Archives for September 15, 2005

‘”Well, all J.P. did was complete eight of his first nine passes. It wasn’t the numbers that impressed me, though, it was how he handled himself when the Texans left the Bills with no choice but to pass or punt. If you had ever talked to Losman, watched him at work, you-yes, cuz, even you-would sense that he has that intangible something that separates winners from losers."’

‘Bills 17 Bucs 13.’

‘So what separates a good long snapper from an average one? "The key to be a successful long snapper is all mental," Schneck said. "There are guys sitting at home on Sunday who can do it, but when it comes to game time that’s when the good guys separate themselves. I can probably teach most football players who are good athletes to long snap on a competent level, but I couldn’t teach them what it takes to make it at the NFL level."’

‘"It’ll be a challenge, not only because of their style of play, which is fast and aggressive, but because it’s pretty much a veteran group," said Bills coach Mike Mularkey. "They have a lot of leftovers from their Super Bowl year."’

‘"I’ve learned a lot over the years," Griese said. "Playing quarterback in the NFL is probably the hardest position on the field, mentally and physically, and from that standpoint, I have learned a lot. It takes a special individual to be able to do it."’

‘"I liked the away games better when I was in college," Losman said. "It was funner because there weren’t too many people at our home games. We’d play in the Superdome and we’d get 30,000 or 40,000 people maybe, but that stadium holds quite a bit more than that. So it was a little "echoey’ in there. I loved playing on the road."’

‘…but it will come from a takeaway that gives the offense a short field, or a special teams play. The Bills are better at both, and that’s why I think they’ll go 2-0 with a 17-13 win.’

‘"One of the reasons I’m here is to communicate with J.P.," said Matthews, a former Florida star that is playing his final NFL season. "There are some things, from just being around all these years, that I can relay to him — and they’re usually things that coaches either take for granted or don’t even think about. It’s just a lot different when he hears them from me."’

‘”Last week I had a couple guys talk,” said Spikes, referring to the Houston Texans. “I mean, I talk back every which way but what you say to me isn’t enough for me to come over and lose a game check over. I’ll lose it during the game maybe, but not the pregame.”‘

‘On a team with receiving threats such as Eric Moulds and Lee Evans, who would have guessed that Losman’s first TD toss would go to a 6-foot-4, 328-pound left tackle?’

‘Buffalo was mired in one of the franchise’s great road slumps midway through last season, dropping its first four road games to fall to 2-14 away from Ralph Wilson Stadium since midway through 2002. In that stretch, the offense failed to score a touchdown seven times and the team was minus-38 in turnovers. Then a light bulb went off.’

‘But what if Losman and McGahee both are slow out of the blocks? “At the beginning of the game they had eight, nine in the box and it was just one-on-one coverage so, like I said before, J.P.’s going to have to do his thing and he did it,” McGahee said. “It opened up the run game and I started getting my little yards here and there.”‘

‘The Bills, who didn’t allow a touchdown in the third quarter during all of 2004, picked up where they left off by shutting out Houston. Buffalo allowed a team-record 12 points in the third quarter last season, the second fewest for a third quarter in NFL history. Miami set the record with nine points allowed in 2000.’

‘Take a look at him now, and you would swear Mularkey has a two-touchdown lead on life. As coach of the Buffalo Bills, he is popular. He is well paid. The plan is working, the players are listening and the payoff seems inevitable. Yep, Mularkey has it made, all right.’

Not A Test Drive (Tampa Tribune)

Second Arrest Means Cox Will Be Sidelined Sunday (Tampa Tribune)

Stuff Brewing Inside Bucs’ Locker Room (Tampa Tribune)

Most Teams Pay For Security (Tampa Tribune)

You can look now, Mom, little Alex is catching on (St. Petersburg Times)

Bucs’ Cox deactivated following DUI arrest (St. Petersburg Times)

He crammed for coaching as a Buc (St. Petersburg Times)

Cox will sit out after DUI arrest (Orlando Sentinel)

Clipboard QB’s (Orlando Sentinel)

Smith a pleasant surprise (Bradenton Herald)

Bucs’ rookies are making a big impact (Naples Daily News)

Gruden Must Deal With 2004 (Lakeland Ledger)

Williams leads Bucs backfield (Auburn Plainsman)

Cox won’t play for Bucs this week (AP)

Inside Slant (The Sports Xchange)

Strategy and personnel (The Sports Xchange)

Notes, quotes (The Sports Xchange)

Series History (Buccaneers.com)

Last time they met (Buccaneers.com)

Game notes (Buccaneers.com)

Room for Improvement (Buccaneers.com)

Coach of the Week: Adam Stegeman (Buccaneers.com)

First Impressions (Buccaneers.com)

Fast start (Buccaneers.com)