Two Bills Drive

‘”Early on, I lived so close to Kansas City, I followed Derrick Thomas. As soon as I got into middle school and started playing organized football, I looked up to my older brother Chad. He played at Nebraska and played a year or two for the Steelers. He stuck out in my mind.”‘

‘”Playing football in this area is a real privilege,” he said. “We have fans that come out in spite of the disappointing year that we’ve had and cheer for us.”‘

‘This is what desperation looks like for the Dolphins.’

‘All the attention, as well as too much South Florida venom, is focused on Wannstedt. In the past 15 years, the Dolphins have had three coaches, the Marlins six managers, the Panthers seven coaches and the Heat five coaches. But none has taken a public pounding like Wannstedt.’

‘”You literally have to knock him unconscious to stop him,” the Tennessee Titans’ Jeff Fisher said a week ago in the sort of pregame hyperbole that seems to infect almost every NFL coach.’

‘Here are the scenarios that would help and hurt the Dolphins entering their final two regular-season games against Buffalo and the visiting New York Jets (6-8).’

‘”When [Bowens] injured his knee, he had an isolated ACL tear,” O’Neill said. “Another player that has a more complicated injury, there might have been other complications, and those things can prolong the recovery.”‘

‘The beginning of Buffalo’s postseason superiority began in a divisional game on the iced carpet at Rich Stadium.’

‘Prediction: Bills by 2.’

‘Because if there’s a definition of what these 8-6 Dolphins are this deep into the season, it’s that they lose to the very best teams (New England twice, Indianapolis, Tennessee and Philadelphia) and beat everybody else (except Houston). Buffalo is 6-8 and happens to be an everybody else.’

‘”They know I’m in that foxhole with them,” Williams said last week. “And they’re in it with me.”‘

‘There won’t be a lot of scoreboard watching going on this afternoon at Ralph Wilson Stadium for the Miami Dolphins. That’s only because the Denver Broncos and Indianapolis Colts play tonight.’

‘”We’re not worried about our own jobs,” he said. “We’re not worried about Dave’s job at this point. We’re not worried about anything, but winning and getting a chance to play in January. Everything will sort itself out one way or the other. No one in his locker room can control whether or not we get cut or whether or not Dave gets fired or any of the other crap that is going on.”‘

‘”We would hope that our players have a little more class and a little more concern about their team than doing something like that,” team President and General Manager Tom Donahoe said this week. “We would look at that as a very selfish act, and not even having spoken to (Bills coach) Gregg (Williams) about it I’m sure, as well as I know him, he would say the same thing.”‘

‘The Bills have not indicated the nature of the injury, but Williams has been walking gingerly since the end of last week’s game at Tennessee. Coach Gregg Williams said the second-year player would be a game-time decision.’