Buffalo Bills
Vs.
Los Angeles Rams
September 6, 1969
Gabriel Scores Three TD's; Rams Rip Bills, 50-20
The Rams won, 50-20, Saturday night in the
Coliseum. But the second half was an exhibition a sloppy plays. During
the well-played first half, the Buffalo Bills attacked with rookies and
held Los Angeles to a 17-13 advantage.
The Bills impressed 69,904 during most of the
30 minutes that quarterback James Harris was on the field. Harris, a
Negro rookie, put Buffalo ahead in the first quarter, 10-7, with a long
pass to Haven Moses for a 73-yard touchdown.
But before Moses could score again, on a
70-yard play in the fourth quarter with Jack Kemp throwing, Roman
Gabriel had knocked the Bills out of the stadium. Gabriel, the veteran
Ram quarterback who scored three touchdowns himself, turned the match
irrevocably against the AFL team in the third quarter with a grinding
78-yard march for a 24-13 lead.
Thereafter interceptions and fumbles and a parade of uncovered receivers took the professional interest out of the game.
O.J. Simpson made his debut as a salaried
performer here and apparently scored his first Coliseum touchdown for
Buffalo on an 85-yard kickoff run in the fourth quarter. With the crowd
cheering, an official pointed to the spot on the sideline where Simpson
stepped out near midfield.
Although Simpson gained only 20 yards on seven
carries, he is an integral put in the young Buffalo offense that is
going to be heard from ultimately, when it gets some experience.
The Bills went back to their veterans in the
second half. But Los Angeles in the first half was barely coping with
the three rookies in the Buffalo backfield, Harris, Simpson and Bill
Enyart, and with three other flashy youngsters- sophomores Moses and Max
Anderson and rookie split end Bubba Thornton.
In total offense, the veteran Rams outproduced
the young Bills in the first two quarters by only 163 yards to 139.
Los Angeles might not even have led at
halftime if coach George Allen hadn't traded the other day for that
spirited kick runner, Alvin Haymond, whose 85-yard sprint with a kickoff
in the second quarter set up the go-ahead touchdown.
This was scored by halfback Larry Smith on a
busting 11-yard sweep. Larry, whose 44 yards net led Simpson and all
others in the Coliseum, got his touchdown with the kind of play that
good runners make and the others don't.
The Rams halfback, challenged at the 3-yard
line by Buffalo safetyman Gcorge Saimes, ducked his helmet and exploded
through him. The Ram front four, with Deacon Jones in good form, began
to take the steam out of Harris in the second quarter, holding him to a
field goal. And by the fourth quarter, Jones was flying in so habitually
that he nailed quarterback Kemp for a safety. Los Angeles in that
quarter scored by all the means there are- safely, field goal, touchdown
and conversion.
It was a 19-point final quarter in which the No. 2 Ram quarterback, Karl
Sweetan, sent two touchdown passes to fullback Izzy Lang.
The Rams built the rout with 17 points in the
first half and 33 in the second. In four prior exhibitions this summer,
they had scored only a composite of 14 second-half points.
Under Allen, the Rams since 1966 have been a
second half team. This was the first manifestation of their style this
year and just in time, it may be. They have only one preseason game left
(against San Francisco next Saturday in Anaheim) before opening day in
Baltimore.
The Rams found one thing more against Buffalo-
a fast tight end. He is Bob Klein, the rookie from USC, a first-round
draft choice who caught six passes in the first half when the Buffalo
team was catching five.
Klein is smooth, polished and tall. He was the
most valuable receiver Gabriel had in this game when it was in doubt.
And Klein's addition to the squad means that Los Angeles is better
staffed at tight end now than in any other department. Billy Truax
injured this week, is the sure-handed veteran.
In the last AFL-NFL game of the series this
summer, the Rams had a 31-13 advantage over the Bills at the end of the
third quarter. But Maxie Baughan's interception had set up seven points
for Los Angeles and Haymond's 85-yard sprint had set up seven others.
At the three-quarter pole, therefore, the Ram offense was only beating
the Buffalo offense, 17-13. But it was steadily taking control of the
game for three reasons:
1. Jones had beaten down Buffalo's rookie quarterback Harris, who only needs that kind of experience to be a starter and who may even have earned the start against Joe Namath next Sunday.
2. The veteran Buffalo quarterback, Kemp, began slowly in the second half, making no first downs in' the third quarter against the Ram defense.
3. Gabriel controlled the ball throughout most of the third quarter. He broke the Bills with a monstrous 78-yard touchdown march that lasted 10 minutes, moving the Rams out from 17-15 to 24-13.
The Los Angeles quarterback scored two of his three touchdowns in the third period. He had moved the Rams 83-yards from the opening kickoff to his first touchdown, and he also crossed the field to Bruce Gossett's last-minute field goal in the first half. Thus did Gabriel get the upper hand on Harris, and he kept it on Kemp in the third quarter. The rest wasn't even a good scrimmage.
Att-69,904
Simpson carries against the Rams
Gabriel sets to pass against the Bills
