Archives for September 2003

‘In the NFL, September games don’t customarily come with tags marked crucial attached to them. But this one, Birds at Buffalo, does.’

‘Though the price was high – a 12-year deal worth $115 million and a $20.5 million signing bonus – it seemed like a good move at the time.’

‘Both teams have spoken all week about running more, even though neither has done it successfully this season. Moreover, the Bills are down to only one healthy running back, Joe Burns, who rushed for all of 22 yards in last week’s 17-7 loss to the Miami Dolphins.’

‘Bills quarterback Drew Bledsoe has no doubt studied the tapes of what Brady did to the Eagles. And he is probably drooling, waiting for his chance to attack a young secondary in which the only veteran will be Troy Vincent on the left corner.’

‘Reese, 29, enters today’s game at Buffalo as the Eagles’ top special teams player with 38 production points, eight ahead of rookie cornerback Rodrick Hood. His 23 blocks as part of the kickoff return and punt return squads lead the team, and he’s ranked third in tackles with four, one behind Hood and linebacker Justin Ena.’

‘"None of us are real vocal, rah-rah types,” Reese said. "There is no one here like Hugh or (New York Giants kick returner) Brian Mitchell. Those guys did most of the talking and the rest of the team fed off that. We don’t have those intangibles now.”’

‘It’s expected to be 60 degrees and raining for today’s game against Buffalo (2-1) at Ralph Wilson Stadium.’

‘Bills 28, Eagles 24.’

”’When you go into a hostile environment or someone else’s house, you want to treat it as your own,” quarterback Donovan McNabb said. ”It’s a challenge, and that’s what we feed off – challenges. Going into Buffalo, we know that it’s going to be a tough environment. We know that their fans are going to be fired up and they are going to be fired up, so we have to match that and be able to add a little more.”’

”’Everyone has been down on us, but we haven’t been,” quarterback Donovan McNabb added. ”That’s something we’ve all talked about – the fact that we’re the ones involved in this thing. We can change this thing. The attitude will be that we go out there, execute, open up some eyes, and just continue to feed off it.”’

‘In two games, Brady and Tampa Bay’s Brad Johnson have completed a total of 57 passes in 80 attempts, a 71.3-percent completion ratio, for 493 yards with five touchdown passes and just one tipped interception. Those numbers compute to a 102.8 quarterback rating.’

‘Buffalo, 28-24.’

‘The Eagles are 4-0 – 5-0 counting the playoffs – the week after a bye under head coach Andy Reid.’

‘It would be hard for them to run the ball less. The Eagles are passing the ball on seven of every 10 snaps, and their offense under Reid has never been this lopsided. Last year, the Eagles threw the ball 52 percent of the time. This year, after two games, they’ve thrown it 72 percent of the time. Even though the Eagles lost both games, they weren’t so far behind that they had to abandon the running game.’

‘"I wouldn’t imagine they’d run,” Eagles defensive coordinator Jim Johnson said with a smile. "I think they’re going to stay with the vertical passing game. They want to go deep. Their philosophy is to get the ball deep.”’