Linebackers Gary Plummer and Lee Woodall formed an unlikely and stunning scoring combination Sunday night.
Plummer forced a goal-line fumble by Darick Holmes with a devastating hit and Woodall recovered and raced 96 yards for a touchdown in San Francisco's 27-17 win over the Buffalo Bills, the 49ers' fourth straight victory."The offense was struggling a little bit," Plummer said. "We needed to make a big play on defense and that was one of the biggest."
The score was 10-10 about five minutes into the third period and the Bills (8-5) appeared poised to take command after a 15-yard run by Holmes gave them a first-and-goal at the 1.
But Plummer launched himself into Holmes and knocked the ball loose. Woodall picked it up on the run and outraced Carwell Gardner and Tim Tindale to give San Francisco (9-4) a 17-10 lead and complete the second-longest fumble return in 49ers history.
"I never saw him. He just hit me," Holmes said. "I looked up and (Woodall) was 50 yards down the field. That's the hardest I've been hit this year. I just felt it and the ball came out."
Woodall, who finished with 10 tackles, a sack and two fumble recoveries, was there to scoop it up.
"It was a long run but I didn't really hear any footsteps," said Woodall, who had a fellow linebacker's appreciation of the shot by Plummer.
"If you look at the film, it was a real nasty hit," Woodall said. "Those are the kind of hits you dream of to be able to do that to an offensive player."
Buffalo couldn't recover and wound up losing its second straight.
"It's a 14-point play in a game where there's a 10-point margin," Bills coach Marv Levy said. "Sure, it's the key play in the game. Plummer made a great, great play. That's a tremendous swing."
San Francisco's top-ranked defense forced five Buffalo turnovers and has 16 takeaways in the last four weeks. The Bills, already without the injured Andre Reed, also lost Thurman Thomas for most of the second half when leg cramps forced him to the sidelines.
"Without Andre and then Thurman, too, we were hamstrung. You have to be pretty near flawless and we weren't," Levy said.
The 49ers, whose offense was stymied much of the night, fended off a Buffalo challenge with a pair of fourth-quarter scoring drives.
Jeff Wilkins kicked a 40-yard field goal and, after Jim Kelly's 13-yard touchdown pass to Steve Tasker pulled Buffalo within 20-17, Steve Young led a six-play, 60-yard drive that ended in Derek Loville's 8-yard scoring run with 7:57 remaining.
Buffalo's last realistic threat ended with just over five minutes remaining when Eric Davis intercepted Kelly for the second time in the game. The 49ers had three interceptions of Kelly to increase their league-leading total to 25 and also forced him to fumble in the final minutes.
San Francisco made it 10-10 with two seconds left in the half on Wilkins' 20-yard field goal, surviving Adam Walker's apparent fumble after a 4-yard second-down reception to the Buffalo 29.
The officials ruled Walker was down when the ball came out though replays showed he lost the ball when hit by Cornelius Bennett.
Young shook off one of four first half sacks to complete two passes for 22 yards to Brent Jones to get the ball to the 2, setting up Wilkins.
Buffalo had taken a 10-7 lead less than two minutes earlier when Justin Armour made a diving 28-yard touchdown catch, gathering in teammate Lonnie Johnson's deflection just before it could touch the ground.
Bryce Paup put Buffalo into scoring position by intercepting a pass by Young at the San Francisco 25, getting the ball back for the Bills two plays after Davis intercepted Kelly.
San Francisco opened the game by driving 73 yards for a touchdown, with Young completing all five of his passes and Walker finishing the march with a 1-yard run.
Buffalo's first scoring drive ended in Steve Christie's 23-yard field goal.