Archives for December 15, 2002

‘It’s late, it’s freezing, snowing hard, and Bills are Buffaloed when Drew Brees hits Doug Flutie with the winning touchdown pass. Chargers, 24-21.’

Last year, the Bills were 3-13. The season will obviously be an improvement, but by how much? That's a question only the Bills can answer in the next three weeks. A 9-7 finish-or even 8-8-would certainly give the team a strong springboard into 2003.

‘The only ex-Bills contributing on the field this season for San Diego are kicker Steve Christie and defensive end Marcellus Wiley.’

‘[Q:] Have you hit the rookie ‘wall’ yet? [A:] ”I’m actually doing OK. Last year in college, I played 15 games, a bowl game and two All-Star games. I didn’t stop playing football until February. The way I look at this season, is that we’ve got three weeks left and then hopefully we’ve got the playoffs.”’

‘”I just don’t think we’ll ever see anything like that again,” said the man who was one of the primary architects of Buffalo’s Super Bowl run of the early 1990s. “We had a special group of guys. They were resilient, and we were able to keep them together for a long time. The way the game has changed with free agency and the salary cap, I just can’t see that happening again where you are able to retain a corps of players that defy the odds and go to four straight Super Bowls.”‘

‘Yeah, the Buffalo Bills are still alive in the AFC playoff race … and David Letterman might take over for Dan Rather on the CBS Nightly News.’

‘He ranks third in the league in rushing with 1,375 yards. And considering the Bills have the 31st-ranked run defence — which the Dolphins exploited to the tune of 228 Williams yards two weeks ago — it’s not hard to guess the Chargers’ game plan.’

‘As the ball sailed through the air, some players on both sidelines held hands, and when it went right, the Bills were stunned, not only because the game was lost, but also because Norwood had connected on several last-minute, game-winning kicks in previous years. They weren’t simply hoping Norwood would connect, they fully expected him to.’

”’I used to laugh at articles in the paper when they used to say the opponents are going to be at a disadvantage,” Wiley said. ”I was like, ‘Man, I play with the Bills and I’m not used to the cold.’ They’re going to be just as cold as we are. I don’t care who they are or how many years they played there.”’

Tom Donahoe knows about salary cap problems. He knows about seasons sacrificed to the concept of salary cap repair, and about weathering the storm of criticism that accompanies self-imposed losing, and about somehow remaining firm and committed and hopeful of what a couple seasons of sacrifice will mean to the long-term health of the franchise.