Archives for September 23, 2008

‘He might not have picked the best time, but his tackle sent a message: This is our house and you don’t pull that stuff here.’

‘”We want to use that same rage, everything that we felt at the time when we were losing and guys were beating up on us,” Whitner said. “We want to use that in our game. That’s how we show our attitude.”‘

‘”Everybody’s getting involved for us, and the players are seeing that,” said Schonert, whose offense ranks 9th overall in points, with 26 per game. “It’s not just a one-man show any more, throwing to Lee. We’re using everybody, and everybody’s making plays. When that happens for a team, everybody gains confidence and starts believing.”’

‘”Right when we’d get something going we’d have a penalty or a fumble or an interception or we had some big play that their offense made,” said Trent Edwards of Sunday’s game. “It didn’t really seem like everything was going in our direction. We could have sat there and thought it was just not our day and took it on the chin. But it goes back to our head coach.”‘

‘Buffalo won’t be able to coast for 87 percent of the day and expect to win many of the next 13 games. But for the first time since Bruce Smith and the dozens of long-ago teammates on hand to honor him during a halftime ceremony roamed the turf in Orchard Park, these Bills understand that winning doesn’t necessarily mean being the better team all the time.’

‘More important than unencumbered souls is that both sides of the ball worked together for Buffalo, as the offense’s 10 late points would have been rendered useless if the defenders had surrendered any more. With one big exception and another much smaller one on Oakland’s short-drive touchdown, the Bills found the resolve to hold tight in the second half, and their own philosophy of ignoring the other team’s pieces and heading straight for the king eventually won out to the dismay of Russian intellectuals and gifted 10-year-olds but to the delight of Buffalo fans.’

‘Williams was credited with four tackles, but his impact was greater than that. He spent most of the day in the Raiders’ backfield, and when he didn’t make the tackle he created enough of a disruption to free up someone else to make the play.’

‘”You’d certainly rather be 3-0 than 0-3,” head coach Dick Jauron said Monday. “It is really early, though. We just have to keep playing. I think the significance is that we’ve won three games at the start of the season and that’s a big plus. We’ve talked about it before, the fast start is good, but you just have to play through the whole thing. It’s a long year.”‘

‘Thirty-four people were arrested inside by stadium security, while at least 12 motorists were arrested on drunken driving charges afterward.’

‘"Josh is like the cornerstone," Evans said of his running mate. "He’s the vet you trust. He knows the offense and he can do a lot of different things. Josh is just reliable, and he is that veteran in our corps who kind of keeps everybody together.”’

‘Dick was hired by former GM Marv Levy for his teaching abilities. Marv’s master plan called for rebuilding through the draft and he knew he needed someone with the patience and calm demeanor suitable to work with young players who inevitably are going to make mistakes. Jauron really fit that bill. I know we poke fun that he looks like a funeral director on the sidelines, but the guy really is personable and fun to be around.’

‘”I thought our pressure has been pretty good, pretty consistently good, and our coverage has been, I think, probably tighter than it was a year ago. All of those things factor in, and then as we’ve talked about before, third down is obviously set up by those other two. And you have to be good on first and second if you’re going to have good numbers on third,” Bills coach Dick Jauron said.’

‘The Bills have held the Seahawks, Jaguars and Raiders to fewer than 280 total yards apiece. That happened only twice in 16 games last season.’

‘Think about it: The Argos’ most recent three games have been unwatchable blowout losses in which the only thing worse than the performance was the lack of effort. The Hamilton Tiger-Cats may be as hard on the eyes, but at least they made a game of it against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers last week. Meanwhile, down the QEW, the Buffalo Bills are 3-0 and have their fans in a frenzy, a feeling that is increasingly spilling over the border with every win.’

‘Based on the parity in the league, and past history though, don’t be surprised if this team “lays an egg”. If and when it happens, don’t panic. The Bills won’t, I’m sure.’