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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
SEATTLE (AP) -- Buffalo Bills coach Wade Phillips didn't get much
of an endorsement from his owner.
|  | | Doug Flutie completed 20 of 25 passes for a career-high 366 yards and three TDs. |
"I'd rather just sit with this game for a few hours," Ralph Wilson said when asked about Phillips following the Bills' 42-23 victory over Seattle on Saturday night.
Wilson fired general manager John Butler this week, and the 82-year-old owner was at practice all week.
"I'm going to start this week," Wilson said when asked about
his new GM. "I'm going to get things squared away."
Doug Flutie showed he still has a lot to offer to the Bills if they want him back.
He completed 20 of 25 passes for a career-high 366 yards and
three touchdowns as the Bills snapped a four-game losing streak -- their longest slide since 1985 -- to finish 8-8.
"I've got no control over it," Flutie said about his future in Buffalo. "All I'm thinking about is playing football."
Flutie got a glowing endorsement from Peerless Price, who caught
eight passes for 132 yards and one touchdown.
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TOM DONAHOE'S BREAKDOWN |
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Question on the Bills: Will you be the Bills' next general manager? (or, Who will be the Bills' starting quarterback in 2001?)
Donahoe: Whoever gets the GM job in Buffalo, his first decision along with the coach will be to settle the quarterback situation. This has been a controversy for a couple years and it's not good for either the team or the quarterbacks. Whether they select Doug Flutie, Rob Johnson or open it up to a competitive situation, they can't keep going back and forth between the two. When you do that, members of the team start to choose sides. Before you know it, regardless of what quarterback is playing, a good deal of the team is unhappy. Resolving this situation is vital for
the near future of the Bills organization.
Question on the Seahawks: How different will the Seahawks team look next year?
Donahoe: Seattle will look very different. The Seahawks have a lot of room under the cap and two first-round draft choices. Mike Holmgren has made no secret of the fact that he wants another quarterback. They have some issues on the defensive line they have to address. You will be looking at a much different Seahawks team next year. Holmgren did a good job getting them into the playoffs last year. They took a bit of a step back this year, but many feel Holmgren did that on purpose to get their cap in shape and get the kind of team he wants.
Tom Donahoe, ESPN.com's NFL analyst, was formerly the Steelers' director
of football operations.
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"Flutie's great," Price said. "He's an offensive wizard. He
knows all, he sees all. He's just a great competitor."
Seattle finished 6-10, the first losing season in Mike Holmgren's career as an NFL head coach.
In the rain-drenched finale, Flutie played superbly in place of Rob Johnson, who suffered a concussion last week.
After the game, Flutie was happy, but sad, too.
"Let's go play a couple more," he said. "It's disheartening to go home before Christmas."
Matched against the NFL's worst defense, the Bills punted only
once and rolled up 579 yards. The Seahawks committed four
turnovers, losing three fumbles and throwing an interception.
Butler's successor as general manager of the Bills will make the decision whether to bring Flutie back. If Flutie is released, it would count $4.5 million against the salary cap.
Wilson fired Butler on Tuesday because he didn't think Butler
wanted to commit to the Bills. Butler, whose contract ran out Feb.
28, could wind up as general manager of San Diego.
Flutie, 38, guided Buffalo to a 28-14 halftime lead, going
14-for-17 for 249 yards and three touchdowns.
Aided by 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalties on Willie
Williams and Chad Brown, the Bills scored the first time they had
the ball. Flutie passed 11 yards to Shawn Bryson for the touchdown.
"Nothing seemed to go right," Brown said. "This was exactly
how the defense was all year. It seems like someone was always
setting some personal record against us."
They made it 14-0 on an 18-yard touchdown pass from Flutie to
Price before Seattle's Charlie Rogers ran back the ensuing kickoff
81 yards for a touchdown.
Buffalo quickly scored again after Flutie completed a 48-yard
pass to Eric Moulds to the Seattle 15. With Bryson out with a back and hip injury that he suffered when he scored his touchdown, Antowain Smith made it 21-7 on a 9-yard run, his first of three TD runs.
Kitna spiked the ball after scoring on a 1-yard run early in the
second quarter, but it was a short-lived celebration.
After recovering Darrell Jackson's fumble at the 50, the Bills
got their final touchdown of the opening half on a 6-yard pass from
Flutie to tight end Jay Riemersa with 1:09 left.
In the second half, Smith scored on runs of 2 and 4 yards, while Ricky Watters had a 6-yard touchdown run for the Seahawks.
Both the Bills and the Seahawks have a lot of decisions to make
during the offseason.
Phillips has one year left on his contract. Moulds, defensive
end Marcellus Wiley and kicker Steve Christie will become
unrestricted free agents.
Phillips, who is in his third season in Buffalo, said he was proud of the way his team battled adversity this week, referring to Butler's firing.
"A lot of things happened and it was a long trip," he said.
Holmgren, also Seattle's general manager, did a major retooling
of his roster after last season and he could be in the same mood
again. Among the casualties could be eight-time Pro Bowl defensive
tackle Cortez Kennedy and former Pro Bowl defensive end Michael
Sinclair.
"Clearly, we did not have a good defensive year," Holmgren
said. "We have to find out why."
On offense for Seattle, Watters could be released because
Holmgren has top draft choice Shaun Alexander available to replace him. The Seahawks also might not bring Kitna and guard Pete Kendall
back. Both will become unrestricted free agents.
Kitna was 18-for-29 for 295 yards and no touchdowns with one
interception in what might have been his final Seahawks start.
Holmgren refused to criticize his team's lack of intensity.
"I'm not even going to talk about effort," he said. "It's just that we didn't really play very well."
Game notes
Watters, with 67 yards on 17 carries, moved into 12th place
on the career rushing list with 10,325 yards, passing Ottis
Anderson (10,273). Next up is O.J. Simpson (11,352). ... Moulds
became Buffalo's single-season leader in receptions with four
catches for 94. Andre Reed had 90 in 1994. ... Rogers scored his
third career NFL touchdown. As a rookie last season, Rogers ran
back a punt 94 yards for a TD during the regular season and
returned a kickoff 85 yards for a TD against Miami in a playoff
game. ... Smith rushed 17 times for a career-high 147 yards. He
came into the game with 207 yards on 84 carries. It was the 10th
100-yard rushing performance against Seattle's defense this season.
... The 579 yards by Buffalo was the most against the Seahawks this
year. ... Moulds and Price each had 100-yard receiving days. Moulds
caught four balls for 101 yards and Price eight for 132 yards. ...
Flutie had his fourth career 300-yard passing game. He had one last
season and two in 1998.
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ALSO SEE
Buffalo Clubhouse
Seattle Clubhouse
Train carrying Seahawks fans slams into house on train tracks
FROM
ATHLETESDIRECT
Doug Flutie Official Site
Mike Holmgren Official Site
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