Archives for October 27, 2003

‘Luck has nothing to do with this team’s success. It’s hard work and dedication that has them savoring a perfect start.’

‘It may seem difficult to imagine after witnessing Buffalo’s abject loss in Kansas City on Sunday night, but the Bills have played as feebly and with as little life several times in their 44-season history. There was the time in 1968 that the Oakland Raiders obliterated Buffalo 48-6 — on the Bills home field, no less. There was the time the Seattle Seahawks, in just their second season of existence, routed Buffalo 56-17 in O.J. Simpson’s last game with the Bills. There was the Sunday afternoon in Foxboro, Mass., in 1997 when Billy Joe Hobert forgot his playbook, helping New England to a 33-6 pulverizing of the Bills. There was the 44-20 loss on a Monday night in Indianapolis in the waning weeks of the 2000 season that wasn’t nearly that close. And let’s travel all the way back to Oct. 10, when the Bills staged an equally pathetic performance while watching the previously winless New York Jets prance to a 30-3 victory. There’s a theme to the first four hideous defeats mentioned above — none of the head coaches responsible — Joe Collier, Jim Ringo, Marv Levy or Wade Phillips — kept their jobs the next season.’

‘On Sunday, they either sacked Bills quarterback Drew Bledsoe or intercepted his passes until the Bills fell so far behind that Buffalo coach Gregg Williams gave the universal signal of surrender by pulling his starting quarterback to avoid seeing him end up in traction.’

‘As defensive tackle Sam Adams said, reducing the performance to its simplest level, “You can’t win giving up 38 points … and you can’t win scoring five.”‘

‘At intermission, the Chiefs were averaging nearly nine yards a play against the NFL’s third-ranked defense in yards surrendered.’

‘Buffalo’s Pierson Prioleau blocked a punt by Kansas City’s Jason Baker for a safety in the first period. It was the first blocked punt by the Bills since Ken Irvin did it against Detroit in 1997.’

‘”It’s tough. I kind of wish we had a game next week to try to get the taste out of our mouth and get back on the field but we have to wait two weeks until we go to Dallas.”‘

‘”We started out pretty good the first two series. I don’t have too many answers right now until I look at the film. We gave up a big play in the beginning and after that it seemed like the flood gates just came open. I don’t know. We have to look at film.”‘

‘”I thought we were ready to play. We just didn’t make the plays. In ball games you’re going to have swings. Things are going to swing their way and things are going to swing our way. They played poised at home and we didn’t make enough plays on the road to keep the crowd out of the game.”‘

‘”The effort was there but we didn’t get it done execution wise. We didn’t execute the way the plays were designed. We gave up too many big plays. Good teams eliminate the big plays and make teams work to get points. We didn’t do that and we turned the ball over. We lost that battle.”‘

‘Bills QB Drew Bledsoe owns an 0-4 record as a starter at Arrowhead, the most starts of any opposing quarterback at Arrowhead without a win.’

‘”I thought we were ready to play,” receiver Eric Moulds said. “But we just didn’t make plays.”‘

‘The Chiefs controlled this game from start to finish with a bewildering number of formations that left the Bills’ heads spinning and wondering what hit them.’

‘It made you pine for the good old days of Chidi Ahanotu and Eddie Robinson.’

‘Backup defensive tackle Ron Edwards was held out again because of an injured shoulder. The Bills have said his shoulder problem is not serious, but he has not practiced in a couple of weeks. His absence has hurt the Bills’ depth on the interior defensive line, forcing starters Sam Adams and Pat Williams to play extended minutes.’