Archives for September 8, 2003

‘The Bills’ other defensive tackle, Sam Adams (95), didn’t pass rush but shuffled to his right down the line of scrimmage. That put him in the direct line of Brady’s pass, which Adams intercepted and, amazingly, returned down the right sideline 37 yards for a touchdown.’

‘Second-guessers unite. Bill Belichick bashers, today is your day. Prepare to feast.’

‘“It was important for us to come out and start fast,” Bledsoe said. “We didn’t last year. Last year we came out, moved the ball, and then kind of bogged down on third-and-1 in the first drive of both games and the next thing you knew, we were down. “It was important for us to come out and have a good first drive, convert two big third downs, and take it down there and put points on the board. That was definitely important for us – to just kind of set the tone offensively. And then for our defense to come out and play like they did was tremendous.”’

‘Law can certainly do more than he did yesterday. So can every other Pat. They hope.’

‘As for Law, his blood was still boiling in the locker room when he berated a reporter for trying to read something into his actions. “Look, you just assumed what I said,” Law told the reporter. “I was yelling, but this is not about attacking (Harris). We play together. Antwan is part of the team. What difference does it make if I’m talking to Lawyer or Antwan after a play?”’

‘To be sure, Faulk was not spectacular, but with the Bills rolling up 35 offensive plays to the Pats’ measly eight (two four-and-out series) as the gap reached 21-0 some 4:46 into the second quarter, concentration was hardly on him.’

‘But the problem began with Belichick. It’s a coach’s responsibility to put his players in a position to win games. His decision to waive Lawyer Milloy five days earlier deprived the team of its defensive captain and quarterback at the worst possible time and created an all too predictable predicament.’

‘“He gave us the reasons `why’ behind some of the things they do to us. We didn’t change our game plan or anything, but he definitely gave us some insight.”’

‘How bad was it? At one point, a defensive tackle named Sam Adams returned an interception 37 yards for a touchdown. That a man who bears the name of a Boston patriot helped bring down the Patriots is bad enough; that he’s 6-foot-4 and 335 pounds, and plays defense, simply epitomized what type of day it was for New England. The result marked the first time the Patriots were shut out since 1993 and is the worst season-opening loss in franchise history, dating back to 1960.’

‘If that can happen to Milloy, what does that mean for me? That thought might start to explain why the Patriots didn’t show up for their head coach yesterday, why they committed an uncharacteristic 12 penalties, why they often looked confused, why they seemed to lose their composure at times.’

‘The 31-0 loss featured defensive disarray, offensive predictability, bad quarterbacking, zero pass rush, an inability to stop the run or run themselves, not to mention stupid penalties.’

‘”It felt good,” Milloy said when asked how it felt when he came out of the Bills’ tunnel, the last player introduced. “I was in an atmosphere where they make the player feel like he is needed, and not the other way around. That was what I left behind.”‘

‘”Don’t think that just because I ran a good ways [on the touchdown] that I had to come out,” Adams said. “I didn’t take any oxygen, either.”‘

‘”It was important for us to come out, have a good first drive, convert the two big third downs and put points on the board. It was very important for us to set the tone offensively. Then, for our defense to come out and play like they did was tremendous.”‘

‘”I told him when he got here,” Bledsoe said, “that, if I could have picked any player around the league to put on our defense, there wouldn’t have been many guys ahead of him.”‘