Two Bills Drive

‘When Emmitt Thomas coached in Philadelphia and Green Bay, he always had great respect for Vikings safety Robert Griffith. Now that Thomas is the Vikings’ defensive coordinator, he has an even greater appreciation for Griffith’s talents. "The thing I admire about him is that from looking at people from afar, you never get the full impact," Thomas said. "When I was at Philadelphia and at Green Bay, we really loved this young man. And then coming here, he’s not a disappointment. He’s a heavy hitter, good cover guy and a good team player. "He is smart, but he also likes to compete. He’s intense and very competitive, even in practice. He’s got a great work ethic, and is the leader of our defense."’

‘Vikings 21, Buffalo 17.’

‘It’s the belief here that Flutie still may be the most magical player in the NFL. He knows that. What drives you crazy is to hear all the whispers from newspaper columnists that teammates don’t like him and how they hope he fails so Robbie can flourish. There’s only one problem with that theory: When does he fail? And when does Robbie flourish?’

‘Here we go again, Flutie at 38 has to prove himself worthy one more time. The pressure’s on. Let’s say Johnson is ready in three weeks. That gives Flutie two games to produce wins and look good doing it. He was winning last year (10-5) but the the coaches didn’t think he looked so good doing it. So they pulled the plug on the guy. Flutie went on record as saying he thinks the Bills would have beaten the Titans had he played. He took a lot of grief for saying so. That’ll teach him to be honest.’

‘Culpepper enters Sunday’s game against the Buffalo Bills as the first first-round draft choice to win his first six starts since 1950, when they started keeping track of such a thing.’

‘Bills fans, set your VCRs. ESPN is premiering a love letter to you, "NFL Films Presents – A Town, a Team and a Dream: The Story of the Buffalo Bills," at 3 a.m. Monday. The way things are going with the length of postseason baseball, that may be the time that Game Two of the World Series ends. The special includes a variety of NFL Films footage of the past, as well as new interviews with Bills cheerleader Tim Russert of "Meet the Press," former Buffalo News writer Vic Carucci, filmmaker Vincent Gallo ("Buffalo ’66"), radio voice Van Miller and ex-Bills Jack Kemp, Bruce Smith, Jim Kelly and Paul Maguire. It also airs at 4 p.m. Monday on ESPN, and at noon and 7:30 p.m. Tuesday and at 3:30 p.m. Thursday on ESPN2. Russert, Carucci and Gallo get most of the air time in the half-hour program, which discusses the pain one experiences as a Bills fan and the fantasy of what it actually would be like if they ever won the Super Bowl.’

‘Remarkably, left guard Corbin Lacina is the only starter to miss a game. He suffered a sprained medial collateral ligament in the third preseason game and missed three weeks, including the season opener against Chicago.’

‘Northern, who will play this week at defensive tackle in a nickel-defense situation, has been working with some of the Vikings’ coaches, gladly surrendering all the information he has on the Bills’ scheme and their personnel. "In practice, I might see something and point how the Bills do it," Northern said. "I practiced against that offense and I know it pretty well, so there are some things I can help with . . . I’d love to help us expose something that directly helps us win the game." Lacina and Paup (who is out for the next six games with a fracture in his knee) have talked to their teammates about the habits of some of the Bills’ players. "I was talking to Johnny (Randle) about some of the Bills’ offensive linemen," Lacina said. "I was around those guys and know a lot of their little secrets. Knowing the personnel is big part of playing a team."’

‘"They’ve done it extremely well, and so they are really good at it," said Vikings coach Dennis Green. "The biggest thing is that you have two uncovered linemen right in there with the nose tackle, and so the nose tackle can move a lot of different ways. It gives you an extra athlete on the field. If you don’t get a lot of looks at it, you have to make a lot of decisions, and learn a lot of things in a short period of time. You don’t have the continuity of what you played last week and the week before, and now you play that this week. The big thing is, it’s a great run defense. That makes a big difference."’

‘Moss will present enormous problems for the Bills because at 6-foot-4, he has an eight-inch height advantage on cornerback Antoine Winfield, and a six-inch gap on the other corner, Ken Irvin. In Buffalo’s dime defense, the tallest of the six defensive backs is strong safety Henry Jones who stands an even 6-feet.’

‘Asked about losing the job to Johnson last season, Flutie said, "Well, in my mind, I don’t feel I ever lost it. I felt like it was taken from me. But none of that means anything. "My role with this team right now is as the No. 2 quarterback. And my job is to fill in when he’s banged up or come in at the end of ballgames, whatever it may be. … "My job basically is as a Band-Aid right now."’

‘Perhaps the biggest reason the Buffalo Bills have the fourth-best run defense and the best defense on first down stands about 6-4 and weighs 330. His name: Ted Washington.’

‘The Bills make their first visit to Minnesota against the Vikings since 1979 in a game that was played at Metropolitan Stadium (Buffalo played in the Metrodome for Super Bowl XXVI).’

‘Norway’s Leif Ove Dolonen Larsen played his first game in the U.S. National Football League when Buffalo Bills defeated San Diego Chargers 27-24 on Sunday. Larsen, who joined the NFL team this season after being drafted from college football, played defensive end and completed an honourable debut, according to reports.’

‘Expect a Vikings win, maybe even by the biggest margin of the season, which to this point has been 12 points.’