Archives for November 10, 2003

‘Of the Bills’ five possessions of the fourth quarter, their best starting field position was the 22-yard line. The four others started on the 17 (twice), the 11 and the 20. The Bills gained one first down and went three-and-out four times against a Cowboys defense that held them to 185 yards. It was the sixth consecutive week the Cowboys held an opponent below 135 yards passing.’

‘”One play,” said Bledsoe. “The deal was to get one play against their man coverage. We were not able to make that one play.”‘

‘A frustrated Bledsoe was rushed into quick decisions. He overthrew receivers and was continually begging for interference calls. He never got into a rhythm and finished 17-for-34 for 104 yards in Dallas’ 10-6 victory.’

‘”We didn’t make plays when they were there,” Moulds said. “We knew they were going to come after us, and on a couple of drives they came after us on every play.”‘

‘While the Cowboys can deny they have a running back controversy, there is no denying they have a running game problem.’

‘Twelve times in the game’s final 19 minutes, Murrell carried the football, gaining yards, buying time. And finally, on a third-down-and-eight play in the final 69 seconds, Murrell slammed the door on the scrappy Bills with a 17-yard run. He finished with 76 yards on 16 carries. Hambrick had 33 yards in 13 attempts.’

‘The Cowboys held the Bills scoreless on seven second-half possessions, five times with less than two game-time minutes of rest.’

‘4: Times the Cowboys have allowed 10 or fewer points this season. The Jets, Cardinals, Lions and Bills managed a combined 26 points.’

‘Defensive tackle La’Roi Glover was all over the field, with four tackles and a fumble recovery. Defensive end Eric Ogbogu had 1 1/2 sacks, and Greg Ellis added a half-sack to a dominant effort up front.’

‘”They came at us and we couldn’t get any plays,” said Bledsoe, who connected on 17 of 34 passes for only 104 yards and had only one completion of more than 15 yards. The Bills (4-5) entered the game needing a victory to stay in the playoff hunt.’

‘Bledsoe never looked worse than he did going against Parcells. Is it just a coincidence, too, that Bledsoe never looked better than when he played for Parcells?’

‘Sunday’s victory marked the third time in the past four games the Cowboys have defeated a team coming off a bye.’

‘The defense forced three fumbles, recovered two and allowed Buffalo to gain only two yards total offense in the fourth quarter. Two yards — as in one yard passing and one yard rushing.’

‘Buffalo was held to just 19 percent on third-down conversions (3 of 16).’

‘The Cowboys didn’t let Buffalo running back Travis Henry break any long runs. They didn’t let Bills quarterback Drew Bledsoe get hot in the passing game. Bledsoe managed only 104 yards passing while Henry gained only 80 yards rushing.’