Two Bills Drive

‘Seems the Buffalo Bills will help make some high-altitude history tonight – and we’re not talking about Rob Johnson’s passing. JetBlue Airways says it will make aviation and broadcasting history as it plays host for the first National Football League game to be broadcast live on ESPN in flight – between the Buffalo Bills and the Tennessee Titans. Each seat comes with a personal satellite TV, featuring 24 channels of DIRECTV programming, provided free of charge.’

‘Never count Bills out until the playoffs.’

‘The Titans and Bills meet tonight at sold-out Ralph Wilson Stadium in one of the most anticipated regular-season openers in history. Just eight months ago, Tennessee thwarted Buffalo’s Super Bowl hopes with a stunning 22-16 wild-card playoff victory in Nashville, scoring the winning touchdown in the final seconds on a controversial 75-yard lateral kickoff return. "We are all expecting a hostile environment going up to Buffalo this time," Titans running back Eddie George said. "Especially the way that playoff game ended. I’m pretty sure they circled this game at the top of their schedule." The Bills don’t deny the memory of Kevin Dyson running untouched up the sideline haunts them. They don’t deny revenge is a powerful motivator.’

‘It should be noted that Bills punter Chris Mohr, the team’s designated emergency quarterback, has a much higher career completion percentage than either Rob Johnson or Doug Flutie. Of course, it also should be noted that Mohr has tossed just one spiral in his 10-year Buffalo career. He’d like to keep it that way. "If I’m in there taking snaps then we are in serious trouble," says Mohr, who is expected to enter tonight’s season opener against the Tennessee Titans at Ralph Wilson Stadium as Buffalo’s third-string signal-caller. "I’d love to give quarterback a brief shot, but not under these circumstances. If I’m in there against the Titans that means Rob (Johnson) and Alex (Van Pelt) have been knocked out, and I don’t want to see that."’

‘This goes without saying, but . . . If they’re kicking off to the Titans in the final seconds, stay in their coverage lanes.’

‘It was a horror show the Buffalo Bills special-teams players couldn’t possibly forget. And, as his first order of official business, new special-teams coach Ronnie Jones wasn’t about to let them. When the Bills convened at training camp in Rochester, N.Y., in mid-July, Jones began his initial meeting with special-teams players by showing the gruesome video of the Music City Miracle, an epic tragedy for an NFL team all to familiar with high-profile failure. "Guys were screaming at me to turn it off," Jones said of his first chance to make a bad impression. "They were upset and tired of seeing it but I let it run. You have to see it. The veterans don’t need to be reminded, I suppose, but the rookies haven’t been through that."’

‘At 6-foot-4, Eddie George of the Tennessee Titans is one of the NFL’s tallest running backs, and more susceptible than most to punishing blows from opposing defences. Still, George rarely sits out a play and hasn’t missed a start in his four years in the league. So, as punishing a blow as last January’s 23-16 Super Bowl loss to the St. Louis Rams was, George expects to rebound the same way. "I think it definitely made us hungry, you know, to try to get back to that point again," said George, who intends to pick things up in tonight’s season opener, a Music City Miracle rematch against the Buffalo Bills at Ralph Wilson Stadium (8:35 p.m., TSN). "We want to be a better football team and grow off of it," he said. "I think that was just a building block."’

‘”I would rank the indignation by people in Buffalo over ‘Home Run Throw Back’ to more than ‘No Goal,’ ” said sports writer Larry Felser, who has covered the Bills for the past 40 years. “Because ‘No Goal’ happened late at night, people woke up to it. This thing happened in front of God and everybody. “It was an instant explosion. People were instantly indignant and have stayed that way.”‘

‘"We should be winning convincingly now," defensive end Kenny Holmes said. "I see what we did last offseason, I see what we did this offseason. We worked even harder. Going to the Super Bowl wasn’t an excuse for us to take the summer off. "We want to get back and win. We didn’t win, so it was all for naught."’

‘Titans 27, Bills 23’

‘No miracles required [for Buffalo] to return to the playoffs.’

‘Verizon Wireless will plug in a mobile cellular site that it calls "cell on wheels" for the Buffalo Bills game, the company said. More than 70,000 fans can fill the stadium’s bowl during games, the equivalent of a small, garrulous city that can overload Verizon’s four transmitters in the area, marketing director John O’Malley said. "We did have instances where some sites experienced blocking of calls," he said. Cellular companies can divide their frequencies among an almost unlimited numbers of users, but the feat takes multiple transmitters to accomplish. The temporary site, hidden in 12-foot enclosure near a stadium gate, can connect 100 calls at once, effectively doubling Verizon’s capacity in and around the stadium, O’Malley said. It will be in place throughout the football season, using an antenna mounted on the stadium’s administration building. The temporary tower is part of Verizon’s deal with the Buffalo Bills as its official provider of wireless service, O’Malley said.’

‘"I like this offense," [Jay Riemersma] said. "We’ve got some talent, so it’s just a matter of the coaches putting guys in the right spots because we have that ability. There might be more opportunities for me to catch the ball. If I get the opportunity to do that this year, I’ll try to take advantage of it as much as possible."’

‘While QB Doug Flutie sits, Rob Johnson needs to show pocket poise he’s noted for… RB Antowain Smith needs breakout season . . . Bills return to playoffs as a wild card.’

‘"The game will be a kind of trial by fire for security," said Samuel McCune, the Orchard Park police chief. "It’s a night game and there’s a holiday the next day." Scott Berchtold, the Bills vice president for communications, said team officials are well aware of the potential for problems. But he said tighter security measures adopted last season and in place for this season should help. "We’ll do our best," Berchtold said. "And it’s not as if we haven’t gone through this before."’