Two Bills Drive

‘Kelly feels injured quarterback Rob Johnson has the talent to be a good one, if he can stay healthy long enough. But Kelly believes Johnson won’t be successful unless the Bills surround him with more talent. Kelly acknowledged that Johnson holds the ball too long, but understands why he does it. “When you’re struggling and trying to make things happen as a quarterback, they are going to hold on to the ball a little bit,” Kelly said. “You’re going to take a pounding, you’re going to take that hit because you’re sacrificing your body to complete that pass hoping that it’s going to be a big one. But there comes a time when you just have to go more to a quicker passing game.”‘

Mortensen: Brady wasn’t great against the Bills, and it will be interesting to see how he plays in the next couple of weeks while Bledsoe tries to get back in playing shape. Nevertheless, the Pats climbed above .500, and they can measure themselves against the best Sunday night when they play host to the Rams. The Bills lost Johnson again, this time with a broken clavicle. How long do you stick with him? The question might be, how long do you stick with an inexperienced OC (Mike Sheppard)? It can be a cruel league, but at some point there must be improvement, plus results. The Bills aren’t getting them on offense.

‘On any given Sunday, the Seahawks are capable of beating any team — as was the case Sunday night against the Raiders, and in their earlier upsets of the Broncos and Dolphins. They also are capable of losing to any team — as was the case against the Redskins two weeks ago. Or being completely embarrassed — as was obvious in back-to-back 24-points losses to the Eagles and Raiders in September.’

‘He is slowly becoming "The Face" of the Seahawks, a team without ready-made stars that needed to market the past glory of its Super Bowl winning coach. Shaun Alexander’s franchise-record performance of 266 rushing yards Sunday will garner him his second AFC Player of the Week award today when the NFL makes the announcement.’

‘By all accounts, the Seahawks are expected to win this Sunday’s game. Not that Seattle, with its ho-hum 4-4 record, can look down on many opponents, but Buffalo is really struggling. The Bills’ only victory was a narrow 13-10 win over Jacksonville almost one month ago. They start five rookies, and will enter Sunday’s game without starting quarterback Rob Johnson.’

‘Johnson bought California beachfront on potential and more power to him. But his next contract he should be forced to earn. With another team.’

‘There is much pain and suffering for Bills fans this season, but if the hierarchy can develop the players worth developing, weed out the dead weight and use the 2002 draft to infuse the roster with talent, the Bills could again become competitive as early as 2003. "As difficult as this is to go through, I look at it as a positive because I can see the end result," Donahoe said. "I can see that it’s helping us get to where we want to get to."’

‘This was Rob Johnson’s chance to prove himself as a viable NFL quarterback, but not only did he make no progress, he actually regressed.

GRADE: C-.’

‘Van Pelt is a super guy, beloved by his teammates and better-versed in the no-huddle offense than Johnson. Unfortunately, he is neither strong-armed nor mobile. Van Pelt is a backup and doesn’t seriously aspire otherwise, which makes him perfect for his position. Oh, he relishes this opportunity . After all, since going to camp with the Steelers back in 1993, the 31-year-old Van Pelt has started exactly three NFL games, all in Buffalo’s nightmarish 1997 season when guys named Todd Collins and Billy Joe Hobert were his competition. Now, if he can stay healthy, Van Pelt will get a month’s worth of starts. But what makes him different is that even if he plays lights-out, the former University of Pittsburgh star wouldn’t expect to take Johnson’s job. That’s why Doug Flutie and Johnson couldn’t co-exist, salary cap issues aside, while Van Pelt is perfect for that role.’

Subject: #22 rookie sensation Nate Clement.

The artist, Gina Mustico, is a poster who first started creating wallpaper for TwoBillsDrive.

Antowain Smith, RB, New England: Rushed 20 times for 100 yards and two touchdowns, giving him 350 rushing yards in the past four games.

In a defensive battle that featured 12 combined sacks, the Pats persevered despite their problems in the passing game. Brady hit a high percentage of passes but threw for only 107 yards and was pestered all game by the Bills’ pass rush. The Bills tightened it up to 14-11 with a Moulds TD grab with 2:43 to play, but the Patriots put it away when Smith broke free for a 42-yard scoring run on the first play after the two-minute warning to seal the victory.

"Last week, I think what I said … was that when we made the decision with Rob, it was a decision we were not making for 8 games, or 16 games, or whatever. We felt we were making a decision for the future. I also said we evaluate every player on this roster, and I’ll be evaluated this last 8 games, as will the coaches and the players. There’s a lot at stake here, and we can’t feel that despite our record, the rest of our season we can go through the motions. If people are going through the motions, they’re not going to be here. That’s one thing I can assure you of."

"One of those things that I will explain to you [about his injury] right up front of why he wasn’t able to talk last night, it’s more than just that," Williams added. "He found out late Friday night that his grandfather passed away, his dad’s father, and he already had plans as soon as the ballgame was over to get him on out there and go to the funeral, and it’s important as a family to do that."

"Defensively, right there, they fought and got us back into it when we didn’t get the onside kick, which we had scripted and we discussed it the night before what we would do in that position. By working hard to strip it to get another chance and we end up having several missed tackles at the end when they break out for the score."

Is anyone really surprised about Bills QB Rob Johnson being out 4 weeks with a broken clavicle? I hate to beat a dead horse, or in this case, a half-dead quarterback. But Johnson’s style of play leads to sacks, which leads to injuries.