Two Bills Drive

‘From Canton to Western New York to all the pockets of transplanted Buffalonians around the country, Levy’s Hall of Fame induction Saturday was a celebration of Bills fandom and the man who led the team to its golden era.’

‘His goal was to get his team to prepare the best it could each day, to get the players to get the most out of themselves, to leave everything they had out on the field. If they did all those things, there’s a good chance winning would result.’

‘"To know the game is great. To play the game is greater. But to love the game is the greatest of them all."’

‘For the Bills, Saturday’s gathering against the Cleveland Browns bared that the running game is making progress and the defense is solid, but the pass protection, which allowed 11 "sacks" (defenders touched but were not allowed to tackle the quarterbacks), needs work. The outcome was a very ambiguous 30-12 Bills loss, but the score was secondary. The primary reason for the scrimmage at Sox Harrison Stadium was evaluation.’

‘The point of this story? It’s that it isn’t clear whether Gregg Williams knows when to play ’em and when hold ’em.’

‘Brown and Cleveland Browns rookie defensive tackle Gerard Warren were ejected for fighting late in the controlled scrimmage at Edinboro University, and Brown’s loss was felt immediately. Brown was replaced by rookie tackle Marques Sullivan and he and lineman Robert Hicks had a difficult time keeping the Browns’ defenders away from quarterback Rob Johnson.’

‘Perhaps better than any, Marv Levy typifies what a Hall of Famer is. The former head coach of the Buffalo Bills and Kansas City Chiefs doesn’t just break the stereotype of dumb jocks. He shatters it with a set of encyclopedias.’

‘"It’s been a long trip from the corner of 71st and Stony Island to Canton, Ohio. I wouldn’t have missed it for the world. Every step has been a joyous journey accompanied by remarkable companions."’

‘The melee didn’t sit well with the first-year head coaches, Gregg Williams of the Bills and Butch Davis of the Browns. "We need to improve the discipline aspect,” said Williams, who was an assistant with the Tennessee Titans before replacing Wade Phillips in Buffalo this season.’

‘"There seems to be an appreciation in the difficulty of going back to the Super Bowl and what those teams accomplished to get there," Levy said.’

‘I hold Marv Levy in the highest respect. His consistency as a person … he is a guy I’ve not known a long time, but it’s felt like I’ve known him my whole life…He treated his players like professionals, and he knew what to expect from us. In turn, we knew what we would get from him."’

‘Overall, the Browns were pleased with the way things went — even though Buffalo’s first-team offense opened the scrimmage with a nine-play, 65-yard drive that ended with Shawn Bryson’s 1-yard touchdown run.’

‘The defense got pushed around pretty good on the opening drive. Davis said the team lacked the necessary tempo — but it’s worth wondering what they expected in a live scrimmage.’

‘He is the master of the one-liner, who while trying to shake his Buffalo Bills out of a 22-game road losing streak posed the question: Why did the Nazis fail to rule the world despite having such a powerful war machine? "Because Hitler couldn’t win on the road."’

‘The defense sacked Bills quarterbacks 11 times and Tim Couch completed 10 of 14 passes during a full contact scrimmage yesterday before 8,537 fans in Sox Harrison Stadium. Technically, the Browns won 30-12, but the scrimmage was not about keeping score.’