Two Bills Drive

‘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.’

‘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.’