Archives for December 2003

‘ The first-team defense held the Bills to 102 yards through the first three quarters.’

‘"You saw the energy," said linebacker Matt Chatham. "In the stadium. On the field. You looked around and 11 guys were jacked. It could have been the first play of the game or the last play of the Super Bowl. It was pride. You had 53 guys who bought into the team thing and the number 31-0 was symbolic. Sticking it to them the way they stuck it to us was important."’

‘"I couldn’t imagine, especially after the start of the season (wins over New England 31-0 and Jacksonville 38-17), I absolutely couldn’t imagine us being in this situation," said Bledsoe. "Yes, it’s been a very, very, very tough season."’

‘"People talk about Peyton Manning," says fullback Larry Centers, "but it’s not even close."’

‘"Very ironic," said Harrision. Game 1, game 16, same two teams, 62-point turnaround. No irony, just two very different teams over 111 days. "Shows that it’s a long season," said Harrison.’

‘Tom Donahoe has spoken highly of the Patriots’ coaching this season, and thus, could target Crennel or Weis should he fire Gregg Williams.’

‘"It was payback, because they humiliated us in Buffalo," safety Rodney Harrison said. "We let it all loose today. We wanted to go out here and make a statement and prove a point. We wanted to return the favor."’

‘Brady threw touchdown passes to four different receivers, and when he connected with David Givens on a 10-yard TD pass with 3:55 left in the first half, Adam Vinatieri’s extra point made it 28-0.’

‘The Patriots did worse than demolish the Bills. They toyed with them. They picked a score and made it happen. It was the same score the Bills had beaten the Patriots by in the opener. The payback was rich. Remember how everybody was calling for lawyers, guns and money after the Patriots cut Lawyer Milloy and he landed in Buffalo? Well, the only lawyer needed 16 weeks later is one to negotiate the deal on a new Bills coach. Gregg Williams is so g-gone and so is offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride.’

‘The Patriots took the opening kickoff and drove 62 yards in nine plays for a 7-0 lead. Three plays later, Drew Bledsoe’s first pass, a rainbow thrown with blitzing linebacker Tedy Bruschi in his face, was intercepted by linebacker Mike Vrabel, who returned it 14 yards to the Bills 34-yard line.’

‘"Offensively, we had some real good execution, especially early in the game," New England coach Bill Belichick said. "Charlie and I talked about the no-huddle and the empty formation going into the game, but we really didn’t decide to do it until right at the end of pregame warm-ups."’

‘"As high as we are right now, tomorrow we have got to come down," linebacker Tedy Bruschi said. "However many we won in a row, the division title, it doesn’t matter, if we lose. The veterans are going to stress that around here starting tomorrow."’

‘Take that, Buffalo.’

‘On Saturday, the Patriots racked up 321 total yards of offense and scored four touchdowns in a 31-0 rout against the Buffalo Bills. And that was against a defense ranked among the top 10 in the league.’

‘Be careful what you wish for, you might get it. Lawyer Milloy should know a little bit about that danger.’