Archives for October 8, 2006

‘Instead, what was feared from this young team happened, they made too many mistakes and did look intimidated by the Bears and got blown out in the process. It isn’t the end of the world, it just means that the Bills still have a lot of work to do, and we all knew that anyway. In any rebuilding project you always have setbacks, and this was definitely one for the Bills.’

‘The Bills offense couldn’t complete a drive with points until their final drive of the game when Losman hit Lee Evans on a quick slant for a five-yard touchdown reception with 1:06 left in the game. Their longest drive proved to be their first one. The rest of the day their longest possession lasted just six plays, one of which was their only scoring drive.’

‘The Buffalo Bills Fieldhouse became an interactive classroom on Sunday with the launch of the WNY Girls In Sports – “Girls Got Game” campaign. Mary Wilson, wife of Bills’ owner Ralph C. Wilson, Jr., kicked off the event by speaking to a group of 200 nine- through 12-year-old girls about the benefits of playing sports. She explained to the participants that lessons learned on the playing field can translate into positive education and motivation.’

‘Chicago’s offense generated four touchdowns, the defense produced three interceptions and two sacks and the special teams contributed a takeaway and four field goals without a miss.’

‘The Bears played without two starting linemen, defensive end Adewale Ogunleye and defensive tackle Ian Scott, but it was never a factor. The defense sacked quarterback J.P. Losman three times and produced three first-half turnovers. Ricky Manning also came up with another interception after two picks last week against the Seahawks.’

‘The second quarter was a disaster for the Bills offense and defense.’

‘The stifling defense was pretty impressive, too. Rex Grossman threw two touchdown passes, Cedric Benson scored his first two NFL touchdowns and the Bears forced five turnovers in a 40-7 drubbing of Jauron’s Buffalo Bills that launched Chicago to its first 5-0 start since 1986.’

‘Bills lose if…They give the Bears too much respect. Yes, Chicago is off to a great start, and last week’s destruction of the (Shaun Alexander-less) Seahawks was impressive. But it’s important to remember that the Bills, despite playing ugly most weeks, are a couple of breaks from being 4-0. The gap between the NFL’s elite teams and its average teams has never been closer, so the Bills can’t afford to go into this game thinking the Bears need to play poorly for them to have a chance to win.’

‘The Bears, 10-point favorites today, have blown out three of their four opponents this year. The big reason? They had a plus-two advantage in the turnover ratio in each of those games. The Bills, meanwhile, have played turnover-free football in three of their four games.’

‘Chicago, 20-10.’

‘”After seeing them in training camp and getting to know them in the OTAs [organized team activities], I knew they would be able to step right in,” Tripplett said. “They’re hungry young guys and they’re eager to go out and make big plays. They’re doing a good job.”‘

‘”I would like to say we’ll play harder for coach, but it’s not true,” Losman said. “We’re playing hard because we want to win the game. It doesn’t matter who it is. After the game’s over, and if we are victorious, is it going to make it a little bit sweeter for him? Yeah, of course.”‘

‘”When we like a player but don’t get to draft him or sign him as a free agent, we keep tracking him with his pro team,” Gabriel said. “We assign a grade to him, a 6.5 or 6.6. A 6.6 means he would fit into our system, either offense or defense. If he becomes available we’ll pick him up and decide for ourselves whether he should be cut. We already set up our board for next spring. It has 120 names on it.”‘

‘Dick Jauron’s offense will sputter so often that Bears fans will assume John Shoop is calling the plays for the Bills. If the Bears’ defense made Seattle’s Matt Hasselbeck look skittish, how shaky do you think Bills QB J.P. Losman is going to be? Expect a long day for the Bills that will make even ageless Buffalo GM Marv Levy feel old. Bears 27, Bills 9.’

‘How come the Bears are favored by 11? There are a couple of scary matchups for the Bills. One is a shaky Buffalo offensive line against the Bears’ relentless front four. The other is Buffalo being the only team in the league that starts two rookie safeties, which should make Bears quarterback Rex Grossman feel like a grizzled veteran. Why is that a good matchup for Grossman? He likes to throw deep, and offensive coordinator Ron Turner likes to attack deep. The Bills’ rookie safeties have engraved invitations instead of numbers on their jerseys.’