Raiders Gave Him Too Many Chances : Bills: Norwood had missed three field goals and an extra point, but he produces the winning points in overtime.

Scott Norwood, who cost the Buffalo Bills a Super Bowl victory when he missed a 47-yard field goal with four seconds to play in January, almost cost the Bills a victory against the Raiders on Sunday.

Norwood missed three field goals and an extra point before he finally made a 42-yard field goal in overtime to lift the Bills to a 30-27 victory over the Raiders before 85,081 at the Coliseum.

“If he would have missed that field goal I’d have dropped him from the plane in Minnesota or North Dakota,” Buffalo tailback Thurman Thomas said.

At least Norwood was consistent on the worst day of his career. Norwood, who missed the potential game-winning field goal in the Super Bowl to the right, missed field goals of 49, 32 and 36 yards to the right. After his first extra point hit the left upright and bounced in, he missed an extra point with 4:06 left in regulation when the ball hit the right upright and bounced back onto the field.

“I didn’t have a great feel for it today,” Norwood said. “My head wasn’t down good enough and I was a little tentative and didn’t hit the ball the way I normally do. I struggled for longer than I should have today.

“I tried to to think on my feet and correct myself and I did on the last kick. My final assessment was I had be more aggressive and keep my head down, and that’s what I did on the final kick.”

Norwood, who had made nine consecutive field goals coming into the game, suffered through his worst game since the Super Bowl.

“I’ve answered many questions about the Super Bowl in the off-season and at the beginning of the season,” Norwood said. “I don’t look back to the past.

“This was the toughest day I’ve ever had kicking the football. There’s been no game this year where I missed more than one field goal. You learn from it, but you’ve got to throw it out and forget about it and move on.”

Trailing, 27-14, the Bills drove from their 20 to the Raider 17, but end Greg Townsend sacked Jim Kelly for a nine-yard loss and the Bills were penalized five yards when center Kent Hull jumped offsides, forcing Norwood to attempt a 49-yarder. But his kick was wide to the right with 2:27 left in the quarter.

The Bills drove to the Raider eight on their next possession, but nose guard Bob Golic sacked Kelly for a six-yard loss and Norwood came in to attempt a 32-yard field goal. But it hit the upright and bounced back onto the field.

The Bills cut the Raider lead to 27-20 when running back Kenneth Davis scored on a one-yard run to cap a 67-yard, 12-play drive with 4:06 left in the fourth quarter, but Norwood’s extra point, which would have put the Bills in position to win it in regulation with another touchdown and an extra point, was wide left.

However, Norwood tied the score at 27-27 when he made an extra point with one minute left after Kelly threw a nine-yard touchdown pass to James Lofton.

The Bills had a chance to win it in regulation after cornerback Nate Odomes intercepted Jay Schroeder’s pass at the Bills’ 40 and returned it to the Raider 24. Norwood came on to attempt a 36-yarder, but the Raiders used a time out with 15 seconds left to rattle Norwood. Norwood’s kick was about two feet wide to the right with 11 seconds left, sending the game into overtime.

“Nobody said a word to him,” said Steve Tasker, Buffalo’s special teams captain. “We really didn’t have time to worry about how Scott was feeling during the game. We had to go out and battle and get another chance for him.”

After safety Mark Kelso intercepted a Schroeder pass on the third play of the extra period to set up the Bills at their 36, Kelly hit Andre Reed with a 31-yard pass to set up Norwood for a 42-yard field goal.

The Raiders used another timeout to rattle Norwood, and the Raider fans erupted into a chorus of “Norwood, Norwood.” Raider safety Ronnie Lott tried to intimidate Norwood by running in front of the ball during the timeout.

“The Raiders were really after me on that last kick,” Norwood said. “But it didn’t shake me.”

Norwood shook off the misses and made the winning kick. He was mobbed by his teammates and Raider kicker Jeff Jaeger walked over to congratulate Norwood as the teams were leaving the field.

Bill Coach Marv Levy said he didn’t consider replacing Norwood with backup kicker Brad Daluiso on the final field goal.

“I didn’t because I thought it would be undue pressure on (Daluiso),” Levy said. “And we wanted to give Scott the chance to redeem himself so he could walk away with something.”