Archives for December 2004

‘"You usually don’t see that a whole lot," Browns tackle Ross Verba said of the Bills’ defensive display. "They pretty much just do whatever they want."’

‘"For his first game back and for as long as he’s been out, to play free safety out of the blue and make the plays that he did was outstanding on his part," said Bills coach Mike Mularkey. "Not just his play, but him on the field is a big factor for our defense."’

‘"It was a point of emphasis this week," said Milloy, "not to fall into that trap, not to get involved in what people were saying about the playoffs. We were 6-6. We’re far away from the playoffs. We all did a good job of keeping ourselves humble and preparing for a team we viewed as a threat. We told ourselves, "Don’t let them get started. Let’s keep them down. Let them play for next year and let’s keep our year alive.’ "’

‘"I think coach Clements is really doing a good job of putting a steady stream of plays together, and then he comes with something special," Greer said. "The way that he balances out the things that we do really does a good job with timing and catching the defense off guard."’

‘It was the Bills’ fourth consecutive game with at least 37 points. They have 154 points in the last four games.’

Player of the game: Bills linebacker Takeo Spikes recorded seven tackles, one sack and two forced fumbles.

‘Run defense (A+): It looked like the Bills were playing with 15 versus the Browns’ 11. D-line and linebackers were Tasmanian devils.’

‘”Ultimately, there was a point it was men against boys, to be honest,” Robiskie said. “I thought the speed of the game, the tempo, the environment, the crowd, the weather, the noise – all of it was too big for a couple kids, and one was Luke. I thought all of it rattled Luke early, and I don’t think he ever recovered.”‘

‘"We were doing some new pressures, fire zones and blitzes that we hadn’t shown before," said Fletcher. "Really, once we were having success with blitzing, Jerry [Gray, defensive coordinator] just stayed with it and we were able to create all kinds of pressure on their quarterback."’

‘McCown admitted he’ll have nightmares of 335-pound tackle Sam Adams falling on him, as Adams did several times Sunday, including twice on sacks. “The first time he fell on my head I got up and was kind of dizzy,” McCown said. “Sam knows my brother from Texas A&M. I tried to tell him that Randy said hello, and I don’t think I could spit it out because my head was turning like that.”‘

‘The Browns turned the ball over five times and totaled a meager 17 net yards of offense, and even that is deceiving because they gained 19 yards on their last two possessions while the Bills backups played.’

‘“They blitzed and they rattled Luke. He got nervous, they shook him up early, and I don’t think he recovered from it.”’

‘Making his second NFL start, McCown discovered what it was like to have a 350-pound beer keg fall on him. Only this one had two legs, two arms and a head bigger than a microwave — and goes by the name of Sam Adams.’

‘”At halftime, I told the guys the defense was playing their hearts out,” interim Head Coach Terry Robiskie said. “Offensively, not only were we not helping them, we were hurting them.”‘

‘”I think we were in the same situation getting beat by 25 or 30 in the fourth quarter,” McCown said. “There’s not a whole lot you can do when you haven’t been able to execute all day. The only difference is Buffalo kept coming with pressure, and New England showed mercy.”‘