Archives for September 2008

‘”The losing of the Buffalo Bills – that’s behind us,” said Bills safety Donte Whitner. “This is a new era of the Buffalo. We have guys that are hungry, guys that are talented and they’re ready to work.”‘

‘”We have a tough test next week at Jacksonville, and we didn’t play all that well last season against them down there (36-14 loss in Week 12),” Edwards pointed out. “It’s good to gain some confidence off this first win of the season and enjoy it while it lasts, but we need to make sure we’re learning from the mistakes that we made today.”‘

‘”It was awesome,” said Chris Kelsay. “Perry did a tremendous job. We were getting to them with four. We were getting to them with multiples, our standup game. That frustrates offenses and you could tell. Hasselbeck was frustrated and their offensive line was frustrated.”‘

‘It was a gadget Buffalo’s Bobby April, the Bills’ special teams coach, dreamed up this spring and practiced again and again — hoping one day to put it to use. Sunday was that day, and look what happened. It helped win a ballgame.’

‘This is a diverse, interesting and well rounded football team. Now if it can just win a few games.’

‘The Bills could use Peters, but the trouble is that Peters could have used much more practice. Finally back and talking, he’s still damaged his team by both missing a huge opportunity to get even better and thinking that ignoring his present contract is the best way to get a new deal, a ridiculous negotiation ploy that brought to mind George Costanza’s dealings with NBC.’

‘”Coach (Bobby) April does a great job. He takes his time in practice and does a good job in meetings trying to prepare the special teams players to do their parts. He knows that special teams can determine the outcome of a game and (Sunday) was a great example of that. We were playing well on offense and defense, but special teams really changed the momentum,” Denney said.’

‘Having satisfied his appetite for humiliating his pursuers, Parrish dashed for the end zone, easily accelerating past the four Seahawks who had caught up to the play due only to his meanderings.’

‘The Bills were constantly playing in the Seahawks’ backfield using a variety of pressure packages. The Bills blitzed 16 times in passing situations, most of them coming up the middle through the “A” gap (between the center and guards). The four-man rush was equally effective in creating sacks and forcing hurried throws.’

‘What do you suppose Marcus Stroud, Aaron Schobel and Kawika Mitchell will be thinking when they look across the line of scrimmage and see Matt Cassel lining up over center – or perhaps Chris Simms, Tim Rattay or some other well-traveled quarterbacking mediocrity?’

‘”You know, that’s the only way I could have sent the message,” Peters said after a team walk-through Monday. “If I showed up [on time], the problem is never going to get solved. The only leverage I had was to sit out and show that there was a problem. It was the only option I had, to sit out.”‘

‘”We’re very happy with the Opening Day crowd,” said Chris Clark, the Bills director of security. “We think the message got out that we expected good behavior, and I think people are getting on the program.”‘

‘”I’m trying to be an inspiration to people that need some inspiration in their lives. I’m just very thankful. I thank God every day for [this good fortune],” said Everett.’

‘Stroud is clearly the hub that the entire defense now revolves around, but he refuses to take too much credit. "It’s a team game, we all play together," he said. "If we dominate the line it’ll trickle back to the linebackers, and then back to the DBs, so we all play together. It’s not just me, it’s everybody."’

‘Coach Bobby April’s kicking teams underwent vast change in the offseason, but no one could tell the difference. It was a vintage day as Roscoe Parrish had a 63-yard punt return TD, Ryan Denney caught a 19-yard TD pass from holder Brian Moorman on a fake field goal, the kickoff coverage team forced a fumble that led to Edwards’ TD pass to Royal, and Rian Lindell made two field goals. The only negative was a blocked field goal of a Lindell attempt that was the first blocked kick suffered by the Bills since 2002. The streak included 811 consecutive punts, field goals and extra points that had not been blocked.’