Archives for September 12, 2005

‘What’s frightening is that Spikes believes they can do even better. "Yeah, it’s a good start," he said. "But it’s only the beginning."’

‘Offensively we had five penalties yesterday and four of them were on four red zone drives. We have to understand that there is no room for error down there. If we don’t push ourselves out of the red zone, sometimes so far where it’s hard to overcome, that will be a good start.’

‘With regard to the throwbacks, our plan was to try and wear them in San Diego, which is in November, but that has yet to be confirmed. If we don’t wear the throwbacks in the San Diego game, another option we have considered is wearing them in a future home game, possibly with Denver. It would be difficult to do it with New Orleans because of the closeness of the game. We will make a decision shortly as to when the second appearance of the throwback uniforms will be. There is no question that they are sharp and they remind us of the great tradition of the Buffalo Bills.’

‘"I kind of understand my role right now," Preston said after film review on Monday. "You’ve got to prepare like you’re going to play and be ready to go when your number is called. I was just watching Chris and making sure he was getting back up and into the huddle. That’s what I’ve come to expect this year and I’m looking forward to that responsibility."’

‘The New Orleans Saints will return to Louisiana in late October to play four of their last five regular-season home games at Louisiana State University’s Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue and Saints Owner Tom Benson announced today.’

‘The next two scheduled home games against Buffalo in Week Four (October 2 or 3) and Atlanta in Week Six (October 16 or 17) will be played at the Alamodome. The Saints will also play their final home game at San Antonio on December 24 or 26 against Detroit.’

‘“We had an excellent meeting this morning and quickly developed a dual consensus,” Tagliabue said. “The first was to continue to give priority to the needs of the region and the second to the scheduling of Saints games in a way that made sense under the total circumstances. … We also appreciate the cooperation of the Alamodome officials and the hospitality of the people of San Antonio for their support of the Saints at this difficult time.”’

‘Coach Bob O’Connor of St. Joe’s has been named the Buffalo Bills High School Football “Coach of the Week” for the second weekend of the 2005 season (September 9-10).’

‘The other guy’s MVP: You gain 120 net yards, don’t force any turnovers and then want awards? Ha.’

‘The team has been talking about since the end of last season, the need to get off to a fast start. They even had t-shirts printed up so they wouldn’t forget. They certainly remembered the horrors of last season’s start and were ready not to repeat it without a dominating opening day win over Houston 22-7 before a sun drenched crowd at Ralph Wilson Stadium.’

‘All three phases were kicking on opening day, leading to a dominating win. Here are our position by position grades…’.

‘The Saints will play in the Alamodome on Oct. 2 against Buffalo, on Oct. 16 against Atlanta and on Dec. 24 against Detroit.’

‘Defense held the Texans to just 120 total yards allowed which was good for the 10th fewest in team history, while 25 net passing yards allowed rank 6th in club history.’

‘”Are we happy, yes. Satisfied, no. We have a long way to go. We can’t rest on our performance today … and I don’t think we will … I won’t allow it. Most people will say we were dominating today, but we could have been better.”‘

‘”That was as helpless as I felt playing quarterback since I’ve been in third grade,” he said. “That was embarrassing. It was embarrassing for our team, our fans, our families. You go into a game thinking you’re prepared, thinking you’re ready to go … we get in there and we do absolutely nothing.”‘