Arians Is Big in the Clutch

The Buffalo Bills finally made it into the win column, and sent the Jacksonville Jaguars deeper into despair.

Rob Johnson moved the Bills 48 yards to set up a 46-yard field goal by Jake Arians with 1:03 remaining and help young, rebuilding Buffalo beat hapless Jacksonville, 13-10, Thursday night.

Arians had missed field-goal attempts of 41 and 39 yards, but Coach Gregg Williams didn’t hesitate to put the game on his foot on fourth-and-inches.

The kick sailed through and Arians jumped into the arms of teammate Dan O’Leary, who carried him halfway to the sideline.

Three plays later, Travares Tillman intercepted a pass that bounded off Stacey Mack’s hands, and the Bills (1-4) found themselves on the winning side for the first time this year.

“Unbelievable,” Johnson said. “It’s been six weeks, and we finally got a win. It was a team win. The first one is always the toughest.”

Mark Brunell threw for 150 yards and was showered with boos by Jaguar fans, who watched Jacksonville (2-3) lose for the third consecutive time and take part in an inept display nobody could have expected from a team with so much supposed talent.

“How mind-boggling is it for me?” Coach Tom Coughlin said. “I don’t know how to describe it. It’s a low point for me personally, professionally, and every other way.”

It could get worse. Jacksonville, the team that massaged the salary cap thinking it could make a final run at the Super Bowl this season, plays its next two games at Baltimore and Tennessee.

“As Coach put it, we’ve got a lot of soul searching to do to see if we can get this thing back on track,” Brunell said.

The Bills were no juggernaut either, but then again, they never promised much for a season in which they committed to taking their salary cap lumps in hopes of building for the future.

Turned out, Buffalo didn’t need to show much against Jacksonville.

Midway through the third quarter, Johnson hit Eric Moulds for a 27-yard touchdown pass and a 10-7 lead.

Johnson, who backed up Brunell in Jacksonville before being traded to the Bills in 1998, finished 23 of 30 for 238 yards.

He improved to 9-14 as Buffalo’s starter, and got a good boost as the Bills prepare for the Oct. 28 game against San Diego and the quarterback Bill fans love, Doug Flutie.

“This is the first time I saw the swagger in his eyes,” Moulds said. “He was talking a lot more in the game. I don’t know if it was because he was back here, or what, but he played with lot more confidence in this game.”