Archives for December 2003

‘The Bills may have missed the NFL playoffs for a fourth consecutive season, their longest drought since the mid-1980s, but they were certainly a winner at the box office.’

‘The coin flip was one of those breaks of the game that you can’t do anything about. The real problem was that the Bills didn’t fight through that adversity, and then exacerbated their troubles by dropping the ball more often than the 1962 Mets.’

‘New England has allowed 6, 3, 0, 0 and 13 points in the last five home games and will be eager to avenge a 31-0 season-opening road loss to the Bills.’

‘There really wasn’t a turning point in this game after the opening coin flip…’.

‘That wasn’t “Drewwww” the fans were saying, it was “booooo.” And it registered loud and clear.’

‘”All we can control is what we can control,” Dolphins coach Dave Wannstedt said when asked about a 10-win team missing the playoffs. With some generous assistance from the Bills, the Dolphins certainly did that yesterday.’

‘With just 20 passing yards going forward and four sacks for a combined 36 yards going backward, a statuesque Bledsoe had arguably his worst game in two seasons as a Bill.’

‘The Dolphins have regressed every season under Wannstedt. They won the AFC East in 2000, finished second in 2001, were eliminated from playoff contention in the final week in 2002 and were eliminated from playoff contention with one week to play this season.’

‘Sunday’s events ensure a disappointing season, one in which fans were thinking playoffs and talking Super Bowl.’

‘Another season in the flickering primes of Thomas, Taylor and Bowens thrown away.’

”’It just so happened we were in the right call [man-to-man coverage],” he said. “It was one of those rhythm-type passes, and I just beat him to the spot.”’

”’I don’t want to get into coaching things,” he said. “If you want to talk about the game, we’ll talk about the game.”’

‘A large group of fans at Ralph Wilson Stadium turned toward Turner as he sat in the coaching booth and essentially begged him to consider taking the Bills job should it become open.’

”’Right now I’m just so mad,” Bledsoe said. “That is my reaction. I didn’t see this season going this way. I’m trying to figure out what the answers are, and I know some of them.”‘

”’It is frustrating,” middle linebacker London Fletcher said. “You hold a team to 169 yards, an average of 3 yards per offensive play, you should win the football game.”’