Archives for December 2004

‘This is going to be a fun week.’

‘The Bills’ Mike Mularkey was on the hot seat by October, dropping five of his first six games as a head coach. They turned it around after a 29-6 loss at New England in Week 10. Trailing 10-0 to the Rams the following week, Buffalo rallied to win 37-17. The Bills haven’t lost since, scoring 38 at Seattle, 42 at Miami, 37 vs. Cleveland, 33 at Cincinnati and 41 yesterday at San Francisco. They don’t, as we say, control their own destiny. Instead, the Bills have to beat Pittsburgh and hope the Broncos lose to the Colts. The catch is, the Colts have no incentive to beat the Broncos, not at the risk of having Peyton Manning, Edgerrin James or even P Hunter Smith, for that matter, suffer an injury.’

The Bills have won eight of their last nine and the Panthers have reeled off six of seven. Both are riding a huge wave of momentum as the last week of the season approaches, and that’s a dangerous trait for a team to have.

‘”It’s easy to sit there and try to watch what’s going on around you,” Mularkey said. “To me that’s just something you can’t even let cross your mind because it does . . . not . . . matter. It doesn’t matter unless we go out on the field and do our part.”‘

‘”I knew he was going to play early in the week,” said center Trey Teague. “I mean, he didn’t tell me for sure, but you can just tell by somebody’s mannerisms if they’re going to give it a shot.”‘

‘”We just took advantage of the matchups that we had,” said Evans, who finished with eight catches for 92 yards and two touchdowns. “We really got into rhythm with the no-huddle, and we were able to pick them apart and take our shots accordingly. Whether Drew (Bledsoe) was hitting me, Eric or someone else we just kept them off-balance.”‘

‘”This is probably the best football team coming in that we’ve played,” Erickson said. “They physically got after us in all aspects of it. They are a very physical football team on defense and very physical offensively.”‘

‘”Everybody is playing disciplined as far as their assignments, and when the defensive calls are made everyone is playing them out,” said cornerback Nate Clements, who had one of the Bills three interceptions. “Every week we try to get three or more turnovers in every practice. When everybody is playing sound and playing together, it’s hard to beat us. When everybody gets involved in forcing turnovers it becomes contagious.”‘

‘If the Bills make the playoffs, they should send a thank-you card to Houston owner Bob McNair. McNair chartered an extra-large plane so wives and family members could accompany his team to Jacksonville on Christmas Day. The Texans responded with a 21-0 victory, dropping the Jaguars a game back of Buffalo in the AFC standings.’

‘When it mattered, Bills stopped the run. Niners had just 33 yards at halftime. Another day at the office.’

‘The Bills, who started the season with four straight losses, now have a six-game winning streak, their longest streak in 14 years.’

‘Although Buffalo lost 29-6, Milloy — who was cut by the Patriots before the start of last season — said New England represented the consistency the Bills wanted to achieve. They haven’t lost since. "That was pretty much our wakeup call," said Milloy, who picked off Cody Pickett in the third quarter. "It wasn’t like we came out of the block the week after that. We gradually got better. But we understand that if we wanted to get where we want to be, we’ll have to beat them at some point in the season. We’re working hard to get back to the point where we can play them."’

Pick of the litter (San Francisco Chronicle)

Bills have gone other way since matching 49ers at 1-5 (San Francisco Chronicle)

Where have all the good times gone? (San Francisco Chronicle)

One player’s pumped up in 34-point loss (San Francisco Chronicle)

Game grades (San Francisco Chronicle)

Instant replay (San Francisco Chronicle)

Lack of appreciation (San Francisco Examiner)

LB Spikes keys Bills’ playoff run (San Francisco Examiner)

Johnson’s homecoming (San Francisco Examiner)

Pickett finally plays (San Francisco Examiner)

Making the Grade (San Francisco Examiner)

49ers finally win for losing (Contra Costa Times)

Cold, hard facts — 49ers leave little to appreciate (Contra Costa Times)

Looking forward to more of same (Contra Costa Times)

Lloyd’s injury paves way for rookie receiver (Contra Costa Times)

Still the pain keeps falling (San Jose Mercury News)

Hospitable hosts (San Jose Mercury News)

Little sympathy for this sorry outfit (San Jose Mercury News)

Never say never: It’s 49ers’ worst ever (San Jose Mercury News)

Woods fares worse in tale of two receivers (San Jose Mercury News)

49ers rewind (San Jose Mercury News)

Few good signs at stadium (Sacramento Bee)

Ex-49er has fond memories of White (Sacramento Bee)

Rookies Woods, Pickett play (Sacramento Bee)

SF finally hits bottom (Santa Rosa Press Democrat)

Appreciate fans? Niners should beg for forgiveness (Santa Rosa Press Democrat)

Pickett-to-Woods incompletion typifies season (Santa Rosa Press Democrat)

Monster Bills pile up on 49ers (Oakland Tribune)

Rookie QB crosses Pickett line (Oakland Tribune)

No big rookie numbers for Woods (Oakland Tribune)

Pickett Makes Debut Against Bills (SF49ers.com)

Williams Has Big Day; Injury Report (SF49ers.com)

‘”We were playing a team that has struggled this year and we wanted to make sure there wasn’t a lull and we didn’t take them lightly,” Buffalo center Trey Teague said. “There’s always a team in this situation that overlooks somebody and loses, and we didn’t want that to be us.”‘

‘But it is a testament to the Bills’ character, talent, focus and resolve that they have reached Week 17 with a legitimate chance to make the playoffs.’