Two Bills Drive

The Bills catch a break with a relatively soft schedule. However, with huge holes along the offensive line, the brittleness of starting QB Rob Johnson and the vast turnover of players on defense, the Bills will do well to break even this season.

‘Center Michael Early was a no-name free agent when he signed just before the Buffalo Bills went to training camp. To most fans and media, the 6-foot-2, 320-pounder was nothing more than an extra body for practice. However, Bills observers recently were hit with the reality that Early is close to being the regular-season starter.’

‘On Oct. 18, 1987, the Buffalo Bills defeated the New York Giants in a rather nondescript game at Rich Stadium. It was the third and final replacement game during the ’87 players strike – a contest that featured its fair share of insurance agents, welders and construction workers – and the Bills came away from this glorified pillow fight with a 6-3 overtime victory. Bills coach Marv Levy called it the worst football game ever played, but that’s not how Rick Schulte remembers it.’

‘A former Buffalo Bills linebacker escaped injury when bullets sprayed through a house on West Balcom Street, wounding three men. Three Buffalo men are recovering from gunshot wounds, but two others in the house, former Buffalo Bills linebacker Damien Covington and his brother, Kip, both of New Jersey, suffered no injuries during the Saturday night shooting, Buffalo police officials said.’

‘Team on the rise: Buffalo Bills…Team on the slide: Miami Dolphins.’

"That was outstanding," Johnson said of the defense’s performance in getting field position. "It’s great to have. When you are going thirty or forty yards, your plays change. The defense did us a great job of getting us the ball in plus territory."

‘While the Bills got the return of Rob Johnson to the lineup, Buffalo’s defense helped out the cause by powering the Bills to a 20-10 win over the Bengals at Paul Brown Stadium in Cincinnati.’

‘Quarterback Rob Johnson and the rest of the Bills’ first-team offense played through the first series of the third quarter. The resulted were mixed.’

‘Jerry Ostroski, their veteran right guard, broke his leg last week and will miss a large chunk of the season. Jerry O. is a nice guy and a team leader, although not the second coming of John Hannah. Yet to hear the fans’ reaction, you would think a falling meteor had wiped out Ralph Wilson Stadium.’

‘Antoine Winfield was picked on early and often by Bengals quarterback Scott Mitchell, but the Bills’ diminutive corner responded with a pair of interceptions.’

‘Rob Johnson threw a touchdown pass to Jeremy McDaniel to give the Bills a 12-3 lead late in the second quarter, and that was all the offense Buffalo needed.’

‘Dillon played the entire first half, rushing seven times for 34 yards. And the defense managed five sacks. Other than than, not much went right.’

‘Three players who had short stints with the Bengals have surfaced with the Bills – left offensive tackle Kris Farris, center Craig Heimburger and wide receiver Chris Rosier.’

‘This victory came against one of the NFL’s worst teams … probably the AFC’s weakest. So any success is metered.’

‘The Bengals had only one sustained scoring drive, their first, all night. They outgained Buffalo 371 yards to 274.’