Archives for September 22, 2003

‘”I certainly didn’t see us coming out and playing the way we did. I thought we would play better than we did. But they did a great job. They had a plan for us. They changed things up, which they haven’t done in three or four years. They gave us some different looks and they had a good plan for us and we didn’t respond to it very well.” “They changed up a couple of their fronts on some of their third downs, which is something they normally don’t do. They changed up a couple of their fronts in the running game. So they had a good plan for us but we’ve got to respond in those situations. We have to make our plays.”‘

‘If it wasn’t for the defense, the Dolphins would’ve won by quite a bit more.’

‘Still, as disappointing and horrid as this game was from the Bills perspective, all is not lost. The Bills probably needed a little splash of reality, and they were given a face full of that.’

For reasons known, hopefully, only to offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride, the Bills chose — at the game’s pivotal moment, two plays after Takeo Spikes’ 29-yard fumble return put them at Miami’s 16-yard line — to let Henry throw the ball. “Throw,” in this useage, isn’t really the right word, as it implies some sense of purpose and aim. “Lob,” “heave,” or “shot-put” would be far more accurate.’

Antonio Winfield stands 5-9, and weighs in at one hundred pounds. Short enough to be considered, er, short, and small enough to look just like you every day run-of-the-mill athlete. But beneath number 26’s uniform, lies one of the NFL’s most unlikely heavy hitters.

‘O-Line: A lot of it is fundamentals, a lot of it is technique. Tonight it was just a physical mismatch in the respect of that they were more physical in the trenches then we were on those particular plays. We didn’t match the intensity physical wise. We didn’t do a very good job in that respect."’

‘Sam Gash: His second quarter rush attempt was his first since he had two carries for the Baltimore Ravens on 12/23/01 vs. Cincinnati.’

‘"It’s embarrassing," defensive tackle Sam Adams said of the loss. "We didn’t keep them in check. They were dragging us up and down the field. We should let this burn in our gut and go to work on Monday and go get it fixed."’

‘This was supposed to be a statement game, a chance to answer some of the critics’ questions, an opportunity for the Bills to show the nation and their NFL peers that they are worthy of consideration as a Super Bowl contender. Instead, the loss renewed lingering doubts about this team.’

‘Surtain refrained from gloating over the victory or his team’s success at keeping Moulds from being a factor. But it was obvious that Surtain will savor this game for a while.’

‘Halfback option??? That awful call blew up worse than last week’s fake punt. It took away Bills’ chance at big momentum.’

‘Give play-caller Norv Turner credit. He kept hammering away with Ricky and dominated time of possession.’

‘It was a debacle.’

‘4.6 — Drew Bledsoe’s quarterback rating in the first half, about 140 points below his final rating last week.’

‘A junior high ploy to get Moulds off his game? Perhaps, but it worked.’