NFL Old School Game of the Week: Flutie's QB Bootleg TD Gives Bills Win over Jaguars

Bills quarterback Doug Flutie scored the game-winning touchdown on a one-yard touchdown run in the final seconds of the Bills' 1998 game against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

If someone told you in 1998 that the Buffalo Bills would make the playoffs with Doug Flutie as the starting quarterback, you would have said they were crazy.

But that is what happened as the Bills did make the playoffs with Flutie who helped lead the Bills back from an awful start to the season and into the playoffs, with the turning point of the season coming in Week 7 when the Bills hosted the undefeated Jacksonville Jaguars.

The Bills came into the game with a 2-3 record under first year head coach Wade Phillips as he took over a franchise that was in transition from their impressive run in the early 1990s where the Bills made it to the Super Bowl four years in a row.

Quarterback Jim Kelly had retired following the 1996 season and head coach Marv Levy had left following the 1997 season, leaving Phillips to take over while looking for a quarterback to take over for Kelly.

While Rob Johnson had been signed to become the Bills' starting quarterback, the team went out to sign Flutie, who had spent the previous eight years in the Canadian Football League, where he threw for 41,355 yards and 270 touchdowns while winning three Grey Cups, one with the Calgary Stampeders and two with the Toronto Argonauts, as the team's backup.

The Bills got off to an horrible start as they lost their first three games, all by a touchdown or less, before winning their first game of the season in Week 5 as they defeated the San Francisco 49ers 26-21.

But early in the Bills' game against the Indianapolis Colts, Johnson was knocked out of the game after a hard hit left him with bruised ribs.

Flutie would come in and lead the Bills to a 31-24 win as he completed 23 of 28 passes for 213 yards and threw two touchdown passes.

With Johnson still recovering, Flutie would get the start against the Jacksonville Jaguars, marking Flutie's first NFL start since October 15, 1989 when he was with the New England Patriots.

The Jaguars came into the game with a 5-0 record as they had become a Super Bowl contender in just their fourth year of existence.

The Jaguars were led by head coach Tom Coughlin, who had directed the Jaguars to two straight playoff appearances, including a trip to the AFC Championship Game in 1996.

The Jaguars had a high-powered offense led by quarterback Mark Brunell and featured the wide receiver tandem of Keenan McCardell and Jimmy Smith.

But if the Jaguars were going to come out of Buffalo with a win, they would have to do it without their top running backs as James Stewart and Fred Taylor were out because of injuries and were replaced by Tavian Banks and Damien Shelton.

The Jaguars got the ball to start the game at their 31-yard-line but were pushed back 10 yards when a holding penalty negated a 22-yard run by Banks to force 2nd & 20 from the Jacksonville 21-yard-line.

The Jaguars would get out of the hole as Brunell completed an eight-yard pass to McCardell on 2nd down, then scrambled for 13 yards and the 1st down at the Jacksonville 42-yard-line.

After Brunell connected with Smith for nine yards on to give Jacksonville a 1st down at the Buffalo 41-yard-line, the Jaguars ran the ball 10 straight times as Shelton and Banks combined to carry the ball on nine of the 10 plays with Banks getting the last carry, an one-yard touchdown to cap off a 16-play, 69-yard drive that took nearly 10 1/2 minutes to complete and give the Jaguars a 7-0 lead.

Jaguars quarterback Mark Brunell completed 16 of 28 passes for 119 yards and ran for 44 yards on six carries.

After both teams went three-and-out on their next possessions, the Bills got the ball at their 20-yard-line as Buffalo picked up one 1st down, then saw Flutie complete a 26-yard screen pass to running back Thurman Thomas to give the Bills a 1st down at the Jacksonville 40-yard-line as the first quarter came to an end.

The drive would end with a 12-yard touchdown pass from Flutie to Eric Moulds to tie the game at 7 with 12:20 left in the second quarter.

Both teams would trade punts until the Jaguars got the ball at their 20-yard-line when they put together best drive since their opening possession of the game.

Jacksonville would convert on two straight 3rd down situations as Brunell connected with tight end Pete Mitchell for 10 yards on 3rd & 5 from the Jaguars' 25-yard-line, then hit McCardell for 11 yards on 3rd & 8 for another Jacksonville 1st down at the Jaguars 48-yard-line.

The Jaguars would drive to the Bills' 17-yard-line before settling for a 35-yard field goal by Mike Hollis as time expired in the first half to give Jacksonville a 10-7 halftime lead.

The Bills would get the ball to start the second half as their 20-yard-line and would drive to their 47-yard-line until Antowain Smith fumbled the football at the end of a three-yard run when he was hit by Jaguars linebacker Tom McManus.

Defensive end Tony Brackens made the recovery and ran it eight yards before lateraling it to cornerback Aaron Beasley whose 30-yard run gave the Jaguars the ball at the Buffalo 12-yard-line with an excellent chance to extend the lead to double digits.

However, the Buffalo defense would not allow a 1st down, forcing the Jaguars to settle for a 23-yard field goal by Hollis which extended their lead to 13-7 with 10:53 left in the third quarter.

