National Football League

No rest for the Bills, even after long-awaited win

Published Nov. 16, 2010 12:35 a.m. ET

foxsports

Turns out there's no rest for the winners, either.

Though the Buffalo Bills are winless no longer, coach Chan Gailey elected against giving his players a day off on Monday - as some NFL teams like to do a day after a victory

''Nah, we've got a lot of work to do,'' Gailey said, a day after the Bills (1-8) became the NFL's last team to secure a victory this season by beating Detroit 14-12. ''It's one win. It's not like some major milestone, you know. It was a win. I'm looking for two.''

With that in mind, and a game at Cincinnati (2-7) coming up this weekend, Bills players reported for film study and team meetings just as they had after each of their first eight losses.

What was distinctly different was their mood, which was far more upbeat.

''It's good. The sun was definitely a little brighter this morning,'' defensive tackle Kyle Williams said. ''I don't want to get carried away, but it is a lot better feeling.''

Yes, the win came against a Detroit team that lost its 25th consecutive road game to break the NFL record the Lions themselves had set from 2001-03.

What mattered to the Bills is how they suddenly putting to rest endless questions concerning the possibility of going 0-16 this season. And they also ended what had been the third-worst start in franchise history - and worst since Buffalo went 0-11 in 1984.

The victory followed a string of close calls in which the Bills had lost each of their three previous games by 3 points - two in overtime and a 22-19 loss to Chicago in which Buffalo squandered a 5-point fourth quarter lead.

''We've been talking the whole time about finally getting over the hump and winning some football games,'' Williams said. ''Well, we're over the hump and what are we going to do with it now?''

Though it wasn't pretty and not decided until Lions quarterback Shaun Hill threw the ball out of the end zone on a 2-point conversion with 14 seconds left, the Bills finally figured out a way to not lose.

Their offense was sparked by running back Fred Jackson, who scored twice and finished with a season-best 133 yards rushing.

And their defense held when it mattered most.

The Bills allowed a season-low 76 yards rushing - 102 fewer than opponents had been averaging through the first eight games this season. They forced a season-best eight punts, a season-high four three-and-outs for a second consecutive week, and defensive end Dwan Edwards had the team's second interception of the season.

That doesn't mean there weren't any miscues.

The Bills missed two other chances for interceptions, and allowed the Lions to go 3 for 3 on fourth down - all on Detroit's final scoring drive that ended with Calvin Johnson's 20-yard touchdown catch on fourth-and-2.

The offense had its problems, too. Receivers Steve Johnson and Donald Jones, who was taking over for injured Roscoe Parrish, had several dropped passes. And Rian Lindell missed a 41-yard field goal attempt with the wind at his back late in the third quarter.

''We got the win and we'll take it. They're not all going to be pretty,'' Edwards said. ''Now we can focus on getting No. 2.''

Gailey was mindful of the imperfections, but wants to avoid a letdown after finally winning a game.

''The biggest problem you could have is everybody going, `Whew,' and not building on what we had accomplished,'' he said. ''Don't breathee a sigh of relief and say, `We can relax a little bit now.' You can't relax.''

Bills players accepted the challenge.

''We're already moving on,'' quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick said. ''Now that we've gotten over the hump, let's see where it takes us. We're hoping to build from it and get some wins and string them along.''