Two Bills Drive

‘Buffalo is starting over on the offensive line, with five of its seven linemen new. Center Bill Conaty, right guard Corey Hulsey, an undrafted free agent, and right tackle Jonas Jennings, a rookie third-round pick and former Georgia standout, haven’t started an NFL game. Their first will come Sunday against the New Orleans Saints, who led the NFL in sacks last year with 66. "Sometimes change is good," said Johnson. "We might go through some growing pains, but they are battlers. They fight you to the last play. They are young, but they have a lot of talent."’

‘Not even the local hockey fans starving for a first Stanley Cup in 35 years can come close to replicating Western New York’s rabid mix of paranoia, inferiority, pride and passion. Bills football is all they have in Buffalo, excepting the Krispy Kreme franchise that opened last year with great fanfare. Of the past 24 home games, 21 have sold out. They’re afraid not to show up, in case the team vacates town before the next game.’

‘Buffalo Bills’ game tapes from the 2000 season aren’t doing opposing coaches any good. The Bills cleaned house this offseason, hiring Tom Donahoe as president/general manager. Donahoe brought in Gregg Williams from Tennessee as his head coach. Throw in two new coordinators and a slew of new players and you can chunk those video tapes.’

‘"Obviously we’ve been struggling a bit there, so they brought a couple of guys in," Christie, 33, said. "If they deserved the job and they were better than me, they’d be here. Well, they’re not."’

‘"They’ll go through growing pains," Haslett, the former Bills linebacker, said yesterday. "We struggled ourselves through pre-season last year and the first couple of games, and then it all came together. "Once they get it together, they have the makings of a heckuva offence."’

‘"Those are things that people are going to remember if he keeps getting sacked. People are going to continue to harp on it and it’s going to wear and tear at him. He knows what he has to do. He has to go out and do it."’

‘"I know this town’s been snakebitten in the past, but they should give us a chance. Wait to see us play on the field."’

‘A never-used third-stringer with the Green Bay Packers in 1999 and the clipboard holder with the Saints for the first three months last year, Brooks played with poise and confidence when he inherited the starting job. He guided New Orleans to victories in three of the final five regular-season games before beating defending Super Bowl champion St. Louis on Wild Card weekend.’

For the 3rd year in row, TBD will bring fans together for the annual pick ’em contest. This season we will host the contest on CBS Sportsline. Just sign-up at the link above. The group password is "gobills". Come join us!

‘Sixty-six are how many sacks the Saints recorded to lead the NFL last season. Forty-eight — or once for every seven times he dropped back to pass — are how many times Johnson was sacked last year. And two are the total combined NFL starts three of the Bills’ five offensive linemen have between them. Added up, it equals trouble.’

‘"I have to look and do what we feel is best for the football team," Donahoe said. "How the fans react to it, they’re going to react to it. Hopefully, the new product that we can put on the field is one that the fans will like and find new identifications with."’

‘Carter, an undrafted free agent rookie, had eight tackles in three preseason games with New Orleans before he was released on Aug. 28. His addition brings the Bills practice squad up to the NFL maximum five players.’

The new offer includes a 60 percent increase in salaries this year. The NFL with two plans, one of which must be implemented by Thursday. One has a slate of regular officials scheduled for the 15 games on opening week; the other has crews of replacements, augmented by NFL supervisors, ready to get to the games. I like the idea that someone had that the league should hire full time officials and have them work NFL Europe during th "off season" …

CB Carter (6-0, 183) played at Tulane and had signed with the New Orleans Saints as an undrafted rookie free agent…..

‘Gone from Hulsey’s mind will be his many travails: the heartache of coming out of college a year early only to go undrafted; getting cut by the Bills in 1999 after just one preseason game; laboring on the practice squad last year; being allocated to NFL Europe for the spring. Hulsey not only made the Bills’ roster this year, he will be the starting right guard against the New Orleans Saints.’