Two Bills Drive

‘"We thought we had something there,” Lions head coach Marty Mornhinweg said of the ill-fated play. "It was simple. We just didn’t get it done. Good football teams make those plays."’

‘But Ahanotu got a strong push off the snap and stood up Lions backup tackle Matt Joyce, playing because starter Stockar McDougle had gone out with a pulled right groin muscle. That gave the rest of Buffalo’s defense enough time and space to collapse the play and drag down Stewart shy of the first down.’

Head coach John Faller of Sweet Home High School has been named the Buffalo Bills' high school football "Coach of the Week" for the eighth weekend of the 2002 season

(Oct. 25-26). Sweet Home scored a 48-12 victory over Niagara-Wheatfield last Saturday, earning their eighth consecutive victory and their third undefeated regular season in school history. Their other unbeaten regular seasons came in 1969 and '96.

The 2002 Buffalo Bills have invested in a new middleman. A man capable of bringing veteran leadership to a young emerging team and a man with the ability to motivate as well as dominate. To find just the right man the Bills looked to the Midwest, to the city of St. Louis. There they found what they needed in middle linebacker London Fletcher.

‘With their third straight win and Miami (5-2) idle, the Bills (5-3) are within a half-game of the Dolphins and focused on the much-anticipated meeting with the New England Patriots this week.’

‘"The big thing is this team is starting to expect to win."’

‘"It’s a tough thing because I’m thinking about letting my teammates down and the fans down," Jennings said. "You’re being pulled off on a cart and they think it’s over for you. Most of my teammates don’t know what’s going on. I don’t know what’s going on. What you think about is getting back out there and helping the team."’

‘But he’s learning. Sunday was only his fifth start as a pro and he already has two wins, both of the come-from-behind variety.’

‘"He has an attitude about things," Moulds said. "Marshall said he leads the league in receiving and yardage, and it’s still not good enough. I think that’s the way you have to approach it if you want to be a solid player."’

‘He might have been its best player Sunday in the Bills’ 24-17 victory over the Detroit Lions, and fans leaving The Ralph couldn’t help but think this defense – believe it or not – just might be coming of age.’

‘"There’s a little disappointment, but I knew eventually that it would come to an end," he said. "I think I could have very easily had a catch or two today. It was just one of those days where the ball didn’t bounce my way. I think I had two come my way and one was a penalty that would have come to me. But on all three of those opportunities, I struck out."’

‘They may not admit it, but the Bills marked next week’s game against New England on the calendar the day the schedule was released.’

‘"I thought we had something there," Mornhinweg said. "But it’s simple – we didn’t get it done. We were stopped twice on fourth downs. Good football teams make those. The effort level was huge, but we had opportunities and didn’t execute. We didn’t make it happen."’

‘"That’s five straight weeks we’ve been within one drive of winning the game," said the rookie, whose team is 2-3 during that stretch. "So I’m encouraged we keep putting ourselves in that position. Nobody expected us to be competing like this. The fact that we keep coming up short, though, is not any fun."’

‘The Lions needed 10 yards, and gained just 9 1/2. Any way you cut it, that’s coming up short.’