Archives for September 25, 2003

‘With three interceptions in three games, Clements is tied for the NFL lead with seven other players heading into Sunday’s home game against the Philadelphia Eagles and struggling quarterback Donovan McNabb. Clements’ hot start makes chasing records one of the enjoyable byproducts of winning. The Bills are 2-1 but are regrouping after last Sunday’s 17-7 loss in Miami, a game in which Clements had two interceptions, one he returned 54 yards for a touchdown for Buffalo’s only points.’

‘”A big part of our game on offence is the trust that (coaches) have in me to make the right decisions,” Bledsoe said. “If somebody’s not open, I have to get rid of the ball. “Last week, the red-zone interception was … one that should have been thrown to the back of the end zone. “It was an extremely poor decision by me that I don’t intend to repeat.”‘

‘Tunnel vision and his reluctance to throw the ball out of bounds are two shortcomings that have plagued Bledsoe his entire career.’

‘”I’ve watched all phases – the ups and the downs of the past couple of years,” McNabb said. “You watch some of the ups, obviously to get some positive input, and you look at some of the downs and try to figure out how you were able to overcome the downs. If it was fundamentals, technique, whatever. You try to regain some positive output just by watching some things that happened great for you in the past couple of years.”‘

‘”Every quarterback who’s ever played in this league for more than a game or two has gone through some times where they’ve struggled,” Bledsoe, whose 2-1 Buffalo Bills host the Eagles on Sunday, said yesterday. “The things that have to happen, that I’m sure will happen with Donovan, is that you have to bounce back, you have to look at what you’ve been doing and come out and play well. We’re just hopeful he waits a week to do it.”‘

‘The team’s 18-6 road record over the previous three seasons is the best in the NFL, and they are 7-1 on the road following a loss since the 2000 season.’

‘”If we run the ball effectively, we become very, very difficult to stop because that’s when our play-action game gets going, and that’s when we can put ourselves in second-down-and-medium-to-short situations and keep our whole package going.” – quarterback Drew Bledsoe.’

‘When he takes those elegant, seven-step drops and has time to plant those leaden feet, however, the ugly duckling is transformed into a beautiful swan. The 6-5, 238-pound Bledsoe unfurls the long ball with as much arm strength and touch as anyone in the NFL, and his is a gift that is not often kept under wraps. West Coast offense? The Bills unapologetically run the Western New York offense, which features lots of downfield passes that once were referred to as bombs.’

‘”It’s tough living the life we live…People feel because we get paid a certain amount of money, we’re not human anymore, [that] we don’t have feelings, we’re not human anymore. We are. We make mistakes like anybody else, [but] people watch every move we make. The guy had two bad football games. People who say they love him are booing him. I was just hurting for him.”‘

‘The losing has to stop now, as in immediately – and not just because of the fans. Because John Madden’s famous line about winning being the best deodorant is never more true than when you have veteran players in your locker room who are worried about their contract status.’

‘”They’re going to put the ball in the air; we just have to be on the same page in the secondary,” Hart said yesterday. “They have a great receiver in [Eric] Moulds. They like to go deep…It’s going to give us DBs a lot of opportunities to make plays. It’s up to us to prepare ourselves.”’

‘What it means is that having a bye in the third week of the season doesn’t mean much. Unless, of course, you’re riddled with injuries and are coming off two pathetic performances. Then, it’s probably a good thing. Bring on Buffalo.’

‘”Too many people have got too much pressure on [McNabb] right now,” Pinkston said. “He’s not the only one that could be struggling…It’s just that he’s the quarterback, and it stands out a lot more.”‘

‘Running backs Correll Buckhalter, Duce Staley and Brian Westbrook combined to rush for 19 yards on 10 carries against the Buccaneers and 46 yards on 11 carries against the Patriots, thereby continuing a trend that has seen the Eagles struggle when they don’t let McNabb hand off.’

‘The Eagles have to find a way to put pressure on Bills quarterback Drew Bledsoe. They have just two sacks on the season, tying them with Cincinnati for next-to-last in the league behind Arizona (one). “We need to get as many sacks as we can this week,” Walker said. “Sometimes just getting pressure on a quarterback isn’t enough.”’