Archives for September 22, 2003

‘When Drew Bledsoe is good, he’s very good, and when he’s bad, well, he’s very bad.’

‘The heroics were enough to overcome an offense that gave away almost as many points as it scored and tried to give the game away.’

”’Sam and Pat and Brock and those guys really played football tonight,” Dolphins coach Dave Wannstedt said. “[That was] as outstanding a defensive effort as I’ve been around in a long time.”’

‘Seemingly growing strong as the game went on, Williams added 69 yards on 14 carries in the fourth quarter.’

‘Against a Bills unit that came into the game ranked eighth in the NFL in total defense and eighth against the pass, Fiedler held his own, even though it took a while to move the offense early.’

”’They changed their scheme for us, but we made mistakes and didn’t make plays,” Moulds said. “They double-teamed all game and basically said I wasn’t going to be the guy to beat them. I didn’t make plays when I had a chance to. It hurt us.”’

‘Makes you wonder, too, having seen how overwhelming Miami’s defense was: How in the world did these Dolphins ever lose to the Houston Texans?’

”’A true heavyweight fight on both sides,” coach Dave Wannstedt called this nose-to-nose savagery. Say this: The Bills never quit trying or trash-talking.’

‘A true heavyweight fight, yes. But a TKO, the loser with eyes swollen, beaten shut.’

‘Buffalo hasnt been slowed this way all season, and Miami reduced Drew Bledsoe and his band of merry men to a pile of dust and rubble. The Bills couldnt run, couldnt get open, couldnt breathe, and that suffocation started with the carnivores up front. Travis Henry was a Pro Bowler last year. Miami’s D-line made him look like a pro bowler.’

‘Play: FS Marion intercepts a pass by Bills QB Drew Bledsoe in the end zone on third-and-goal from the Miami 8-yard line. The play stopped the second of two strong scoring threats by Buffalo in the first half as the Dolphins defense didn’t allow the Bills to score an offensive point. What happened: This was a terrific bit of defense and a very poor bit of work by Bledsoe. The Dolphins were excellent in bracketing WR Josh Reed on the right side and forcing Bledsoe to stare down Moulds. Bledsoe made life worse for himself by staring at Moulds and holding the ball. Marion deftly moved in from underneath to snare the ball before Moulds had a chance.’

”’Miami did a great job of changing things up,” Bledsoe said. “They threw things at us we have never seen them do. But we have to respond to the situation.”’

‘Although Royals averaged a relatively decent 42 yards on three punts in the first half, the attempts were not exactly impressive.’

‘Buffalo quarterback Drew Bledsoe was intercepted twice and sacked four times while throwing for only 98 yards in a 10-for-25 outing.’

‘The Bills eventually wore down from trying to stop Williams. He had 45 yards at halftime on 18 carries and two receptions, touching the ball on 59 percent of the Dolphins’ plays.’