Week 3, September 18th, 1988, Buffalo Bills (1-1) @ New England Patriots (1-1)

Sunday, September 18th, 1988 1:00PM
Buffalo Bills (1-1) @ New England Patriots (1-1)
Sullivan Stadium
Weather: 67 degrees, relative humidity 75%, wind 14 mph
Line: New England -2.5 (buffalo), O/U 38 (under)

Attendance:  55,945 (60,794)

Buffalo 13, New England 9

In a defensive struggle, two key 2nd half Steve Grogan interceptions propel the Bills to claim an upper hand in the AFC East

The Bills took a trip to Foxboro, MA for a match up of two top AFC defenses trying to prevent an 0-2 start in the AFC East.  The Bills have lost to the Dolphins, and the Patriots dropped their home opener to the Jets.

The Patriots hot a homerun with the first play from scrimmage, a 62 yard connection from Steve Grogan (12-24, 214 Yards, 3 Int, 41.3 rtg) to Irving Fryar (3-84), the Patriots' largest gain of the afternoon.  Steve Perryman however squandered the scoring chance on the next play by fumbling away the football to Linebacker Shane Conlan after gaining 7 yards to the Bills' 4 yard line.

The Bills managed one first down, and a nice Fryar punt return set up Grogan and the offense at Buffalo's 43.  This set up a Jason Staurovsky 28 yard field goal for a 3-0 New England lead.

Buffalo took the next possession down the field, deep into Patriots' territory, to the 21 on 12 plays, thanks in large part to two 3rd down conversions on passes by Jim Kelly who played smart all game.  On the 1st play of the 2nd quarter, a rushing attempt by Ronnie Harmon on 3rd and 6 resulted in a fumble recovered by Johnny Rembert of the Patriots to keep the Bills off the scoreboard.

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The Bills had trouble with the Patriots' pass rush, allowing 3 sacks on Jim Kelly for 26 yards lost

On their next possession, the Bills offense finally bore some fruit.  Jim Kelly completed passes to Robb Riddick (14), Pete Metzelaars (12), and a long pass to Chris Burkett (34) to lead to a 32 yard Scott Norwood field goal to tie the game at 3.

New England closed out the 1st half scoring with an impressive drive, starting at their own 7 thanks to a well-placed John Kidd punt. They used almost all 3:36 thanks to very accurate passing by Steve Grogan, culminating with a 29 yard Jason Staurovsky field goal to head into halftime in the lead 6-3 in a defensive struggle.

Raymond Clayborne breaks up a pass intended for Trumaine Johnson in the 2nd Quarter

Both offenses couldnt put anything together in the beginning of the 3rd quarter.  7:17 In, faced with a 3rd and 2, Jamie Mueller was stuffed for no gain by Johnny Rambert, who had another outstanding game for the Patriots defense.  After the Kidd punt, John Stephens scattered outside for a 52 yard run.  Bob Perryman picked up two first downs on the next two plays, but the Bills defense held strong again in the red zone, holding the Patriots to another Jason Staurovsky field goal, again 29 yards to keep the game within a touchdown 9-3.

John Stephens busts out for a 52 yard gain to set up a 3rd New England Field Goal in the 3rd quarter

The Patriots got the ball back quickly thanks to the Bills taking a costly holding penalty.  Early in the 4th quarter, Steve Grogan attempted a pass to Stanley Morgan (2-34), but Nate Odomes read the play and jumped in front for the interception and managed to run it back down the sideline for 30 yards to the New England 26.  It was a much needed break for the Bills, but could not fully convert.  Scott Norwood hit a clutch 39 yard field goal to reduce the lead to 3, 9-6.

The next New England possession, facing 3rd and 10 from their 41, New England's Steve Grogan attempted a long post to Sammy Martin, however Safety Leonard Smith stepped in front of that pass for the interception and ran it back 30 yards to the Patriots' 44 with 8:50 to play.  Jim Kelly hit Chris Burkett (4-69) for 15 on the cross pass, and Thurman Thomas (16-69) had a 12 yard sweep on 2nd down to set up a 13 yard Robb Riddick touchdown run on the 4th play of the drive to put the Bills ahead for the 1st time 13-9.

