Two Bills Drive

‘The real quarterback with something to prove is Brady. He may have made Bledsoe expendable in New England and become the youngest player ever to win Super Bowl MVP honors. But a scant nine months after holding the Lombardi Trophy aloft, Brady is walking around with a target on his back as big as the Green Monster.’

‘The Chargers will play the Bills in Buffalo on Dec. 15, and the way these two young teams are improving, it wouldn’t be a shock to see them meet in the AFC playoffs in the near future — perhaps as soon as January 2003.’

‘Their fates are inexorably tied and have been since last April 21.’

‘With a win, the Bills would not only continue their rise to playoff contention, they could land a near fatal blow on the defending Super Bowl champions, who have lost their past four. “Beware the wounded bear,” said Bills defensive end Chidi Ahanatou. “It’s a dangerous thing.”‘

”’I would guess he would roll some coverage to protect Otis Smith [if he plays] out there,” said Zolak. ”I’m not sure whether Bill would stick to what he’s done against Drew or change it up. In the days when Bill was successful against Drew, Drew didn’t have receivers like Peerless Price and Eric Moulds. Those guys can get free down the field. I would think the Patriots would play a Cover-2 defense and probably mix a few other things in.”‘

”’I have tremendous respect for Bill [Belichick] and Scott [Pioli] for what they did there last year,” said Gregg Williams, coach of the 5-3 Bills. ”[General manager] Tom [Donahoe] and I talked an awful lot about that during the season and toward the end of the season, about what was taking place down there. It was on my mind quite a bit when we were identifying the people that we were bringing in here to complement the people that were already here.”’

‘Belichick’s plan and Bledsoe’s response to it will certainly be key factors today, but so will the play selection of Bills offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride.’

‘So why DIDN’T other teams jump at a chance to trade for Bledsoe? “No. 1, I was coming off an injury,” said Bledsoe. “No. 2, I was carrying a pretty heavy price tag. There weren’t a lot of teams in the league that could afford, with the salary cap, to do the deal. Maybe there wasn’t as much interest out there as I would have hoped, but I’m tremendously thankful that I ended up where I did. I look around the league and I can’t imagine getting myself to a situation that would be any better — personally or professionally — than where I am right now.”’

‘Running backs have been benched for less, but Bills coach Gregg Williams said Henry’s job is safe. “It was a huge hit, and I think we showed our confidence in Travis by handing it to him right when he came back in,” said Wiliams. “Travis is our running back, and will continue to be our running back.”’

‘One possible weakness is the sack total. Between the longer patterns and the new offensive line, Bledsoe has been sacked 30 times already, which puts them in 29th place in the league stats in protecting the quarterback.’

‘The Patriots like to design their weekly offense based on the opponent’s weaknesses rather than their own strengths. For the next couple of games, it’s logical to expect Antowain Smith, not Tom Brady, to be the focal point.’

‘Why such an even keel on what is perceived to be a sinking ship? Perhaps it’s because the Patriots don’t see themselves as going down for the count. There seems to be the feeling — espoused by Bill Belichick and adopted by the players — that they have just gone through as tough a stretch of games as any team in the league has faced. They’ve played four of the best teams in the NFL and players on all four of those teams remarked that they played their best games of the year against New England.’

‘“Brady has all the qualities – poise, size, a terrific throwing arm, wonderful relationships with the players and he knows how to be a leader. And I don’t think media criticism will affect him. It’s the first time he’s been involved with losing as an NFL starter and must learn to deal with it, but he doesn’t bear all the responsibility for New England’s struggles.”’

‘”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.’