Two Bills Drive

‘Losing a football game, albeit harshly, to a good and emotional Buffalo Bills team is not a crime. But losing a potentially great football team, in early September, would.’

‘With the 73,262 here in attendance and millions watching nationally, Law stomped, pouted and screamed like a 3-year-old denied a hug. New England was nowhere near ready for this. Even the opposition knew it.’

‘Linebackers Tedy Bruschi (5 tackles) and Ted Johnson (6 tackles) didn’t stuff the run up tight, nor did Mike Vrabel on the outside. In addition, 375-pound Ted Washington was a nonfactor, getting in on just three hits all day.’

”’It’s not something that we wanted to do and it certainly wasn’t the timing we were looking for but it was, unfortunately, the way it came down,” Belichick said. ”It wasn’t scripted to happen that way, no. (But) I have to look in the mirror and look at myself and I know that we did everything organizationally that we could do and it didn’t work out.”’

‘Coach Gregg Williams was impressed with Doman’s mobility from his appearances with the 49ers this past preseason. ”He can make some plays out of nothing because he does have very good feet,” said Williams. ”And as soon as he can acclimate himself to our system, we’ll see about moving him up.”’

”’A good testament for us right now is how they handled it yesterday in the locker room,” said Williams. ”That’s just how they are and how they’ve been in the meetings today. … Nice win, but it’s only Week 1.”’

‘“It sounds like there may be some things that weren’t totally above board,” New England coach Bill Belichick said Monday.’

‘To be sure, last season, the Bills were 28th in the NFL in giveaway/takeaway ratio at minus-12. But against the Pats, they were plus-2 and their four interceptions were 40 percent of the 10 they totaled all of last season.’

‘”I think we were ready to play,” Brady said, “but they were playing at a different speed.”‘

‘It was the first interception return for a touchdown by a Buffalo defensive lineman since Pat Toomay went 34 yards in the 1975 season opener against the Jets.’

‘This is probably what Tom Donahoe had in mind when he signed free agents Takeo Spikes, Lawyer Milloy and Sam Adams. But in one game?’

‘According to ratings from Nielsen Media Research and WIVB-TV, the CBS affiliate that broadcast the game, the rating was a 37.5 with a 68 share.’

‘Defying the laws of gravity and momentum, the allegedly 330-pound Adams somehow managed to cut back at full speed without suffering complete disintegration of a knee or ankle, making it to the end zone without needing to stop for Gatorade, oxygen or a snack.’

‘In fact, the Pats appeared dazed (pregame Novocain for everyone!) in falling behind, 21-0, with 10:24 left in the second quarter. Their new-look secondary was toasted. Their vaunted pass rush was muffled. Their receivers were invisible. Their quarterback threw four interceptions and slunk back into the locker room at halftime with a utterly ridiculous QB rating of 5.3.’

‘Asked if he thought the Pats defensive backfield seemed confused, Moulds (four catches for 81 yards) said: ”At times they did. Sometimes when we used motion with Bobby (Shaw) or Josh (Reed) they got confused. Anytime you have a veteran back there like Milloy, he handles the situation and defuses it. They didn’t have that guy to do that today and I think it hurt them a little bit.”’