Archives for December 22, 2003

‘Q: What was it that made it a 31-point difference between the two teams in the last game?

BB: A lot good plays by one team and turnovers by another. Penalties, turnovers, negative plays. I think almost half of our plays in the first 40 plays almost half of them were negative plays, sacks, turnovers, penalties, some version of all of those. Almost half the time we were going in reverse instead of going forward. That is not what we are looking for. We gave up 50-yard completions, pass interference penalties, penalties in the kicking game, you name it, you can take your pick.’

‘4:15 p.m. – Van begins to sign autographs for anyone who wants one. He stays and signs nearly an hour, with a smile on his face the entire time. Shortly after, Van left Ralph Wilson Stadium and rode home for the last time as the “Voice of the Bills.” He probably left with a heavy heart but probably not as heavy as those of the fans that will forever cherish his voice, his commitment, and his dedication.’

‘BILLS MVP: Let’s be honest here. No one wearing white, blue and red came close to earning this against Miami. But it would belong to Van Miller under any circumstances.’

‘The property has been on the market since August 2002, after Bledsoe was traded to the Buffalo Bills. It was originally listed for nearly $9 million, but by the fall the price had dropped to $6.5 million. Schilling said he paid “much less” than $6.5 million but declined to give the final sale price.’

”’When you start the season and have high expectations and then things don’t turn out the way you’d hoped, you have a sinking feeling,” Wilson said, following Buffalo’s dreadful performance in closing out its home schedule with a 20-3 loss to Miami on Sunday.’

‘Even Williams, normally defensive of his players, wouldn’t make excuses for Bledsoe’s struggling performance. “Ask him,” he said, “I don’t know … it was a tough day.”‘

‘This has been a maddening season for the Dolphins. On one hand, they won a remarkable six of eight road games and had one of the NFL’s top defenses. On the other hand, they’ve lost four of their seven home games – including an opening-day loss to Houston that looms more devastating each week.’

‘Mounting a comeback from a 17-point deficit is not unattainable in the NFL, but when you look at the Bills’ offensive statistics, one could see that after the Buckley gift, it was all over in Buffalo. And possibly even for Bledsoe’s time here, too.’

‘”This is probably one of the worst games I’ve seen him play, but it’s a team game and we have to help him,” said receiver Eric Moulds.’

‘”Their offensive coordinator (Norv Turner) understood the way the game was being played,” Fletcher said with a wink. “They didn’t have to put the ball in the hands of their quarterback and pass the ball. With the wind conditions, Norv Turner did an excellent job of understanding the way to go in this ball game was just run the football and let the defense do what they are going to do. It would have been great if we would have understood that around here this week.”‘

‘”I’m just being honest. I don’t know it they want to keep me here. They have Nate (Clements) and he’s a good corner and his contract is coming up (after the 2005 season). Maybe they will or maybe they won’t. We’ll just have to wait and see.”‘

‘The Dolphins caught the Bills at the right time. Miami needed assistance, and that’s just what Buffalo provided.’

‘I say cut Bledsoe and move on. They can’t win with this guy. He has failed to produce an offensive TD in six games this season. In two games against Miami, he threw for 212 total yards with zero TD passes, three interceptions and 10 sacks.’

‘Go ahead. Flip the coin again. It’s going to come up heads. Williams’. And Gilbride’s.’

‘”It was a personal battle this weekend for me,” Fletcher said after the Bills’ 20-3 loss to the Dolphins Sunday. “I felt very slighted. Obviously, I look across the sideline and see their Pro Bowl middle linebacker. It was a battle between him versus me from my standpoint. Each and every week, I outplay each middle linebacker that I go against so it was definitely personal.”‘