Archives for December 3, 2001

‘If Garcia sounded like he was talking about tossing away trash, he wasn’t exaggerating by much. The Bills were garbage.’

‘Their 35-0 victory over the eminently routable Buffalo Bills on Sunday night only confirmed what some of us have resisted believing the past three months. They’re good. They’re for real. Why, at 9-2 they’re the best team in the Bay Area.’

‘Reynolds said the stadium features 20,000 parking spaces, and at least 2,000 of the 7,000 in the main lot were unavailable because of flooding.’

‘Thinking they could recapture some of their night-time magic and utilize the motivation that comes from playing in front of a nationwide audience, the Bills exuded confidence throughout the week that they could battle the 49ers evenly. They didn’t.’

‘In a brutal season in which people’s expectations have been lowered to just wanting to see glimmers of progress under new coach Gregg Williams, the Bills took a leap off the Golden Gate Bridge.’

‘In taking a 14-0 halftime lead, the 49ers outgained the Bills by 222-74, had a 14-4 edge in first downs, and Jeff Garcia completed 15 of 19 passes for 148 yards.’

‘Secondary: A very long night against the NFL’s fifth-ranked passing game. Garcia was 9 of 9 at one point and in the first half, and converted 6 of 7 third-down passes. A 17-yard touchdown pass to Terrell Owens against Antoine Winfield was a simple mismatch of size. Reserve Tai Streets beat safety Travares Tillman for a 23-yard score. F.’

‘"Those guys up front are the keys to it all," said Hearst, who rushed for a score early in the second quarter. "Tonight, they just took control and smashed people."’

‘"We not only had trouble on defense, we had trouble converting on offense."’