Two Bills Drive

”’It doesn’t matter whether the quarterback was [Drew] Bledsoe, [John] Friesz, [Tom] Brady,” Belichick said Monday. ”It didn’t matter whether their quarterback was [Doug] Flutie, [Rob] Johnson. It doesn’t matter who the coach was. I mean, Buffalo and New England have played tight, competitive games whether they were early in the season [or] late in the season. Whether the weather was sunny, snowy, windy, in between. They have been tight games; they have come down to the wire. They have been tough, physical, hard-hitting games."’

‘When Vrabel was paying his dues as a backup in Pittsburgh for four seasons, the Patriots saw enough to take a chance – and give him one. Thirteen games into his second career, the Patriots aren’t second-guessing themselves.’

‘…Bruschi is slated to become an unrestricted free agent after the season, and is having what many experts consider the best football season of his life while playing a variety of positions.’

‘Whatever problems Buffalo has had this season, the change in quarterbacks is not one of them.’

‘This is the classic example of what Bill Parcells used to call a "trap" game.’

‘"People have talked a lot about Kendrick Bell from Pittsburgh as a potential rookie-of-the-year, but Nate Clements’ stats can rank against any defensive rookie," said Bills coach Gregg Williams . "He has had a very good season. He was thrown into heavy duty maybe a little bit sooner than we were ready for him to do, but he has played very well."’

‘So far this season, Patriots head coach Bill Belichick has used anchors, shovels, movies, horse races, newspaper clippings, poems and handouts to get his weekly point across to his team.’

‘Then in Buffalo he gained notoriety for both his personality and his prowess on the defensive line. Known as one of the NFL’s great characters in an era when the homogenization of the league was starting to filter out many of those true characters, Smerlas carved a niche in upstate New York that he still occupies to this day.’

‘In 11 weeks, Brady appears to have supplanted Drew Bledsoe – an in-his-prime, franchise quarterback – while the ink was still wet on Bledsoe’s 10-year contract extension. Has that ever happened before?’

‘"Buffalo and New England have played tight, competitive games whether they were early in the season or late in the season. Whether the weather was sunny, windy or in between, they have been tight games. They have come down to the wire."’

‘The Bills are a respectable seventh in the AFC in total defense, but they have allowed about 28 points per game — second worst in the conference. Simply put, they do not force any turnovers or make big plays.’

‘The result is a team in better salary cap shape, but one that is not ready to win consistently.’

‘Bobby Hamilton, who plays on the left side, and Anthony Pleasant, who plays on the right, have combined for 10 sacks this season with Pleasant throwing in a couple of interceptions.’

‘Whereas the rebuilding and banged-up Bills have continually failed to overcome their deficiencies, the Patriots almost appear to revel in theirs.’

‘"The guys on our team played together, fought together and drank together," Smerlas said. "It was kind of a "North Dallas Forty’ lifestyle. We joked around, pulled pranks on people and did a lot of wild stuff. Most of them I can’t tell you."’