Archives for September 15, 2009

‘”It tears my heart out for them,” he said of his team. “You’ve got to finish games in this league … particularly against teams as talented as them. Nobody gave us a chance and we knew that coming in … but we didn’t come here to lose. We didn’t come to play a close game. We came to win. So we’re just disappointed.”‘

‘But, alas, these are the Bills … the ones who haven’t made the playoffs since 1999 and have had only one winning season since.’

‘The victory extended the Patriots’ streak to 12 straight wins over Buffalo. New England has won 17 of the previous 18 meetings and the Bills haven’t won in Foxboro since a 16-13 overtime triumph in 2000.’

‘Edwards praised new offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt for the way he called the game. "I thought Alex called a great game," said Edwards. "He got us in some formations that I felt comfortable with and he got us in some plays I felt comfortable with. It’s a credit to him, it’s his first NFL game (as a coordinator). But one point short stinks."’

‘Dick Jauron had his team ready to play, but as has been the problem with Jauron’s teams, it just wasn’t good enough in the end to win the game.’

‘If nothing else, the folks at Monday Night Football should keep inviting the Bills back to play just for the sheer entertainment value of their games.’

‘Bills players were crushed, as they should have been. Had they not felt as bad as people felt for them, it would have enhanced the perception — and maybe reality — that they are a mess of an organization with a coach on the hot seat and players in need of direction.’

‘But there are some things coaches can’t coach, which is why you hope your players are not only athletic but smart, and its one huge factor in New England’s success over the past several years. The Bills, under the Yale-educated Jauron and COO Russ Brandon, are trying to draft players who are not only great athletes, but athletes who make smart decisions on and off the field. They’re not perfect obviously, but they’re getting there.’

‘His job as the head coach of this team is to have his team in a position to win the game. He did. And for 58 minutes his players executed. But they play 60.’

‘A beautiful gameplan put together by Dick Jauron and his coaching staff puts the Bills on the brink of a upset victory, but yet again on Monday night, the Bills found a way to lose. The team will have to put this one behind them as they get ready for the home opener in Orchard Park against the Tampa Bay Bucs.’

‘Let’s face it, folks, this series is the NFL version of Groundhog Day, with the Patriots finding ways to win and the Bills inventing ways to lose.’

‘Eventually, it became vintage Tom Brady – and vintage Buffalo Bills.’

‘The Bills were downtrodden after the loss, but certainly have a reason to be hopeful. Everyone expected a blowout and they were a fumbled-kickoff return away from the win. The offensive line, which was a national joke after they cut left tackle Langston Walker last week, was a big surprise. Second-year left tackle Demetrius Bell and rookie guards Eric Wood and Andy Levitre performed surprisingly well in their first starts. You could see the offense grow more confident as the game continued and a 62-yard touchdown drive in the fourth quarter was nearly perfect.’

‘Until the last Buffalo drive of the game, the Patriots’ pass-rush was similarly anemic. Super Bowl favorites? The Patriots will be lucky to be the second wild card, playing the way they played for 55 minutes.’

‘”He’s obviously a big-time weapon in our offense and we need to keep getting him the ball,” Bills quarterback Trent Edwards(notes) said. “He’s a competitor; I’ve said that all along. And that’s rubbing off on the rest of us. That’s why we’re competing for four quarters there and having a guy like that in the locker room, on the field with us, frustrated or not, he’s still raising the level of our game. We need to feed off that.”‘