Two Bills Drive

‘What this means, as I see it, is that while no one should get too carried away with expectations, it is becoming clear most of us underestimated what Drew Bledsoe would mean to this team. If he stays healthy, and other key people don’t go down for extended periods of time, there’s no reason this team can’t continue to surprise us. It’s far from a one man effort, but that sure is where this all starts.’

‘Floyd was released by the New York Jets last month. He takes over the spot vacated by Ahmad Brooks, who was promoted to the Bills’ active roster last week to fill in for injured starting cornerback Antoine Winfield.’

The Bills announced that the team has signed defensive back Marcus Floyd to its practice squad.

Floyd (5-9, 185) was with the Jets in the 2002 preseason and spent the first two weeks of the regular season on New York’s 53-man roster before being released on 9/22/02

Several Buffalo Bills players are spending their day off in the community. Among them, linebacker London Fletcher will attend an autograph signing session at Verizon Wireless in the Boulevard Mall from 5:00 – 6:00 PM to promote the HopeLine Domestic Violence Awareness Campaign.

‘Henry’s 132-yard performance against the Miami Dolphins on Sunday gives him 631 yards for the season, fourth best in the AFC and sixth in the NFL. Of all the running backs with 100 or more carries, Henry’s 4.8 yards per attempt is second only to Marshall Faulk’s 4.9.’

‘They could take a four-game winning streak and a 6-3 record into the bye week. That’s a big leap, but they believe they can do it. If it happens, Williams will have gone from a "coach on the hot seat" to hot young coach, and – brace yourself – maybe even a candidate for coach of the year.’

‘"Mike Williams had a great workout Saturday, Sunday and (Monday). Hopefully we can work him back out on the field this week. We’ll take a look at how he is (today), but Wednesday will be a crucial day to see how far along he’s come."’

‘The 4-3 Bills are averaging 31 points per game, the third-highest average in the NFL. If the Lions, who haven’t won a road game since the 2000 season, are going to keep pace they can’t afford to make the same mistakes they made against the Bears. Detroit committed 10 penalties for 79 yards, not including the 63-yard kickoff return which Chicago had in the fourth quarter after the Lions were called for offside and had to rekick.’

‘”We came out in the second half and everyone knows we’re going to run it and the offensive line still did a good job against one of the top defenses in the league,” Bledsoe said. “It’s a nice feeling … and it all starts up front. It’s a young group that keeps getting better every week.”‘

‘Even if they are 6-3 after this two-game homestand heading into their bye, I can see a scenario where the Bills will need to beat the Bengals in the final game of the year just to hit .500.’

‘At the start of the season, Sunday’s game between the Bills and the Detroit Lions looked like a real dog, a game between two teams that combined to win five games in 2001. Now, as we approach the midway point of the 2002 season, Ralph Wilson Stadium will be sold out, and the game is vitally important for the Bills, and reasonably important to the Lions.’

‘They have not won a road game since Mornhinweg took over last year. The road losing streak has reached 11 games, and they will be underdogs when they play Sunday at Buffalo.’

‘In the short term, the Lions definitely would have been better off with Moeller as coach. They would have won more games last season. But there would be no Joey Vision. It is doubtful quarterback Joey Harrington would have been available in the late rounds. So now it is up to the Lions to make sure the long-term prospects are brighter.’

‘”As crazy as it sounds, those overtime games are great for a football team, when you’re in the midst of improving,” Mornhinweg said. “Those are the tough, tough tight situations. In the close games, and the end of games — you need to be put in those positions time and time again. “You may fail nine out of 10 times. And the next 10, you may fail six out of 10. Then, all of a sudden, you’re succeeding seven or eight or nine times out of 10.”‘

”’I think people are probably going to start taking notice,” tight end Jay Riemersma said. ”The Bills have a tradition here of being in the playoff hunt each and every year. And the last few years, we haven’t done that. It’s good to be back in that thick of things.”’