tasker leveled him as soon as he caught the punt Unsung Hero: The offensive line was brilliant in defeat allowing the Browns' vaunted pass rush only one sack for a loss of a single yard Left guard Jim Ritcher deserves special mention for his outstanding job on Michael Dean Perry Cleveland's All Pro right tackle Zebra Report: The most difficult moment occurred just 46 sec onds before the end of the first half Jim Kelly threw high over the middle to Don Beebe who was drilled by elix Wright and landed hard on his neck knocking the ball loose The Browns recovered then the fun began At first it appeared the ground had caused Beebe to fumble and the play would be ruled a comple tion But after a replay review it was ruled an incompletion even though replays seemed to indicate Beebe had possession before his head struck the ground So no one was too happy with the call least of all Bills General Manag er Bill Polian who bolted out of his press box seat and loudly bemoaned the call Best Sign: Wyche We Saved You and Glanville two ield Day: Cleveland perhaps tak ing advantage of the absence of injured strong safety Leonard Smith completed seven passes to its tight ends Veteran Ozzie Newsome equaled his high with four receptions Obscure back up Ron Middleton who had caught only one pass all season had three catches one for a TD Arm Weary: Kelly threw an aston ishing 40 passes in the second half alone including 16 straight in the final 2:41 on the Bills' desperate final drive Coming Attractions: See next Bills schedule The Browns move on to play the winner of Denver Pittsburgh game in next AC championship game If Pittsburgh wins Cleveland will host the game Otherwise the Browns go to Denver's Mile High Stadium By The Numbers BUALO 7 7 7 CLEVELAND 3 14 14 IRST QUARTER Touchdown pass 72 yards Reed from Kelly at 9:56 (Norwood kick) Drive of 72 yards in two plays after Bahr missed a 45 yard field goal BILLS LEAD 7 0 ield goal 45 yards by Bahr at 14:12 Drive of 39 yards in 10 plays after Metcalf's 19 yard kickoff re turn Key gains: Kosar pass to Slaughter for 18 to Bills' 49 Kosar pass to Brennan for 15 on third and 16 to Bills' 28 option pitch to Metcalf for 2 to 26 on fourth down BILLS LEAD 7 3 SECOND QUARTER Touchdown pass 52 yards Slaughter from Kosar at 4:33 (Bahr kick) Drive of 79 yards in seven plays after McNeil returned 45 yard punt by Kidd for no yards Key gains: Kosar pass to Langhorne for 16 to Browns' 37 Tillman reverse for 8 and first down at Bills' 48 BROWNS LEAD 10 7 Touchdown pass 33 yards Lofton from Kelly at 7:12 (Norwood kick) Drive of 66 yards in five plays after i Beebe returned Wagner's kickoff 32 yards Key gains: Kelly pass to Lof ton for 19 to Browns' 47 Kelly boot leg for 5 to 33 BILLS LEAD 14 10 Touchdown pass 3 yards Middle ton from Kosar at 13:54 (Bahr kick) Drive of 55 yards in eight plays after Kidd's 33 yard punt was downed Key gains: Kosar pass to Langhorne for 9 to Bills' 44 Mack run for 16 to 24 Mack run for 12 to 3 BROWNS LEAD 17 14 THIRD QUARTER Touchdown pass 44 yards Slaughter from Kosar at 4:21 (Bahr kick) Drive of 46 yards in three plays after Harper intercepted Kelly's pass BROWNS LEAD 24 14 Touchdown pass 6 yards Thom as from Kelly at 10:22 (Norwood kick) Drive of 21 yards in six plays after Kelso recovered Mack's fum ble BROWNS LEAD 24 21 Kickoff return 90 yards by Met calf at 10:37 (Bahr kick) BROWNS LEAD 31 21 OURTH QUARTER ield goal 30 yards by Norwood at 1:00 Drive of 68 yards in 11 plays after touchback on Wagner's kickoff Key gains: Kelly passes to Lofton for 14 to Bills' 34 to Thomas for 12 to Browns' 48 to Thomas for 27 to 21 BROWNS LEAD 31 24 ield goal 47 yards by Bahr at 8:10 Drive of 38 yards in 11 plays after 26 yard kickoff return by Met calf to Browns' 33 Key gain: Red den's run for 9 to 47 Mack's run for 9 to Bills' 28 BROWNS LEAD 34 24 Touchdown pass 3 yards Thom as from Kelly at 11:00 (kick failed) Drive of 77 yards in eight plays after 14 yard kickoff return by Harmon Key gains: Kelly's screen pass to Harmon for 12 to Bills' 46 Kelly pass to Thomas for 15 to Browns' 39 Kelly pass to Harmon for 22 to 3 BROWNS LEAD 34 30 Attendance: 77706 (1704 no shows) INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS BUALO CLEVELAND Rushing Art Yds Avg Rushing Att Yds Avg Thomas 10 27 27 Mack 12 62 52 Kinnebrew 7 17 24 Redden 6 3 22 Kelly 1 5 50 Tillman 1 8 80 Manoa 3 6 20 Metcalf 4 2 05 Langhorne 1 0 00 Kosar 3 1 03 Massing Att Com Yds TD Int Passing Att Com Yds TD Int Kelly 54 28 405 4 2 Kosar 29 20 251 3 0 Pass Receiving No Yds Lng TD Pass Receiving No Yds Lng TD Thomas 13 150 27 2 Langhorne 6 48 16 0 Reed 6 115 72 1 Newsome 4 35 12 0 Harmon 4 50 22 0 