Archives for December 2001

‘Bless the young, injury-riddled Bills for playing hard and hitting harder, but there was little entertainment yesterday outside of the Buffalo Jills cheerleaders dolled up as elves. The first two quarters featured nine punts and three field-goal attempts (one missed). Fear sweeping through the empty seats was that a soccer game might break out.’

‘The latest chapter in the voluminous collection of Buffalo heartbreak classics was written here yesterday, giving western New Yorkers yet another story to cry over into their Genesees.’

‘After all, four of the Patriots’ last five games against the Bills have gone to overtime.’

‘It’s been said that if you score, you may win, but if your opponent doesn’t score, you can’t lose.’

‘The sight of Tom Brady’s helmet spinning like a top near midfield was proof enough yesterday to something every Buffalo player will profess: the Bills have not given up.’

”’Our guys play hard,” first-year Bills coach Gregg Williams said. ”And that’s a reflection of when these two teams have played here. Five of the last seven times … these two teams have played, it’s been tough, hard-nosed football.”’

”’Their defense did a good job of reading where the run was going,” center Damien Woody said. ”Antowain just didn’t stop on the play, reversed field, and it was wide open. That was huge.”’

‘The Flutie mantra that’s been beaten into our brains has shifted to Brady, the Patriots’ second-year quarterback. Brady didn’t play particularly well yesterday against the Bills, but his team won, 12-9, in overtime, and improved to 9-3 since Brady took over for Drew Bledsoe.’

‘After decades of hideous finishes and chronic chaos, the Patriots are getting all the breaks.’

‘Tasker and play-by-play man Don Criqui also both (maybe with some help from the folks in the truck) used replays to illustrate that Buffalo receiver Peerless Price had an apparent TD taken away on a ruling the Bills never challenged with just less than 11 minutes left in regulation. Instead, Buffalo settled for a tying field goal.’

‘The Seahawks (7-6) are still alive in the playoff hunt with their win over Dallas yesterday. The Patriots may not have to worry about Denver, which fell to Kansas City yesterday and now has seven losses.’

‘As for the game, it was mostly a lot of field goals (seven) and incomplete passes (38). Neither offense played well, which kept the score close as usual. The Pats and Bills have now played into overtime in four of their last five meetings.’

‘“You’ve got to take your hats off to them. They played a great game today. They fought pretty hard, made some big plays and hit the crap out of our guys. I’m just happy I got an opportunity (to win the game).”‘

‘An apparent Bills touchdown is ruled an incompletion, but the Buffalo coaching staff doesn’t call for a replay even though it looked like Peerless Price might have gotten both feet down in the end zone.’

‘Would not his return to Buffalo have been sweeter had Smith won the game with a touchdown? “That doesn’t make any difference to me,” Smith said. “I just wanted to get us close enough to win the game. And that’s what I did.”’