Two Bills Drive

‘Place-kicker Mike Hollis had a day he’d rather forget, missing three field goals in the Bills’ 38-7 loss to the New England Patriots on Sunday.’

‘Bills coach Gregg Williams was booed in the third quarter after electing to punt on fourth-and-2 from the Pats’ 32. It was hardly a show of confidence in one of the best offenses in the league.’

‘What they were was badly outplayed, badly out-coached and badly out-classed by the wounded but suddenly resurgent defending Super Bowl champions.’

‘All I know is every time I look up, Belichick is beating the Buffalo Bills and furthering his reputation as one of the best to coach this sport which, at times, gets as technical as it does physical.’

‘And any talk that Buffalo had turned the corner defensively proved premature. Brady showed he is several cuts above David Carr, Ray Lucas and Joey Harrington by completing 23 of 27 passes for 310 yards and 4 scores.’

‘Wow, this is what happens when you start thinking ahead in the NFL, and everyone — the Bills, their fans and the media that covers them — was guilty of dreaming about the playoffs.’

‘COACHING: Bill Belichick and his Patriots staff shoved their Super Bowl rings right in Buffalo’s face. The Bills looked clueless on both sides of the line of scrimmage and showed a complete lack of confidence by punting at New England’s 32-yard line. Gregg Williams’ exposing Bledsoe to injury when down by 31 points was indefensible. F’

‘And mostly, it was about a Patriots team determined to assert itself physically. Bledsoe was forced to scramble on almost every down, getting sacked four times and bumped around several times more.’

‘Brady wasn’t shy about using Smith in crucial situations, be it out of the backfield or in one of the many screen passes he used to chip away at the Bills defence. “He is such a strong, powerful back and he runs hard,” Brady said.’

‘The Patriots are 4-4, but Brady said it will take more than one win to restore their swagger. “I think we need more games than one in a row,” he said. “This was a good one to get us back on track.’

‘Poor Patriots. All they have now are their Super Bowl rings, the Bills’ 2003 No.1 draft choice they received for their former quarterback and now a loud silence to replace the second-guessing they heard for choosing Tom Brady over Bledsoe.’

‘The Patriots, 4-4, put the finishing touches on the rout in front of a sea of empty seats, as many in the Bills’ fifth sellout in five games started to leave at the end of the third quarter, when the score was 31-7. The stadium had been ruled by groups of dancing, chanting Patriots fans who had made the trip west. The Patriots rolled up 422 yards in total offence, were 8-for-12 (67 per cent) on third down and 4-for-5 in the red zone.’

”’We had a sense of urgency,” the Patriots receiver said after New England’s 38-7 thrashing of the Buffalo Bills. ”We told ourselves we needed to get off to a better start. We needed to get Antowain [Smith] the football, and we needed to get back to the things that made us Super Bowl champions.”’

‘After a week of hype about Belichick’s perceived arrogance for trading Bledsoe within the division, the coach’s judgment appeared totally vindicated.’

‘On four of the five touchdown drives he directed, Brady did not throw an incomplete pass, finishing 23 for 27 for 310 yards and four scores. In the most critical drives of the day, the first two they scored on, Brady was 10 for 10 while throwing a multitude of screens, swing passes, and dumpoffs into the flat or over the middle, throws the Bills’ hapless defense was so utterly unable to cover that it seemed almost criminal after a while to keep beating upon it with the same plays.’