Two Bills Drive

‘"Some of the things that we’re doing are preventing us from being continuously successful," Bledsoe continued. "We’re trying to establish ourselves as a power-running football team. In order to do that, we have to convert our first downs. In order to convert our first downs, we can’t be in third-and-10, third-and-12 all the time because your percentages go way down, particularly against the Patriots because that’s where they’re most effective."’

‘Turnovers. Put simply, the Patriots force ’em and the Bills don’t.’

‘Drew knew.’

The Cold, Hard Football Facts admire the respect accorded Bledsoe in Boston. But they’re not slaves to misty-eyed public sentiment, and they certainly don’t attempt to swim against a torrent of historical data buoyed only by a skimpy life vest called respect.

‘"They just don’t make a lot of mistakes, which allows you to win the close games," Buffalo Bills coach Mike Mularkey said Wednesday. "That’s the difference with where we are. We’ve been in a couple close games and not overcome the mistakes we’ve created ourselves. You don’t see them doing that."’

‘A plate was inserted on Losman’s fractured fibula in order to speed up the recovery process. X-rays this week on the broken bone showed he was progressing faster than what was predicted.’

‘The book is not written in his own words, of course. Belichick is too shrewd for that. But it’s a reflection of his true feelings. It’s his way of rubbing it in people’s faces. It’s no laughing matter for Bills fans, I’d imagine, knowing he’s basically right.’

‘”In the climate we’re in in the league now, with free agency and the salary cap, they’ve done a tremendous job of keeping their core guys intact and also bringing in young players who have been able to be immediately effective for them. So if there’s a great team in the league, I would think the Patriots would be the one everybody would look at.”‘

‘"If you need this (for motivation), you aren’t much of a player," linebacker Takeo Spikes said. "But everything extra is a bonus."’

‘”I’m way ahead of schedule,” Losman said on Wednesday at Ralph Wilson Stadium. “The swelling is more down than they thought it would be at this point, the bone is growing back more than they anticipated. I could see it myself on the X-ray.”‘

‘Relevant or not, the book isn’t a work of fiction given Belichick’s track record of mastering Bledsoe. Since the trade, New England’s only setback against Buffalo was a 31-0 thrashing in last year’s season opener at the Ralph.’

‘”I don’t think that there were many good plays out there,” Brady said. “From the quarterback position, I threw four picks. We couldn’t get in on any goal-line situations. We didn’t score a point. We were shut out for the first time in 10 or 12 years. It was just embarrassing. We played terribly. I played terribly and I still remember that game.”‘

‘“If we do the little things right – if we are clean in our blitz pickups, if we are crisp in our routes and execution – then those plays are going to start to happen for us,” he said. “But when we miss some of those little, simple things, then the big things just simply don’t happen. When we do that, then you will see the numbers start to come up for us as an offense. But until we correct those little mistakes, those things just simply aren’t going to happen.”’

‘“We got embarrassed on that field,” Brady said yesterday. “We’re going back to the same environment, under different circumstances, but with the same feelings we had last time. Hopefully, we’re more prepared than we were last year and hopefully we go out and play better than we did last year. If we don’t, it could be the same outcome. I don’t think any of us felt very good after that game and I think a lot of the guys in the locker room still remember that game very well. Every time you see the tape of that game, you cringe.”’

‘With the Bills’ offense sputtering — having totaled 10 points apiece in each of their two losses — there’s reason to think gadget plays might become a greater part of their plan. They also serve as a counter-punch when defenses are in attack mode. “The whole basis behind all those plays is to (exploit) either over-aggression or something they saw on film the opposing team wasn’t adjusting to,” Vrabel said.’