Two Bills Drive

‘”The only thing I’ll say on that, is that it was a stupid, stupid play,” he said, as if to take out a paddle and spank himself. “I was scrambling, and as I looked to the sidelines, I saw that big ‘4’ (on the down marker). There’s no place to hide. It was just a dumb play.”‘

‘"If guys have to go out and talk about what they are going to do, then they don’t have much confidence because they are trying to convince themselves they can do it," Lewis said.’

‘"He’s outstanding at throwing the football and he plays with some toughness in there," Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis said. "He’s not a guy who shies away from getting hit. Obviously, he’s been a big part of the improvement of the Bills over the last two years. He’s a fine quarterback."’

Marvin Lewis had a chance to become coach of the Buffalo Bills following the 2000 season. But the Bills ultimately decided on Gregg Williams. [Lewis rejected the Bills.]

Longtime league assistant Hank Bullough, who went 2-10 after inheriting the Buffalo Bills four games into the 1985 season, once noted: "You’re in the middle of the hill, the snowball is coming at you, and they want you to figure out a way to push that thing back up the mountain. Good luck."

”’Because of how I play, I think I’m always going to get a decent amount of sacks,” he said. ”But I was more dominating in college. And I want to get that feel back. … And that’s when I’ll be satisfied. I ain’t saying sacks, I’m just saying where I can beat a guy as consistently as I did in college week to week.”’

‘"I feel better than I did yesterday," said Henry, who was still limited during Thursday’s workout. "It feels pretty good."’

‘So far, all three home games in 2003 have sold out by the blackout deadline.’

‘"I don’t think that our confidence has fallen off. I still think that we believe that we can play with anybody when we take the field. We expect to win each time we take the field. We’ve just got to go out and produce a little bit more. It’s been frustrating. You go and watch the film and we’ll hit a play and have a penalty. Or we’ll come out and have a negative play early and then have to convert a long-yard situation. We’ve kind of been forcing ourselves to fight some up hill battles with some circumstances that have come up. We need to be a little bit cleaner in our execution across the board. If we do that then we start converting our third downs and we can be a little bit more patient with the running game and get things going."’

‘"The doctors are involved everyday and really it came down to the basic part of us and Travis (Henry), what he can withstand and what was pertain to do with the long season left to go. There’s some give and take there but we trust our doctors and they basically said he was good to go if he can stand it."’

‘The Bills’ offensive line has not controlled the line of scrimmage in the running game the past three weeks. They have run 58 times the past three games for 105 yards – a 1.8-yard average.’

‘The Bengals got into the win column in Cleveland, but Buffalo is an entirely different animal. Spikes will be extremely fired up for this contest and he’ll likely wreak havoc in the Cincinnati backfield. Expect the Bengals to implode with at least three turnovers in this one. Cincy hasn’t won consecutive road games since 1995 and that trend will continue this week.’

Bills QB Drew Bledsoe and Patriots QB Tom Brady absolutely have killed their teams’ chances when they’ve been slightly off the past season and a quarter, and if these teams are to have a realistic shot at the Super Bowl, these two signal-callers will have to become more consistent and reliable, particularly in protecting the ball. Of course, it would help if their supporting casts were better, but that won’t change anytime soon, so the pressure is on Brady and Bledsoe to adapt.

‘”He’s a straight down-hill runner. He’s got great contact balance,” said Bills linebacker Takeo Spikes, a former Bengal who recalled what his fellow Auburn alum did to the Bills in the preseason. “I know what he can do. A lot of the guys here know what he can do. When I was with Cincinnati, we came up here (last year) and nobody could even tackle Rudi. That’s what these guys are still talking about. He’s not as fast as damn Corey. He’s a power runner.”‘

‘Even though Spikes is gone, the defense feels good about the future even though such a huge part of their past is blocking them Sunday.’