Two Bills Drive

‘Despite a weeklong buildup that dominated two cities and brought the national media flocking from every corner of the country, the Bledsoe Bowl was, in dramatic terms, a flop.’

‘The boisterous Buffalo crowd is known as the Bills’ 12th man. But the Patriots offensive line removed the fans from the formula by being effective on first down. By giving quarterback Tom Brady a surplus of second-and-5 situations to work with, it allowed the Patriots to mount long sustained scoring drives. The Patriots’ efficiency on first down eliminated the Bills’ home-field advantage.’

‘“It caused a lot of confusion in their blocking,” Jones said. “We had the lead (24-7 at the time) and we knew they had to pass. Their offensive line is big and we saw in other games that they had trouble with speed. We couldn’t let (Bledsoe) step up and make his throws. We had to keep him on one leg and scrambling. If you let him stand there, he’ll kill you. The idea was to cause trouble with their assignments.”’

‘The result was a 38-7 Patriots romp at Ralph Wilson Stadium before a sellout crowd of 73,448 that seemed to include about 10,000 rowdy Patriots fans.’

‘Prior to the game, dozens of Patriots approached Bledsoe to exchange handshakes and hugs. The first was Tom Brady, who chatted with Bledsoe for around 10 minutes. Bledsoe also met with Pats owner Robert Kraft, offensive coordinator Charlie Weis and about a dozen players. Bledsoe also played a little catch with Pats linebacker Mike Vrabel.’

‘Anyone who would dare put a wager on these Patriots as 3-point underdogs had to be near-delirious, or a Republican cutting taxes.’

‘Rendering Bledsoe a non-factor sufficed to silence all of those second-quessers around New England who were poised to cluck “I told you so!” But beating Bledsoe was a severe afterthought for these 4-4 Patriots, had dropped four straight coming in.’

‘It looked a lot like last season.’

‘Tom Brady wasn’t perfect. But he was pretty darn close to it.’

‘Instead of confusing Bledsoe with intricate coverages, the Patriots befuddled Buffalo’s offensive linemen with blitzes.’

‘The point is, all this money flowing in to the restaurants, bars and hotels, can be traced directly to the Bills success this season and that can be traced to Bledsoe. The Bills public relations department has no hard numbers on the financial impact Bledsoe’s had, but they termed it as “significant.” No wonder they’re so enamored with him.’

‘The Pats ran the ball more often than they threw it (35 rushes, 27 pass attempts), rolled up more than 400 yards total offense, and didn’t commit a turnover. That’s a recipe for success.’

‘The Patriots defense stopped the Bills on 7 of 11 third-down conversion attempts yesterday…’.

‘On Saturday night, Drew Bledsoe took Patriots linebackers Mike Vrabel and Ted Johnson to dinner. On Sunday, they ate him for lunch.’

‘He wanted to do well against his former teammates, but it wasn’t a crusade or a national story. His was the grudge match that few people talked about. The spotlight was on Drew Bledsoe coming into Sunday’s Patriots-Bills game. But that was fine with Antowain Smith.’