Archives for December 2006

‘Thousands stayed home from Sunday’s game, which was blacked out in Buffalo for the second time this season because the team failed to sell it out. Temperatures in the 30s with strong wind and light snow in the second half left the upper decks at Ralph Wilson Stadium about half empty.’

‘”The conditions were tough out there,” Schottenheimer said. “And the running game seemed to give us a kind of shot of adrenaline, if you will. We got that working pretty effectively. And when you’ve got No. 21 in the backfield, it’s very easy to call running plays.”‘

‘The Chargers left the field thrilled with the 24-21 victory but upset by their belief the Bills’ Mario Haggan intentionally yanked on Clinton Hart’s ankle during an onside kick. “The guy twisted Clinton Hart’s ankle,” Phillips said. “We don’t play like that. We’re professionals here. To try to break somebody’s ankle is a problem. If you want to give somebody a rib shot or pinch him, it’s OK; it’s part of the game. A little bit of cheap shots is going to take place. But you cannot, not under any circumstances, try to maliciously hurt anybody. You just don’t do that. You’re messing with a person’s livelihood; he has a family. You don’t do that to people.”‘

‘”The heart and soul of our sport is effort, the integrity of our game is based on effort, and these are quality guys and they’ll play,” Jauron said, acknowledging that, yes, he realizes the playoffs are a pipe dream, but also reiterating that his Bills are still going to play as if they’re right in the chase. “The playoffs are still there, we’re not mathematically eliminated, so it’s still there and we’ll play for that, and even if we are eliminated, they’ll still play hard.”‘

‘”I have no clue,” said London Fletcher, the Bills inside linebacker and leading tackler, when asked why the defense can’t finish the deal. “I wish I did have an answer, because it’s very frustrating. We play so well at different stretches, but we can’t finish things off. You can’t do that if you want to be a great defense.”‘

‘Two mismanagement situations stood out, and both were key elements in the loss.’

‘It wasn’t as ugly as last season’s 38-point blowout loss at San Diego. But at the end of the day, the Bills never slowed down any of the Chargers’ key personnel and their own key players never showed up.’

‘Buffalo’s 21 points were deceiving because the offense was woefully inept for most of the day. It had just four first downs and was shut out in the first half, and two of the touchdown drives were 19 and 13 yards.’

‘Dick Jauron and his staff needed to be better than this if they wanted to outmaneuver Marty Schottenheimer (201 career wins), Wade Phillips and Cam Cameron, especially with such a disparity in talent. The Bills didn’t show much moxie in management of the clock or their timeouts and failed to shut down any of the Chargers’ key individuals.’

‘”If we don’t give them the ball, it’s probably a shutout, 31-0 or something like that,” Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers said referring to a fumble on the first series of the second half and a big Bills punt return on the second.’

‘Barring a miracle of mathematical and biblical proportions, they’re out of the playoffs yet again. Winter has come early for football fans of western New York for years now, a seeming ice age. The Bills haven’t made the playoffs since 1999, haven’t won a playoff game since ’95, two years after their last-century, four-year-in-a-row run to the Super Bowl (all losses, lest ye forget). Until these past two games, the Bills had sold out 27 of 28 games. Begging the question – are things getting better or worse?’

‘NFL Buffalo Bills football legend Steve Tasker will be at the Book Nook in Dunkirk from 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday signing copies of his book “Steve Tasker’s Tales from the Buffalo Bills.”‘

Run to daylight (San Diego Union Tribune)

Gates happy to be lending a hand (San Diego Union Tribune)

Team growing into contender role (San Diego Union Tribune)

Fans lit up ‘Lights Out’ (San Diego Union Tribune)

Players say Bills injured Hart with dirty play (San Diego Union Tribune)

Record in sight (San Diego Union Tribune)

Highlights by quarter (San Diego Union Tribune)

Voice of the fans (San Diego Union Tribune)

Photo gallery (San Diego Union Tribune)

Hanging 10 (North County Times)

Merriman makes presence known in return (North County Times)

Chargers report card (North County Times)

Chargers postgame show (North County Times)

Tomlinson stays hot in cold (Los Angeles Times)

Chargers weather storm, claim tenth win (Chargers.com)

Gates’ big day yields only Tomlinson talk (Chargers.com)

Merriman’s return lifts defense (Chargers.com)

Photo gallery (Chargers.com)

‘Although OLB Takeo Spikes has played well, he is not the high-impact player he was before tearing his Achilles’ last season. His big plays are down because he’s usually out on third downs, when he wreaked havoc in the past. As his regains his quickness and lateral movement, he’ll play more on third down.’

‘Perhaps the Bills’ seventh loss of the season was a lesson to general manager Marv Levy, who has certainly put an improved product on the field in his first season at the helm. For the 81-year-old Harvard graduate, the lesson is to find run-stuffers in the off-season and maybe acquire a new running back, one who’s consistently solid on a weekly basis.’