Two Bills Drive

‘What, you don’t like 36 running plays and a succession of 5-yard dump passes?’

‘Buffalo’s commitment to run disappeared on third and goal from the one when the Bills decided to pass resulting in a sack. "We did run the ball and we didn’t get chased out of it," said head coach Mike Mulakey. "It’s third down and they had 11 guys within two feet of the football. We took a chance that we’d get the fullback in the flat and they won that play."’

‘My point is that Bills fans are told and sold on these players being the Bills “stars”, and those players are paid as “stars”. Maybe we should take a step back, and until they can make those critical plays, and get the Bills back to a winning tradition admit that they are just good players, and not yet “stars”.’

‘"I believe in our defense that much," Mularkey said on Monday after meeting with the team. "You’ve got to base it on what you’ve seen up to that point and trust those guys. I’d do it again 10 times over."’

‘"I came into this game with a very strong belief that this was a good football team," said Bledsoe. "I come out of this game with that same belief. But no matter how good we are, if we make those mistakes at key times it’s going to be very hard to win."’

‘The positives? The offense line was passable. Travis Henry ran hard. Willis McGahee looked strong in his debut. Eric Moulds is back. Drew Bledsoe got rid of the ball. The defense forced 2 turnovers.’

”’It seems like deja vu,” running back Travis Henry said Monday, shaking his head.’

‘Smith and Wilford made the two biggest plays of the game, looking very much like they simply wanted the ball more than Buffalo’s overrated defenders. To be fair, Bills such as Spikes, Fletcher and Clements showed a diverse array of struts and dances. Too bad they didn’t make any plays truly worth celebrating.’

‘As wide receiver Eric Moulds, part of two lost fumbles, noted, “It’s so hard to win in this league … you can’t let a game like that get away.” But the Bills did. Let’s count the ways…’.

‘”As an offense we made the plays that we had too,” Leftwich said with a smile. “We didn’t make all the plays, but we made the plays when we had to win the football game.”‘

The last Bills safety to make an interception was Tavares Tillman in the 2001 regular season. Now, nearly three years later, the streak has finally been snapped. The Bills stressed during the off-season that they were going to create more turnovers and on opening day, they stole two from the Jaguars.’

‘This match-up was a close one, as were the rest, but the Bills have to feel pretty good about this phase of the game. Last year, Travis Henry carried the ball 21 times for 26 yards in Jacksonville. This year, he ran 23 times for 75 yards before leaving the game in the fourth quarter with cramps. Had he continued to play, he may have been able to break the century mark. Henry never backed down from running right at the Jags interior linemen, considered to be one of the best tandems in the NFL with Marcus Stroud and John Henderson. Head Coach Mike Mularkey stressed that his team was going to run the ball throughout the game and that’s what the Bills did on Sunday against the Jaguars.’

‘I mean, really, what is there to say about this one. It shouldn’t be as hard as it is to write this column, but that queasy feeling in my stomach is just rolling over me like you wouldn’t believe.’

‘Officials weren’t too sure. There was an indefinite touchdown signal on the field as the 6-foot-4, 223-pound receiver was pounded out of bounds. There was a call for a replay. However, there was no question. It was a good catch, a great catch.’

‘In fact, if it wasn’t for the effort of the Buffalo defense, the Bills may not have scored at all. Buffalo’s two scoring drives went for a combined 14 yards.’