Archives for September 2005

‘At Tiger Stadium, the Saints will be the home team against the Miami Dolphins, Chicago Bears, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Carolina Panthers. In San Antonio, the Buffalo Bills, Atlanta Falcons and Detroit Lions will be the visitor.’

‘There will be plenty of ups and downs for this team, not just Losman, and we’ll learn a lot more about just how good he and the offensive line are next week at Tampa Bay. But the start was as close to perfection as it gets, no matter which side of the coin you’re looking at.’

‘Payne was Houston’s best defender leading the Texans with eight tackles against Buffalo. However, playing in front of family and friends can be difficult for Payne, especially when his team loses, as was the case Sunday.’

‘I am a huge Willis McGahee fan. I think he’s going to be very special this season, but his slow starts worry me a little. He takes a while to get warmed up and his style wears defenses down. I like that a lot, but I worry the team could get down a few scores before Willis warms up.’

‘What’s frightening is that Spikes believes they can do even better. "Yeah, it’s a good start," he said. "But it’s only the beginning."’

‘Offensively we had five penalties yesterday and four of them were on four red zone drives. We have to understand that there is no room for error down there. If we don’t push ourselves out of the red zone, sometimes so far where it’s hard to overcome, that will be a good start.’

‘With regard to the throwbacks, our plan was to try and wear them in San Diego, which is in November, but that has yet to be confirmed. If we don’t wear the throwbacks in the San Diego game, another option we have considered is wearing them in a future home game, possibly with Denver. It would be difficult to do it with New Orleans because of the closeness of the game. We will make a decision shortly as to when the second appearance of the throwback uniforms will be. There is no question that they are sharp and they remind us of the great tradition of the Buffalo Bills.’

‘"I kind of understand my role right now," Preston said after film review on Monday. "You’ve got to prepare like you’re going to play and be ready to go when your number is called. I was just watching Chris and making sure he was getting back up and into the huddle. That’s what I’ve come to expect this year and I’m looking forward to that responsibility."’

‘The New Orleans Saints will return to Louisiana in late October to play four of their last five regular-season home games at Louisiana State University’s Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue and Saints Owner Tom Benson announced today.’

‘The next two scheduled home games against Buffalo in Week Four (October 2 or 3) and Atlanta in Week Six (October 16 or 17) will be played at the Alamodome. The Saints will also play their final home game at San Antonio on December 24 or 26 against Detroit.’

‘“We had an excellent meeting this morning and quickly developed a dual consensus,” Tagliabue said. “The first was to continue to give priority to the needs of the region and the second to the scheduling of Saints games in a way that made sense under the total circumstances. … We also appreciate the cooperation of the Alamodome officials and the hospitality of the people of San Antonio for their support of the Saints at this difficult time.”’

‘Coach Bob O’Connor of St. Joe’s has been named the Buffalo Bills High School Football “Coach of the Week” for the second weekend of the 2005 season (September 9-10).’

‘The other guy’s MVP: You gain 120 net yards, don’t force any turnovers and then want awards? Ha.’

‘The team has been talking about since the end of last season, the need to get off to a fast start. They even had t-shirts printed up so they wouldn’t forget. They certainly remembered the horrors of last season’s start and were ready not to repeat it without a dominating opening day win over Houston 22-7 before a sun drenched crowd at Ralph Wilson Stadium.’