Archives for December 23, 2003

‘”They need it for the home field advantage. We need it to give an indication about where we are in the AFC East. They are the division winners. That is where we wanted to be at the start of the year. We’re not there now but we have to continue to take strides to try to get where they are. We need to play very well.”‘

‘Revenge is probably considered a counterproductive human emotion in the meticulously programmed week-to-week machinery of Belichick. But it must be in his players’ hearts and minds this week. The Bills humiliated New England 31-0 in the season-opener on Sept. 7 in Orchard Park, back when the Patriots were clearly headed nowhere and the Bills pranced around as though clearly Super Bowl-bound.’

‘What would be worse for Drew Bledsoe and Kevin Gilbride – playing the regular-season finale in Foxboro against a tenacious New England Patriots defense, or playing at home before a hostile crowd?’

‘The Patriots are 12-6 against the Bills in their last 18 meetings.’

’42: The number of starters the Patriots have employed this season, nearly enough to field two full teams on both offense and defense. It’s the highest number of starters used by a division champion since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970.’

‘It is worse in some ways than during the Kay Stephenson/Hank Bullough coaching debacles.’

‘One week from now, Tom Donahoe will be looking for a new coach. He must convince the owner, Ralph Wilson, that the price of poker has skyrocketed in the NFL.’

‘In Bledsoe, he sees a classic pocket passer who doesn’t have a pocket.’

‘For Drew Bledsoe, a new mattress and whirlpool. I looked this up: he’s been sacked 205 times in his last 65 starts for 1,346 yards, or the equivalent of 13 1/2 football fields.’

‘”I can’t wait to see the fans more than anything,” Milloy said. “And then afterward, I’ll shake my ex-teammates’ hands and wish them luck. The fans there, I’m glad that it turned out to where I have a chance to go compete in that stadium once a year. Me coming here had nothing to do with going to an AFC East team, having a chance to play the Patriots. This organization, this team, really made me feel like they wanted me.”‘

‘The Patriots can honestly say they beat themselves that day. “I think almost half of our plays in the first 40 plays were negative plays: sacks, turnovers, penalties, some version of all of those,” Belichick said. “Almost half the time we were going in reverse instead of going forward. That’s not what we’re looking for. We gave up 50-yard completions, pass-interference penalties, penalties in the kicking game, you name it. You can take your pick.”‘

‘And the current (hapless) state of the Bills? Forget about it. “Look, I don’t care about that. I don’t care what happened last week,” said Belichick, referring to the Bills’ 20-3 defeat to Miami. “The (Bills) took the Titans right down to the wire (in a 28-26 loss two weeks ago). It came down to the last play. They had several other big wins this year, none bigger than ours. It’s not how they match up against somebody else – it’s how they match up against us. The last time they matched up pretty well. We’re going to have to play them more competitively than we did the last time – that’s where it starts.”’

‘”I’m delighted there will be somebody there,” said Selectman Ann Thompson, who was appreciative of Bledsoe’s devotion to helping local schools with fund-raising during his three-year stay in Medfield. “He’d go to local restaurants around town, and I hope Curt Schilling brings the same kind of friendliness.”‘

‘Bills president and general manager Tom Donahoe (a.k.a. The Teflon Donahoe) has carved a swath of miscalculation and mediocrity in his three years in Buffalo.’

‘However, regardless of what Donahoe says on the record, there seems to be little doubt that Williams’ swan song will come at Gillette Stadium.’