By Nick Wagoner
Staff Writer

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. - For about one half of football Sunday, Buffalo and St. Louis appeared evenly matched. Then, the third quarter started. 

After the Rams jumped out to an early first-quarter lead, just about everything that could go wrong did. Injuries, special teams’ blunders and offensive and defensive struggles paved the way to Buffalo’s 37-17 win at Ralph Wilson Stadium on Sunday. 

The loss drops St. Louis to 5-5. Buffalo improved to 4-6. Perhaps worse than just losing for the Rams was the way they lost. Special teams have haunted St. Louis most of the season, as it ranks near the bottom in almost every special teams’ category.

That unit hit rock bottom Sunday with most of the collapse coming in the third quarter. Making things even worse was the fact that the man controlling the special teams on the opposite sideline was Bobby April. April, the former Rams special teams coach, had his group in top form. Entering the game, the Bills had one of the league’s best special teams units, making for a serious mismatch for St. Louis to overcome… it couldn’t.

“We let things get away in the third quarter,” Martz said. “Special teams were just pitiful. I’m not very happy. I really don’t know what to do at this point.”

The teams entered the locker rooms at halftime tied at 17, but it didn’t take long for a pair of big Buffalo plays to change that. The Rams got the ball first in the third quarter and went three plays and out. Sean Landeta’s ensuing punt traveled 39 yards, where Jonathan Smith fielded it for the Bills. 

Smith weaved through the punt coverage team, sprinting 53 yards to the St. Louis 5 before being dragged down from behind by linebacker Brandon Chillar. Buffalo scored on the next play on a pass from quarterback Drew Bledsoe to tight end Mark Campbell for a 5-yard touchdown. The score was Campbell’s third of the game, a new record for a Buffalo tight end. Kicker Rian Lindell’s extra point made it 24-17 and, within five seconds, the Bills had a lead they would not relinquish. 

As if Smith’s return wasn’t enough, matters got worse on Landeta’s next punt. St. Louis was held to a three-and-out again on its next possession. Landeta kicked a high spiraling punt to the Buffalo 14, where Nate Clements fielded it and raced down the right sideline for an 86-yard touchdown and a 31-17 lead.

The comedy of special teams’ errors didn’t stop there. On the ensuing kickoff, Lindell kicked the ball almost straight in the air to the right sideline. Defensive end Erik Flowers called for a fair catch, but was unable to haul it in and Buffalo’s Jason Peters recovered at the St. Louis 31. The Bills converted that blunder into Lindell’s 35-yard field goal to make it 34-17. 

Safety Rich Coady said he thought the team practiced well this week and was surprised at the poor performance of the special teams.

“It’s frustrating because we had a good week of practice and we prepared well and we come out here and lay an egg on special teams,” Coady said. 

Quarterback Marc Bulger threw his first interception on the next possession; it was one of a trio Bulger would throw on the day. Buffalo didn’t convert the turnover into points, but did score on Lindell’s 33-yard field goal with about 1:40 to play in the third quarter. That kick made it 37-17.

As another example of the Rams’ rough third quarter, they did not get a first down until the last play of the quarter on Bulger’s 5-yard completion to Holt. By the time the third quarter mercifully ended, the Bills had outscored the Rams 20-0.

Defensive lineman Tyoka Jackson said he knew the chance to win had escaped in that 15-minute period.
“We had a bad third quarter and we couldn’t recover from it,” Jackson said. “When you give up big plays like that (and) we couldn’t make our own to counteract the amount we allowed them to make. I just know that we didn’t make enough big plays. 

The fourth quarter didn’t make for much drama, as both teams struggled to forge any offense. The Rams twice got deep into Bills’ territory, but Bulger threw a pair of interceptions that brought those drives to an abrupt end. 

The way the first quarter started, it appeared as though the Rams might get out to a big lead. The defense held Buffalo to a punt on the first series of the game and Brian Moorman punted.

The Rams put together a solid 11-play drive that resulted in kicker Jeff Wilkins’ 41-yard field goal. St. Louis followed that with a big play from its defense.