Slaughter 3 114 52 2 Lofton 3 66 33 1 Middleton 3 12 5 1 Beebe 1 17 17 0 Mack 2 19 14 0 Kinnebrew 1 7 7 0 Brennan 1 15 15 0 Metcalf 18 8 0 Punting No Yds Avg Lng Punting No Yds Avg Lng Kidd 3 124 413 46 Wagner 3 113 377 42 Punt Returns No Yds Lng Punt Returns No Yds Lng Sutton 1 4 4 McNeil 1 0 0 Kickoff Returns No Yds Lng Kickoff Returns No Yds Lng Beebe 2 53 32 Metcalf 4 159 90 Harmon 3 52 23 Oliphant 2 21 12 Defensive Stats Tkls Asst Sack Defensive Stats Tkls Asst Sack Conlan 6 5 0 Gash 4 5 0 i Radecic 9 0 'h Matthews 6 2 0 Smith 5 0 16 Dixon 6 1 0 Drane 3 1 0 Johnson 5 2 0 Kelso 3 1 0 Perry 3 3 0 Smerlas 3 1 0 Wright 5 0 0 Talley 3 1 1 Grayson 3 2 0 Bennett 2 1 0 Baker 2 1 0 Jackson 2 0 0 Hairston 2 1 1 Still 2 0 0 Lyons 2 0 0 Hagy 1 1 0 Blaylock 1 1 Wright 1 0 0 Minnifield 0 2 0 Seals 1 0 0 Gibson 1 0 0 Sutton 1 0 0 Harper 1 0 0 Johnson 10 0 Kramer 0 1 0 TEAM STATISTICS Buf Clev But Clev Total irst Downs 25 18 Punts Avg 3 413 3 377 By Rushing 2 10 Had Blocked 0 0 By Passing 20 8 Total Return Yardage 4 0 By Penalty 3 0 Punt Returns Yards 1 4 1 0 Third Down Efficiency 6 15 40 6 13 461 Kickoff Returns Yards 5 105 6 180 Total Net Yards 453 325 Interceptions Yards 0 0 2 0 Total Offensive Plays 73 61 Penalties Yards 6 35 5 30 Avg Gain Per Play 62 53 umbles Lost 2 1 1 1 Net Yards Rushing 49 90 Touchdowns 4 4 Total Rushing Plays 18 30 By Rushing 0 0 Average Gain Per Play 27 30 By Passing 4 3 Net Yards Passing 404 235 By Returns 0 1 Was Sacked Yds Lost 1 1 2 16 Extra Points Made Aft 3 4 4 4 I Gross Yards Passing 405 251 ield Goals Made Att 1 1 2 3 Passes Completed Int 54 28 2 29 20 0 Time of Possession 25:44 34:16 Avg Gain Per Pass Play 73 76 1 RON MOSCATIBuffato News fL TTJral a 7" fl aK v' Mark Kelso recovers a Kevin Mack fumble in llic third quarter BILL WIPPERTBuffalo News Scott Norwood slips to the turf after shanking an extra point try late in the game Ik 2 a Pi IWmnff ML awJMt IV 'amm 1 lie 1 Special teams win (and lose) titles By JERRY SULLIVAN New Sports Reporter CLEVELAND Marv Levy knows all about these things The head coach cut his teeth as an NL special teams coach and had spent a lot of time trying to drum a simple fact into his heads was saying it all said Jamie Mueller one of the unfortunate members of the kickoff coverage team "Special teams win And as the Bills discovered Saturday they also can lose them There were plenty of rea sons for 34 30 playoff loss to the Browns but rarely has a team been so utterly betrayed by its usually reliable special teams Midway through the third quarter the Bills scored a touchdown to pull within three points and the momentum appeared to be shifting their way But on the ensuing kickoff Cleveland rookie Eric Metcalf dashed 90 yards up the middle virtually untouched for a TD that restored the 10 point lead Then trailing 34 24 with four minutes to go the Bills scored another TD With the addition of a routine extra point they would be within a field goal of forcing overtime But as he stepped into the kick Scott Norwood slipped on the slick natural grass of Cleveland Stadium and shanked the ball off the back of his snapper (Adam Lingner) teams are a definite difference in games like said Steve Tasker the ac knowledged leader of special units are scouted so well and game plans so well developed When you can get breaks like those (on special teams) it really The kickoff coverage has led the NL in fewest yards allowed the last two seasons They could not have picked a worse time to have their most dreadful game in recent mem ory The Browns returned all six Buffalo kick offs past their own 30 yard line The killer of course was Metcalf TD "We knew Metcalf was a great Tasker said we just stay in our lanes well enough to cover on that play That was definitely the play that broke the game for them and just disappointed it happened against the special Since Norwood lacks the leg strength to kick the ball to the end zone the usual strate gy is to kick the ball toward the corners But as Tasker and Levy both pointed out Nor wood's kickoffs drifted to the center of the field Saturday and Cleveland capitalized Bad kickoffs are one thing The flubbed extra point attempt which cost the Bills a chance to tie the game might have been Nor most discouraging moment as a pro "It was hard and icy down Norwood said in his customarily impassive fashion knew that in the pregame and went out there early It must have gotten worse as the game progressed but it seemed all right in warm ups not an ideal field by any means but I wish coped with it better than I did always done well in mud and ice but on that particular kick I guess circumstances caught up with He might as well have