Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, September 11, 1995 TAG: 9509110134
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ED HARDIN LANDMARK NEWS SERVICE
DATELINE: ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. LENGTH: Medium
The Buffalo Bills trampled the Carolina Panthers 31-9, scoring 31 straight points in the second half and crushing the Panthers' hopes of a major upset in just their second game. Carolina (0-2) lost a hard-fought 9-0 lead so quickly it couldn't recover.
``It happened too fast,'' cornerback Tim McKyer said.
The Bills scored 28 points in the third quarter - the most points a Buffalo team ever has scored in the third quarter - then put away the Panthers with a running game not seen in Buffalo since the days of O.J. Simpson.
Quarterback Jim Kelly completed only four passes all day as the Bills defeated Carolina on a day when they likely would not have beaten anyone but an expansion team.
``It was a tale of two halves,'' Carolina coach Dom Capers said.
It was more a tale of one play. The Panthers outplayed Buffalo through the entire first half.
Carolina eventually led 9-0 and could have led 21-0 had Capers and quarterback Frank Reich been a bit more creative.
Minutes into the third period, Buffalo appeared headed for what would have been a monumental loss. The fans were booing every play, which the Bills were botching with alarming consistency.
Buffalo had 69 yards of offense and no apparent clue how to solve the Panthers' swarming 3-4 defense.
Kelly had completed one of his 14 passes and had thrown three interceptions.
``I wasn't very happy,'' Bills coach Marv Levy said. ``We hadn't shown anything yet this season to make me think that we would be all right.''
Then in one play it all changed. Kelly dropped back for a pass that he hoped to get off quickly. The Panthers had extra men on the line of scrimmage, and a blitz was almost certain.
It was third down deep in Buffalo territory. Some 79,190 fans were booing quietly.
And then they weren't. Kelly avoided the blitzing Brett Maxie with a quick side-step and hit wide receiver Russell Copeland over the middle on a simple crossing pattern that should have been a 12-yard gain. That's all it was until Copeland eluded McKyer and ran 65 more yards for a touchdown.
``One play,'' McKyer said. ``It was a very big play.''
Carolina's hard-fought lead soon disappeared. Buffalo scored again on its next possession to take a 14-9 lead, then dominated the Panthers the rest of the way. In the third period alone the Bills ran up 189 yards.
``One play turned the tempo of the whole game around,'' Capers said. ``We did not respond very well after the big touchdown pass, and things kind of went south on us from that point on.''
The Bills went ahead 14-9 on a long drive sparked by Thurman Thomas, who carried on six of the nine plays and scored on a 4-yard run with 6:05 left in the third period.
Carolina, by then, was in its four-plays-and-out mode, punting on five of its final six possessions. Buffalo continued to pound away at the suddenly hapless Panthers. Thomas went 60 yards with a Kelly screen pass on the Bills' next series, and rookie Darick Holmes scored three plays later to give Buffalo a 21-9 lead with 3:42 left in the third quarter.
``We just weren't able to get off of that downhill slide,'' said Carlton Bailey, a Carolina linebacker who once played for the Bills. ``They got the momentum and we couldn't stop it.''
Buffalo scored again on Carolina's next possession when defensive back Kurt Schulz intercepted a Reich pass at point-blank range and ran it 32 yards for a touchdown and a 28-9 lead with 2:03 still to go in the third quarter.
Kerry Collins made his NFL debut for the Panthers, throwing incomplete on both his passes, a fitting end to another incomplete game by Carolina.
The Panthers had several opportunities early on to put Buffalo in an even bigger hole. Carolina scored on two John Kasay field goals in the second quarter but failed to get more despite driving into Buffalo territory five times in the first half. The 6-0 lead held only because the Panthers defense was confusing Kelly. Kelly completed one pass in the first half and threw two interceptions.
NOTE: Please see micorfilm for text.
by CNB