Two Bills Drive

‘Even if they are 6-3 after this two-game homestand heading into their bye, I can see a scenario where the Bills will need to beat the Bengals in the final game of the year just to hit .500.’

‘At the start of the season, Sunday’s game between the Bills and the Detroit Lions looked like a real dog, a game between two teams that combined to win five games in 2001. Now, as we approach the midway point of the 2002 season, Ralph Wilson Stadium will be sold out, and the game is vitally important for the Bills, and reasonably important to the Lions.’

‘They have not won a road game since Mornhinweg took over last year. The road losing streak has reached 11 games, and they will be underdogs when they play Sunday at Buffalo.’

‘In the short term, the Lions definitely would have been better off with Moeller as coach. They would have won more games last season. But there would be no Joey Vision. It is doubtful quarterback Joey Harrington would have been available in the late rounds. So now it is up to the Lions to make sure the long-term prospects are brighter.’

‘”As crazy as it sounds, those overtime games are great for a football team, when you’re in the midst of improving,” Mornhinweg said. “Those are the tough, tough tight situations. In the close games, and the end of games — you need to be put in those positions time and time again. “You may fail nine out of 10 times. And the next 10, you may fail six out of 10. Then, all of a sudden, you’re succeeding seven or eight or nine times out of 10.”‘

”’I think people are probably going to start taking notice,” tight end Jay Riemersma said. ”The Bills have a tradition here of being in the playoff hunt each and every year. And the last few years, we haven’t done that. It’s good to be back in that thick of things.”’

Including playoffs, the team that has held the advantage in the takeaway/giveaway ratio between the Bills and the Dolphins has emerged victorious in each of the last eight meetings of this series and 13 of the last 14.

‘Jon from the Palm Beach Post thought Bills fans might enjoy a look at the photo gallery from Sunday’s game.’

‘”We felt, coming in, that it would come down to whose defense played the better game and won the turnover battle,” Fletcher said. “We picked a great game to finally get some interceptions. To come in with none and end up leaving with four and six turnovers, that’s huge for our defense."’

‘The real question, of course, is whether the Buffalo Bills’ defense is suddenly that good or Ray Lucas is just that bad. In truth, it’s probably considerably more of the latter than the former.’

Four NFL games reached sudden-death overtime, tying the all-time record for most overtime games in a single day on Oct. 8, 1995.

‘"The way I played today was probably the worst in NFL history," Lucas said. Those who recall the likes of such illustrious Buffalo passers as Gary Marangi and Vince Ferragamo would take exception to that. But for one day, at least, Lucas was more than bad enough for the Bills.’

‘The leading scorer in Jaguars’ history had another big day yesterday. For the Buffalo Bills.’

Sunday’s win at Miami upped the Bills 2002 record to 4-3. They are over .500 for the first time since November of 2000 when their win at Kansas City (11/19/00) made them 7-4. That was also the last time the Bills won two straight games. The last time Buffalo played two consecutive games on the road and won them both was December of 1999 when they posted victories in consecutive weeks at Arizona and at New England.

Peter King’s MMQB: “DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK –Buffalo cornerback Nate Clements. The Bills had four takeaways in their first six games of the year. Clements had three interceptions in the 23-10 Buffalo win Sunday — one he returned 29 yards for the clinching touchdown — as well as four solo tackles and four passes broken up. The picks were also the first three interceptions of the Bills’ season. What a tour de force of a game, even though, if I give Clements a trophy for this, he’s going to have to saw it in half and give half to Ray Lucas. Clements said after the game that Lucas “threw it right” to him on the pick returned for touchdown. There wasn’t much sugarcoating the Lucas factor after the game.”