Two Bills Drive

‘"You could see the improvement week to week," said Polian, the Bills’ former general manager. "But the one thing you can’t handle to any great degree in the NFL is serious injury. No team is ever as good without their front-line players. Say what you will about having backups, it’s fanciful thinking in the salary cap era." Boy, don’t the Bills know it.’

‘While not exonerating Arians, the coaching staff has determined that protection problems are also to blame on the blocked attempts against San Diego and Indianapolis. "It was something we saw the week before also and I’m sure the Colts saw it," coach Gregg Williams said. "We worked hard on correcting it but we didn’t get it done."’

‘Enter Ruben Brown, who proposed a simple solution on Monday. "I’m a big believer in the run game," guard Brown said. "I think the run game will give you confidence."’

‘Kelly will be the first player from those 1990-93 teams to have his name enscribed on the Wall of Fame at Ralph Wilson Stadium.’

‘What’s worse than disdain? In pro sports, it’s apathy.’

‘"I’ll tell you what, that guy there is a good football player," said Colts’ coach Jim Mora as he passed Rhodes outside the locker room. "We were very confident that he’d do it for us today."’

‘An awkward situation arose in the Bills’ lockerroom after the game. Guard Ruben Brown was visibly upset several times during the game, once throwing his helmet, then gathering his offensive teammates around him for an emotional chat. Naturally, the media wanted to talk to him after the game. But he declined, except to WGR’s Ed Kilgore. As Brown explained, "They pay me."’

‘When Buffalo visited Indianapolis in the second week of the season, the Bills defense made the Colts look like the offensive equivalent of the St. Louis Rams, surrendering 42 points and 555 yards…..’.

It’s common for an NFL general manager to visit a couple of college games during the fall to scout talent for the upcoming draft. But we’ve seen Buffalo Bills GM Tom Donahoe two of the past four weeks at a college venue, telling us he’s very interested in helping rebuild the Bills.

Granted, his future relies on the success of the team’s next couple of drafts, but considering all the other responsibilities his job entails, it’s impressive to see Donahoe comb the country for players as if he were still an area scout.

Even the normally verbose Ruben Brown had trouble finding the right words after the Indianapolis Colts trounced the Buffalo Bills 30-14 Sunday at Ralph Wilson Stadium.

“They know everything they need to know when they go out there and play the game,” Buffalo’s left guard and the offensive line’s de facto elder statesman. “It’s unfortunate that sometimes they’re in situations … it’s really tough …. I don’t know what to say.”

Brown was answering a question about the hapless performance of Marques Sullivan and Jon Carman, each a first-year player forced into the lineup by injuries to left tackle John Fina and right tackle Jonas Jennings.

But he could have been talking about the whole team.

Against a Colts defense that came into Sunday’s game allowing a league-worst points-per-game average, the Bills could not score an offensive touchdown until late in the fourth quarter, when Jay Riemersma hauled in a 27-yard touchdown with 3:39 remaining in regulation. Buffalo struggled to move the football all afternoon, gaining just 68 yards of total offense in the first half and just 232 total yards on the afternoon.

Miss the good old days? You know, the weeks when every Sunday, you simply knew the Buffalo Bills were going to win? It was not a question of if, but by how much. Each year, you could safely assume the Bills were going to the Super Bowl. That was not a question of if, either; you would only wonder who they were going to play.

Kelly was drafted by Buffalo out of the University of Miami with Buffalo’s 14th overall pick in the 1983 NFL Draft, but Kelly opted to play with the Houston Gamblers of the United States Football League to begin his pro career, and he spent three seasons in the USFL until he finally came to terms with the Bills in August, 1986.

Gregg Williams: "I am disappointed. I thought we would have played better. I thought the Colts played very well. That was the best game they have played in several weeks. We didn’t play well. We didn’t tackle well on defense. We did not protect Rob very well at the beginning of the ball game. We turned the ball over in short field, and we are not good enough to play on short fields."

‘Why, if you remove Ruben Brown’s 304 pounds from the equation, the other four members of the Bills’ front line totaled 16 NFL starts coming into Sunday’s affair. Which is just 16 more than, oh, the barbershop quartet of your choice.’