Two Bills Drive

‘”This is a dying city. Poor management. Poor government. All we really have is football to look forward to.”‘

‘Once all the verbal bouquets are tossed, though, this matchup today comes down to one thing between coach and former player. Legitimizing. Bledsoe wants to prove Belichick made the worst mistake a coach could make when he turned his back on him. He wants to embarrass Belichick. Belichick would like his team to simply dismiss Bledsoe today and vindicate the coach for a decision Belichick saw as inevitable.’

‘Belichick wants to get in my head? Fine. I want to kick his butt.’

‘There should be a lot of Kodak moments today, but don’t expect any of Bledsoe with Belichick. The Patriots are sinking, and Bledsoe hopes to drown them.’

‘”One of the things that hurt Drew’s chances of greater longevity in New England was the fact he liked to go deep,” [Chuck] Dickerson said. “Some coaches just don’t want to throw that damn thing up there. But it’s more than that. Belichick decided that he’d depend on the defensive genius that he is, special teams, a running game he started to develop. I see it as an overall plan. Whether he was right or not, who knows? But he did go to the Super Bowl, did win and that’s pretty heady stuff.”‘

‘A loss, and the Patriots might need seven wins in their last eight just to retain playoff hope.’

‘Belichick wanted to rid himself of Bledsoe, and where he went was probably less important than that he went. The home front was certainly quieter, less controversial after the deal was done. The only problem is that so far, Belichick’s losses have been far greater than even he could have imagined. Bledsoe has been magnificent, and Brady has been scuffling.’

‘”For us as a team, I think after we got through our first mini camp where we were all together, all the veterans were in here, I think we started to see that we had the talent to compete with anybody in the league,” Bledsoe said. “That ultimately is our goal. It really is just that simple. What we want to do is we want to go out each week and try and play at a level that allows us to be in a position to win the game. I think to this point in the season, we’ve done that.”‘

‘Whoever bought tickets to Sunday’s game between New England and Buffalo at Ralph Wilson Stadium expected to see a dominant defense in action. Who would’ve guessed it’d belong to Gregg Williams’ Bills?’

‘The Patriots aren’t just playing bad football –they’re also playing undisciplined ball.’

‘Prediction: Patriots, 24-21.’

‘Defeating the Patriots, however, would be the sweetest revenge for the quarterback. Losing the game wouldn’t take away what Bledsoe already has accomplished this season. “I just wanted to show that I’m at the top of my game and playing in Buffalo is better than I could have imagined. I knew in preseason the talent was here,” he said.’

‘There is nothing wrong with the Patriots. It’s called parity. Don’t you just love it?’

‘Bledsoe has thrown 16 TD passes and only five interceptions while turning around the Bills around faster than anyone since the great Doug Flutie. How long before Bledsoe Bran is flying off Buffalo-area supermarket shelves?’

‘One GM who considered making an offer for Bledsoe but decided against it, said if the Patriots were willing to trade Bledsoe, it was an indication they didn’t think he was a special player. “And if he’s not special for you, why is he going to be special for me?” he said.’