Two Bills Drive

‘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.’

‘As for the game, it was mostly a lot of field goals (seven) and incomplete passes (38). Neither offense played well, which kept the score close as usual. The Pats and Bills have now played into overtime in four of their last five meetings.’

‘“You’ve got to take your hats off to them. They played a great game today. They fought pretty hard, made some big plays and hit the crap out of our guys. I’m just happy I got an opportunity (to win the game).”‘

‘An apparent Bills touchdown is ruled an incompletion, but the Buffalo coaching staff doesn’t call for a replay even though it looked like Peerless Price might have gotten both feet down in the end zone.’

‘Would not his return to Buffalo have been sweeter had Smith won the game with a touchdown? “That doesn’t make any difference to me,” Smith said. “I just wanted to get us close enough to win the game. And that’s what I did.”’

‘To say that Brady got his bell rung yesterday would be the understatement of this over-the-top season. It was a highlight-film hit for the ages, one that the Brady kids, grandkids and great-grandkids will be seeing, and it was delivered by the Bills’ 5-foot-9 cornerback, Nate Clements.’

‘Fortunate doesn’t even come close to describing it. Had the Pats gone on to lose, it would have dampened their playoff hopes. Then we could have all gone nuts like the Bills fans and claimed they were “screwed” by a bad call. Only, most of us wouldn’t have known to complain.’

‘Three yards and a cloud of disgust. That’s what Pats bettors got yesterday when Antowain Smith fell that much short of a touchdown in overtime as the Patriots beat the Bills, 12-9, on a field goal. The bettors needed the six points to reap a dividend with the Pats as 4-point favorites.’

‘The way the Buffalo Bills season has gone, they knew they were in trouble once the officials started reviewing their recovery of a Patriots fumble in overtime.’

‘The Buffalo Bills’ defensive backs scored several knockdowns against the Patriots yesterday. But the Pats refused to be knocked out.’

‘Remember J.R. Redmond? Tom Brady sure did. Redmond, the Patriots’ rarely used third-down running back, came out of a season-long hibernation yesterday, catching three key passes from Brady late in a 12-9 win over the Bills at Ralph Wilson Stadium.’

‘Even if you’re a fully vested member of the International Brotherhood of Brady, you gotta realize that the Pats survived him yesterday. Survived him on a day when he went 19 for 35. Survived him on a day when he took six sacks and, at one point late in the game, seemed to unilaterally decide to run a quarterback draw from the Bills 11 on third-and-9. And survived him on a day when the offensive game plan was finally designed for him to go long and he went extra long. Yesterday, Brady was Rick Ankiel in shoulder pads, Mark Wohlers with eye black. He was responsible for more overthrows than the busiest Central American revolutionary, and yet the Pats survived him.’