Archives for December 2006

‘After a pair of short gains and an incomplete pass on third down, the game came down to a 4th-and-5 at the Titans 28-yard line. Losman, who was under pressure rolled to his right then back to left and a desperation heave to the end zone was intercepted by Reynaldo Hill with 42 seconds left. Tennessee took a knee to end the game.’

‘Shelton did not practice all week after being hurt while blocking during a kickoff return in a 21-0 win over Miami last weekend. Without a backup fullback on their roster, the Bills were forced to start reserve tight Brad Cieslak.’

‘”The bye came at a good time for us because we had a chance to assess our personnel,” said defensive coordinator Perry Fewell. “We knew them a lot better. We knew what they could do well.”‘

‘Here’s a closer look at the Bills’ 10-man rookie class…’.

‘Fisher has pulled this off with a rookie quarterback (Vince Young) who has a funky throwing motion but also has a 7-4 record as a starter, a castoff running back (Travis Henry) who can reach 1,000 yards today against the team that discarded him, and a low-rated defense that finds a way to get the job done.’

‘Buffalo, 24-17.’

‘The Bills don’t have a single answer for Young, but an entire chorus – playing a half-dozen glistening rookies at a time who have added up to additional victories, not losses. That sort of thing has been happening all over the NFL, particularly in the last half of the season.’

‘Joe DeLamielleure, a Hall of Famer who played right guard alongside Green on the Bills, calls it a “disgrace.” “Why does the most lucrative business in the world have the worst pensions?” he said. “You know where Donnie is living? And Donnie Green isn’t a dumb man, not an ignorant man. He’s not a man who’s lazy. He’s a good man. For him to have to do this is absurd in my book.”‘

‘”I rarely went into a season with the expectations of, ‘Yes, we’re a playoff team, we’re good enough to win the Super Bowl’ and I didn’t have any preconceived notions of ‘If we go .500 this year, that’s a lot of progress,'” Levy said last week. “It was just ‘Let’s keep getting better and win on Sundays.'”‘

‘Oh Henry: Travis returns to Buffalo with a chip on his shoulder, even though Tom Donahoe and Mike Mularkey – who gave up on him – are gone. He’ll probably go over 1,000 yards for the season today, and he hopes to shred the Bills in his showdown with Willis McGahee.’

‘”We took some bumps and bruises early in the year, learning a new offense and defense. But when you keep working the way coach Jauron works it, things come together. I think coach Jauron is special. The guys are buying into it. This is my seventh year in the NFL and I haven’t been on many teams that work this hard.”‘

‘McNally, a native of Buffalo, was hired by Jack Lengyel to be his line coach after the University at Buffalo dropped football, putting McNally in search of a new job. McNally, who went on to coach in three Super Bowls, said that nothing in his coaching career compares to his four seasons at Marshall.’

‘Losman has significantly improved in his first full season as Buffalo’s QB. I’m not ready to elevate him to elite status, but he has done enough to soar to 13th in my ratings and he’s a major reason why the Bills should contend for a playoff berth next season.’

‘In a stagnant economy, some people in Western New York have been attending more Sabres games and fewer Bills games. The Sabres have sold out all 16 home games this season. Capacity is 18,690. Through 16 home games last year, the average crowd was 15,882.’

‘But in the back of his mind, Henry knew the clock was ticking. In 2004, with a new coaching staff in Buffalo and McGahee getting closer to 100 percent healthy, Henry felt himself being pushed aside. ‘The coaches that drafted me, they weren’t there,” Henry said. “And (the new coaches) started playing mind games with me. They were telling me I was still the starter, but I wasn’t starting. They were telling me I wasn’t healthy, that I was hurt, and I was like, ‘I’d played through this before.’ I was fine.”’