Two Bills Drive

‘Gregg Williams knows how to motivate his players. In spite of a terrible season – the Bills finished 3-13 – the Bills played hard the entire season. They upset the Jets at the Meadowlands 14-9, and they took the New England Patriots to overtime in December. But the Bills made significant upgrades to this team during the offseason, and Williams must produce better results.’

‘"There was a tremendous amount of positive that we have a chance to build on," Williams said, "but you play the game to win. Minnesota’s going through the same thing."’

‘Bills cornerback Nate Clements summed it up perfectly when he quipped, "It’s tough trying to tackle a quarterback that’s bigger than you are."’

‘For Western New Yorkers, there’s no more new here than in the Flutie special. But the footage of Kelly playing in high school and in college still makes this compelling viewing.’

‘Unitas played seven games against Buffalo as a member of the Colts (6) and San Diego Chargers (1). His teams were 6-0-1 in those games (he was 4-0-1 as a starter and came off the bench the two other times).’

‘Bledsoe considers Buffalo a perfect fit off and on the field. He enjoys the small-town atmosphere as well as an offense he says suits him better than any he has played in before.’

‘"I was licking my chops, thinking we could take advantage of something,” Morrow said. "But really, I didn’t see much other than a pretty good special teams unit. I mean that. They didn’t have many breakdowns, even though it would seem that way. There was just some missed tackles.”’

‘The Vikings have won the past three meetings with the Bills, but six of the last seven matchups have been decided by seven points or less.’

‘Sportservice, the foodservice arm of Delaware North Cos., said it sold a season’s worth of bottled water during the Sept. 8 Buffalo Bills home opener at Ralph Wilson Stadium.’

The Bills and Vikings have met just nine times since their series began back in 1971. The Vikings hold a 7-2 edge in the match-up, including a 31-27 victory in the most recent meeting in 2000.

The Bills look to rebound from a tough season-opening loss in which they fell to the Jets 37-31 in OT last Sunday at Ralph Wilson Stadium. They'll get the chance to record win #1 this Sunday in Minnesota when they take on the Vikings at the Metodome. Kickoff is at 4:15 PM (ET).

‘Williams is well aware that his performance, while satisfactory, was not good enough. The Bills need him to improve every week.’

‘The 5-9, 220-pounder has a low center of gravity; Vikings cornerback Corey Chavous described his running style as having a bowling ball coming at you. And he clearly gets the ball rolling for the Bills’ offense.’

‘"There’s a lot of running quarterbacks in the league and people have their plans on how they believe they have to combat that," Bills coach Gregg Williams said. "It certainly is another dimension that’s harder to defend, especially when you get down in that red zone area where they can put points on the board with their feet. We’ll have to be very disciplined with our rush lanes. We’ll have to do a good job and pick and choose the times we allow him to have any kind of room to run the football because he’s almost like covering another receiver. You have to play coverage on him also with your defensive linemen."’

‘To the Vikings and their fans, Williams is a tease. As the fourth player selected overall in the NFL draft, Williams has done everything Vikings first-round pick Bryant McKinnie hasn’t: He has reported to training camp on time, improved steadily, bonded with veterans and upgraded the quality of the entire offense.’