Two Bills Drive

‘New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick sounded a lot like Wade Phillips this past week in trying to deflect his quarterback controversy. What happens when Drew Bledsoe comes back from internal injuries he suffered in the second game of the season?’

‘The Bills essentially handed Brandon a No. 2 pencil and asked him to paint like Picasso. Four years later, through his innovation and a staff increase from six to about 30, he has produced a masterpiece under the circumstances.’

‘It hasn’t been close in Buffalo. The Bills have lost at home by 18 points to New Orleans, 17 points to Pittsburgh, 16 to Indy and six to the Jets. The Bills have not lost five games at home since 1986, and they still have dates at Rich Stadium this season with Miami and New England.’

‘”We still want to want to win and we’re going to do what we can to win,” said Donahoe, Buffalo’s president and general manager. “We have not decided this season is a wash…it’s anything but a wash. “We have a lot of games left to play and we want to see if we can get more consistent. We’re going to put our best people on the field and we’re also going to continue the process of evaluating our team and some of our young guys.” He added, with emphasis, “This team has not thrown in the towel. We don’t expect (the players) to and we haven’t as an organization. “We still feel there’s going to be plenty of opportunity to get ourselves headed in the right direction, and to do that we’ve got to put our best people out on the field to give us a chance to win right now.”‘

‘The Bills have survived offensively when teams have failed to mount a substantial pass rush. The Colts pressured by blitzing. The Patriots, who tend to do a little bit of everything and then emphasize what works, are clearly better when rookie nose tackle Richard Seymour is healthy. Even if Seymour does not make the sack, he pushes the center of the pocket – which makes life much harder for quarterbacks.’

‘Who’d have thought that the talented Bledsoe being unable to play would be a godsend?’

‘It won’t happen now. If Tom Brady, 24, keeps playing the way he has, the Patriots will be left to ponder if they should trade the league’s hottest young quarterback for a couple of first-round draft choices, or stake their future on Brady and figure out if there’s a way to unload Bledsoe without taking a huge salary cap hit.’

‘The last three Patriots-Bills games have gone to overtime. All were decided by a field goal.’

‘"People talk about Flutie running around all the time, but Johnson is the second-leading rusher on their team," said New England linebacker Tedy Bruschi. "He’s able to scramble. He’s a very gifted athlete. He’s got a big arm. He’ll take off and run. They’ve sort of got the same type of offense with him as with Flutie."’

‘Are the playoffs in the Patriots’ future? Who knows? But if they’re going to make a run, it starts today.’

‘"It’s a modern looking facility, but with a very traditional twist," Wasynczuk said. "We felt New England is a very traditional area and that’s reinforced with the style of the building."’

‘He HAS played well when healthy. He’s completed more than 60 percent of his passes for Buffalo, and is averaging a robust 6.83 yards per pass attempt this season on 102 completions in 190 throws. He’s also rushed for 223 yards, second among NFL QBs this season. All of which has impressed Bills fans not at all. It was Johnson’s ultimate misfortune to be an injury-prone quarterback whose backup was the charisimatic and resourceful Doug Flutie.’

‘One significant difference between Williams and Belichick is that the Pats coach has the final say in all New England player personnel decisions. Williams must defer to Bills’ GM Tom Donahoe. And Williams wouldn’t have it any other way. “The first thing about this job is that I’m doing it here with Tom,” Williams said. “I think football’s like any other business. You have to be able to work together. If you can, anything else doesn’t matter."’

‘It’s known as the look of love, and that admiring gleam is never so apparent as when Patriots coach Bill Belichick is asked to address the unusual longevity of Otis Smith. Not only has the 36-year-old cornerback avoided the sort of decline that normally begins nipping at players in his position at a much younger age.’

‘Forget the bogus 18-man injury report Bill Belichick put out for reasons he never will explain. When the Patriots start the second half of the season today against the Buffalo Bills, the majority of those 18 will play. In fact, many of them didn’t even know they were injured when asked.’