The Patriots got the ball back with 6:05 left, but could not gain anything besides a 1st down aided by an offsides penalty.  With 3:06 remaining and 3 timeouts, faced with a 4th and 10 from the 47, Raymond Berry elected to punt.  It was the last time New England touched the ball, as Thurman Thomas, Jamie Mueller, and Ronnie Harmon grinded out 2 first downs and bled the clock to 0:00 for a huge Bills victory.

Player of the Game:

Robb Riddick - Bills

Riddick scored the game winning and the game's only touchdown in the 4th quarter

1988 Buffalo 13, 1988 New England 9
	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	OT	Total
1988 Buffalo	0	3	0	10	0	13
1988 New England	3	3	3	0	0	9

Scoring Plays
Qtr	Clock	Poss	Scoring Description(Extra Point)	Score
1	0:00	1988 New England	J.Staurovsky 28 yd. field goal	3-0 NEA
2	9:54	1988 Buffalo	S.Norwood 32 yd. field goal	3-3 NEA
2	0:30	1988 New England	J.Staurovsky 29 yd. field goal	6-3 NEA
3	0:00	1988 New England	J.Staurovsky 29 yd. field goal	9-3 NEA
4	11:25	1988 Buffalo	S.Norwood 40 yd. field goal	9-6 NEA
4	6:26	1988 Buffalo	R.Riddick 13 yd. run (S.Norwood kick)	13-9 BUA

Other Highlights
Qtr	Clock	Poss	Event	Player	Yards
1	14:03	1988 New England	Pass	Irving Fryar	62
1	13:47	1988 New England	Fumble	Bob Perryman
1	6:19	1988 New England	QBSack	Darryl Talley	-4
1	0:19	1988 Buffalo	QBSack	Tim Goad	-12
2	14:43	1988 Buffalo	Fumble	Ronnie Harmon
2	11:24	1988 Buffalo	Pass	Chris Burkett	34
2	10:12	1988 Buffalo	QBSack	Garin Veris	-7
2	7:26	1988 Buffalo	Intercept	Wayne Davis	15
3	11:57	1988 Buffalo	QBSack	Andre Tippett	-7
3	6:07	1988 New England	Run	John Stephens	52
3	2:23	1988 Buffalo	Return	Erroll Tucker	30
4	13:33	1988 Buffalo	Intercept	Nate Odomes	30
4	8:50	1988 Buffalo	Intercept	Leonard Smith	30

Team Statistics
	1988 Buffalo	1988 New England
First Downs by Rush-Pass-Pen-Total	6-13-0-19	4-11-1-16
Third Down Efficiency	6-15-40%	3-11-27%
Fourth Down Efficiency	0-0-0%	0-0-0%
Red Zone Efficiency (pts-poss-pct)	10-14-71%	9-28-32%
Total Offense-Plays-Avg Yards Per Play	301-65-4.6	343-55-6.2
Total Net Yards Rushing	125	133
Total Rushes	32	30
Average Per Rush	3.9	4.4
Passes Completed/Attempted	17/30 (56.7%)	12/24 (50.0%)
Net Yards Passing	176	210
Avg Yards Per Pass	6.7	8.9
Sacked/Yards Lost	3/26	1/4
Punts/Average	5/38.6	3/41.3
Punts Received/Return Yardage	1/-2	3/16
Kickoffs/Returns	4/106	3/64
Interceptions/Returns	3/75	0/0
Penalties/Yards	8/69	4/20
Total Fumbles/Fumbles Lost	2/1	3/1
Time of Possession	33 mins 21 secs	26 mins 39 secs
Average Drive Start	BUA 33	NEA 24

Passing Stats
	Att	Comp	Yds	Comp %	Yds/Att	TD	TD %	INT	INT %	Long	Sack	Rating
1988 Buffalo
Jim Kelly	30	17	202	56.7	6.7	0	0	0	0	34	3/26	77.4
1988 New England
Steve Grogan	24	12	214	50.0	8.9	0	0	3	12.5	62	1/4	41.3