The Bills would get the ball back at their 36-yard-line and quickly drive down the field as Flutie fired a 18-yard pass to Andre Reed on 3rd & 9 to give Buffalo a 1st down at the Jaguars' 45-yard-line, then got a 10-yard run by Thomas, and then a 14-yard pass to Kevin Williams, which got eight yards added on as Jaguars strong safety Donovan Darrius was called for a lite hit to give the Bills a 1st & goal at the Jacksonville eight-yard-line.

However, the Bills would pick up only two more yards on the next three plays, forcing them to settle for a 24-yard field goal by Steve Christie to cut the Jaguars' lead to 13-10 with 7:04 remaining in the third quarter.

Back would come the Jaguars as they got great field position to start their next drive as Christie's kick on the ensuing kickoff would go out of bounds, giving Jacksonville the ball at their 40-yard-line.

Despite the fact that Banks was not out of the game with a foot injury, the Jaguars continue to rely on the running game as Chris Howard came in and along with Shelton and Brunell, ran the ball on eight of the next 12 plays, gaining 22 yards on those runs to help set up Hollis' third field goal of the game, a 27-yarder to make it 16-10 with 20 seconds left in the third quarter.

Bills wide receiver Eric Moulds caught four passes for 68 yards and a touchdown.

The fourth quarter would be a defensive stalemate as neither team was able to mount a scoring threat as the Jaguars still held a 16-10 lead when they got the ball back at their 14-yard-line with 5:06 to play.

The Jaguars would pick up one 1st down to run more time off the clock until they were faced with a 3rd & 2 at their 32-yard-line with 2:18 to go.

If the Jaguars converted, the game would likely be over as the Bills had only one timeout left plus the two-minute warning.

That is when Bills nose tackle Pat Williams made the biggest play of the game as he sacked Brunell for a three-yard-loss to force a Jacksonville punt as the two-minute warning hit.

After Bryan Barker's punt, the Bills would get the ball at their 30-yard-line with 1:50 left on the clock and one timeout in their pocket as they needed a touchdown to win.

The drive would begin with a seven-yard pass from Flutie to Thomas, followed by an incomplete pass to set up 3rd & 3 when Flutie found Reed for nine yards and a 1st down at the Buffalo 46-yard-line.

Flutie would then hand the ball off to Thomas, who picked up nine yards on 1st down, which was followed by another incomplete pass, then was followed by a two-yard run by Thomas to give the Bills a 1st down at the Jaguars' 43-yard-line as Buffalo called timeout with 46 seconds left.

Flutie would complete a four-yard-pass to Thomas to set up 2nd & 6 when Flutie went deep and fired a pass down the left sideline for Moulds, who made the catch at the Jaguars' one-yard-line to give the Bills 1st & goal.

After spiking the ball to stop the clock on 1st down, Flutie would throw back-to-back incomplete passes, forcing a do-or-die 4th & goal from the one-yard-line.

For the 4th down play, the Bills called for Flutie to toss the ball to Thomas, who would then run around the left side in hopes of getting into the end zone.

However when the ball was snapped, Thomas went the wrong way, forcing Flutie to improvise as he took upon himself to run into the end zone as he went in untouched to tie the game with 18 seconds left.

Christie came on to kick the extra point to give the Bills a 17-16 lead which was their first lead of the game.

The Jaguars would get one play to pull off a miracle but Brunell's "Hail Mary" pass fell incomplete as the clock ran out with the Bills coming away with the 17-16 win.

While the loss knocked the Jaguars from the ranks of the unbeaten, it did not derail their season as they would finish with a 11-5 record good enough to clinch the AFC Central Division title, the first in franchise history.

The Jaguars would go on to beat the New England Patriots 25-10 in the Wild Card round before being eliminated by the New York Jets 34-24 in the Divisional Round.

As for the Bills, they would ride the momentum of their win over the Jaguars to a 10-6 record, which earned them a Wild Card spot, making them the fifth team in NFL history to make the playoffs after starting the season 0-3.

Flutie would start all of the remaining games in the regular season except the last one which he sat out of to rest up for the playoffs as he would throw for 2,711 yards and 20 touchdowns which helped him to win the NFL Comeback Player of the Year award.

However, the magic carpet ride would win in the playoffs as the Bills fell to the Miami Dolphins 24-17 when Flutie fumbled the football after a quarterback sack by Dolphins defensive end Trace Armstrong at the Miami eight-yard-line with nine seconds to go in regulation.

Flutie would remain the Bills' starting quarterback for the 1999 season as he lead them to another playoff berth until he was inexplicably benched in favor for Johnson for the Bills' AFC Wild Card Game against the Tennessee Titans, which they lost 22-16 thanks to the "Music City Miracle".

Flutie stayed in Buffalo for one more season before signing with the San Diego Chargers for the 2001 season as he would spend four seasons with the Chargers before going back to New England where he was Tom Brady's backup for the 2005 season, which was his last in the league.

His final play was Flutie successfully making an extra point on a drop-kick in the Patriots' regular season finale against the Dolphins.