Buffalo Bills vs. Philadelphia Eagles, 1967

Philadelphia Eagles

Vs.

Buffalo Bills

August 25, 1967

Eagles Down Buffalo On 4th Period Surge

SNEAD SPARKS RALLY

BUFFALO, NY, (AP) - Those pre-season football games are supposed to be a test for everybody- the old pros and the rookies.

But that wasn't exactly the case Friday night as the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League and the American League's' Buffalo Bills clashed for the first time.

Rookies, not many of them, got into the exhibition game but it was the old pros who showed them what to do.

It was fellows like Norm Snead, the Eagles' veteran quarterback who threw three touchdown passes; Tom Flores, new to the Bills but an old-timer in professional football who hurled a pair of six-pointers and Jack Kemp, the Bills' old standby who was summoned to duty late in the game and tossed a touchdown pass on his first try.

The Eagles, however, gave a lot of credit to one rookie, flanker Chuck Hughes, who scored on a 40-yard pass from Snead to give the Eagles a 38-30 victory. That, touchdown, with 45 seconds remaining, brought the Pennsylvanians from a 30-24 deficit.

Just to make certain that Buffalo wouldn't overtake them before the final gun, the Eagles tallied again on Joe Scarpati's 40-yard run with an intercepted pass 34 seconds later.

Coach Joe Collier of the-Bills, who couldn't get an offense going in Buffalo's three previous pre-season losses, said after the Eagles' game:

"Our offense started to show something in this game . . . I'm sure we'll go on from here."

Snead began the scoring parade with a 16-yard toss to Gary Ballman and struck again later on an 83-yard pass-run play to Mike Ditka, whom the Eagles obtained from Chicago. His six-point pass to Hughes was his 30th toss of the night, 16 of which were good for a total of 302 yards.

Flores, who left the game in the fourth period with a badly sprained thumb, completed 17 0f 36 passes for 198 yards. Ten of them went to split end Art Powell, who snared tosses of 23 and seven yards for touchdowns.

Kemp's bomb to flanker Elbert Dubenion, which gave Buffalo a late lead, started a 64-yard play that ended with Dubenion all alone in the end zone.

The other Philadelphia scoring came on Scarpati's 60-yard pass interception and four extra points and a 42-yard field goal by Sam Baker.

Buffalo picked up eight points on Mike Mercer's two placements and field goals from 26 and 44 yards out, and four more on Both Lusteg's 11-yard three pointer and one placement.

The Bills struck paydirt at the outset of the fourth period, but the tally- on a four-yard burst by Bobby Burnett- was nullified when a Buffalo back was caught in motion.