Rushing Stats
	No	Yds	Avg	Long	TD	2 Pt Conv	Fumbles/Lost
1988 Buffalo
Thurman Thomas	16	69	4.3	14	0	0	0/0
Robb Riddick	9	42	4.7	13	1	0	0/0
Jamie Mueller	3	8	2.7	8	0	0	0/0
Ronnie Harmon	2	-2	-1.0	0	0	0	1/1
Jim Kelly	2	8	4.0	7	0	0	0/0
1988 New England
John Stephens	18	84	4.7	52	0	0	0/0
Bob Perryman	9	40	4.4	15	0	0	1/1
Reggie Dupard	2	5	2.5	5	0	0	0/0
Steve Grogan	1	4	4.0	4	0	0	0/0

Receiving Stats
	No	Yds	Avg	Long	TD	2 Pt Conv
1988 Buffalo
Chris Burkett	4	69	17.3	34	0	0
Ronnie Harmon	4	31	7.8	9	0	0
Andre Reed	3	40	13.3	17	0	0
Robb Riddick	3	38	12.7	14	0	0
Trumaine Johnson	1	7	7.0	7	0	0
Pete Metzelaars	1	12	12.0	12	0	0
Carl Byrum	1	5	5.0	5	0	0
1988 New England
Irving Fryar	3	84	28.0	62	0	0
Bob Perryman	2	23	11.5	13	0	0
Cedric D. Jones	2	30	15.0	15	0	0
Stanley Morgan	2	34	17.0	26	0	0
Reggie Dupard	2	30	15.0	15	0	0
John Stephens	1	13	13.0	13	0	0

Field Goals
	1-19	20-29	30-39	40-49	50+	Totals	% Made
1988 Buffalo
Scott Norwood	0/0	0/0	1/1	1/1	0/0	2/2	100
1988 New England
Jason Staurovsky	0/0	3/3	0/0	0/0	0/0	3/3	100

Punting
	No	Avg	Net	Tb	Inside 20	Long	Blocked
1988 Buffalo
John Kidd	5	38.6	35.4	0	2	46	0
1988 New England
Jeff Feagles	3	41.3	42.0	0	1	47	0

Kickoff Returns
	No	Yds	Avg	Long	TD
1988 Buffalo
Erroll Tucker	4	106	26.5	30	0
1988 New England
Sammy Martin	3	64	21.3	23	0

Punt Returns
	Ret	FC	Yds	Avg	Long	TD
1988 Buffalo
Flip Johnson	1	0	-2	-2.0	-2	0
1988 New England
Irving Fryar	3	0	16	5.3	13	0

Individual Defense
	Tackles	Sacks	Fum Rec
1988 Buffalo
Nate Odomes	5	0	0
Leonard Smith	5	0	0
Shane Conlan	5	0	1
Ray Bentley	5	0	0
Fred Smerlas	5	0	0
Mark Kelso	4	0	0
Cornelius Bennett	3	0	0
Bruce Smith	3	0	0
Art Still	2	0	0
Darryl Talley	2	1	0
Derrick Burroughs	2	0	0
Wayne Davis	2	0	0
Erroll Tucker	0	0	1
1988 New England
Larry McGrew	14	0	0
Johnny Rembert	10	0	2
Roland James	4	0	0
Ronnie Lippett	4	0	0
Andre Tippett	4	1	0
Fred Marion	3	0	0
Tim Goad	3	1	0
Garin Veris	2	1	0
Tim Jordan	2	0	0
Ed Reynolds	2	0	0
Raymond Clayborn	2	0	1
Rod McSwain	1	0	0

Interceptions
	No	Yds	Avg	Long	TD
1988 Buffalo
Leonard Smith	1	30	30.0	30	0
Nate Odomes	1	30	30.0	30	0
Wayne Davis	1	15	15.0	15	0
1988 New England

Game Story

It was a disheartening defeat for the home team, as the visitors from Buffalo beat New England by the score of 13 to 9. Buffalo controlled the ball for 33:21. New England was on top at the half 6 to 3. A hightlight for New England was a pass to Irving Fryar that covered 62 yards with 14:03 left in the 1st quarter. But it was not enough to bring his team a victory..