Archives for January 3, 2006

‘After a promising 2004 season that saw the Bills on the brink of the postseason, Mularkey decided to hand the team over to second-year quarterback J.P. Losman when they released Drew Bledsoe. Buffalo was expected to take a step back, but what transpired was downright awful.’

‘The Bills owner plans on re-asserting himself in a more active role in the organization.’

‘The official announcement is expected in Orchard Park on Wednesday.’

‘Gray has one year left on his contract but is coming off a tough season in which his defense finished 29th in the NFL in yards allowed — a significant drop-off after the unit finished second in each of the last two seasons.’

‘The center of Bills action today is in Detroit where Bills owner Ralph Wilson and his aides are putting together the new structure he talked about on Sunday after the team’s season ending loss to the Jets.’

‘More Mularkey would mean more mediocre football in Buffalo for at least one more season.’

‘The bottom line on Losman’s season was he played only nine games, and the Bills went 2-7 in them.’

‘”You don’t blow up a team because of a couple of plays here or there,” Fletcher said. A couple of plays away? Sure, and Paris Hilton is a couple of IQ points away from Einstein.’

‘”Would I like to come back here? I’d love that,” Adams said Monday as the players cleaned out their lockers. “The fans are great. It’s a great city, it’s a great football town, and they deserve a great opportunity to have a good team. If they want me back, I’ll come and play and get done what we’re trying to get done.”‘

‘The Bills’ opponents compiled a winning percentage of .500 this season. That was just a bit worse than the strength of schedule for the Cards (.504) and the Lions (.508). Arizona picks ninth and Detroit picks 10th.’

‘”That was one of the worst staffs in history,” the Southern California coach joked during Monday’s Rose Bowl Media Day. “We were horrible.”‘

‘Coach Mike Mularkey’s job appeared safe by virtue of the fact he has three years remaining on his contract at roughly $1 million a season, and Wilson said he planned to sit down with Mularkey to discuss team needs. The Bills are 14-18 under Mularkey and this season regressed drastically on both offense and defense. However, the firing of former Bills linebacker Jim Haslett by the New Orleans Saints on Monday – bringing the current number of NFL head-coaching openings to seven – may change the direction Wilson chooses.’

‘In games where Losman played the majority of the time, the Bills went 2-7 and he had a league-worst 49.6 completion percentage and a QB rating of 64.9 that ranked ahead of only Chicago’s Kyle Orton. “It was a frustrating year for me, being there my first year as a starting quarterback, trying to get my feet wet,” Losman said. “We had a lot of high expectations going into the year. A 5-11 record was disappointing, it’s frustrating, I can’t explain it. You try to take everything that you’ve learned from it and realize you have a long career or you have a next season or next game and try to take a deep breath and try to make something positive out of it.”‘

‘This was a team that won six of its last seven games in 2004 and just missed making the playoffs. It had the second-ranked defense in the league. The offense seemed ready to explode with Willis McGahee running and Lee Evans catching. This was the year the playoff drought was supposed to end. Instead, these guys remain drier than the Sahara. And do you know why? Because Donahoe and Mularkey mismanaged this team into the ground, starting with the laughable situation at quarterback. Good riddance to T.D., and if it were Monopoly money Ralph Wilson were playing with, I’d say the same for Mularkey. Problem is, Ralph owes him three years salary and that might be too much to swallow.’

‘Overall, No. 8 has been a productive slot in the last 18 drafts.’