Two Bills Drive

‘”I personally think Donovan just took over,” Eagles tight end Chad Lewis said. “He loved the challenge that came with all the adversity. He made some unbelievable plays that first drive. To see his will, it set the tone for all of us. He was fired up, and he played with a lot of emotion.”‘

‘The Eagles (1-2) answered their critics against Buffalo (2-2) with an impressive performance that featured big plays by the offense, a gutsy performance by an injury-riddled defense and a team-wide energy that was lacking in the first two games.’

‘Williams, Mayberry, center Hank Fraley, left guard John Welbourn and tackles Tra Thomas and Jon Runyan allowed two sacks after surrendering 10 in the first two games and paved the way for Westbrook, Correll Buckhalter, Duce Staley, McNabb and wide receiver James Thrash to rush for 177 yards on 34 carries.’

‘Bills quarterback Drew Bledsoe and his wide receivers posted gaudy statistics but could not find the end zone often enough. That was partly due to Hood and Brown, who made a series of pivotal plays.’

‘Bills wide receiver Eric Moulds: “What can you do? We started off 2-0 and dropped the last two. But at the same time, we have 12 games left. It’s still a long season.”’

‘Overall, the Eagles rushed the 34 times and averaged 5.2 yards per carry.’

‘Moulds ended up catching eight passes for 114 yards, and Shaw caught eight for 92 yards as Bledsoe completed 27 of 43 passes for 296 yards. But the beleaguered Eagles defense still held the Bills scoreless until the fourth quarter, and they made enough big plays to keep the offense in the game.’

‘The Philadelphia Eagles didn’t just borrow an idea or two from the game plan the Miami Dolphins had used the week before against the Buffalo Bills. This was blatant plagiarism.’

‘The defensive line still got pressure on quarterback Drew Bledsoe, who was sacked by Simon on the Bills’ first offensive play and later was sacked by the blitzing Brown. ”We just went out and got after it,” Simon said. ”When Troy went out of the game, we just knew we had to force them into some mistakes, and we did that.”’

‘Tight end Chad Lewis could sense it. Could sense from the moment McNabb entered the huddle at the start of the first offensive series, he was back to being himself. Back to ”relaxing and having fun and keeping the guys smiling.”’

‘BEST HIT: It wasn’t delivered by a Philadelphia or Buffalo player, but by one of the stadium security guards. With the Bills preparing for the failed two-point conversion attempt that followed their first touchdown, a fan ran on the field and raced approximately 70 yards before he was stopped cold and driven to the ground by the security guard.’

‘The Eagles were exceptional on third-down conversions (9 of 16) and had a 7 minute, 36 second edge in the time of possession. And that kept Bledsoe — and his rifle arm — off the field for big chunks of the game. The Bills had just 12 offensive plays from scrimmage in the first and third quarters combined.’

‘With three-quarters of his star-studded secondary sidelined with injuries and facing quarterback Drew Bledsoe and the Bills dangerous stretch-the-field passing game, Johnson patched together a unit that somehow, someway, limited Buffalo to just two touchdowns and 296 yards through the air.’

‘Moments after his extra point gave the Eagles an early 7-0 lead, Bills return specialist Antonio Brown broke through the first few waves of tacklers, broke to the outside and was threatening to even the score on the ensuing kickoff. That’s when Akers prevented it.’

‘In one afternoon, the Eagles pushed aside three weeks of doom and gloom. In just 60 minutes of football, they regained their confidence and their status as a contender in the NFL.’