With An Off-Season Of Rest, 4-1 Bills Look Rehabilitated On Both Offense And Defense

As it turns out, maybe the best thing to happen to the 1995 Buffalo Bills was the mediocrity of the 1994 Buffalo Bills.

That, finally, gave them an off-season, and a chance to rest.

As the Bills won four AFC titles but lost four Super Bowls, they became a national punch-line, ridiculed for their commitment to near-excellence.

All the while, they were playing throughout the month of January. From January 1989 through January 1994, Buffalo took part in 16 playoff games - making the Bills long overdue for a swoon.

“We played an entire extra season over the course of four years,” Bills coach Marv Levy said “It takes a toll coming back the following year, never feeling rested and relaxed. Nevertheless, I’d rather do it every year.”

They might have to again, as last year’s 7-9 slump is clearly over and the Bills stand 4-1, tied with Miami for the AFC East lead, and in possession of the league’s No. 1 defense.

“That all caught up to us,” Bills quarterback Jim Kelly said. “After going to four Super Bowls, we were devastated. That will never happen again. It’s too hard to come back year after year. Last year, the rest was a big plus for us.”

Buffalo plays hosts to the Seattle Seahawks (2-3) today, and stands as a 7-1/2-point favorite.

That margin might be selling the Bills a little short, seeing as how they have won four straight since a season-opening loss at Denver. And that they have amassed 17 sacks compared to Seattle’s five.

It wasn’t so a year ago, when the Bills finished 26th in the league in sacks with just 25 in 16 games.

During their Super Bowl roll, free agency had drained staunch defenders Shane Conlan, Nate Odomes, Jeff Wright, Kirby Jackson, Daryl Talley and Carlton Bailey from the Buffalo roster.

“I had been asking them to get me some defensive help for the last six or seven years,” Bills All-Pro defensive end Bruce Smith said. “Finally, it got to the point where I said, ‘I’ve got to have some help right now.”’

Answering Smith’s ultimatum, the Bills picked up Pro Bowl linebacker Bryce Paup from Green Bay, nose tackle Ted Washington from Denver, and pass-rusher Jim Jeffcoat from Dallas.

“I smile every time I see the effort Bryce Paup gives on every play,” Smith said. “I can’t see another linebacker in this league who is playing better.

“And Ted Washington takes up two blockers on every play; that’s why we’ve been so successful stopping the run.”

And Smith, well, he continues, in his 11th NFL season, to be unblockable.

“He’s better than anybody I’ve ever seen,” Seahawks coach Dennis Erickson said. “He’s an unbelievable athlete for a guy his size. We’re not going to have one guy block him. We’re going to try a number of different ways to disguise it, but he’s going to have more than one person watching him.”

The Jets, in the Bills’ 29-10 win last week, certainly couldn’t block Smith, and it cost quarterback Boomer Esiason a concussion.

Smith came free in that game and knocked Esiason unconscious.

“I beat the tackle before he could get a hand on me and Boomer was just standing there,” Smith said. “I don’t think he had even completed his drop. It was the most vicious hit I’ve ever had and I was scared. At that moment, the only thing I was thinking of was Boomer’s health.”

Think Seattle quarterback Rick Mirer has watched the video of that hit, and mentally projected himself into Esiason’s limp form on the field?

Think he might turn into Mr. Happy Feet because of it?

The Bills have been resuscitated on the other side of the ball, too, where 35-year-old quarterback Jim Kelly has rebounded from major off-season knee surgery and several awful early season performances.

Against Carolina, Kelly was a dreadful 4 for 21 with three interceptions.

After that week, Levy and Kelly revived the K-Gun offense - the three-receiver, one-back, no-huddle set that helped them win four conference titles.

Comfortable once again, Kelly went 27 for 34 for 256 yards against Cleveland.

“There aren’t that many plays to it,” Levy said of the K-Gun. “It’s really little more than the 2-minute drill.”

As he did during the Bills’ string of success, Kelly is calling 95 percent of the team’s plays.

“I feel like that’s a must; it’s good to have the input of the coaches on the sidelines and upstairs, but the quarterback is the one who’s in there and knows what’s going on,” Kelly said.

So Erickson, whose team ranks dead last in the NFL in defense, becomes a fervent gun-control advocate today.

“Nobody has stopped them since they went back to it,” Erickson said. “They’ve gone back to what they were doing before and they’re a lot better because of it.”

Dis-arming the K-Gun a bit is the absence of Pro Bowl receiver Andre Reed, who is out for up to six weeks with a badly pulled hamstring.

“Bill Brooks will fill in for Andre, and there’s no question that you just don’t replace a player like Andre Reed,” Levy said.

“It’s going to hurt us,” Kelly said. “It’s like Steve Young missing Jerry Rice, or Aikman without Irvin. He’s our big-play receiver, but somebody’s going to have to step to the forefront.”

Seattle may not be at full strength, either, with receiver Brian Blades having suffered a concussion in last week’s loss to Oakland, and safety Robert Blackmon still nursing a hamstring pull.

, DataTimes