Two Bills Drive

‘Mirer, a journeyman since being drafted No. 2 over-all by the Seattle Seahawks in 1993, is poor at reading blitzes, so look for the Bills to do much more of that than they did in their opening 31-14 upset loss to the Colts in Indianapolis. Buffalo’s blitz threat would also pose problems for the Jets’ favourite spread offence, which leaves no one in the backfield to block for the quarterback.’

‘”I’ve got to improve my play and we need to improve as a team, but I put all the blame on myself,” Smith said Wednesday. “I need to hit the holes better. Now that Thurman’s out, somebody’s going to have to step up.”‘

‘The rarely admired Mirer could never be compared to Johnny U, but does Parcells have confidence in him? “Well, I don’t know that there is any,” said the coach, whose honesty hits harder than Lawrence Taylor. “I’m telling you the truth. All we’ve seen is part of a preseason game with Rick, that’s all we’ve seen. To say, we really know for sure what’s going to happen, we don’t know. All we can do is prepare him the best we can to be successful and see if we can’t give him the right support. Now coming up there, playing this team (the Bills) in this set of circumstances, that won’t be easy for him but that’s the only way we can approach it.”‘

Doug Flutie faces Bill Belichick’s defense once again Sunday. New York’s defensive coordinator shut Flutie down last year.

‘”Now you look at this week’s game and think that hopefully we’ll catch them while they’re still struggling,” Flutie said. “It throws a wrench into their whole season. Miami’s probably the front runner now instead of New York. But, they’re going to find a way to win. Bill Parcells is not going to let them feel sorry for themselves. “He’s got a knack for getting the most out of everybody.”‘

‘The Bills, who churned for 146 yards against the Jets last December at Ralph Wilson Stadium, will have a hard time collecting anywhere near that Sunday night, thanks to a suspect offensive line and injuries to the running game.’

‘A charge filed by federal prosecutors in March alleged that Miller submitted false invoices to The Bank beginning around March 1995. Under a business manager agreement negotiated with The Bank that same month, he would then receive advance funds based on the invoices…Miller was an NFL first-round draft pick by the Buffalo Bills. Replacing O.J. Simpson in the Bills backfield, Miller gained more than 1,000 yards in his rookie year.’

‘Miller had a brief career in the National Football League with teams in Buffalo and Seattle after a sterling college career at OSU in which he finished fourth in Heisman voting in 1976 and second in 1977.’

‘With the bar raised, there is already some early panic in western New York off Sunday’s comprehensive defeat. String a couple of efforts like that together, and he’ll go from the toast of the town to Flutie Flambe.’

‘Though the offensive line struggled in creating holes for the run and protecting the quarterback, Flutie stood by his big men. “Watching the film, it is assignments more than talent,” Flutie said of changes to the offensive line. “We are probably a couple steps back from the end of last year … but from a talent standpoint, we may be stronger.”‘

“Terry Miller, a two-time All-American running back at Oklahoma State who replaced O.J. Simpson in the Buffalo Bills’ backfield, was sentenced in Muskogee, Okla., to two years in prison on Tuesday for defrauding a McAlester bank out of $179,000.”

‘The Bills were left with only three running backs after Thomas went down on the first play against Indianapolis in the season opener. Thomas will be out for at least six weeks, the team said Monday.’

‘Phillips said his team was “shocked” at seeing Thomas lying on the RCADome turf after being levelled by Colts defensive back Tyrone Poole. He’d better hope the incident wasn’t an ominous harbinger of the remainder of the season.’

‘Forget about the Super Bowl, forget about winning the AFC East, and forget about achieving a wild-card spot in the playoffs. At this point, the Bills need to focus on one thing: Winning one game.’

‘Thomas suffered liver and kidney contusions on the jarring hit he took on the opening play of Sunday’s 31-14 season-opening loss at Indianapolis and will be out six weeks, coach Wade Phillips said.’