Flutie Not Up to His Old Tricks

The Buffalo Bills were prepared for anything -- even Doug Flutie.

Travis Henry ran for 144 yards and two touchdowns, including a 26-yard game-deciding run with 52 seconds remaining, sparking the Bills to a 20-13 victory over the San Diego Chargers on Sunday.

The Bills also got a poised effort from their defense, thwarting any emotional boost the Chargers hoped to get from Flutie’s first appearance of the season.

Flutie, who spent three seasons with the Bills before being released in February 2001, received a mixed reaction of boos and cheers when he entered the game in place of starter Drew Brees with eight minutes remaining. Even though he set up Steve Christie’s 53-yard field goal that tied the score, 13-13, on his first possession, Flutie was unable to complete the comeback.

“When Flutie came in, I knew we had to stay in our lanes because he can make things happen,” Bill linebacker London Fletcher said. “It forced us to be disciplined on the back end.”

Flutie, who completed three of 11 passes for 64 yards, managed only one scoring drive on three possessions. The game ended on Buffalo’s 37 when Flutie failed to complete two passes into the end zone in the final 11 seconds, the last one tipped away by cornerback Antoine Winfield.

It was a big turnaround from the last time Flutie faced his former team a year ago. He scored the winning touchdown with 70 seconds remaining in San Diego’s 27-24 victory.

Sunday’s victory kept the Bills (7-7) barely alive in the playoff hunt. San Diego (8-6) has lost five of its last seven and faces a crucial test when it plays at AFC West rival Kansas City next weekend.

Charger Coach Marty Schottenheimer, who hinted days earlier that Flutie might get a chance to play, doused any potential quarterback controversy.

“We will address one issue right at the outset,” Schottenheimer said. “Drew Brees is our starting quarterback.”

Schottenheimer said it was a gut instinct that led him to go with Flutie. And when Flutie passed to Curtis Conway for a 47-yard gain on his first play, Schottenheimer said, “I thought, ‘Gee, maybe there is magic in this guy.’

“At the outset of this season, we talked about that scenario unfolding at some point in time, and today was that day. Unfortunately, we didn’t get the results.”