Two Bills Drive

‘”There is only so much time on Wednesday and Thursday to practice and you can’t show your defense every look that these people have,” Bates said. “So sometimes you have to bear down and just play the technique within the scheme of things and not let trickery confuse you. There are always plays in every game that we haven’t seen on the practice field. And that’s where the new guys will have the hardest time adjusting.”‘

‘”It’s only been two games, but it definitely can’t go like this for 16 games,” said Thompson, whose only catch was for 24 yards early in the 21-10 victory against the New York Jets. “We definitely have to open up and get more feel for each other.”‘

‘The former Bill believes the styles of Buffalo punter Brian Moorman and kicker Rian Lindell will give him a chance to finally have the kind of impact he’s been hoping to make.’

‘Teams are hitting the Dolphins with quick passes, not giving the line time to get pressure on the quarterback. Throw in a not-so-fresh Patrick Surtain, the Pro Bowl cornerback who missed all of the preseason after undergoing knee surgery, a nicked-up Sam Madison, the Pro Bowl cornerback who sprained his ankle in the season opener, and a handful of mixed tackles after those short passes and you get the league’s worst pass defense.’

‘The reconstruction of the Buffalo Bills began in a suite inside Ralph Wilson Stadium, where General Manager Tom Donahoe had a pair of binoculars focused on the right arm of New England Patriots quarterback Drew Bledsoe. It was Dec. 16, 2001, and the Bills were playing the Patriots. The wind was up and the salary cap was tight.’

‘Ah, winning. “It makes everything so much more enjoyable,” Spikes said. “It makes it easier to come in on Monday mornings. Your injuries don’t seem to hurt as bad. You don’t even worry about little nicks and bruises. But that’s why I wanted to come here. And with the team we have, you’re going to see a lot more of it.”‘

‘”It’s the community that makes it that way,” said Bills guard Ruben Brown. “We’re interchanging players so much that it’s not the players, it’s the community. It means a lot to them.”‘

‘Q: Are you looking forward to playing a game in prime time with the rest of the league watching? SPIKES: It’s going to be big. That’s something we always wish for, but at the same time it’s a chance for us to go out there and show America what we’re made of.’

”’We just worry about ourselves,” said Bills defensive tackle Pat Williams. ”We ain’t worried about Miami, what they’re doing over there or nothing. We’re just worried about what we’re going to do.”’

Quarterback Drew Bledsoe of the Buffalo Bills was voted the FedEx Air NFL Players of the Week for games played on September 14-15. Bledsoe passed for 314 yards and two touchdowns in the Bills’ 38-17 win over Jacksonville. He completed 19 of 25 attempts and recorded a 144.2 passer rating.

‘"We ran the ball effectively last year [against Miami] and it gave us some one-on-one situations that we capitalized on and some guys made some great plays. We’ve got to be able to have as much balance as we can going into this ball game. We’re a better football team when we attempt to be as balanced as we can. It helps Drew, it helps our offense, and it helps our receivers."’

‘Time for the pick. Bills 23 Dolphins 20.’

‘"No question these teams are going to commit to stopping the runs and we can throw the ball," Bledsoe said. "I have confidence in the guys that I’m throwing the ball to. We’ve got guys that can make plays in the passing lane."’

The deal conjured memories of that Halloween heist the Buffalo Bills pulled 16 autumns ago when they stole sack-happy linebacker Cornelius Bennett from the Indianapolis Colts. Bennett, who had drawn comparisons to a young Lawrence Taylor, became one of the final pieces in Buffalo’s transformation from basement dwellers to perennial Super Bowl participants in the early 1990s.

‘Pittsburgh’s ketchup company, which also used the promotion with the Cleveland Browns last year, has worked out sponsorship deals with the Baltimore Ravens, the Cincinnati Bengals, the Buffalo Bills and the New York Jets. Basically, whenever the home team’s offense moves inside the 20-yard line, Heinz blitzes. Radio broadcasters are supposed to say, "The [insert home team name here] are now in the Heinz Red Zone," while anyone paying attention in the stadium sees some version of a ketchup bottle pouring.’