Two Bills Drive

‘"We talk about that all the time," Saints coach Jim Haslett said. "If you make them kick field goals in this league, you’ve got the upper hand. Going in at halftime it was 6-0, but it could have been 14-0."’

‘Saints defensive tackle Norman Hand, a 330-pounder, clobbered 221-pound running back Travis Henry for a 3-yard loss on first-and-goal at the Saints 1 in the second quarter. On the ferocious hit, Hand knocked Henry onto the back of tackle John Fina — forcing Fina to leave the game momentarily.’

‘It was one half of embarrassment followed by one half of excellence.’

‘The temperature at kickoff was 87 degrees at Ralph Wilson Stadium. "Everybody complains about the heat in Thibodaux," Saints center Jerry Fontenot said. "I’m included because I don’t like the heat. But I’ll tell you what, we were ready for the heat today. While it still felt pretty warm out there today, we’re so used to practicing in it and pushing through it. I think it really affected them in the second half."’

‘"We need to play two complete halves of football," said the Bills’ new coach, Gregg Williams. "We can’t have 17 unanswered points and we need to manage turnovers better. We need a total team effort."’

‘"Our defense played well," Moulds said. "They kept us in situations where we had chances to make plays and put the Saints away. By no means did the Saints come out and do what they wanted to do. Offensively, we just didn’t make plays when they were there."’

‘The Flutie-Johnson debate is alive and well.’

‘"We couldn’t do it. I think that would have given our offense a boost right after the half if we had stopped them from scoring points. But we didn’t, and it ballooned on us after that."’

‘While he was taken down five times, that wasn’t really the problem, execution was. When the Saints took away wide receivers Moulds and Peerless Price with double teams, that left the middle of the field open for Riemersma. Johnson saw it, but failed to connect.’

‘The offense showed some flashes, but they were rare, and the bottom line is the Bills didn’t score a touchdown. Rob Johnson once again failed to deliver on his ”potential.” That storyline is getting tiring.’

‘Yesterday, in his first regular- season NFL game, he connected on field goals from 37 and 22 yards, providing the only Buffalo points in a 24-6 loss to the New Orleans Saints. The job is his — for now.’

‘Consider this: If Cowart — second only to Baltimore’s Ray Lewis among NFL defenders last season — is gone for the season, the Bills will be without their four leading tacklers and their entire linebacking corps from a year ago.’

‘Gregg Williams’ debut turned out as expected — his young team played well early against a beatable Saints team, failed to respond to adversity, and petered out in the end.’

‘There you have it, 7 up, 9 down. Nothing too spectacular or out of the ordinary. The hope will have to be that the Bills have swallowed hard and are now in position to make a charge and not so much change in ’02.’

‘While Buffalo’s newly installed 4-3 defense held firm, quarterback Rob Johnson looked unsettled running the new West Coast offensive scheme.’