Bills/Dolphins: Bills bag 7 sacks as Miami falls to 0-2 for second time in past 37 years
Share with others:
Eliot J. Schechter, Getty ImagesDolphins quarterback Daunte Culpepper loses the ball against Bills defensive end Ryan Denney in the first quarter yesterday in Miami. Culpepper completed 23 of 32 passes for 237 yards with one touchdown and one interception.
Click photo for larger image.
MIAMI -- Shortly after kickoff, the Buffalo Bills started knocking Daunte Culpepper around. Around halftime, the quarterback's new fans in Miami started adding to his misery.
The Bills sacked Culpepper seven times -- five in the first 15 snaps, blocked a punt and survived a paltry passing effort to take a 16-6 victory against the Dolphins yesterday. The loss dropped the Dolphins to 0-2 for the second time in the past 37 seasons and the sixth time in their history. None of the previous five teams to start 0-2 finished better than 6-10.
Culpepper completed 23 of 32 passes for 250 yards and a touchdown, but his regular-season home opener with the Dolphins was far from memorable. He and the offense were booed as they ran off the field at intermission and throughout the second half, as a team widely mentioned as a Super Bowl contender needed a touchdown catch by Chris Chambers with 1:54 left to avoid a shutout.
"Our defense really played big today," Bills coach Dick Jauron said. "Pressure when we needed it. Got him down when we needed to. That's not easy. Contained the run, too."
Rian Lindell had three field goals and Josh Reed caught a 4-yard touchdown pass from J.P. Losman, who was 11 of 18 for 83 yards. Willis McGahee had 91 yards on 25 carries for Buffalo (1-1).
"It's a game that shows that stats don't matter," Losman said. "Our defense was able to stick it to them all day."
Ronnie Brown had 70 yards on 15 carries and added a team-best six catches for 52 yards for Miami
"We'd like to think we're better than this," Dolphins linebacker Zach Thomas said. "But we're not."
With two-time All-Pro linebacker Takeo Spikes out with a strained hamstring and two would-be starting safeties -- Troy Vincent, on injured reserve, and Matt Bowen -- also out, Buffalo's defense figured to be facing a big test against a Miami offense that promised improvement from its Week 1 loss in Pittsburgh.
The Bills passed that test.
Buffalo defensive end Ryan Denney had three sacks in the first 17 minutes, setting the tone for a frustrating day for Culpepper and Miami's offense.
"It was a combination of confusing them as well as the pressure we put on them," said Denney, who also forced a fumble. "If there's pressure in your face, you can't run your offense, you can't wait for your receivers to get open."
By halftime, the crowd of 72,797 had seen enough and started booing. They resumed the booing after a three-and-out on three successive running plays in the third quarter when the Dolphins were down, 13-0 and also booed after a false-start flag in the fourth quarter. And, later, there were chants begging for backup Joey Harrington to replace Culpepper.
First Published September 18, 2006 12:00 am
