Archives for September 13, 2004

‘Smith and Wilford made the two biggest plays of the game, looking very much like they simply wanted the ball more than Buffalo’s overrated defenders. To be fair, Bills such as Spikes, Fletcher and Clements showed a diverse array of struts and dances. Too bad they didn’t make any plays truly worth celebrating.’

‘As wide receiver Eric Moulds, part of two lost fumbles, noted, “It’s so hard to win in this league … you can’t let a game like that get away.” But the Bills did. Let’s count the ways…’.

‘”As an offense we made the plays that we had too,” Leftwich said with a smile. “We didn’t make all the plays, but we made the plays when we had to win the football game.”‘

The last Bills safety to make an interception was Tavares Tillman in the 2001 regular season. Now, nearly three years later, the streak has finally been snapped. The Bills stressed during the off-season that they were going to create more turnovers and on opening day, they stole two from the Jaguars.’

‘This match-up was a close one, as were the rest, but the Bills have to feel pretty good about this phase of the game. Last year, Travis Henry carried the ball 21 times for 26 yards in Jacksonville. This year, he ran 23 times for 75 yards before leaving the game in the fourth quarter with cramps. Had he continued to play, he may have been able to break the century mark. Henry never backed down from running right at the Jags interior linemen, considered to be one of the best tandems in the NFL with Marcus Stroud and John Henderson. Head Coach Mike Mularkey stressed that his team was going to run the ball throughout the game and that’s what the Bills did on Sunday against the Jaguars.’

‘I mean, really, what is there to say about this one. It shouldn’t be as hard as it is to write this column, but that queasy feeling in my stomach is just rolling over me like you wouldn’t believe.’

‘Officials weren’t too sure. There was an indefinite touchdown signal on the field as the 6-foot-4, 223-pound receiver was pounded out of bounds. There was a call for a replay. However, there was no question. It was a good catch, a great catch.’

‘In fact, if it wasn’t for the effort of the Buffalo defense, the Bills may not have scored at all. Buffalo’s two scoring drives went for a combined 14 yards.’

‘McGahee was only able to gain 2 yards on the ensuing play and after a Jacksonville timeout with 2:18 on the clock, Mularkey was left with his first crucial head coaching decision of his young coaching career — let Rian Lindell attempt a 51-yard field goal after he had already missed one from 9 yards closer, or play for field position and put the game in the hands of the defense, which had given up just 145 yards to that point. "It’s a judgment call and where do you want to give them the ball," said Mularkey. "I really thought our defense, if we could pin them back in there …, I just felt like our defense had played well all day. Let them continue doing what they did. I went more with my defense than I did on my gut feeling on missing a field goal."’

‘The team intends to continue alternating Ryan Denney and Chris Kelsay at left end. Both should get plenty of playing time. Denney is the better run defender while Kelsay provides a better pass rush.’

‘"No matter how good we are, if we make those mistakes at key times it’s going to be very hard to win," Bledsoe said.’

‘The blueprint for success drawn up by new coach Mike Mularkey in many ways was followed to the letter. The Bills held the ball more than seven minutes longer than the Jaguars. Travis Henry outrushed Fred Taylor, 75 yards to 61. Drew Bledsoe was sacked only once. The Bills converted 50 percent of their third downs. They didn’t lose the turnover battle. They still lost.’

‘Clements appeared to have position to make a play on the long pass, but Smith made a move inside and was able to rip the ball from Clements’ grasp. "I was right there," he said. "I had two hands on it. I should have made the play."’

‘And the play is called? "Catch it," Leftwich said. "I mean we have some guys running some routes and he was out there. The guy can jump out of the gym. The guy is a basketball player, playing football."’

‘Mularkey said the Jags had 11 men at the line of scrimmage on third-and-goal from the 1. Which was it? Was it scripted, or was it the 11 men at the line? What about living up to your supposed identity as a running team? Run the ball and let the world know you mean business.’