Archives for October 2003

‘"I knew I had to be in the game for us to win the game," he said. "I had to suck it up. I just wanted to do anything in my power to give the team a boost."’

‘"It’s really tough," cornerback Artrell Hawkins said. "We don’t get to put W’s in the moral victory column. We don’t want to. . . . Once again, we played a game that we were in and we didn’t finish like we should have. We’re going to get to that."’

‘Yes, it’s a win. But this makes three weeks in a row that a supposed Super Bowl contender has looked like a very average team.’

‘It’ll be interesting to see where Gilbride takes it from here, whether he’ll finally relent and make a true commitment to the running game. A team cannot survive by the passing game alone. Nor can it play the Bengals every week.’

‘Moulds’ injury appears to be more serious. He suffered a pulled groin muscle on a pass reception in overtime. Moulds stayed on the field for Travis Henry’s winning touchdown but appeared to be in serious pain as he was helped into the locker room by the Bills’ trainers.’

‘Play of the Game: The Bills were trailing, 16-13, and facing a fourth-and-3 situation after the two-minute warning when Eric Moulds caught a 5-yard pass from Drew Bledsoe and turned it into a 19-yard gain. It set up Rian Lindell’s 29-yard field goal, sending the game into overtime.’

‘The Bengals didn’t know what to make of themselves afterward. They didn’t play like lovable losers. They didn’t get smacked. They stood toe to toe with a playoff-caliber team. But they lost.’

‘Kitna was thoroughly outplayed down the stretch yesterday by counterpart Drew Bledsoe, and that was the major difference in the Buffalo Bills’ 22-16 victory.’

‘"I understand how they feel," Spikes said. "I totally do. Especially the guys who were there before and the guys who were there when I came in. My heart goes out to a guy like Willie Anderson . . . Corey Dillon . . . Brian Simmons . . . Adrian Ross . . . . I wish them the best. I wish them the best."’

‘A veteran defensive end in his first year with Cincinnati, Clemons recorded three sacks of Bills quarterback Drew Bledsoe. It was a career high for Clemons. All three came on third down and forced Buffalo to punt.’

‘"I hate when the game is over, and the team we just played comes over and says, ‘You all have a good team.’ I hate hearing that," Warrick said.’

‘"It was the Buffalo Bills against the Cincinnati Bengals," said Bengals linebacker Brian Simmons, who still remains as close to Spikes as when the two had lockers next to one another at Paul Brown Stadium. "You don’t look at one person or one player; you’re just focused on the game."’

‘"We’re not winning games that we should or could win," said Artrell Hawkins. "We could have come here and won on the road and won two in a row, and all that stuff would have been great. They just outplayed us at the end."’

‘Drew Bledsoe put aside being sacked four times and being held to under 100 yards passing through three quarters to deliver the 22nd come-from-behind victory of his career, and his third in 21 games with the Bills. He was 11-of-25 for 95 yards before completing eight of his final 10 passes for 106 yards on Buffalo’s final two possessions.’

‘The Bills had converted just two of their 12 third downs when they lined up for a third-and-11 at their own 40 with 3:31 remaining in the fourth quarter and the Bengals leading, 16-13. Quarterback Drew Bledsoe, who had been sacked four times, was pressured but hung in the pocket long enough to complete a 14-yard pass to Bobby Shaw for the first down, a drive that eventually ended with a 29-yard Rian Lindell field goal to send the game into overtime.’