Archives for October 22, 2004

‘Hey Willis, what is your opinion of the fans here in Buffalo?

WM: Great. I love them. It doesn’t get any better than this.’

‘Ravens 17, Bills 7.’

For a team commonly considered among the National Football League’s elite, the Ravens haven’t done squat since destroying the New York Giants in Super Bowl XXXV waaaay back in January 2001.

‘Drew Bledsoe has struggled a bit the past few seasons but he’s starting to look a lot better. He’s only as good as the people around him. Back when he was in New England he had a very good offensive line. He played with those guys a long time and the Bills line is still trying to mesh together. When you play with people for a long time you get a feel of what they’re going to do on the field. That’s how it was when I player with Jim Kelly, Thurman Thomas and all of those guys. You get to a point where you can almost read each other’s minds and I’m not sure the Bills have that right now. It will come, but those things take time.’

‘Yearning to return to the West Coast and believing he’d be better suited to playing linebacker, Enyart asked for a trade and was dealt to Oakland for the 1971 season. He was on his way to winning a starting defensive spot – he had nine unassisted tackles in the first half of an exhibition game – but a block to the knees against the New York Jets in the preseason wound up ending his career. He tried to come back a year later with Green Bay but didn’t pass the team physical.’

‘He will be inducted along with ten other members of the Class of 2004 at the annual awards dinner on October 27 at the HSBC Arena in downtown Buffalo.’

‘"I just want them to win a Super Bowl before my dad dies," he said.’

‘Ravens 13 Bills 10.’

‘The Bills have lost games to Jacksonville (4-2), Oakland (2-4), New England (5-0) and the New York Jets (5-0). Three of those losses were by a total of eight points. "They are a good football team," said Ravens coach Brian Billick, whose team is favored by six points in Sunday’s game at M&T Bank Stadium. "To sit here and say that as a coach, I sound like any other coach trying to overemphasize how good the opponent is. That’s not the case. All you have to do is look at the combined record of who they lost to, how close those games were."’

‘With a roster made up of mostly home-grown players, the Ravens are unique in this salary-cap era.’

‘”I have a great respect for him,” said Eric Moulds. “He’s a good friend of mine. But at the same time, I know he’s going to be up for the challenge, and it’s a challenge for me to go out and play.”‘

‘The players like the turf. The initial reaction of almost everyone seems to be: Thank God we don’t have to play on the old AstroTurf anymore.’

‘"You have to run right at Ray Lewis," Chiefs fullback Tony Richardson said that night after the Chiefs gained 178 yards on the ground, 125 by Priest Holmes. "He’s too fast and too smart to try to run sideways against him. If you run sideline to sideline with him, he’ll make plays."’

‘At 6 feet 5 and 238 pounds, Bledsoe constantly waits and waits until either a receiver comes open or he’s knocked to the ground. “We don’t like playing against the Michael Vick or Donovan McNabb,” linebacker Terrell Suggs said. “A stationary quarterback, you know where he is going to be and you know how you can get there.”‘

Ravens will be in a rush to put pressure on Bledsoe (Baltimore Sun)

McAlister’s view mostly one-sided (Baltimore Sun)

Ravens’ Billick concerned about talented Bills (Carroll County Times)

Preaching patience (BaltimoreRavens.com)