Archives for September 2006

‘The Patriots handled the pressure a lot better than J.P. Losman.’

‘Ty Warren’s sack of J.P. Losman in the end zone propelled the New England Patriots to a come-from-behind 19-17 win at Gillette Stadium.’

‘The stoutness of the Bills’ inside run defense is suspect. The Bills ranked 31st against the run last year and have a smallish front seven. One would expect the Bills’ run defense to be good on the perimeter, because they have speedy outside linebackers, mobile defensive ends and two hard-tackling cornerbacks. How well the Bills’ defense contains New England’s attack will be the primary key to Buffalo’s success in the debut of Bills coach Dick Jauron.’

‘He isn’t alone, of course. For Spikes, who had missed just one game in his eight-year NFL career before the injury – for the death of his father – it’s the first game of a comeback, a chance to answer the questions about his ability to come back as the same dynamic player.’

‘The New England Patriots will give the Buffalo Bills headaches today with their two-tight end formation. The two-tight end set – known as the Ace formation – has become an increasingly attractive option for NFL offenses. It’s not really a new trend, but it’s a continuing trend in the NFL.’

‘”I can always go back and work on the garbage truck,” Fewell said. “In our profession, you want to be in this position. Every game you coach and every film you watch, you analyze it. Even if you’re not making the call, you put yourself in that position. I’ve done that for 20 years. Whether I make the right call or not, I’ve done my homework.”‘

‘New England, 23-16.’

‘As it turned out, on cut-down day on Sept. 2, DiGiorgio never did get a call and so suffered all afternoon without knowing — for sure. He was in the hotel lobby when he saw several players packing to leave after having received their pink slips. Still, DiGiorgio wanted to know. Since at 4 p.m. the ax had not fallen, he called his agent to make sure. It was about 4:30 p.m. when the agent called back to say, indeed, he was a Bill.’

‘After Wilson complained loud and bitter about the plight of the NFL’s small-market teams, the Bills were given the small-market treatment. All 16 games are 1 p.m. starts as the league schedule makers clearly believe they are nowhere near ready for prime time. Worse still, four of their first six games are on the road leaving four of their last six at home.’

‘If this were a comic strip, Belichick would have had one of those cloud balloons above his head to simulate his inner thoughts with the words, "Hey Bills, who’s your daddy?"’

‘"I didn’t anticipate this happening and neither did Marv, but the more I thought about it, the more I knew it was perfect for him," Fran says. "He had become restless, and although he had done quite a bit since retiring from coaching, I knew he really missed the game."’

‘Wilson recognizes that western New York’s economy is not in great shape. If he raised Buffalo’s average ticket price by $21.09, attendance probably would slip significantly and he could justifiably sell and/or relocate the team. He obviously doesn’t want to do that.’

‘McGahee then smiled and said, “Mark us 32 in the league. We’re not worried about what the papers are saying. That’s good, count us out, that’s how we look at it.”‘

‘”It comes from inside, the people I grew up with when I was little, my uncles, friends and family,” said Losman, who kicks off the season today when the Bills travel to rival New England. “I grew up in a neighborhood where you had to be tough or you weren’t going to survive. On the football field, you had to come in first in sprints. Everything you did had to be outstanding or people didn’t respect you.”‘

‘”This isn’t a return to ‘the good ol’ days,'” Levy said on that momentous afternoon. “We’ll revere the tradition and the great teams that we had during that period, but things are different.”‘