Bills Don’t Foul Up in Bad Weather

The wind was whipping, the seconds were ticking and Doug Flutie was clicking.

Flutie completed his last 12 passes, New England’s Adam Vinatieri missed two late field-goal attempts into a brisk breeze and the Buffalo Bills inched closer to the playoffs Sunday with a 13-10 victory in overtime over the Patriots.

“We believe in ourselves and we believe we’re a playoff-caliber team,” Flutie said after Steve Christie’s 23-yard field goal at 13:12 of overtime won the game.

Flutie and the Bills (10-5) will have to wait at least one more day to find out if they’re in the playoffs. Seattle’s 23-14 victory over Kansas City on Sunday kept Buffalo from clinching a playoff berth, but the Bills can qualify with a Miami loss to the New York Jets tonight.

Buffalo guard Ruben Brown said he didn’t worry about all the possibilities. “I just wanted to win the game,” he said. “It’s just all about winning now. You can win pretty. You can win ugly. As long as you win.”

The first three quarters were ugly for both offenses as they struggled to move the ball in adverse weather conditions and managed only two field goals between them--Christie’s 39-yarder with four minutes left in the first quarter and Vinatieri’s 38-yarder on the last play of the second.

Then the Patriots (7-8) went ahead, 10-3, with 12:15 left in the fourth quarter on a 14-yard touchdown run by Terry Allen, who rushed for a season-high 126 yards. It followed Chad Eaton’s 30-yard return of Jonathan Linton’s fumble and was the Patriots’ first touchdown in eight quarters.

But the Bills tied the game on Linton’s one-yard touchdown run with 4:23 left in regulation as Flutie completed all four of his passes on the 59-yard drive. He finished 22 for 35 for 212 yards and ran six times for 44 yards.