Two Bills Drive

‘"Making plays, that’s all great. Kicking someone’s butt, that’s all great," Smerlas said. "But to have the memories of all the great people I met here, that’s what made football special for me."’

‘No one has ever seen a play like that. Hopefully, we never will again.’

‘For the second time this season, they made New England quarterback Tom Brady play like Marcia Brady.’

‘A good effort by a calm-and-cool Gregg Williams against the wily Bill Belichick. Defensive coordinator Jerry Gray did a nice job juggling his unit in the face of injuries in this epic battle of field goal kickers. Another tough loss but hey, the Bills are back in the race for the No. 2 draft pick.’

‘Bless the young, injury-riddled Bills for playing hard and hitting harder, but there was little entertainment yesterday outside of the Buffalo Jills cheerleaders dolled up as elves. The first two quarters featured nine punts and three field-goal attempts (one missed). Fear sweeping through the empty seats was that a soccer game might break out.’

‘The latest chapter in the voluminous collection of Buffalo heartbreak classics was written here yesterday, giving western New Yorkers yet another story to cry over into their Genesees.’

‘After all, four of the Patriots’ last five games against the Bills have gone to overtime.’

‘It’s been said that if you score, you may win, but if your opponent doesn’t score, you can’t lose.’

‘The sight of Tom Brady’s helmet spinning like a top near midfield was proof enough yesterday to something every Buffalo player will profess: the Bills have not given up.’

”’Our guys play hard,” first-year Bills coach Gregg Williams said. ”And that’s a reflection of when these two teams have played here. Five of the last seven times … these two teams have played, it’s been tough, hard-nosed football.”’

”’Their defense did a good job of reading where the run was going,” center Damien Woody said. ”Antowain just didn’t stop on the play, reversed field, and it was wide open. That was huge.”’

‘The Flutie mantra that’s been beaten into our brains has shifted to Brady, the Patriots’ second-year quarterback. Brady didn’t play particularly well yesterday against the Bills, but his team won, 12-9, in overtime, and improved to 9-3 since Brady took over for Drew Bledsoe.’

‘After decades of hideous finishes and chronic chaos, the Patriots are getting all the breaks.’

‘Tasker and play-by-play man Don Criqui also both (maybe with some help from the folks in the truck) used replays to illustrate that Buffalo receiver Peerless Price had an apparent TD taken away on a ruling the Bills never challenged with just less than 11 minutes left in regulation. Instead, Buffalo settled for a tying field goal.’

‘The Seahawks (7-6) are still alive in the playoff hunt with their win over Dallas yesterday. The Patriots may not have to worry about Denver, which fell to Kansas City yesterday and now has seven losses.’