Archives for October 2004

‘"There were a few plays I would have liked to play better on," he said. "It was a tough day."’

‘I’m actually starting to feel sorry for Drew Bledsoe. His shortcomings as a quarterback have been well-chronicled here. But it must be tough for him to stand up there, game after excruciating game, choking on his pride and anger, and take the heat for the dumbest team in pro football.’

‘But was the winner ever in doubt?’

‘Cornerback Troy Vincent’s injury may be the most serious. He went down with a knee injury during the Bills’ first defensive series and was carted off the field afterward. His locker was empty after the game.’

‘Bills aren’t good enough to make all these penalties. False starts, holding, miscommunication. It’s the story of a bad team.’

‘Attendance: 72,698. And they all departed when Seymour Deion Sanders-ed his way into the end zone.’

‘They’re sick and tired of the penalties, the interceptions, the fumbles, the sacks, the undisciplined play – did we mention the penalties? – the dropped passes, the miscommunications. Most of all, they’re sick of the losses that are piling up faster than jokes about the fast ferry.’

‘What are the Bills doing with this guy? Why isn’t he getting a chance to show off his multiple talents?’

‘Of all the possibilities, of all the plays contained in the Buffalo Bills playbook the size of the Manhattan yellow pages, the one coach Mike Mularkey and coordinator Tom Clements settled on Sunday before a packed house at Ralph Wilson Stadium was probably the one nobody would pick in a game of Madden 2005 let alone the biggest game of a young NFL season with history on the line.’

‘For Bledsoe and the Bills, it was deja-black-and-blue all over again. Another bad ending to a promising afternoon.’

‘Buffalo probably has a better defensive unit than the 3-0 Jets or 3-1 Giants, but the Bills are paying the price for having an inexperienced head coach, a QB with a strong arm but no legs and a weak offensive line.’

‘When does Lawyer Milloy return? Not soon enough. Wire appears to be overmatched right now, and Brady took advantage of him. Wire was burned more often than flint and finally defensive coordinator Jerry Gray had to bench him in favor of Pierson Prioleau and, at times, rookie Rashad Baker.’

‘Coaching: Two weeks to get ready for the defending Super Bowl champs may actually have made the Bills worse (one TD from the offense, no sacks from the defense, 11 penalties overall). Challenging Fletcher’s fumble through the end zone was a good call by Mularkey but running Bledsoe on a bootleg will get his genius license revoked every time. D.’

‘A team that seems to find a new way to lose each week made it especially creative yesterday before a sellout crowd of its faithful suckers at Ralph Wilson Stadium.’

‘”The team is 3-0, but like the coach says, we’re looking forward, not looking backwards,” said quarterback Tom Brady. “If you ever look back, people are going to track you down and beat you all over and you are going to feel like crap.”‘