Bills have been saving their best for last
by MATT KRUEGER Reporter

Rookie running back Marshawn Lynch has been a big part of Buffalo's four-game winning streak with 378 yards rushing and three touchdowns. Lynch has 751 yards for the season, which ranks him fifth in the league and third in the AFC. Photo by John Normile

If the Buffalo Bills could play a full 60 minutes the way they've played in the fourth quarter lately, they'd be the best team in football.

Buffalo has rallied in the final 15 minutes to win the past three games over the Jets, 13-3, Bengals, 33-21, and Dolphins, 13-10. In those three games, the Bills have outscored their opponents, 38-0.

The good news is that Buffalo is winning these close games and responding in crunch time with points. That's a heck of a lot better than those two losses to Denver and Dallas, when Buffalo led the entire way, only to lose on a last-minute field goal. But the bad news is that it's taking the team until the fourth quarter to take control of the game.

"It's kind of like everything, you're always concerned," head coach Dick Jauron said during Monday's press conference. "You'd like to have production all the time, every play, every drive. It doesn't happen. The main thing is that they responded, made the drive that we needed to make. Score the points and then we're on to the next one."

In Sunday's win over Miami, Buffalo's offense struggled mightily through the first three quarter. The Bills went three-and-out in their first four possessions. They didn't get a first down until there were five minutes left in the second quarter. But that fifth drive, which moved 41 yards in three plays, ended in an interception.

In the first half, the Bills held the ball for just 9 minutes, 12 seconds, while the Dolphins controlled the clock for 20:48.

Miami took a 10-2 lead at the end of the third quarter on a 5-yard touchdown run by quarterback Cleo Lemon. Jay Feely put the Dolphins on top with his 38-yard field goal in the first quarter.

Buffalo's only first-half points came from Chris Kelsay's safety on Lemon.

But in the fourth quarter, everything went Buffalo's way. Buffalo controlled the time of possession, as the offense stayed on the field for 9:06.

With 9:46 remaining, running back Marshawn Lynch pounded into the end zone from 3-yards out for a touchdown. He added the two-point conversion with another tackle-breaking run to tie the game.

Rian Lindell sealed the deal with his 34-yard field goal in the final minute.

"It was a great win for us," Jauron said. "To come out of there with that victory on that day was really tremendous and to get our record above .500 at 5-4 now is also a great feeling. I thought our players did a good job of playing through a lot of stuff and then finishing the game. They finished it the way we had to finish it, made plays at the end in a lot of different areas to get that W and walk out of there."

Buffalo scored 17 unanswered points to beat Cincinnati the previous week and rallied with 11 points to beat the Jets.

"I like the feeling of winning," Jauron said. "I think you should enjoy it. I tell them they should enjoy it. It's really hard to win a game in this league. And we put a lot of effort to winning them and if you don't enjoy it, I'm not certain why you do it. Hopefully, it'll last through the whole week.

Buffalo hosts New England 9-0) at 8:15 p.m. Sunday.

e-mail: mkrueger@beenews.com