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Special teams lead to Bills success

By Rob Longley

Say this for the Buffalo Bills - for a team that has frightfully little offence and changes quarterbacks almost weekly, somehow they remain in the middle of the AFC wildcard race.

And that essentially rides on the right foot of kicker Rian Lindell.

In last week’s unlikely 17-16 upset over the Washington Redskins, Lindell provided literally all of his team’s offence as the Bills moved to 6-6 and, shocking to some, remained in post-season contention.

With the game winner as the clock ran out, Lindell matched a mark held by a kicker familiar to Canadian NFL fans. Lindell has now connected on 17 consecutive field coal attempts to equal the team mark set by Oakville native Steve Christie in 1994.

“That’s a nice thing to tell my family,” Lindell told reporters in Buffalo this week. “They’ll get more of a kick out of it than me. Maybe in 20 years I’ll appreciate it more.”

With his big effort in Washington, Lindell has hit on 20 of 22 attempts for a league-leading 91 per cent success rate.

His 84.3 per cent career mark is second best in NFL history behind another kicker familiar to Canadians, former Indianapolis Colt Mike Vanderjagt.

Recognizing a good streak can go bad in a hurry for a kicker, Lindell is trying to take his run of success in stride. And when he is asked to bail his team out, he likes to think of the uprights as the widest fairway in another sport.

“I certainly used to think too much,” Lindell said of struggles earlier in his career. “Now I just try to dumb it down.

“I never really thought it was very hard - it’s like golf - how on earth could I not hit the fairway. Or a two-foot putt? I should make that every time.

“So I practise to the point where it gets more routine or robotic.”

The Bills will still need a few more wins and some help to make the playoffs, but with winless Miami at what is expected to be a frigid Ralph Wilson Stadium, the hopes should stay alive for at least another week.

Quick Kicks:

The Bills are hoping rookie running back Marshawn Lynch will return to the lineup against the Dolphins. Lynch has been out of the lineup for a month with an ankle injury ... Peterson is the only rookie in NFL history to have a pair of 200-yard rushing games in his first year. Vikes coach Brad Childress attributes some of his team’s power-running success to a group of receivers who aren’t shy to lay down a big block. “I had an official at the end of (last week’s) game tell me, ‘Coach, I don’t think I have ever seen wide receivers block like this since I have been officiating in the NFL,’” Childress said. “That’s quite a statement.” ... The Lions know they will have a fired-up Cowboys squad on their hands this week - with a win, Dallas can clinch first in the NFC East ... Meanwhile, if the Packers defeat Oakland or the Lions lose, Green Bay will clinch the NFC North title.