Two Bills Drive

‘The 2-13 Bengals’ ineffectiveness has reached such depths that it isn’t even fashionable for Jay Leno – or any other comedian – to make fun of them anymore.’

‘”As the year winds down, every year you kind of get that nostalgic feeling that it could be it for you here. You just really never know what’s going to happen,” said Riemersma, one of just 12 players left from before general manager Tom Donahoe and coach Gregg Williams took charge in 2001. “I’m not concerned about that, though. I’m worried about beating the Bengals and helping out as much as I possibly can doing that.”‘

‘Matt, the Bengals’ rookie tight end, will be blocking Aaron on some running plays.’

Based on Williams’ performance, the Bills continue to have great hope that he’ll remain a fixture on an emerging and talented line that includes second-year left tackle Jonas Jennings and second-year right guard Marques Sullivan.

Although the Bills have given up no fewer than two sacks in each game, the offensive line has done a fine job this season and certainly has become a focal point for an optimistic future. Rookie ORT Mike Williams, second-year ORG Marques Sullivan and second-year OLT Jonas Jennings have all "steadily progressed," according to Bills OL coach Ronnie Vinklarek.

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The Bills and Bengals have met 18 times in regular season play and the series is all knotted up at nine wins per side. Buffalo has won four straight against Cincinnati, including the most recent game (33-20 at Cincy in 1998) and the last time they played in Orchard Park (31-17 in 1996).

It is difficult for me to find words to express the tremendous job that Tom Donahoe has done for the Bills in his short time in Buffalo. He came in under a terrible salary cap situation with veteran players being paid three times their market value and if he could suit up, he should go to the Pro Bowl!

‘The Bills have allowed only three touchdowns in the past 11 quarters.’

‘Both Eric Moulds and Peerless Price are in position to break the Buffalo Bills’ record for most receptions in a season.’

‘”Earlier in the year when it was a little bit overwhelming, he got thrown in there and he wasn’t quite ready to go. He just needed to relax, gain a little bit more experience in practice, and understand what we want done and how we want our particular schemes to be played. He took advantage of an opportunity this past weekend and played well.”‘

‘"If you’d come in here and said at the beginning of the year that we’d be a .500 team or have a chance to be a .500 team at the end of the season, a lot of people would have said that would be a reasonably successful year, that we had made somewhat of a turnaround," said Bledsoe. "But as we started playing and won a few games early, the expectations from both inside and from outside the organization changed pretty dramatically. We felt like we had a chance to be a playoff team, we felt like we had a chance to throw our hat into the ring and be competing for a chance at a championship at the end of the season. It hasn’t happened for us and it’s been disappointing for us."’

‘"We would try to convince our players, this is Buffalo Bills weather," he said. "Our fans are tough, you better be tough. They don’t even want a domed stadium here. We took that psychological approach, and I think there are some teams that came in and maybe it did bother them. I tried to tell our players that it’s an advantage if the others let it prey on their mind. We used to have a statement with our team that if it’s too tough for them it’s just right for us."’

‘"He feels like he’s not throwing the ball as well as he can right now," Moulds said. "It’s a number of things. We’re not protecting him really well, and we have to do better. At the same time, he’s not stepping into his throws and making his throws like he did early in the season. He looked at the film today and said he was throwing off his back leg more than he should have, and the ball is sailing on him. Those are things he can correct."’

‘Matt Schobel is a rookie tight end for the Cincinnati Bengals and will be forced to block Aaron at times when the two teams meet in Ralph Wilson Stadium.’