Archives for December 9, 2003

‘The Titans (9-4) can clinch a playoff spot Sunday with a victory over the Buffalo Bills, as well as a Cincinnati loss to San Francisco and a Miami loss to Philadelphia. As a Wild Card team the Titans would have to travel in the first round, most likely to Baltimore.’

‘”On my way in this morning, I stopped to get a cup of coffee really early and when I was walking to my car, an individual said, ‘Hang in there. We’re still behind you,'” Fisher said. “When I got in the car, I thought, ‘We’re not 4-9, we’re 9-4.’ … We were 8-5 last year and were tired at this point last year, just scratching and clawing to get back to 8-5. We’re 9-4, and we’re going to be OK.”‘

‘DEFENSIVE LINE – F

NT Jason Ferguson had a sack, but said he played his “worst” game. DT Chester McGlockton had two penalties on one play. Tackling was atrocious across the board.’

‘The turning point came when the Jets failed to score after cornerback Ray Mickens’ interception on the second play of the third quarter, when the Bills led 7-3.’

‘”It got to a point where the Jets wanted nothing more to do with you,” Wilson said to Henry.’

‘The joke going around Ralph Wilson Stadium is that someone must have kidnapped Kevin Gilbride on his way to the game. The embattled Buffalo offensive coordinator has been on the hot seat all year for his suspect play-calling that put too much emphasis on the passing game, but he wisely stuck to the ground against a weak New York rush defense and the results were dazzling.’

‘CB Terrence McGee is making a strong case to become a starter in 2004 if the Bills are unable to re-sign Antoine Winfield. McGee made the first interception of his career against the Jets and has been a solid cover man in nickel and dime packages.’

‘They can talk all they want about circumstances, and execution, but the bottom line, IF Travis Henry had carried the ball more, earlier this season, the Bills would be in the middle of the playoff race.’

‘Williams said Drew Bledsoe called the quarterback sneak on third and five on his own. Bledsoe had noticed a lot of alignment confusion during the game and thought he could take advantage of it. The QB was wrong and Buffalo had to punt.’

‘“I got in the car and thought, ‘We’re not 4-9. We’re 9-4. It’s OK,”’ Fisher said. Maybe so, but what a difference a week makes.’

‘Tennessee Titans coach Jeff Fisher said his quarterback won’t practice this week.’

‘”The thing that I noticed as you watch the film is that they picked up the tempo a little bit and we didn’t match that tempo,” Edwards said this afternoon. “We didn’t match their tempo.”‘

‘"A lot of people think this is a video game. It isn’t. Every week there is a matchup and there are human elements into every single game. Sometimes guys are just better at certain techniques and certain schemes. There aren’t any magic schemes in the league anymore with certain teams playing more of a certain front or more teams in the box. Our guys (vs. the Jets) were not losing very much on the line of scrimmage in the run front. I think it was our top performance this year as far as knockdowns in the run game. I think we had 40 plus times where we got our guys on the ground. As a defense you don’t want to be on the ground very often and our offensive line took them to the ground."’

‘Dick’s Sporting Goods will give youngsters from the Salvation Army, Big Brothers Big Sisters and Seneca Nation $100 to spend at their store. Each will be paired up with a Bills player who will help them shop.’

”’Not a drawback. This is the hand that we were dealt,” Adams said, referring to a season that might be over too soon. ”As men, we accept it and go out and do something about it. We don’t have to say, ‘We could’ve been.’ We have to say, ‘Look, these next three games, this is what we’re going to be.””