Archives for December 20, 2004

‘Buffalo blocked a punt and dominated the field-position battle with good coverage teams and a strong return game.’

‘Buffalo linebacker Takeo Spikes returned to the place of his professional football birth and didn’t disappoint.’

‘…the Bills doused that flame with a 60-yard flea-flicker from quarterback Drew Bledsoe to rookie wide receiver Lee Evans. The play set up Buffalo’s first TD and completely turned the game’s momentum.’

‘The Bengals turned over the ball four times, leading to 16 Buffalo points…’.

‘"I can’t be any more disappointed with the way we played," Bengals coach Marvin Lewis said of his team’s uninspired showing. "We were fighting for the same thing the Bills are. They came in here and won the football game."’

‘"I’ve never been in a position this late in December to have something to play for other than pride," said Spikes, who signed with Buffalo as an unrestricted free agent prior to last season. "That’s very big to me. I cared about (coming back here). But at the same time, the playoffs far outweigh this more than anything else."’

‘Buffalo managed one touchdown and four field goals in five trips to the red zone. It tallied 212 net yards – a season low for the Bengals defense – and had only one offensive play go for more than 16 yards.’

‘Peters ran through a gap between long snapper Brad St. Louis and the right guard. Larson said he keeps his head down and did not see what happened. St. Louis said the Bills had six players "in the box" at the line of scrimmage and that the Bengals should have been able to double-team some rushers. "We just didn’t execute," Lewis said. "I saw what happened, a lack of focus and not finishing the play off and getting the guy blocked."’

‘”It was one of those crazy games,” Kitna said. “Everything seemed to go their way. On the interception to Takeo, he tackles our running back and picks it off. You don’t think that’s going to happen, and you think when it does happen, (the refs) would make a call. They didn’t.”‘

‘”I tell you though, it couldn’t have happened any better way. It reminded me of 2001 when I got an interception (and a 66-yard touchdown return) against the Ravens here. I remember looking on the JumboTron screen to see if somebody was running up behind me. This time I thought the same thing. I said, ‘Man, I hope Chad’s (Johnson) not behind me.’ I didn’t want somebody fast back there, but really I didn’t care. They might have caught me, but nobody was taking me down.”‘

‘”He’s a game changer. That’s the thing we need,” Anderson said . “We need game changers.”‘

Wait ’til next year (Cincinnati Enquirer)

Spikes gets TKO (Cincinnati Enquirer)

Kitna’s play puts Palmer’s in perspective (Cincinnati Enquirer)

Is Bengals’ progress on ice? (Cincinnati Enquirer)

Couldn’t get hands on enough turnovers (Cincinnati Enquirer)

Blocked punt painful, not special (Cincinnati Enquirer)

Photo Gallery (Cincinnati Enquirer)

Playoff hopes dashed (Cincinnati Post)

Spikes’ return a dream come true (Cincinnati Post)

Big chill on Sunday played into Bills’ hands (Cincinnati Post)

Rudi would rather have wins (Cincinnati Post)

Offense (Cincinnati Post)

Defense (Cincinnati Post)

Special teams (Cincinnati Post)

Coaching (Cincinnati Post)

Key player (Cincinnati Post)

Key play (Cincinnati Post)

Key stat (Cincinnati Post)

They said it (Cincinnati Post)

Red-hot Bills put big chill on Bengals’ playoff hopes (Dayton Daily News)

Takeo finally plays for playoffs (Dayton Daily News)

Johnson & Johnson share in disappointment (Dayton Daily News)

Mistakes make for miserable day (Dayton Daily News)

Bengals go pfffffft! (Columbus Dispatch)

Bills bide time, wait for mistakes (Columbus Dispatch)

Promising season turning out to be mirage for Bengals (Columbus Dispatch)

Booing doesn’t distract Spikes from his game (Columbus Dispatch)

Blocked punt ends run with thud (Bengals.com)

Bengals can’t get off treadmill (Bengals.com)

Freeze-dried frustration (Bengals.com)

Bills TKO Bengals’ play-off bid (Bengals.com)

Postgame quotes (Bengals.com)

Photo gallery (Bengals.com)

‘"We started off bad, but we’re finishing strong and that’s what you want to do. God willing we can continue to push forward and we have things happen that we need to have happen and maybe we can get in the tournament."’

‘”A lot of the Cincinnati fans were calling me a traitor, but I was thinking that they just love me and don’t know how to act,” Spikes said with a devilish grin. “Like a bad relationship, they see you with somebody else and they don’t like it for a minute, but then they learn to love you.”‘

‘Came to play: Bills LB Takeo Spikes: So who wrote this movie script, Walt Disney? In the feel-good performance of the day, the ex-Bengals linebacker returned an interception 62 yards for a touchdown and recovered a Rudi Johnson fumble forced by Nate Clements that led to a field goal.’