Archives for November 24, 2003

‘Moorman, who struggled to find a job for a few years, has firmly established himself with the Bills.’

‘The Colts improved to 5-1 on the road this season, and Sunday’s game was the second time this season they have overcome a double-digit fourth-quarter deficit to win.’

‘James rushed for 50 yards on 13 fourth-quarter carries, helping the Colts score on each of their fourth-quarter drives.’

‘Bratzke nearly sacked Bledsoe and hit him hard enough that Bledsoe laid on the ground several seconds after the play. Bratzke said it was simply his turn to make a play for a defense that has had players make key plays late in games throughout the season.’

‘Temperature at kickoff of today’s game was 70 degrees making it the warmest November Bills home game since game time temperatures were added to play-by-play sheets in 1965.’

‘On the disappointment of losing an 11-point lead in the fourth quarter: “It was frustrating. Guys battled very, very hard. It was situation where it’s not big chunks of yards, it’s nickel-and-dime. We had the opportunity to get the ball out a couple times. I’m sure they were trying to strip the ball a couple times when they missed tackles. But frustrating because we played very hard. We played a lot of snaps, but we played hard.”‘

‘On the last play of the game for the Bills offense: “I was going to throw the ball to Bobby Shaw. We had run a similar play the play before and I threw the ball to Josh and then the coverage came up and made the tackle. I was going to throw it over their head to Bobby Shaw.”‘

‘On the loss: “It’s a tough pill to swallow. We should have had the game but we let it slip away. As far as myself, I went out and felt great. There was pain in my leg, but it was bearable. I came out all right, a little sore, but for the most part I feel pretty good. We came out and played great, but didn’t play good enough to win the football game.”‘

‘Running for the 1st down: “It’s just one of those things that happens. The ball hits your hands and just bounces out. It hits your hands wrong and it’s a matter of making a quick decision. I looked up and there was plenty of room, so there was no need to kick it because I figured I could get to the first down marker. It worked out well.”‘

‘What about three close games and no win?: “That’s the thing. That’s what we haven’t been able to do all year, win those grimy games. This is a league where the parity makes everyone equal. The good teams that have winning records haven’t been blowing everybody out, they’ve been winning the ugly games. We haven’t won any ugly games. That’s the missing thing. We don’t know how to win those grimy games.”‘

‘Is it hard to have a positive attitude: “Our team more than anything has showed the kind of fight we have. I know I’m going to continue to fight until the season is over, and the other guys are going to continue to fight. We have to have the mindset that we’re going to end the season 9-7. Obviously we’re going to need a little help to make the playoffs, but that’s the situation we put ourselves in.”‘

‘Your defense seemed really calm even when it was 14-3 Buffalo: “We’ve got some veteran guys on offense so they knew that we were just misfiring a little bit. We didn’t come in and expect this thing to be a 40-0 game so we expected it to be tight. Defensively I thought we did a good job of hanging in there making our corrections. But that’s kind of the team we have, we don’t get too overly excited about things, we hang in there for sixty minutes.”‘

‘On staying with the running game in the last two drives: “Well, we had three wideouts, but that package wasn’t gonna be huge for us because we weren’t really sure what Marvin’s status was like. We weren’t sure if he was going to play some or rest some. So then we had a two tight end package and if Marvin gets tweaked again we were really limited number wise. But Marvin turned out good and we decided to stay with that three wideout package and spread them out and since they were playing coverage, we ran it and plowed down in. We just had a good mix. We finally managed to find something that worked.”‘

‘Colts Running Edgerrin James: “Any time you’re having success, you have to keep at it. It was tough throwing the ball today, and we had to do what we had to do to move the chains. Ever since the first game, this is the only time I fumbled the football. When I fumbled the ball, I remembered that Buffalo was the first team that I ever played against and I fumbled back then. I just hoped the game never came down to my fumble, and I just wanted to go out and do my part. After you have been through the games that we went through, you just keep fighting. We know first hand that it’s possible to win and you have to do what it takes to make it possible. I thought I was in the end zone on third down, but it was one of those things. Once they make the call there is nothing you can do about it. I am just happy we scored on the next play.”

‘On a positive note, the Bills streak of not scoring an offensive touchdown came to an end, as Drew Bledsoe scored on one-yard run in the 2nd quarter with 2:07 left giving the Bills a 7-3 lead. It was the Bills’ first touchdown since Travis Henry’s 14-yarder in the win over Washington on October 19th. The streak saw Buffalo go 45 consecutive drives without a touchdown before the Bledsoe score.’