Two Bills Drive

‘The Bengals didn’t know what to make of themselves afterward. They didn’t play like lovable losers. They didn’t get smacked. They stood toe to toe with a playoff-caliber team. But they lost.’

‘Kitna was thoroughly outplayed down the stretch yesterday by counterpart Drew Bledsoe, and that was the major difference in the Buffalo Bills’ 22-16 victory.’

‘"I understand how they feel," Spikes said. "I totally do. Especially the guys who were there before and the guys who were there when I came in. My heart goes out to a guy like Willie Anderson . . . Corey Dillon . . . Brian Simmons . . . Adrian Ross . . . . I wish them the best. I wish them the best."’

‘A veteran defensive end in his first year with Cincinnati, Clemons recorded three sacks of Bills quarterback Drew Bledsoe. It was a career high for Clemons. All three came on third down and forced Buffalo to punt.’

‘"I hate when the game is over, and the team we just played comes over and says, ‘You all have a good team.’ I hate hearing that," Warrick said.’

‘"It was the Buffalo Bills against the Cincinnati Bengals," said Bengals linebacker Brian Simmons, who still remains as close to Spikes as when the two had lockers next to one another at Paul Brown Stadium. "You don’t look at one person or one player; you’re just focused on the game."’

‘"We’re not winning games that we should or could win," said Artrell Hawkins. "We could have come here and won on the road and won two in a row, and all that stuff would have been great. They just outplayed us at the end."’

‘Drew Bledsoe put aside being sacked four times and being held to under 100 yards passing through three quarters to deliver the 22nd come-from-behind victory of his career, and his third in 21 games with the Bills. He was 11-of-25 for 95 yards before completing eight of his final 10 passes for 106 yards on Buffalo’s final two possessions.’

‘The Bills had converted just two of their 12 third downs when they lined up for a third-and-11 at their own 40 with 3:31 remaining in the fourth quarter and the Bengals leading, 16-13. Quarterback Drew Bledsoe, who had been sacked four times, was pressured but hung in the pocket long enough to complete a 14-yard pass to Bobby Shaw for the first down, a drive that eventually ended with a 29-yard Rian Lindell field goal to send the game into overtime.’

‘Buffalo quarterback Drew Bledsoe proved you don’t always have to be at your best to win a game; you just have be your best when it counts.’

‘Buffalo won the turnover battle, 2-0.’

‘"It was one of those balls you thought you could get to, but Bledsoe is just one of those guys who can get the ball into places where you think you’ve got him but you don’t."’

‘The team had opportunities to win and didn’t capitalize on them. That has to fall back on the coaches.’

‘Shayne Graham made three of four field-goal attempts — his only miss coming from 54 yards.’

‘The running game managed only 2.5 yards a carry, the passing game couldn’t complete anything downfield and only one touchdown was scored in four red-zone opportunities.’