been talking about entire special teams Under the most special of circumstances they proved to be anything but Huddle comment could spark final furor By MILT NORTHROP News Sports Reporter CLEVELAND The Bills may have one last controversy brewing in the aftermath of Satur day's 34 30 loss to the Cleveland Browns in their AC divisional playoff game In comments relayed by run ning back Thurman Thomas Ronnie Harmon appeared to be second guessing quarterback Jim Kelly for looking for him too late one play before a Cleveland inter ception ended the last Buffalo threat with three seconds to go pass went off Harmon's hands in the left corner of the end zone with nine seconds left It ap peared on television replays that Harmon had room to make the catch and land in bounds for what would have bqen the winning touchdowns Harmon said he had looked at me a little bit quicker' he would have scored be cause he was wide Thomas said during a post game interview session Thomas relayed that Harmon said looked a little bit too long the other way but by the time he looked (Harmon) was al most out of the end Harmon did not speak for him self because he has not allowed media interviews for the last two seasons Kelly also refused to be inter viewed after the game The most controversial play of the game was an apparent catch by Bills rookie Don licebe with 35 seconds left in the first half Beebe made a leaping catch but was flipped over by the force of elix Bills Notebook Wright's tackle He landed on his head and the ball popped loose Wright caught it before it hit the ground The play was ruled an incom plete pass 1 thought I caught it I really Beebe said caught the ball and the guy took my legs out and when I hit my head and I hit my elbow too the ball popped out ball popped out The ball actually was on the Guard Jim Ritcher neutralized Cleveland's Pro Bowl defensive tackle Michael Dean Perry who had six tackles but no sacks pretty Ritcher said watched him eat up a lot of left guards I did a lot of film study on him so strong When you feel Continued from Page Cl like you have pretty good position on him he just picks you up and moves After a shaky start Thomas ended up tying Kellen Winslow's record of 13 receptions in a play off game Winslow set the mark in 1981 in an overtime game at Mi ami Thomas had three dropped pas ses two on the first series and one on the opening series of the second half was just Thomas said all day I had a hard time catching the ball first series I was really nervous Throughout the rest of the game I thought I had an ex cellent Thomas caught 1 1 passes for 123 yards in the second half On the Bills' last play of the game the interception by Cleve land linebacker Clay Matthews near Thomas the Bills back said he was not the primary receiver the primary receiver I think two of the inside receivers Ronnie Harmon and Andre Reed were read the coverage before the ball was thrown and maybe thought I was open more than the other guys When I ran my pat tern I thought I was open for a second but Clay Matthews got a great break on the ball I thought I was open for a The Bills put safety Leonard Smith and linebacker Ray Bentley on their two man inactive list for the game The Browns placed Kevin Rob bins and Kevin Simons both of fensive tackles on their list Cleveland lost defensive back Tony Blaylock with a neck injury a cervical sprain in the sec ond half He was to be held over night at 'the Cleveland Clinic for observation but had movement in all his extremities the Browns said Kelly: Linemen expected miracle finish a whole lot to Wolford said knew what we had to thought it was going to be another recalled offensive guard Jim Ritcher His reference was to the miracle comeback drive capped by a Kelly TD run in the season opener against the Dolphins was real Ritcher added was in charge Like always the general leading us down the we have time on the clock and we're throwing the football no doubt in mind out there: going to center Kent Hull said Jim walks into the huddle in that situation he is in total control He doesn't get any plays from the sidelines They (the coaches) tell him when to call time out He is in command and when at his The Bills marched 63 yards with Kelly throwing 16 consecutive passes to the Cleveland 1 1 yard line But with three seconds left the final throw wound up in enemy hands did not have to prove anything to Bills coach Marv Levy said thought he performed extremely well He showed a lot of heart the same heart he has "A lot of people have questioned whether Jim Kelly was a good enough quarterback to be a cham pionship quarterback in this said Bills 'Gen eral Manager Bill Polian.