Johnson Gets Quality Win For Bills

Rob Johnson finished the regular season the way he began it -- as the starting quarterback for the Buffalo Bills.

Johnson, subbing for an injured Doug Flutie, started for the first time since Oct. 11 and threw three touchdown passes and ran for a score to lead the Bills to a 45-33 victory over the New Orleans Saints.

Flutie, who rested an injured leg, will return Saturday when the Bills (10-6) travel to Miami to play the Dolphins in an AFC wild-card game.

Johnson started his first game since he was forced to leave an Oct. 11 game at Indianapolis with bruised ribs. Flutie came to the rescue that day off the bench, leading the Bills to a 31-24 victory and won Buffalo's next three games as the starter before Wade Phillips named him as the starter for the remainder of the season. Flutie is 7-3 as the Bills' starter.

The Bills clinched a playoff berth thanks to Green Bay's 30-22 victory over Tennessee last week. Flutie said he could have played against the Saints if needed.

"The reason I came down from the CFL was to win a Super Bowl," said Flutie, who spent eight years in the Canadian Football League before joining the Bills for this season.

Johnson was relegated to serving as a $25 million dollar backup after signing a five-year deal in the off-season to be Buffalo's quarterback of the future. Sunday, he showed minimal rust from the long layoff.

Johnson threw a 66-yard TD pass to Pro Bowler Eric Moulds with 12:06 left in the first quarter to give Buffalo a 14-0 lead. He also scored on a 12-yard run with 6:13 remaining to make it a 21-point cushion.

"There's a lot of rust, but I got a whole week of practice," Johnson said.

Johnson found fullback Sam Gash for a 1-yarTD pass early in the second quarter to give the Bills a 28-0 lead. After the Saints pulled within 31-21 in the third quarter, Johnson connected with Lonnie Johnson from 23 yards just five seconds into the fourth quarter to stretch the advantage back to 17.

Moulds had two catches for 90 yards and broke the Bills' single-season record for receiving yards with 1,368, surpassing the mark established by teammate Andre Reed (1,312) in 1989.

Bills kicker Steve Christie established a club single-season scoring record with his extra-point after Lonnie Johnson's TD grab. The PAT gave him 139 points for the season, eclipsing the previous team record set by O.J. Simpson (138) in 1975.

Saints quarterback Kerry Collins was yanked by coach Mike Ditka for the second straight weekend after going 3-of-12 for 23 yards with a fumble and an interception, both of which led to Buffalo scores.

"Sure, we were behind a lot, but it was still the first quarter and there was a lot of football left to play," Collins said. "Any quarterback would be surprised to be pulled under those conditions."

Before the Saints gained their first yard, they had four incomplete passes, a 5-yard penalty, a timeout, a sack, fumble and touchdown scored against them.

The Saints, who had scored just three touchdowns in December, did end up with their highest point total of the season.

"It's a horror novel we just closed a chapter on," coach Mike Ditka said after the Saints finished 6-10 for the second time in his two years in New Orleans.

Billy Joe Tolliver came in late in the first quarter and staged a late rally. He was 24-of-40 for 291 yards with three touchdown passes -- all in the second half -- and an interception.

After winning their first three games, the Saints lost 10 of 13.

The Bills won their second straight at the Superdome and improved to 4-2 in the all-time series against the Saints, who haven't reached the postseason since 1992.

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