Archives for November 19, 2003

‘The Bills have allowed 20 or fewer points in six of eight games, but the offense has scored more than 13 points just twice in the last eight games.’

Harvey (Albany, N.Y): Mort, Has the NFL policy regarding interviews of minority candidates for vacant head coaching positions put an end to mid-season firings of head coaches?

Chris Mortensen: (12:43 PM ET) No! The NFL has never had a strong history of firing coaches at midseason because it generally doesn’t work. It usually means a coordinator assume the head coach role, and then that specific unit under the coordinator is thrown into chaos. The minority policy has no impact because it does not apply to a mid-season change.

‘“He’s dying to play,” said Henry’s agent, Greg Johnson. “And that’s the big dilemma. We’re afraid of having him go back out there and get hurt, but he’s insisting on playing.”’

Buffalo (4-6): Losers of six of their past eight, the Bills have gone belly up in particularly odorous style. The defense continues to play hard, but on offense it’s three games in a row now without a touchdown. All that’s really left is to see how Buffalo handles its looming decisions on the head coaching and quarterback fronts.

Playoff projection: Maybe 2004, Bills fans.

‘Offensive coordinator Kevin Gillbride may be part of the problem. The Bills have an excellent running back in Travis Henry (193 carries for 780 yards, 4.0 average), who broke a bone in his leg Sunday. But Gillbride loves to throw and throw deep, and he is trying to use Reed in the role vacated by Price, a role for which Reed seems ill-suited.’

‘The driver was wearing a seatbelt. That prevented him from being thrown out the windshield or being tossed around inside the cab of the truck.’

‘Henry rushed for a game-high 149 yards despite cracking a bone in his lower right leg during the second quarter.’

"I think it’s great," Tasker said. "I didn’t expect it. It’s certainly flattering, no question about it, and it never ceases to amaze me that people remember when I played the further it gets into the history books. I’m flattered even more that people still remember that I actually played and sometimes played pretty well."