Two Bills Drive

‘Go ahead, laugh, roll your eyes, throw this newspaper in the recycling bin, but after you’ve calmed down, I challenge you to come up with anyone else more worthy than the gangly, round-shouldered place kicker from Oakville, Ont. No. 2 is No. 1 this season.’

‘Foxboro Stadium had that early ’90s feel to it yesterday — no Drew Bledsoe, offensive ineptitude of epic proportions, an obligatory comeback that gets trumped in the end.’

‘"He made the plays," said Patriots linebacker Tedy Bruschi. "He had a great drive."’

‘When you kick a 48-yard yard field goal with eight seconds left to send the game into overtime and a 32-yarder to win it, and basically all you do is shrug your shoulders after, it must because you’ve been in this line of work forever.’

‘"John did some things that gave us the opportunity to win but we didn’t follow through on them," said the coach. But there’s a reason Friesz, a 33-year-old veteran in his 11th year in the league, hasn’t been a full-time starter since 1991 when he was with the Chargers and it was brought home yesterday.’

‘"You have to give them credit," New England center Damien Woody said. "They just hung in there and hung in there, and it paid off for them in the end."’

‘Yet, for all his trouble and all that good defense by New England, Flutie still found the right touch in the clutch.’

‘The way they defensed the Buffalo Bills and Doug Flutie, they should have won going away. It didn’t happen, simply because Bledsoe missed most of the game, and Friesz just wasn’t up to the challenge of replacing him.’

‘All he does is win football games. Pro football experts like to say that about Bills quarterback Doug Flutie. They should be saying it about Buffalo kicker Steve Christie.’

‘Bishop had been the No. 2 quarterback in recent weeks, but Friesz has been getting most of the work in practice in recent weeks, the coach said.’

‘Just when it seemed like Flutie Fever might be a thing of the past, Doug was Doug.’

‘"We had a chance at the end," Damien Woody said, "but we just couldn’t finish it." They likely finished it several weeks ago.’

‘Drew Bledsoe was hurt and Sunday’s game with the Buffalo Bills was in the balance. But instead of turning to the young quarterback with the alleged future, Coach Bill Belichick beckoned to the veteran passer with no real past.’

‘"Doug didn’t play his best game today, and the conditions had a lot to do with it," added Bills head coach Wade Phillips. "But he came through for us on those last two drives. He just finds a way to win."’

‘In a game like this, it’s just a shame that someone had to win. And you knew it wouldn’t be the Patriots.’