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Rookie Edwards leads Bills to first victory

Sep 30, 2007 - 9:05 PM By David Whalen PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

ORCHARD PARK, New York (Ticker) - The Buffalo Bills snapped their three-game losing streak, defeating the New York Jets, 17-14, in an AFC East Division matchup on Sunday.

Terrence McGee snuffed out the Jets' last hope, intercepting a pass by Chad Pennington at the Bills 31 with six seconds left after Aaron Schobel forced an underthrow by pressuring the New York quarterback.

Buffalo (1-3) won its first game after being outscored, 64-10, the past two weeks.

"It was a great win for everybody, for our fans, for our organization, for our players certainly," Bills coach Dick Jauron said. "It felt good in that locker room to be on this side of the tally. I can't tell you what a relief it is to get that win, particularly those guys in that locker room, because they fought hard."

Bills rookie quarterback Trent Edwards, starting in place of the injured J.P. Losman, connected on 11 of his first 12 pass attempts.

"He is calm. He's a very poised guy," Jauron said of Edwards. "He's got nice control in the huddle, got nice control when he's on the sidelines. He's a good player."

Edwards manufactured three second-half drives as the Bills (1-3) equaled their offensive touchdown production from the first three games.

"It was along week of practice both mentally and physically it was a lot harder than anything I've ever been through in football," Edwards said. "For all that hard work and the extra hours I put in, it's something that was very enjoyable after the game. It's an experience that's not going to come along every game."

Edwards finished 22-of-28 for 234 yards, one touchdown and an interception.

"He did some good things. I said that going into the week," Jets coach Eric Mangini said of Edwards. "This is a guy that was highly regarded by the Bills, came with a very good recommendation from Bill Walsh. He played well the first time he had an opportunity to with a week's worth of practice. I think he did a really nice job of managing the game."

Rookie running back Marshawn Lynch rushed for 79 yards and a touchdown on 23 carries.

Placekicker Ryan Lindell connected from 47 yards with 10:49 left in the fourth quarter to give the Bills a 10-7 lead.

Cornerback Jabari Greer intercepted Pennington on the ensuing possession, setting up the Bills' third score. On 4th-and-one, Edwards found tight end Michael Gaines from 1 yard out for a 17-7 lead with 6:56 to play. It was Greer's first career interception.

"We called a play-action off the run play we had just run the previous play," Edwards said. "Mike came off that edge. That was a big momentum change we needed for our defense. That was something we weren't doing the first three games. That was something that really helped our defense out putting us up by 10."

The Jets responded with an impressive 64-yard drive to cut the gap to 17-14 with 3:02 left. Running back Leon Washington ran in from 8 yards out.

Buffalo took its second possession of the second half and drove 56 yards, with Lynch capping it off from 10 yards for the game's first score.

The Jets missed an opportunity to take a 3-0 lead at the half when kicker Mike Nugent hit the right upright from 37 yards out as time expired.

Pennington finished 32-of-39 for 290 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions.