Archives for September 12, 2001

REPORT CARD vs. SAINTS

Some comments about Cowarts injuries, Wrights play and some antedotes as well as grades on Bills vs Saints.

PASSING OFFENSE: D

RUSHING OFFENSE: C-minus

PASS DEFENSE: D

RUSHING DEFENSE: C-minus

SPECIAL TEAMS: B

COACHING: C

22. Buffalo Bills (was 16): The offensive line is awful and Rob Johnson stunk up the place Sunday.

24. Bills (0-1) (was 23) New offense; old problems for sad-sack Johnson

They expect to announce a decision regarding Week 2 as soon as possible and within the next 24 hours.

It became clear to Carrier and agent Gary Wichard on Monday evening that a deal would not be struck. The Lions are expected to now pursue veteran safety Henry Jones, released by the Buffalo Bills last week.

The nationwide moratorium on air travel could keep Jones from getting to Detroit for a visit with Lions officials and coaches. Both starters, Ron Rice and Kurt Schulz, are currently sidelined. Schulz, an ex-Bill, is expected to miss at least half the season.

Bills owner Ralph C. Wilson Jr. received the Tailgating Champion "Best of the Best" award from the self-proclaimed Commissioner of Tailgating, Joe Cahn, last Sunday at the Bills home opener

On focus on Sunday:

"We spoke about that immediatley. Today’s practice is pretty trivial compared to what occured. We would be joking each other if we thought we could focus on what we had to do without distractions or what went on. As proud as I am to be a Buffalo Bill, I’m more proud to be a United States. We are, as an organization and as a team, more proud of doing of what we need to do for the nation right now."

The Bills, who had made such tremendous personnel changes in the offseason, I felt did suffer from that. Their QB was sacked five times, admittedly against one of the best defensive pass-rush teams in the league. I’ve never seen a game that changed so much from the first half to the second. Buffalo dominated the first half and then New Orleans just totally took over in the 2nd half. Ricky Williams finally began to show why they thought so highly of him. He had a great 2nd half. The Bills looked impressive early, but fell off.

‘"I got a call from my agent, and he said, "Get your butt to the airport. You have a plane to catch in less than two hours,’ " Arians said.’

‘"The thing the players have done an excellent job of is they’ve bought into the system, they’ve accepted coaching, they’ve practiced very hard, they have studied tape," Smith said. "They have done everything that I have asked of them.’

My family started the day by celebrating my birthday. However, the celebration soon ended when I found myself sitting at the blood bank for 5 hours performing my civic duty.

Today I almost lost my supervisor. He was booked on the flight that went down in PA this morning. Fortunately, he was called out to the west coast a day early and changed his flight. This change of events allowed two small girls to keep their father today. It allowed a woman to keep her husband. It allowed a small group of employees to keep jobs that provide for their own families.

Thousands of others were not so lucky.

Reading the posts on our message board, the Stadium Wall, is a chilling experience. Fellow Bills fans turned to our community for updated news and to check on friends from NYC and Washington DC. Those fans located frighteningly near the attacks shared their experiences as the day’s events unfolded. These personal stories have made today’s tragic events more tangible. Having this community to lean on during times like this is a blessing I will never take for granted.

On behalf of our community, I would like to send a prayer to each and every person who has been directly affected by these attacks. May God be with you in thought and in deed as we all search for some semblance of resolution to today’s events.