Archives for November 2005

‘Coaching: (D)

Vermeil should have run more! Depth players aren’t getting it done. This loss hurts playoff hopes.’

‘”I heard the crowd, but you’re supposed to watch the stands in case someone jumps over,” said Austin. “Lee Evans caught the ball and he slid into me. He caught my leg and flipped me over backward. My right leg got caught underneath me.”‘

‘”He has taken some steps without taking (game) snaps. You have to see it on a daily basis. Obviously, he came prepared. I think he took advantage of it and didn’t flinch.”‘

‘”We gave up some yards on the ground, but for the most part we had a pretty good defensive effort,” said London Fletcher, who had the best effort of anyone as he was credited with 20 tackles, a sack and a forced fumble. “We had four turnovers and six sacks; you couldn’t ask for much more. They tried to come in and take over our house and we weren’t going to let that happen. It was a man on man football game, they wanted to impose their will on us and we wanted to impose our will on them and we won.”‘

‘”I was thinking about the last (four games) and how tough it was on me,” Losman said when asked what was going through his mind upon entering the game. “I was just trying to do anything I could in practice to get back out there. Being the second guy again, all those feelings and all that anger had built up in me.”‘

‘But this was the type of ugly win that makes up for all of those pretty losses.’

‘”I just think he came in with a lot more confidence,” said Evans.’

‘Turning point: Trailing 3-0 early in the second quarter, Losman had just come in for his first action since Oct. 2, and the Bills were stuck in a second-and-19 situation at their own 25. On just his second pass attempt, Losman rolled out to the right and hit Josh Reed for a 28-yard gain, the play that seemed to wake up the offense. Four plays later, Losman hit Evans with his first TD pass.’

‘The Kansas City Chiefs will think twice before knocking Kelly Holcomb out of the game again. It was their worst mistake, as J.P. Losman came off the bench to knock them out with two pretty touchdown passes and just enough offense to win this hard-fought game. Losman had four pass completions of 20 yards or longer; the Bills entered the game with seven for the season.’

‘Losman is no Brady (who is?), but the kid delivered, tossing a pair of TD passes to Lee Evans. As much as the Bills have come to rely offensively upon the running of Willis McGahee, if they are to succeed the rest of the way they’ll need Losman throwing strikes, too. The job has to be his to lose (again) after his performance yesterday, following the Bills’ bye week. The future is now.’

‘The wide receiver hopes Sunday’s performance will be the means to that end. “It’s a good start to the second half of the season here at home,” he said. “Now we have to go on the road and get a win.”‘

‘Mularkey shouldered some of the blame for the timing of Williams’ position switch. “It really wasn’t fair to him,” he said. “We were hoping he could pick it up in a week and it didn’t work.”‘

‘Bills were ready to play. Defensive game plan was solid. Special teams had good schemes to shut down Hall. Trick play on fourth-and-one in the first quarter failed miserably. The decision to move Mike Williams from right tackle to left guard was a colossal failure. Williams was benched, but only after allowing the sack that knocked Holcomb out of the game.’

‘”I like to play mad,” he said shortly after sparking the Bills (4-5) to the win. “I’d rather play with a chip on my shoulder. I’ve always had a chip on my shoulder. I’m going to keep this chip on my shoulder because I’m just a better person all around.”‘

‘He was the Chiefs’ offense, accounting for more than half of the team’s 316 net yards. His 24-yard run on second-and-11 from Buffalo’s 43-yard line led to the Chiefs’only points, Lawrence Tynes’35-yard field goal late in the first quarter.’