Archives for October 21, 2002

Including playoffs, the team that has held the advantage in the takeaway/giveaway ratio between the Bills and the Dolphins has emerged victorious in each of the last eight meetings of this series and 13 of the last 14.

‘Jon from the Palm Beach Post thought Bills fans might enjoy a look at the photo gallery from Sunday’s game.’

‘”We felt, coming in, that it would come down to whose defense played the better game and won the turnover battle,” Fletcher said. “We picked a great game to finally get some interceptions. To come in with none and end up leaving with four and six turnovers, that’s huge for our defense."’

‘The real question, of course, is whether the Buffalo Bills’ defense is suddenly that good or Ray Lucas is just that bad. In truth, it’s probably considerably more of the latter than the former.’

Four NFL games reached sudden-death overtime, tying the all-time record for most overtime games in a single day on Oct. 8, 1995.

‘"The way I played today was probably the worst in NFL history," Lucas said. Those who recall the likes of such illustrious Buffalo passers as Gary Marangi and Vince Ferragamo would take exception to that. But for one day, at least, Lucas was more than bad enough for the Bills.’

‘The leading scorer in Jaguars’ history had another big day yesterday. For the Buffalo Bills.’

Sunday’s win at Miami upped the Bills 2002 record to 4-3. They are over .500 for the first time since November of 2000 when their win at Kansas City (11/19/00) made them 7-4. That was also the last time the Bills won two straight games. The last time Buffalo played two consecutive games on the road and won them both was December of 1999 when they posted victories in consecutive weeks at Arizona and at New England.

Peter King’s MMQB: “DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK –Buffalo cornerback Nate Clements. The Bills had four takeaways in their first six games of the year. Clements had three interceptions in the 23-10 Buffalo win Sunday — one he returned 29 yards for the clinching touchdown — as well as four solo tackles and four passes broken up. The picks were also the first three interceptions of the Bills’ season. What a tour de force of a game, even though, if I give Clements a trophy for this, he’s going to have to saw it in half and give half to Ray Lucas. Clements said after the game that Lucas “threw it right” to him on the pick returned for touchdown. There wasn’t much sugarcoating the Lucas factor after the game.”

Buffalo's 23-10 victory is more than a win over an old rival. It's a game that, when we look back at the 2002 season, elevated the Bills to a place where it became okay to hope. It's doesn't guarantee a playoff spot, or even a winning final record. But it does put the Bills one step closer.

Check out some photos of Buffalo's win over Miami.

Travis Henry rushed for 132 yards and Nate Clements intercepted three passes as the Bills defeated the Dolphins, 23-10, and closed within a game of Miami in the AFC East.

Rookie safety Coy Wire was the latest player to share some secrets about his teammates during the Two Minute Drill with buffalobills.com. Wire says Ryan Denney drives the fastest and Grant Irons is the most underrated.

Head coach Erie Jantzi of North Tonawanda High School has been named the Buffalo Bills' high school football "Coach of the Week" for the seventh weekend of the 2002 season (Oct. 18-19).

Watch the plays of the week for Week 7.