On third-and-13 from his 37, Bledsoe dropped back to pass and fired a pass to the left side intended for receiver Lee Evans. The pass was too high for Evans and he tipped it up in the air. Cornerback Travis Fisher snatched it out of the air, returned it 30 yards and was hit out of bounds to give St. Louis the ball at Buffalo’s 18. 

That play was the beginning of a rash of injuries that didn’t much help the Rams’ cause, either. In his attempt to block for Fisher, cornerback DeJuan Groce sprained his left knee. He did not return. 

Groce and Fisher were victims of a pair of vicious cut blocks from the Bills. Receiver Torry Holt was also on the receiving end of a similar play by Bills cornerback Nate Clements. Flags were not thrown on any of those plays.

Martz said he was disappointed that the referees couldn’t or wouldn’t protect his players.

“We lost three corners, the way two of them were lost was a little upsetting,” Martz said. “Absolutely they were intentional. They were trying to blow somebody’s knee out; there is no question about it. It worked; they got two of our corners. I asked the officials to protect our players. They were fairly indignant about it. That stuff comes around.”

St. Louis quickly converted Fisher’s big play into points with quarterback Marc Bulger’s 18-yard strike to receiver Isaac Bruce. Wilkins’ extra point made it 10-0 St. Louis, but that lead would soon vanish. Fisher sprained his left knee on the Bills’ third play of the ensuing drive and also didn’t return. Kevin Garrett replaced him and eventually suffered a blow to the head that put him out, also. That was an ominous sign of things to come for the Rams.

Buffalo took it 71 yards on nine plays with the help of three Rams penalties on a drive capped by Bledsoe’s first touchdown connection with Campbell from 10 yards out. Lindell booted the extra point to make it 10-7 St. Louis with a little more than 13 minutes to go in the first half.

The Bills forced another three and out and marched down the field again, this time Bledsoe floated it 19 yards to Campbell. Lindell’s point after made it 14-10 Buffalo.

St. Louis showed some signs of life on its next possession, marching 78 yards on 12 plays before Bulger hit Holt in the back of the endzone. Holt was carried out of the back of the endzone, but the referee ruled that he was pushed out and the touchdown stood. Wilkins made it 17-14 with his second extra point. 

The Rams defense got off to a good start on the Bills’ next possession, forcing Buffalo into a third-and-19 situation. Bills coach Mike Mularkey went into his bag of tricks and called for a flea flicker. Bledsoe handed to running back Willis McGahee who ran for about 2 yards before he pitched it back awkwardly to Bledsoe. Safety Rich Coady bit on the fake and Bledsoe gathered it and fired a perfect pass down the middle to Sam Aiken over Coady’s head for a 54-yard gain.

That play set up Lindell’s 21-yard field goal that tied it at 17 heading to halftime. It was just another in a long line of mental mistakes for the Rams on Sunday. St. Louis committed 11 penalties for 84 yards and Bulger was sacked six times for a loss of 52 yards.

St. Louis bounced back against Seattle last week after a pair of difficult losses. Now, the Rams must rally again as things won’t get any easier. Sunday’s loss was the first of a series in which St. Louis plays four of five games on the road.   

Jackson said the blame for this loss needs to be shared equally if the Rams want to bounce back again. 

“It wasn’t our special teams, our offense, our defense, it was the Rams,” Jackson said. “The whole team lost. Buffalo beat the Rams. They didn’t beat one aspect of what we are. I think that’s important to understand that. We need to look at what happened and point the finger at the guy in the mirror… and challenge the man in the mirror to get better.”

It is true that the special teams struggled the most of any unit, but, as Jackson said, everyone can be accountable for mistakes against the Bills. But on Sunday, there was nothing to cover up the gaping holes in the game’s “third” unit.

“The special teams stuff is revolting,” Martz said. “It’s going to be hard to win another game until we get that cleared up. You put your offense and your defense in a hole like that. It’s the worst I have ever seen.”