Surprisingly, The Bills Kick a Game Winning 47-Yard Field Goal With No Problem

You want to know what was the best part of the Bills overtime win against the Jets?

Seeing the ghosts of field goals past (especially those haunting ghosts that congregate on the 47-yard line) being banished forever with one kick from the foot of Ryan Lindell.

By making the 47 yard field goal, Lindell exercised the demons that have haunted Bills fans ever since Scott Norwood attempted his 47 yarder against the New York Giants in Super Bowl XXV.

What is slightly ironic is that Lindell had just missed a 46-yard field goal (wide right) at the end of regulation (he was kicking at the other end zone and the wind was tricky).

Lucky for him, he got a chance to redeem himself.

What Did This Kick Do for the Buffalo Bills?

It allowed the Bills to claim their first win against an AFC East opponent in over a year.

This win bought Dick Jauron some more time as Head Coach. This week, he actually coached doing away with the no-huddle and deciding not to play Roscoe Parrish who was anemic last week.

His decisions seemed to pay off.

Jauron has not shown the slightest inclination to put in Fitzpatrick, so when the Bills were down 13-3 and Edwards got hurt, it was fate that caused Fitzpatrick to get his first game action as a Bill (because Jauron wouldn't have lifted Edwards no matter what).

Now, Ralph Wilson is looking good for sticking by his guy (Jauron) and not reacting to all of the fan's screaming for Jauron to be fired.

This game brought the Bills a little more respect. As pitiful as the offense has been at times, if you could reverse two specific special teams blunders, this team could easily be 4-2 instead of 2-4. That is hard to believe but true.

They completed a comeback as they were down by ten points in the first half. It also gave them their first road win of the season.

This game showed how ineffective the no-huddle was to use. By going back to the huddle between plays, the Bills had very few penalties on the offensive line, and they looked composed as a unit.

Did the Bills Find a New Quarterback on Sunday?

Backup quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick only entered the game because Trent Edwards suffered a concussion. That injury may have proved to be a jump start for the Bills over the course of the rest of the season.

Fitzpatrick was able to throw the ball consistently to Terrell Owens and Lee Evans. Maybe not with the greatest results, but he was throwing the ball to them as they were largely ignored for most of the first five games.

In fact, he was throwing only exclusively to them from the beginning, until he mixed in a toss or two to Shawn Nelson.

This is an important development—because we were convinced that the reason Edwards couldn't throw to the wide receivers was because he lacked the time to do it—as our offensive line would break down time and again.

But for all to see, there was Fitzpatrick behind the same offensive line (although Jamon Meredith started his first game at tackle and looked pretty decent from what I saw of him), and he consistently found the time to be able to get the ball out wide.

Fitzpatrick also showed some awareness by going on a quick count while the Jets were in the middle of a defensive personnel change. That heads up move resulted in a penalty on the Jets and a first down for the Bills.

He might not have set the world on fire with his statistics (10-25 for 116 yards, one touchdown and one interception), but what Fitzpatrick did was establish that the ball can be thrown to the wideouts, and that's something I expect to see Buffalo do throughout the season.

Edwards does not have the confidence to throw it down the field. If he watches the tape, he will see what Fitzpatrick did.

I do wonder about Edwards now, as he has suffered multiple concussions, and with each new concussion, you wonder what kind of new damage has been done to him, and what is each concussion doing to his psyche?

Some other fun things to talk about, because it is always fun to talk about the game after a win, right?

The Bills six interceptions does not break any team record, it only ties one, for most picks in a game. That record happened four times before, but the last time was 32 years ago.

Leading the way was Jairus Byrd, and this time, he came up with two picks and would have had a third, but another defensive back took one away from him. He is really coming on.

On the other side, Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez was responsible for giving up five picks, but he will bounce back. Heck, even Ryan Fitzpatrick as a rookie threw five picks in a game on as well.

Speaking of records, Jets running back Thomas Jones set a new Jets all-time team record with 205 yards rushing. It was a tough loss for Jones and the Jets, as when you rush for 318 yards, you would like your chances to win. But, six interceptions is very difficult for anyone to overcome, even against the Bills.

Those 47-yard line ghosts could easily have been portrayed by Tony Soprano, aka James Gandolfini, who had a front row seat at the game. He would be a very effective ghost.

What to Make of the Bills After This Win?

It seems the Bills can't stop the bleeding with respect to their rush defense. They haven't suffered that many injuries on the defensive line, but the backup linebackers and secondary are not plugging holes or are just weak tacklers.

That has to improve.

Buffalo again suffered more injuries, with the severity of the injuries not yet known to: Kyle Williams (shoulder), Trent Edwards (concussion), Shaun Nelson (concussion), Donte Whitner (ankle) and Terrance McGee (chest).

The return of Paul Posluszny was a plus as he came up with an interception, in spite of his heavily bandaged broken arm. Although, he did seem to be M.I.A. on some of those long runs by Thomas Jones. As the middle linebacker on a defense that allowed over 300 yards on the ground, he did not have a super game.

One of the main areas of concern for the Bills all season has been special teams.

This time, it was the receiving tandem of Fred Jackson and Josh Reed that spelled Roscoe Parrish, and Reed had a punt bounce off his leg that could have easily cost the Bills the game. Each week, special teams play continues to make one big gaffe that could be the difference in the end result.

So, if the Bills can win their next two games, they will come in to the bye week at 4-4.

Is there a chance this team could do a reverse of the complete fade they had last year? I don't know the answer to that, but I liked what I saw from Ryan Fitzpatrick, and am encouraged to see what he can do with more reps with the first team.

Stay tuned Bills fans...things may just get better.