Archives for November 15, 2004

‘Brian Moorman: Posted a 48.0 average at New England, increasing career average to club-record 42.95…posted a long punt of 58 yds. And registered three kicks of over 50 yds…has recorded a 50+ yd. kick in 44 of 57 career games and eight of nine games this season.’

‘Tellingly, Mularkey noted, “We had some errant throws that got picked off. But they really didn’t do anything we didn’t expect … that’s the disappointing thing. “They basically lined up the way we thought they’d line up. They didn’t do anything exotic … didn’t try to trick us … didn’t do anything that should have thrown us off. There were just better than we were.”‘

‘Talk about not ready for prime time.’

‘Buffalo was completely inept on offense, failing to move the ball more than 18 yards or longer than five plays after its opening drive of the game. The Bills mustered just 125 total yards of offense, gaining eight first downs and converting none of their seven third down attempts.’

‘But, rather than sticking with the run, run and run some more philosophy that brought the Bills into Foxborough on the closest thing they’ve had to a hot streak in more than a year, Mularkey and Clements decided, for reasons known only to them, to put this one in Bledsoe’s hands.’

‘In the loss to the New England Patriots on Sunday night, Moorman punted five times for an average of 48.0 yards. His first punt pinned the Patriots inside the 20-yard line and his final three punts went for 57, 58, and 56 yards, respectively.’

‘Thrust into the rare situation of having to cover the opponent’s best receiver, Brown admitted that he may have been just a lit tle more lucky than he was good. “ I kind of got lost behind the linemen, and don’t think (Moulds) ever saw me, because I didn’t see him, really. I just saw the ball come out, and it was right there.”’

‘Reinventing oneself had been the theme of the week leading up to this game as the Bills, winners of three of their last four, were supposed to unveil their new, mistake-free offense. That was the one in which Willis McGahee pounded out the yards and Drew Bledsoe not only threw to the correct colored jerseys but avoided the deer-in-the-headlight sacks that have come to define him. Nope.’

‘So much for that scary Bills defense. Apparently something happens when that top-rated band of marauders crosses state lines. They can’t operate on the road and proved that last night. They have not won a game on the road this year and in the last 21 games have only two road wins.’

‘Buffalo Bills rookie Jonathan Smith had some heartwarming plans for the football he returned 70 yards for the first touchdown of his NFL career. "I’ll keep the ball," Smith told reporters Sunday night, "and send it home to my mom." As for the rest of the night? Put it this way: If you’re from Buffalo, hide the women and children.’

‘"They’re a good team, a very good team obviously,” said Bledsoe. "You look at what they’ve done over the past few years. When you come in here, the No. 1 thing you have to do is protect the ball. You can’t turn it over and expect to win. The first-half turnovers, you can’t give them those plays. We didn’t really challenge their corners very much. They were playing cover-2 mostly. They protected those guys and did a good job in their zone drops.”’

‘The Bills did manage to hold Adam Vinatieri without a touchdown pass, but Vinatieri still kicked five field goals, hitting from 27, 24, 20, 45 and 37 yards while going over 1,000 points for his nine-year career.’

The Cold, Hard Football Facts tossed dirt on the coffin of Drew Bledsoe’s career earlier this season. After a dreadful performance in Sunday’s 29-6 loss to New England the “pundits” are dancing on the grave.

‘It was so bad for Bledsoe he was intercepted by wide receiver Troy Brown, substituting as a cornerback.’

‘A sack, one lost fumble and an interception wasn’t the debut rookie quarterback J.P. Losman had in mind. He can only hope it gets better from here.’