Two Bills Drive

‘The Bills bolstered their defense, which ranked 29th against the run last year, by signing Cincinnati’s best defensive player in linebacker Takeo Spikes; space-eating tackle Sam Adams (from Oakland), another productive linebacker in Jeff Posey (eight sacks with Houston), and safety Izell Reese (Denver).’

‘Jim Kelly is scoring again. The football great, who is the only NFL quarterback to lead his team to four consecutive Super Bowls, will be the grand marshal for Sunday’s race.’

‘…the Giants believe they have lured [Mike] Hollis with a five-year deal – the team last night would not confirm this – to further spice their special teams with a veteran flavor.’

Joe DeLamielleure will be appearing in St. Louis this Sunday April 6th, from 9:30-12:30.

‘The Giants also are close to reaching agreement with veteran placekicker Mike Hollis, who played with Buffalo last season after a long career in Jacksonville, the source added.’

The schedule features two nationally televised Sunday night games on ESPN – September 21 at Miami and October 26 at Kansas City. Those two contests kick off at 8:30 PM (ET).

Spikes, a dominant force from the Cincinnati Bengals, and Posey, a rising talent from the Houston Texans, should do plenty to enhance the Bills’ pass rush, which generated a mere 31 sacks last season. Their tremendous injection of speed and athleticism — along with the quickness of incumbent middle linebacker London Fletcher — will go a long way toward allowing the Bills to generate more heat on the passer.

‘"We’ve worked hard but we’ve also been fortunate," Donahoe said. "When the Bengals put the ("transition") tag on Takeo, for instance, we didn’t know if we could do enough to get him. But some things went our way. In dealing with (Adams), it was obvious he was close with Pat Williams, and he really liked (defensive line coach) Tim Krumrie. On Marcus Jones, heck, we just signed him on a wing and a prayer, but it looks like it might work out for us. If it all comes together, yeah, maybe we’ve closed the gap now in our division."’

‘The Bills made it to the Super Bowl four times in a row under Levy’s coaching – and lost all four times. Levy remained undeterred, believing that persistence and a positive response to rejection are key to success on the field. "Fight ’til your last gasp," he said. But if you lose, "don’t be too harsh on yourselves, recognize the good, make a plan and then work on that plan because a brilliant idea is just a job half done."’

‘"It’s a business and I’m prepared to move on," Lacina said. "Buffalo would be a great situation. I’d like to finish where I started."’

‘The good news is the Bills play their opener at Ralph Wilson Stadium. The bad news last season was the Patriots whipped the Bills, 38-7, in Buffalo and, 27-17, in Foxboro, Mass. Had the Bills won both of those games, they would have made the playoffs.’

‘But while players and coaches — who view playing on MNF as prestigious and fun — may take that as a slight, the Bills marketing department openly welcomes Sunday games starting at 1 p.m. That’s because it’s much easier for fans from Rochester, the Southern Tier and Canada — about 40 percent of the attendance at Ralph Wilson Stadium — to make the round-trip drive.’

‘The Bills, coming off an 8-8 season, will play 11 games against teams that were .500 or better last year and the schedule includes six games against 2002 playoff teams. Three of the final four games will be against AFC East opponents.’

‘The schedule features two nationally televised Sunday night games on ESPN – September 21 at Miami and October 26 at Kansas City. Those two contests kick off at 8:30 PM (ET).’

‘”You’ve got to be pleased with what we’ve done so far,” said Gray, who has endured two long seasons under severe salary cap constraints. “We filled some needs — a big run stopper, a more active (weak-side) linebacker, a good (strong-side) linebacker and we’ve got some competition back there at safety. Even without the draft, we’ve got competition on the team and that’s going to make everyone better.”‘