Archives for January 2003

"I was on a team that did something that will never be done again, and that’s playing in four-straight Super Bowls," said the former Bills offensive lineman John Davis. The versatile lineman used the NFL free agency system (Plan B) in 1989 to leave the Oilers for the Bills. His timing could not have been much better.

‘DeLamielleure is also the only member of the All-Decade team of the 70’s first team not to be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.’

After kicker Steve Christie hit a 41-yard field goal with 16 seconds left in an January 8, 2000 playoff game with the Tennessee Titans, the Bills had appeared to pull off an upset victory. However, on the ensuing kickoff, Frank Wycheck fired a suspicious looking cross-field lateral to Kevin Dyson that he returned 75 yards for a 22-16 Wild-Card victory that has been dubbed as "The Music City Miracle".

The Bills’ season ended in Riverfront Stadium as Cincinnati dominated the Bills, 21-10, before a boisterous crowd. The Bills offense sputtered throughout the game, spent most of the second half pinned against its own goal line and failed to convert on any 3rd down opportunities in the game.

‘The Bills had a solid draft last April, according to most draftniks. And in a year when rookies made a major impact throughout the NFL, few teams got more production out of their first-year players than Buffalo.’

‘”Right now, Gregg’s in the process of evaluating his entire staff. He’s made two changes and we’ll see where it goes from here,” Donahoe said. “The changes he’s made, sometimes these things come off as firings and we don’t feel they are. We made a two-year commitment to these coaches and we fulfilled that. (In both cases) Gregg felt he wanted someone with a little more experience.”‘

‘"It was unbelievable to pull something like that off, especially in those circumstances," he said. "I’ve seen trick plays work, but never with so much at stake. You’ve got to give Buffalo a lot of credit for not paying attention."’

‘Tom Modrak, the Buffalo Bills director of football operations, is expected to interview with the Seattle Seahawks sometime this week for their general manager job, according to a league source.’

‘Buffalo finished 8-8 this season, compared with 3-13 a year before. However, the Bills’ offensive line allowed 54 sacks, tying Dallas for the second highest in the National Football League. Buffalo’s defense also forced a league-low 19 turnovers and allowed 24.8 points a game, 27th out of 32 NFL teams.’

NOTE: The coaches were not fired, their contracts expired and were not renewed.

The Buffalo Bills have played in 56 Prime Time Games (30-26 overall, 14-6 at home, 16-20 on the road) during their history, dating back to a 23-14 win in an October meeting with the Kansas City Chiefs in 1973. More recently, the Bills strung together five-straight Prime Time wins between 1998 and 2000. Here's a breakdown of the Prime Time Games the Bills have played since 1973.

The Ed Block Courage Award Foundation today announced the names of the 32 recipients from the NFL who will receive an Ed Block Courage Award on Tuesday, March 25, 2003 at the 25th Anniversary of the Ed Block Courage Awards.

‘The Bills will now need to fill four assistant coaching spots. Defensive line coach John Levra retired and quarterbacks coach Steve Kragthorpe became the coach at Tulsa.’

On the way to their 8-8 record, the 2002 Buffalo Bills were a lot of things to their fans, but good for their health was not one of them. Oh, there were times when watching the Bills would get your heart pounding so fast that it was a workout in itself. But there were just as many times when the only way you could keep sane was to have a stress ball in each hand and a masseuse kneading the muscles of your back.

‘The decision on Vinklarek had to be tough on Williams. The two have known each other for 16 years. Williams was the best man at Vinklarek’s wedding.’