Archives for September 2005

‘Bills lineman Greg Jerman made his second career NFL start – his first since the 2003 season – at right tackle in place of the injured Mike Williams (ankle) in Sunday’s game against Atlanta.’

‘Without revealing the extent of the injury, the Bills announced Spikes would not return.’

‘Spikes lay on the field face-down for a few minutes and then slammed his helmet to the ground in frustration after he rolled over. He required help getting to the sideline, unable to place much weight on his right foot. Spikes appeared to be in tears when he was carted off.’

‘Starting cornerback DeAngelo Hall hurt his shoulder against Buffalo, further depleting the Falcons banged-up defensive backfield. Hall appeared to be hurt when he tackled Willis McGahee for no gain on the final play of the first quarter. He was escorted to the locker room in the second quarter, and the team listed his return as questionable.’

As Vick goes, so goes the Falcons’ season. What will be interesting to see is whether Mora tries to keep Vick a little more in the pocket because of the hamstring. If he does, the Bills are the worst defense to face. The Bills are physical on defense and they are angry after rookie Carnell Williams of the Bucs rushed for 128 yards last week.

‘Vikings running back Mewelde Moore and Bills first-year starting quarterback J.P. Losman were teammates at Tulane two years ago. Moore hopes they never end up on the same team again. “I just didn’t like the way he played ball the last two years at Tulane,” Moore said. “You are what you are. He’s a great player, and he’ll be a great player once he plays total team ball and sells out for the team and not for himself.”‘

‘This one may set an all-time single-game record for blitzes.’

‘”They’re going to put pressure on you,” Bills backup quarterback Kelly Holcomb said. “From what we did last week with Tampa putting pressure on us and having success with it, they’re going to do the same thing. Until we handle it, until we pick it up and make some plays against it, that’s what we’re going to see. Until you put out the fire, they’re going to keep bringing it.”‘

‘”Man, that’s a bunch of baloney,” said Bills linebacker Takeo Spikes. “When people say things like that, they’re really jealous because of what they couldn’t do. The ones who usually say it are the former quarterbacks who used to play the game and now are analysts. So who cares? I’d rather have a guy on my team who wins rather than someone who sits back and throws for 200, 300 yards a game. Give me a winner. Point blank, period.”‘

‘J.P. Losman will be under the business end of a microscope for the next five games since he experienced a Billy Joe Hobert-Todd Collins-Joe Dufek afternoon against the Bucs’ gilt-edged defense. Losman has more talent than that trio, so the optimistic view from this vantage point is that he needs to take a series of deep breaths so that he’ll be able to recognize his own end zone from the twilight zone from now on.’

‘The Braves don’t sell out playoff games, hockey hasn’t really caught on and the NBA’s Hawks have to market the opposing team’s stars to boost attendance. If it weren’t for Vick, arguably the city’s most popular superstar since Dominique Wilkins and Deion Sanders, the Falcons’ attendance figures would undoubtedly hover near the bottom of the NFL. At least in Los Angeles fans arrive late and leave early. In Atlanta, they just don’t bother.’

‘The Bills stunk the joint in Tampa Bay last week but were impressive in Week 1 at home against Houston. The Falcons started big as well, defeating the Eagles at home then looked average against Seattle in Week 2.’

‘”It’s extremely motivating,” Losman said of the drubbing the Bucs administered to him and the Bills. “It’s like you’ve been punched in the mouth. I don’t know if you’ve ever been in a street fight before, but I have, and I didn’t like when I got hit in the face. How you retaliate is you get back. When someone attacks you like that, you take it out on the next team. That’s the goal.”‘

‘There’s nobody who can play like Michael Vick, and he usually wins. That has been a huge part of his appeal.’

‘OK Tim, how often have you mentioned to Willis McGahee that your Buckeyes beat his Hurricanes for the national title?

“Oh, it’s come up a couple of times, but usually the conversation doesn’t last too long. But hey, I’ve got the ring sitting at home and he doesn’t.”‘