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Elam nails game-winning field goal as Broncos top Bills

Sep 9, 2007 - 10:43 PM ORCHARD PARK, New York (Ticker) -- Jason Elam was right on target when it mattered most for the Denver Broncos.

Elam nailed a game-winning 42-yard field goal as time expired to lift the Broncos to a 15-14 victory over the Buffalo Bills in the season opener for both teams on Sunday afternoon.

Former Bill Travis Henry ran for 139 yards on 23 carries for the Denver (1-0), which used a 12-play, 42-yard drive to march down the field for the victory.

Henry said he had fond memories of his time in Buffalo but was glad that his team emerged victorious in this one.

"This is where it all started for me," he said. "It was good to come back, play well and come up with the win."

One of the league's premier kickers, Elam struggled all afternoon on a still 82-degree day. The veteran missed field goals from 50 and 43 yards - the latter a potential go-ahead score with 3:37 left in the fourth.

"The (previous miss) kind of bothered me because it's one I really should make," Elam said. "I'm going to look back at this game down the road, and this is going to be one of my favorites.

"Of all the kicks I've had, I've never had a scenario like that. That was a lot of fun."

Broncos quarterback Jay Cutler, who is beginning his first full season as the starter, was 23-of-39 for 304 yards with one touchdown and an interception. And he engineered the winning drive.

On 4th-and-2 with the game on the line, Cutler found Javon Walker on a quick slant to keep the game-winning drive alive. With no timeouts, he spiked the ball to stop the clock with 38 seconds remaining.

Cutler, who showed the ability to run the option all day, ran off tackle from out of the shotgun for no gain. He then regrouped and found Walker over the middle for 11 yards down to the Buffalo 11, setting up Elam's heroics.

"I was going to be feeling pretty bad if we lost that game, so I'm just happy and, thankfully, I got a chance to redeem myself there," Elam said.

The Broncos almost did not get the kick off.

After completing the pass to Walker, Denver's field goal unit scrambled to get on the field, and Elam was forced to hurry his pre-kick routine as the ball was snapped with one second remaining.

"Since Scotty O'Brien has come in and been our special teams coach, we have run that play over and over in practice," Elam said of the hurried kick. "We were thinking we would never have to run this play. Sure enough, we get the opportunity right there, the perfect scenario."

Trailing, 14-6, late in third, Denver cut its deficit to two points with an impressive 10-play, 81-yard drive. After using the running game to move down the field, Cutler connected with Brandon Marshall on a five-yard pass with 1:01 left in the period.

A two-point conversion pass failed.

After Elam missed his second field goal of the day, Buffalo had a chance to run the clock out but could not pick up the necessary first down.

On third-and-5, J.P. Losman bought some time with play-action but overthrew a wide-open Lee Evans, who was streaking toward the end zone, with 2:23 left. The incompletion set up the winning drive.

"If you hit it, it's a big play and, if you don't, then it's not a good call," Buffalo coach Dick Jauron said. "We were inches or a foot from making it a huge play for us. That's the game.

"We're down there on the field, and you make the call and you think you're going to be in single-high coverage, and you've got Lee running down the field and got a chance for a big play."

Rookie running back Marshawn Lynch had 90 yards on 19 carries with a touchdown, and Roscoe Parish opened the scoring with a 74-yard punt return for the Bills (0-1).

Special teams player Kevin Everett collided with Broncos kick returner Domenick Hixon during the second-half kickoff. He was carted off the field on a stretcher and taken away in an ambulance with a serious injury.

"Kevin Everett has a cervical spine injury and is under further evaluation," Jauron said.

Losman, who was 14-of-21 for 97 yards with an interception, admitted that his team was down after the game.

"With the amount of injuries and, with one serious injury, possibly, it definitely changes the mood and makes (losing) even worse," he said.