Two Bills Drive

‘Now in his 17th year as an NFL assistant and third season as the Bills secretary of defense, Cottrell has done a masterful job of putting players in position to make plays.’

‘Miami, Buffalo, Indianapolis and the New York Jets could all be tied by late this afternoon with 8-4 records should the Bills beat the Buccaneers, the Jets beat Chicago and Indianapolis beats Miami.’

‘Although a victory today in Tampa Bay would be huge, a loss would not kill the Bills because the Bucs are a NFC team and this game would not matter in the myriad of playoff tiebreakers.’

‘"I expect to run the table, starting with Buffalo," ferocious Bucs tackle Warren Sapp said this week. "Whatever stadium they let us play in, let’s go get it done."’

‘"The saddest part is we play at the highest professional level of football and a high school team has more bare (offensive) plays than we do."’

‘The Bucs have 43 sacks, one off the team record (44 in 1997). Odds are, the new record will be set today against the Buffalo Bills at Raymond James Stadium.’

‘Even now, they say, things really aren’t as bad as they seem. They are wrong. It is that bad. It could get worse.’

‘The entire team’s sack total has dropped significantly in the last three games.’

‘The Bucs have no option. They set it up this way when they held onto Eric Zeier and didn’t go after another backup. Dungy said Monday that King remains the Bucs’ best chance for success. And he’s right.’

‘Take the Bucs, change some of the names to Sam Cowart and Jay Riemersma, and what have you got? The Buffalo Bills. There may not be another team in the league that’s as Buc-like as the Bills.’

‘Buffalo’s Wade Phillips has his team positioned to take over the AFC East lead with a victory against the Bucs.’

‘Tampa Bay has maybe a 40 percent chance of being alive for the NFL post-season. Ten wins are needed.’

‘At 5 feet 8, 180 pounds, they believe he can’t take the pounding of a featured running back. With the season-ending injury to Mike Alstott, Dunn has an opportunity in the last five games to prove he is durable enough to get the football 20-25 times a contest.’

‘I hardly ever fight too much for extra yardage because you usually get hurt. The thing is, when I run, I try to protect myself at all costs because I do want to be able to walk away from the game.’

‘Johnson is healthy and took over from Doug Flutie. His team seemed to rally around him in a comeback win over Kansas City on the road.’