Archives for November 2005

‘Bills’ President and general manager Tom Donahoe, currently in his 5th year with the team, needs to be held accountable for his mistakes at the end of the season. The Bills have gone 29-43 under his rule and that is unacceptable. The great fans of Buffalo deserve better from this organization and they haven’t gotten it. Since Donahoe has done such a masterful job of selling tickets and marketing to the fans, he will likely stay on in Buffalo and you can expect the ineptitude to continue.’

‘Mike although I did agree in the switch to Kelly Holcomb in an effort to save the season, isn’t it time to give J.P. Losman the chance to develop? Let’s face facts, the defense isn’t scaring anybody and the offense needs to further gel in order to have real chance in playoffs.

Mike Mularkey: At some point it’s going to happen. We’re going to do an evaluation this week on every position. That’s what the bye week is for. We’ll look at each player, each scheme and the play calling. Everybody will take a good look at themselves, coaches included, and if switching back to J.P. is the decision than that’s one of the decisions we will make, but all options will be discussed.’

‘Here was Buffalo’s turn to do everything New England has done to the rest of the NFL since 2001 and build their own identity in the process. Of course, Buffalo did not carve out a new identity. They only furthered the notion that they can find defeat in a sea of victory.’

‘”It was good to see us try to make some plays downfield, but we’ve got to make a lot more,” Moulds said. “I think we’ve got to be able to get Lee (Evans) the ball a little bit more and get Josh (Reed) involved and get some of the younger guys involved. When we get the bye week hopefully we can do that.”‘

‘Overall, the Buffalo Bills gave a terrific effort in this game. They easily could have won but they didn’t have certain things go their way. They need to learn how to toughen up late in games and win. Until they do that, they won’t be anything close to a contender in the AFC.’

“I have it by Tuesday morning,” he said. “That gives me a chance to go back and break it down and point out some of the things I’m seeing. At the same time I’m looking at the opponent we’re playing the next week and what they are doing and how we can be successful against them.”

‘And forget the two wild cards. They will come from among Cincinnati (6-2) and Pittsburgh (5-2) or Denver (6-2) and Kansas City (4-3), whichever two don’t win the North and West, respectively, or possibly South runner-up Jacksonville (4-3), or even resurgent San Diego (4-4) in the West. Oh, the Bills will be mathematically alive until they log loss No. 7, but the reality is, Sunday night’s fourth-quarter meltdown effectively dashed any Buffalo post-season hopes. So, to repeat the question at the outset … what’s next?’

‘Only two of the Bills’ final eight games are against teams with losing records.’

‘Go ahead, stick with Holcomb. Right now, he’s your best chance to be average. But I can’t wait for Losman’s return. When it happens, he promises to be true to himself, to stop trying to be something he’s not. Coming from the Bills, that sort of honesty is refreshing.’

‘”The official saw something I didn’t see,” said Moulds, who had his best game of the season with nine catches for 125 yards, including a 55-yard touchdown. “Even the New England guy was saying, ‘We got away with one.’ It was a crucial time in the game. At that point, I thought we would have been able to just play.”‘

‘The Bills did exactly what they needed to do to win one the road. They hammered Willis McGahee, churned out first downs, ran off 28 more plays and kept the ball out of Brady’s hands. It was perfect except for not finding the end zone enough.’

‘”There are no moral victories in this league,” wide receiver Eric Moulds said. “That’s a helluva of a team over there. They’ve won three world titles. It’s good to say we hung with them, but we need wins. They know how to finish games and keep their poise. A couple of times we felt they were out of the game, but those guys kept on fighting. Brady was poised, their defense, even though we moved the ball up and down the field on them, it made plays. That’s what you do when you’re world champions.”‘

‘Mike Mularkey and his staff did a good job of having their team ready for a game that would’ve giving Buffalo first place in the AFC East at their bye. They ran the ball, they controlled the clock, they threw the ball down field, they created pressure and came up with takeaways on defense. But opportunistic New England made them pay at crunch time, showing why they’ve won three of the past four Super Bowls and showing why Buffalo hasn’t won the division since 1995 or made the playoffs since 1999.’

‘DT Sam Adams played sparingly in the second half as the coaching staff chose to play younger backups Justin Bannan and Lavale Sape in the three-time Pro Bowler’s place. Bannan did a nice job pressuring QB Tom Brady and Sape had a fumble recovery. It’s believed the decision to sit Adams was made by line coach Tim Krumrie, who may have been upset by Adams’ penchant for not playing the scheme that’s called. The Patriots averaged 4.2 yards per rush on Buffalo, led by Corey Dillon’s big second half when he scored two touchdowns. An upset Adams wasn’t sure what the future holds in store for him, but he’s far and away Buffalo’s best defensive tackle. If the coaching staff plays all young players against the Kansas City Chiefs, who have one of the best offensive lines in the NFL, in two weeks, it could be a very ugly afternoon.’

Patriots report card (Boston Herald)

Inside slant (The Sports Xchange)

Strategy and personnel (The Sports Xchange)

Notes, quotes (The Sports Xchange)

Patriots, Bills Game Notes (Patriots.com)

Grogan’s Grade: Week 7 (PatsFans.com)