Archives for October 6, 2003

‘Shayne Graham made three of four field-goal attempts — his only miss coming from 54 yards.’

‘The running game managed only 2.5 yards a carry, the passing game couldn’t complete anything downfield and only one touchdown was scored in four red-zone opportunities.’

‘When a big play was needed at crunch time, there was none to be found.’

‘Their last three losses have come by margins of three, seven and six points.’

‘Spikes also chatted briefly with at least four other former teammates. Bengals coach Marvin Lewis went out of his way, jogging about 25 yards, to shake Spikes’ hand. "He kind of surprised me," Spikes said of Lewis. "I know he doesn’t dislike me. We never had any dislikes. He wished me good luck."’

‘The hit Sunday knocked him out cold. "All I remember is seeing Sam come out" of the backfield, Burris said. "I was trying to get a shot at him. The last thing I remember was holding up my thumb. The next thing I knew, I was in" the dressing room.’

‘Until it mattered, Drew Bledsoe’s offense ran like a Bl-Edsel. Until they had to have the win, the Buffalo Bills played as if they were afraid to lose, and maybe they were. Because the NFL’s perception of the Bengals hasn’t caught up to reality, even the possibility of losing to the erstwhile Bungles can cause throats to tighten.’

‘The Bengals doubled their season sack total Sunday against the Buffalo Bills, and with three coming in the second half, they helped maintain a field-position edge.’

‘”I don’t care about the elements,” said safety Lawyer Milloy. “I’m not the type of guy who’s going to go to midfield and throw up the grass to see which way the wind was blowing. I attack the ball.”‘

‘”We want the chance to show what we can do with the run,” offensive guard Ruben Brown said. “That’s what we got today, the opportunity, and how fitting that last score was on a run.”‘

‘Had the Bills dropped this one, Gregg Williams and his strategically challenged coaching staff would have felt as if they were sitting on a tailgater’s grill.’

‘Running back: Travis Henry, gutting out the game with sore ribs, shook off two fumbles and a dropped pass to spark Buffalo’s big second half. He scored on a 9-yard screen pass and added the game-winning TD in overtime on a powerful 2-yard run, finishing with 85 yards on 25 carries. Fullback Sam Gash made three catches. A.’

‘Is there reason to panic over the Bills’ 2-2 record? Not really, or, at least not to the extent we’ve heard and read about this past week. Perhaps this is the result of not having a contending team for the past several seasons and simply forgetting how high and low emotions can ride, but it’s been humorous to witness the reaction in Bills’ country over the back-to-back losses.’

‘”This is a game we needed to win,” Bledsoe said. “It was almost a desperation situation for us.”‘

‘”He’s my hero, he’s a warrior,” Bills guard Jonas Jennings said. “To go out and play in pain like that, we all noticed.”‘