Archives for October 23, 2003

‘His latest trip brought him to the Buffalo Bills headquarters Tuesday afternoon. Williams, 28, wasn’t able to work out for the team, but he did visit with Bills player personnel director John Guy as well as several members of the coaching staff. The Bills medical staff also reviewed Williams’ X-rays and examined how well his torn anterior cruciate ligament and meniscus have healed.’

‘Kansas City has committed only 38 penalties for 294 yards compared to opponents’ 46 penalties for 375 yards. The Bills have 57 penalties for 531 yards compared to opponents’ 50 penalties for 449 yards.’

‘Williams’ biggest task will be getting his team to play with some level of consistency. After opening the season with blowout victories against New England and Jacksonville, some in Buffalo were talking Super Bowl.’

‘Chiefs fans will remember 1995 as a season full of pleasant surprises. Of course, that’s where they hope the similarities end, though don’t be surprised if the Colts wind up here at Arrowhead again in January.’

‘The grass at Arrowhead is already sparse in areas and certainly won’t be helped by Wednesday night’s women’s exhibition soccer match between the United States and Italy. But the field will look presentable Sunday night. The grounds crew, for the first time this year, gave the field a coat of green paint Wednesday.’

‘On the Chiefs’ struggles to convert short-yardage running plays: “It can be critical. We lost games last year based on third and 2. The other side of the line of scrimmage is defensing the same situation. They’re getting paid to do the same things, to prevent you (from converting). Sometimes they win, sometimes they lose.”‘

‘”I’m pleased with where we are,” he noted, “but I’m not blinded by it. We know our strengths and we know our weaknesses. We have to keep exploiting our strengths and either improve or disguise the areas we aren’t as strong.”‘

‘”As I’ve found after seven ball games, I think if we’re going to be successful, we’re going to have to be more like the New England Patriots (the 2001 Super Bowl champion) if we’re ever going to get it all done. A complete team organized in a way that we take advantage of the different things that different people do in all three phases of the game.”‘

‘Hall hasn’t returned a punt or a kickoff for a score in the Chiefs’ last two games against Green Bay and Oakland. He nearly broke a punt for a score against Green Bay, but was tripped up by the punter. Against Oakland, he was held to 15 yards on two punt returns. “It’s been very frustrating,” Hall said after the Chiefs beat Oakland 17-10. “I got it a couple of times, actually, but what happens is we’re so concerned with where they’re going to kick it. Now, we’re to the point where we don’t know what they’re doing do. Are they going to kick it down the middle? Are they going to kick it right, left?’

‘One reason for fans’ worry is probably the nature of many of the wins the Chiefs have piled up. Most were extremely close, such as the 17-10 win over Oakland on Monday night that wasn’t decided until the Raiders’ Tim Brown was tackled 1 yard short of the end zone as time ran out.’

‘"If he feels he can play but our training staff determines that it puts him in danger for the rest of the year, then they’ll yank him out," added Bledsoe. "But if they leave it up to me or they leave it up to Eric, we’re going to put him on the field."’

‘The Bills released quarterback Brandon Doman from the practice squad to make room for Fasani.’

”’We need to go on the road and beat a good team,” Bledsoe said. ”That’s what good teams do. If we want to win a championship around here, that’s what we have to do.”’