Flutie's Got Game, But Leaf Beats Bills

The fans got one more quarterback debut than they expected.

Rookie Ryan Leaf was so-so in his coming-out for the Chargers, and Rob Johnson was knocked out with a concussion in his debut with Buffalo.

And Doug Flutie? The 35-year-old looked spry as a rookie and nearly pulled off a comeback victory for the Bills.

But San Diego has John Carney, whose 54-yard field goal bounced off the left upright and went through with 4:30 to play, giving the Chargers a wild 16-14 victory Sunday.

Flutie, making his first NFL appearance in this decade after eight years in the Canadian Football League, drove the Bills to the Chargers 21, only to watch in disappointment as Steve Christie was wide left on a 39-yard field-goal attempt with three seconds left. Christie also shanked a 21-yard attempt early in the fourth quarter.

Bills players were stunned, some falling on the ground. The Chargers almost couldn't believe their ugly eight-game losing streak was over.

"Last year we didn't get any breaks, and this game, we finally got a break," said Chargers safety Rodney Harrison, who had three sacks and 12 tackles.

The missed kick spoiled the debut of Bills coach Wade Phillips, who was promoted from defensive coordinator after Marv Levy retired.

Leaf, the second pick in April's draft, completed 16 of 31 passes for 192 yards and one touchdown, but was intercepted twice by safety Henry Jones. Two more pickoffs by the Bills were called back on penalties, including one by Manny Martin when Jones was called for roughing the passer.

Bryan Still pulls in a touchdown pass from Ryan Leaf early in the second quarter. (AP)

That gave San Diego a first down at the Buffalo 39, and four plays later, Carney matched his career-best of 54 yards, set seven years ago.

Carney, who missed the last 12 games of 1997 with a knee injury, also kicked field goals of 48 and 47 yards.

Carney said the wind was starting to pick up and he knew the ball was going to drift left. "Thank goodness the goal post is round and not square," he said.

Leaf wasn't sharp in the fourth quarter.

"It was a rookie performance," he said. "I made a lot of mistakes. We're 1-0, it's an AFC win and that's all that matters."

Flutie's entrance seemed almost surreal on a day when Leaf, 22, and Johnson, 25, were supposed to get all the attention.

Johnson, a native Southern Californian making just his second NFL start, was leveled by defensive tackle Norman Hand after throwing an incompletion on the Bills' first play of the second half. After being treated on the field, he walked to the sideline on his own, then into the locker room to have his chin stitched.

"I almost wish I hadn't knocked him out in the sense that he wasn't really doing that great, and then Flutie comes in and goes off," Hand said.

Flutie, in his third and perhaps final NFL chance, turned in an incredible performance, including touchdown passes of 43 and 5 yards to Andre Reed. He also ran twice for first downs.

Flutie's third pass was intercepted by Dwayne Harper, but he came right back and threw a 43-yard TD pass to Reed, who faked out Harper, to pull the Bills to 10-7 with 8:50 left in the third. One play earlier, Harper was hit with a 23-yard pass-interference call while covering Reed.

Flutie plunged into the line to gain 3 yards on what appeared to be a busted third-and-1 play from the Chargers 22. Five plays later, he threaded a 5-yard touchdown pass through traffic to Reed, who was hit by a linebacker and a safety before being sandwiched in the end zone by two defensive backs. Reed held on, giving Buffalo a 14-13 lead with 9:05 to play.

Flutie was 12-of-20 for 158 yards, while Reed had seven catches for 94 yards.

"Some stuff I was real comfortable with, some other things I was a little uncertain at times," Flutie said.

"It's frustrating because you know at the end of the season there's a big difference between teams who are 10-6 and 9-7."

Buffalo was 6-10 last year, losing six of its last seven.

Leaf hooked up with third-year receiver Bryan Still on a 6-yard pass early in the third quarter, the first TD pass for each player. That gave San Diego a 10-0 lead. Still caught six passes for 128 yards, including a 67-yarder to set up his score.

The Bills had only 104 yards at halftime, but Flutie move them 138 yards in the third quarter alone.

Carney kicked a 48-yard field goal for the only scoring in the first half.

Notes