Two Bills Drive

‘”The offensive line was coming off and dominating, and the backs were patient,” coach Andy Reid said. “Jon Ritchie, who gets zero credit, stepped up there and blocked along with the tight ends. They did a very nice job of controlling the line of scrimmage. . . . This offense is best when you can mix and match, and keep the defense off balance a little bit.”‘

‘”It was a big first series,” Bills Coach Gregg Williams said. “They did a good job checking out of a hitch and hitting a nice fade route on the very first play. You’re going to get that a couple times when you play press coverage.”‘

‘With an unpredictable wind swirling through Ralph Wilson Stadium, Akers made a 26-yard field goal at the end of the first quarter to give the Eagles a 10-0 lead. With nine seconds left in the half, Akers made a 34-yarder for a 13-0 advantage, then hit a 22-yarder late in the third quarter for a 16-0 Eagles lead.’

‘Gregg Williams – DOWN: The Bills had a third and 1 to start the fourth quarter and tried to complete a 50-yard pass. The Bills coach also challenged a late fourth-quarter call with his team six inches from the goal line. The call correctly stood, and the Bills lost a valuable time-out.’

‘Moulds did his usual damage, pulling in eight catches for 114 yards. But he didn’t get into the end zone. Brown, meanwhile, finished with a team-high nine tackles. He also had a sack of quarterback Drew Bledsoe and forced a fumble to stop the Bills on the second drive of the third quarter.’

‘”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.”’