Archives for October 20, 2008

‘Buffalo’s defense had a season best day when it came to shutting down the run game. They held the Chargers to just 72 yards rushing, a season low. LaDainian Tomlinson had just 41 yards on 14 carries. The rest of San Diego’s rushing yardage came on a 31-yard reverse. The run front had eight plays where they allowed one yard or less including a pair of tackles for loss.’

‘Buffalo allowed just three first downs in the fourth quarter – all coming on the same drive – and got the two turnovers involving Mitchell. The Bills controlled the ball for 9:41 in the final quarter.’

‘That’s the rub of looking at a young quarterback statistically. Is Edwards going to be better than Peyton Manning when the young Bill has had an infinitely better surround cast (Manning had Marshall Faulk and rookie Marvin Harrison, but was also “blessed” with Jerome Pathon, Torrance Small and Ken Dilger)? Is Roethlisberger eternally better than Edwards because he walked onto a Steelers team who could’ve won with Howard Simon at quarterback?’

‘While the patchwork pass coverage was spotty at times, safeties by title Bryan Scott and George Wilson did their best to hold back the tidal wave by roving around in the backfield. Also, on an old-school day Donte Whitner ignored positional labels and just played tough-minded football. Maybe the Bills should just keep putting safeties out there.’

‘”We knew that they would run a lot of Power ‘O’s, a lot of bounces and to Bryan’s side,” said Whitner. “So you want a guy that up there that’s 225 pounds that can keep his hands on the tight end and force the ball back inside. Bryan did a great job of doing that and I just played the middle of the field making sure nobody came across the middle out there and they didn’t test me.”‘

‘The culprit: a cluster of helium balloons with metallic tails that became entangled in power lines near the stadium shortly before the game, New York State Electric & Gas spokesman Randy Edwards said. Edwards said several chauffeurs in the stadium parking lot saw the balloons become entangled at about 12:45 p.m. “They actually heard and saw the smoke from where they hit the transformers,” Edwards said. The balloons caused two outages during the first half of the game as utility workers struggled to get power flowing to about 800 customers in the area – including Ralph Wilson Stadium. The company switched to secondary power lines, but the same balloons soon caused problems with those lines, and power had to be switched back to the primary lines, Edwards said. A utility pole fire about a mile from the stadium – believed to be unrelated to the tangled balloons – also complicated efforts to restore power, Edwards said.’

‘”It’s definitely a big win to get against a team like that, it means a lot to our team,” said Mitchell, who played for the Super Bowl-winning New York Giants last year.’

‘”Obviously he had a great day,” Schonert said. “He saw the field well. He was accurate. He made great check-downs. He delivered it to open guys.”‘

‘”I moved around from the nickel to the strong to the free safety, played some corner, and we held them to 14 points, so that’s a good thing,” he said. “The coaches told me before the season that I would be used all over the field. I don’t know if this is what they had in mind, but I definitely enjoyed the extra responsibility.”‘

‘”No question about it,” he said. “You get a lot of credit when the team wins, but when it goes the other way you look bad. … I felt like I was playing pretty good up to that point. You don’t ever want the turnovers to happen but they did. The only way I know to fix it is to work hard, make corrections and play.”‘

‘Well, the statement has been made. It’s clear and resounding, like the plaintive voice of the preacher, like a gunshot in the night. The Bills are for real, a legitimate force in the league, a young team that’s capable of big things this year.’

‘”It was a play we worked on in practice,” Mitchell said. “No. 86 [Brandon Manumaleuna], the tight end, ran a crossing route and I knew to look to No. 85 [Antonio Gates]. … That’s just the play that we worked on. They didn’t run it all game and we finally got it and I was supposed to make a play on it so I did.”‘

‘According to New York State Electric & Gas, the problems were caused by helium-filled party balloons that tangled in power lines that serve the stadium. The balloons also affected a second service line. NYSEG had to deal with a pole fire about a mile from the stadium that caused another interruption. Randy Edwards, NYSEG’s regional public relations manager, said the company is investigating the incident.’

‘Both teams were called for delay of game despite the fact the quarterback had no view of a play clock. Rivers was livid that he did not get a heads-up from the officials that the clock was winding down. We don’t blame him.’

‘Lee Evans did his best David Tyree impersonation to put the Bills in the lead at halftime. The Bills’ star wideout made a great one-handed catch along the right side of the end zone with 5:20 left in the second quarter to put Buffalo ahead, 10-7.’