Archives for December 2002

I don’t fault the call (2 point VIking play) at all, even if it didn’t work. We played that great comeback game against Houston, and we were still down by 17 points or so in the third quarter and we had a fourth-and-8. I decided to go for it because I felt we needed to score, and we hit a touchdown on it. Many of my assistant coaches were screaming at me for it, but I decided to go for it. Not the same exact thing, but it’s all relative to a coach’s intuition.

‘Obviously, no player is in position to publicly criticize the head coach. But on and off the record, many genuinely seem to like and respect Williams.’

‘”I think he’s making the same throws, but sooner or later the pace we were on earlier in the season had to catch up with us,” tight end Jay Riemersma said. “Some of the throws that we were completing early in the season aren’t easy throws, and we haven’t been able to complete some of them recently.”‘

”’Travis is such a unique player with his ability to run through tackles and make the extra yard,” Bills quarterback Drew Bledsoe said. ”I’ve got a great seat to watch him.”’

‘”I don’t know who’s side to shade to, to be honest with you,” Sharper said Friday. “Price and Moulds can go deep or they can go underneath, and Reed is working that slot pretty good. We’re just going to have to challenge these guys.”‘

‘”You tell the people of Mississippi that there’s never been a player who wore the Buffalo Bills uniform who is loved by the fans and the community more than Kent Hull and his wife, Kay.”‘

‘NFL Films takes fans back to the greatest comeback in NFL history in The NFL’s Greatest Games: "The Comeback" — 1992 AFC Wild Card Game — Houston Oilers vs. Buffalo Bills premiering Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2002 at 9:30 p.m. ET on ESPN.’

‘For Brown, it is his seventh Pro Bowl selection, which ties Andre Reed and Steve Tasker for second most in franchise history. Only Bruce Smith, who went to 11 Pro Bowls, has more.’

‘Price has said in the past that remaining with the Bills is his first choice because he loves the offense and playing with his teammates, and he puts up numbers similar to most first-option receivers. But he’s also expressed the desire to become the featured wideout, and with the Bills that position belongs to Moulds.’

‘”Anytime you have a quarterback who goes to the Pro Bowl, it’s a reflection of the team he’s playing for,” he said. “You look at what’s happened to me. I’m standing up here with two other offensive Pro Bowlers, and we have Peerless (Price), Travis (Henry) and Larry Centers as alternates.”‘

‘”A lot of guys vote for their boys, regardless of what type of year you have. That’s just the way it is, guys will vote for familiar names.”‘

‘With two games remaining, Bledsoe’s passer rating of 87.8 is the highest of his career. He has thrown for 3,949 yards – 606 shy of his career high – and has tossed 23 touchdown passes, second only to the 27 he threw in his second NFL season of 1994.’

‘”Unfortunately for Travis, and for us, we’ve been in too many games where we have had to play from behind and have had to throw it a lot,” Bledsoe said. “Had we not been in those situations, I really feel that Travis would have had a very legitimate shot at leading the league in rushing.”‘

‘”The fact that we are a cold-weather team, we practice out there and are used to those situations. it should make it a little bit less of a travel game for us. The fact that Green Bay is an awful good team, that’s the factor.”‘

‘Opponents have ventured within the Bills’ 20-yard line 45 times. Thirty-three of those excursions – 73.3 percent – have resulted in touchdowns. Tennessee, the next worst team in this area, is giving up touchdowns at a 66.7 percent clip.’