Two Bills Drive

‘At 4-5, the Bills are far from eliminated from the playoff chase, particularly for a wild-card berth where an 8-8 mark might be good enough to win a spot in the topsy-turvy AFC. “We’re back at home. We’re still in the mix,” coach Gregg Williams said. “We’ve got a lot of areas on our football team that are playing very strong and what we’ve got to do is get a couple of the other ones fixed and we’ll be right back in the mix again.”‘

‘Bills owner Ralph Wilson, Jr. has purchased more than 4,000 tickets to this weekend’s game with the Houston Texans and has donated them to local military personnel.’

‘Haggan (6-3, 248) was selected by the Bills in the seventh round of the 2003 Draft out of Mississippi State and has spent the entire season on the practice squad.’

‘Moulds still leads Buffalo with 41 catches for 542 yards.’

‘The same injury forced Moulds to miss games against the New York Jets and the Washington Redskins in October.’

‘By spreading the Bills out with three and four receivers, Houston can mitigate the strength of Buffalo’s defense. Linebackers Takeo Spikes, London Fletcher and former Texan Jeff Posey form one of the best units in the league. The Bills’ safeties, though, are among the worst. Lawyer Milloy and Izell Reese were brought in to make big plays. Last year, Buffalo’s safeties did not have an interception or a forced fumble. This season, the Bills have created just 10 turnovers, and none of the team’s seven interceptions are by a safety.’

‘”We played last year and there were many times when our offense had to bail our defense out,” Williams said. “We’d give up 29 [points] and have to score 30 to win a ball game. Our defense is playing really solid right now. The special teams are playing really solid. Those two phases need to bail out the offense a little bit until they get kick-started again. We’re really only one or two plays away from getting it rolling.”‘

‘”I could have played for the Raiders in a heartbeat. We tried to work out a trade with the Steelers and the Raiders both, but Ralph Wilson, our owner, would not trade me. He said if he did he’d have to leave the city.”‘

‘”What this is all about is hope because it is the hope through my son that we will make a difference,” Kelly said. “And already since we started the foundation the awareness has grown almost six figures. We see people in airports and they ask how Hunter is doing first before asking what’s wrong with the Buffalo Bills.’

‘”I think it’s great,” Tasker said. “I didn’t expect it. It’s certainly flattering, no question about it. It never ceases to amaze me that people remember when I played the further it gets into the history books. I’m flattered even more so that people still remember that I actually played and sometimes played pretty well.”‘

‘”Last year, I led the Texans in sacks, so that’s something I became known for,” Posey said. “I came here looking to improve on that and become even better at rushing the passer.”‘

‘The Bills haven’t indicated whether the switch to McGee is permanent, but it is a sign of how much the fourth-round draft pick out of Northwestern State has developed this season.’

‘But I’d make Tasker wait another year if given the choice between him and Ralph Wilson, another semifinalist. We’re talking 44 years with the Bills. That’s almost as long as the Yankees have owned the Red Sox. Voters who balk when it comes to Wilson are overanalyzing the issue.’

‘It’s as if a mysterious disease sweeps through Buffalo government offices on a regular basis. Like last Dec. 2, for example, when 252 city workers – 7 percent of the city payroll – called in sick. There wasn’t a flu bug going around that day. But it was a snowy Monday, a day after the Bills played the Miami Dolphins.’

The Bills-Texans game this Sunday at Ralph Wilson Stadium is sold out and will be televised locally. A small number of tickets returned by the visiting team remain available for purchase.