Archives for October 24, 2004

‘Bledsoe was credited with all five turnovers, throwing four picks and fumbling once. It was a game that has been all too familiar to Bills fans — mistakes at crucial times in the game led to a hole that was too big to get out of in four quarters. Buffalo made it look as though they were going to come back on several occasions, but the inability to get the ball across the goal line was their demise.’

‘The Bills continued to put on the pressure, as Bledsoe connected with Moulds for 12 yards, and then Willis McGahee ran 15 yards more to put the Bills in scoring position. However, on third-and-9 from the 18, Sanders struck again, picking off Bledsoe in the end zone.’

Drew Bledsoe turned the ball over five times including two interceptions in the red zone and an interception return for a score by Deion Sanders killed the Bills chances for a road win.

The defense gave a great effort, especially in the second half as they totally shut down the Ravens attack. Unfortunately the Bills offense did more to help the Ravens on the scoreboard than the defense did to stop them. Here are our position by position grades:

‘The absence of Jamal Lewis wasn’t nearly as significant to the Baltimore Ravens as the return of Prime Time.’

‘”One (interception) was a force throw that could’ve been prevented and Deion picked it off,” Bills coach Mike Mularkey said. “We had the ball in our hands and either got it knocked out or didn’t make the catch. To me, that was the difference. We had chances to make plays on the other side and didn’t. They made plays and scored.”‘

‘The Ravens (4-2) intercepted Drew Bledsoe four times on the day, and also stripped the Bills quarterback for a fumble. The four picks tied a Baltimore record.’

‘Drew Bledsoe showed last week that he can still be a premier quarterback in the NFL. He made great decision finding open receivers and also showed an ability to move around the pocket. He threw for over 200 yards against the Dolphins and has at least one touchdown pass in every game this season. He will have his hands full against a top Ravens unit this weekend that includes cornerback Chris McAlister, Ed Reed, and reserve safety Deion Sanders.’

‘QB Drew Bledsoe played mistake-free against Miami and he must maintain control of the ball. Turnovers could be crucial in a game that is expected to be low scoring.’

‘"We’re going to run it – that’s our style of play," said receiver Eric Moulds. "We’re going to go out there and run the football and do play action and mix it up a little bit. We’re not going to change our game plan."’

‘Bills would make a big statement with a win, but Ravens will make enough plays to pull out 17-16 win.’

‘Bledsoe might be playing for his future today. A victory will restore hope for this season and justifying keeping him as the starter in the short term. A loss would drop them to 1-5 and stifle any wild notions of a playoff run. Fans will begin counting the days until rookie J.P. Losman is fully recovered from his broken leg. Losman is the future. Unless the Bills make a playoff run, they have to get him on the field as soon as possible. The kid needs to get a head start on next season if he’s going to be effective in 2005. The standard will be sky high for Losman. Unlike Bledsoe, he needs to be a lot better than average.’

‘It’s said Shaw was very popular with the Bills players. Good. Maybe he can be elected president of the student body in San Diego.’

‘The Bills’ defensive scheme is sound. The Buffalo defense has gone from 21st to 15th to second under Gray’s watch. As long as the Bills’ defense posts decent numbers this year – and it appears it will – Gray’s reputation league wide will continue to climb.’

‘"He’s got a lot of potential to be a very special player in the league," said Buffalo receivers coach Tyke Tolbert, who helped mold Anquan Boldin into a rookie stud last year in Arizona. "He has the type of ability where, if he had to be the go-to guy every down, he’d be up there among the top receivers in the NFL as far as numbers are concerned. He has the ability to be an upper-echelon receiver and have the stats right now in another situation."’