BILLS BOARD/GAME BY QUARTER

September 21, 2008 11:08 pm

— Bills Board

National love
Buffalo’s hot start has gotten the attention of the national media. Writers from espn.com, nfl.com and yahoo.com were on hand Sunday, as was NFL Network reporter Kara Henderson.

Smith heads to the Wall
At halftime of Sunday’s game, former defensive end Bruce Smith became the 25th member of the Bills Wall of Fame. For more on Smith, see Tim Schmitt’s column on this page.

Counting the house
Make it another sellout for the home crowd, as the announced crowd of 71,297 left happy. Rain threatened, but never came, and the game-time temperature was a comfy 66.

Podcast
Log on today to hear Bills beat writer Jay Skurski, group sports editor Tim Schmitt and WKBW-TV Ch. 7 sports director Jeff Russo break down Sunday’s win.

Next up
The Bills look to go 4-0 for the first time since 1992 when they travel to St. Louis for a meeting with the Rams at 4:05 p.m. Sunday.

FIRST QUARTER
Oakland 6, Buffalo 0
The Good: Not much went right, but fullback Darian Barnes ended the quarter in style, taking a shovel pass from Trent Edwards and rumbling 25 yards. And when Barnes dropped the ball, even after he’d already been ruled down, he jumped back into the pile and pulled it away from a pair of Raiders.
The Bad: Just about everything else. Edwards was sacked twice, Robert Royal dropped one that hit him right in the hands, and the Bills gave up a 69-yard kickoff return to start the game. Not a pretty quarter for a team vying for its first 3-0 start in 13 years.
Key Stat: Bills went 0-for-3 on third downs.

SECOND QUARTER
Oakland 9, Buffalo 7
The Good: Chris Kelsay came off the edge and stripped the ball from Russell, giving the Bills the big defensive play they needed. Paul Posluszny recovered the fumble at the Oakland 23 and Buffalo scored three plays later to take the lead.
The Bad: With the Bills driving to take what could be a go-ahead field goal late in the second quarter, typically sure-handed Lee Evans put the ball on the turf after a 7-year gain. The Raiders kneeled out the rest of the half.
Key Stat: Turnovers led to each of the quarter’s two scores.

THIRD QUARTER
Oakland 16, Buffalo 7
The Good: It’s a little play, but it could have been costly — Edwards was near the end zone on a third and five, rolled away from pressure, then found Marshawn Lynch, who made a man miss and got the first down. The Bills ended the drive with a TD.
The Bad: Uh-oh. Evans was again on the end of the quarter’s bad mark as he and DeAngelo Hall rolled on the 13-yard line for an Edwards’ pass. Hall got credit for the catch, although it looked as if Evans might have the ball while down. Three plays later, the Raiders scored.
Key Stat: Oakland had just three first downs, all on the ground.

FOURTH QUARTER
Buffalo 24, Oakland 23
The Good: There’s plenty to pick from, including the final play of the game, which gave the Bills the win. But we thought the pitch and catch from Edwards to Roscoe Parrish that made the score 23-21 was exactly how Parrish should be used.
The Bad: The crowd was standing, Marcus Stroud was cheering and the Raiders faced a third-and-10 on their own 16-yard line. But when Paul Posluszny just missed deflecting a pass, Johnnie Lee Higgins was off to the races. His 84-yard score made things look dire, for sure.
Key Stat: Bills had the ball for 11:50.

— Compiled by Jay Skurski and Tim Schmitt