Where does the time go?
Rick Stroud, The St.Petersburg Times, published 23 September 1991

Maybe the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will remember not to spot teams like Buffalo too many points before somebody else forgets how to spot the football. In either case, the Bucs came dangerously close to upsetting what had to be counterfeit Bills stacked in the back of the end zone on the final play Sunday at Tampa Stadium. Backup quarterback Chris Chandler, who had been as smooth as chiffon in directing the Bucs in the second half, saw a chance to send the game into overtime unravel.

First, the Bucs watched helplessly as 15 seconds elapsed while officials tried to spot the ball after a first-down completion to Lawrence Dawsey at Buffalo's 8. And when Chandler finally did get the clock stopped, time ran out on the Bucs when his pass to Mark Carrier fell incomplete in the end zone. The result was a 17-10 loss to Buffalo that left the Bucs still searching for a victory after four games - but maybe not for a quarterback.

After replacing starter Vinny Testaverde, who left the game with a turf toe injury late in the second quarter, Chandler sparked the Bucs to a pair of long scoring drives. Although Testaverde's injury is not considered serious, coach Richard Williamson wouldn't rule out switching quarterbacks for next week's game in Detroit. "The proof is in the pudding," Bucs wide receiver Bruce Hill said. "There was a difference and you can't deny Chris was effective. That should tell you something. We had success and were putting points on the board."

Testaverde, who injured his toe on a scramble out of bounds with more than nine minutes left in the first half, felt confident that he won't be welded to a clipboard. "I thought Chris would give us a better chance to win under those circumstances," Testaverde said. "I don't care if I'm on the bench. I just want to win. I'm tired of losing. I guess we'll have to wait and see. I feel confident he'll stick with me."

Behind Testaverde, Tampa Bay failed to stick the ball in the end zone and take advantage of two turnovers forced by the Bucs' defense. Holding Thurman Thomas - the NFL's leading rusher - to just 54 yards, the Bucs twice stopped the Bills on fourth-and-1. Meanwhile, Chandler breathed new life into the offense by converting 7-of-9 third downs in the second half. "It was a classic case of running out of time," Chandler said. "We could've scored with them all day."

Or at least it seemed that way. Those with a sense of history will remember that Tampa Stadium had become a house of horrors for the Bills, who had lost five consecutive games there - including Super Bowl XXV. But those with a sense of humor realized that the unbeaten AFC champions weren't going to be spooked by the winless Bucs. Even so, the Bills felt fortunate to leave Tampa Stadium with a "W." "The skin on my teeth is getting mighty thin," Bills linebacker Darryl Talley said.

The Bills, who snatched victory from the molars of defeat last week against the Jets, again needed a defensive stand in the waning seconds to beat the Bucs. Despite rolling up 421 yards of offense, Buffalo allowed the Bucs to keep the ball for more than 39 minutes. In fact, the referees almost held the ball longer than the Bills in the fourth quarter.

Chandler, who was 15-of-27 for 137 yards, led the Bucs on a 70-yard touchdown drive that tied it at 7 early in the third quarter. Running back Reggie Cobb, who rushed for a career-high 70 yards Sunday, capped the 10-play march with a 1-yard scoring plunge. Despite not taking a single snap in practice Thursday, Chandler appeared in total control. "I felt relaxed out there," Chandler said. "Maybe my head was foggy because I kept having to sniff those ammonia salts when I came off the sideline. I was getting hit in the head a lot."

Chandler fired ropes to Hill and Willie Drewery to pick up a pair of third-down conversions and drive the Bucs to Buffalo's 1-yard line. But rather than going for the touchdown, Williamson opted to send in Steve Christie for a game-tying field goal with 8:01 left. "I'm a gambling man, so I probably would've gone for it," Hill said. "But there's got to be some reasonableness to it."

Buffalo quarterback Jim Kelly proved reason enough when he gave the Bills a 17-10 lead with a 29-yard touchdown pass to tight end Keith McKeller. The 76-yard drive took only six plays and lasted 2 minutes, 40 seconds. "We could've blown it open today," Kelly said. "But I missed some passes that I should've hit. They really didn't stop us. We stopped ourselves."

Stopping the Bucs was their inability to stop the clock on the final drive. After Chandler hit Dawsey for a first down at Buffalo's 8, the officials were unable to spot the ball for nearly 15 seconds. Chandler finally spiked the ball with two ticks remaining on the clock, but he failed to read Carrier's break in the end zone on the game's final play and the pass fell incomplete. "I looked up at the clock and it was still running," Dawsey said. "I said, `C'mon, c'mon.' The guys were taking their time getting on up there and the referees were taking their time getting the ball back in."

For the Bucs, who were forced to burn their final timeout when Chandler sneaked for a first down, it was a case of running out of time before downs. "When I threw the out-route to Lawrence, there was 24 seconds left," Chandler said. "It took them until 2 seconds before we're able to snap the ball. It was like a sandlot play where you just run around and wait for somebody to get open in the end zone. A lot of people were back there. I saw (Bills safety Mark) Kelso facing (Carrier), and I thought he'd cut in front but he went behind him. If I'd waited just a 10th-of-a-second longer to throw the ball, I would've seen him."

In truth, the Bucs were fortunate to be trailing by only a touchdown at halftime. Buffalo piled up 252 yards of total offense in the first half while limiting Tampa Bay to 93. But the Bills turned the ball over twice and kicker Scott Norwood missed a 37-yard field goal. Testaverde was ineffective before leaving the game just before halftime. In five possessions, Testaverde was 3-of-10 for 48 yards and was sacked once. During that stint, Tampa Bay's offense did its usual evaporating act twice inside Buffalo territory. "The fight was still in us," Williamson said. "If our whole team keeps playing like they did today and fights through, this will be a good ballclub. I really believe that."