Two Bills Drive

‘Perhaps the most impressive of the Bills’ new breed is Wiley, the defensive end charged with replacing the NFL’s second-leading sacker of all-time, Bruce Smith. The 6-foot-4, 275-pound Wiley has the Bills in the running to own the NFL’s best defense, again. That’s right, again. The Bills’ no-name defense, which was denied even a single Pro Bowl selection last season, had the NFL’s top-rated defense in 1999 even if most people thought that label belonged to Baltimore (which was second) Tampa Bay (third) or Jacksonville (fourth). "I don’t think we got our due as far as being No. 1," Bills linebacker Sam Cowart said. "If you ask a lot of people who finished No. 1, I think they might have said Tampa Bay or Jacksonville or something." If no one saw what the Bills’ defense did last year, which included holding Tennessee to 15 points in an AFC wild card game before the Titans used a kickoff lateral to win in the final minute, then they should have taken notice on Sunday night. In front of a national television audience in the 2000 opener, the Bills made Titans’ Pro Bowl running back Eddie George look like he belonged on the practice squad. George averaged only 2.2 yards a carry and finished with a mere 37 yards. Tennessee managed only 172 yards of total offense in the Bills’ 16-13 victory.’

‘It’s expedient to chalk up Buffalo’s 16-13 victory over the Tennessee Titans on Sunday night as revenge for last season’s Music City Miracle, but that wasn’t the cause. It’s also simplistic to say it was because of dropped passes by Tennessee’s Frank Wycheck and Eddie George. There are always a few plays that would change a game if you went back and changed their outcome. The reason the Bills won is because of good, old-fashioned, football technique. They did it so well that Bills defensive coordinator Ted Cottrell, a Chester native, should have gotten the game ball. The Bills were able to walk away with the victory because the Buffalo defense, particularly the interior linemen, shut the door on George, Tennessee’s workhorse of a running back.’

‘The Buffalo Bills weren’t interested in making excuses for their lackluster offensive performance in the season-opening victory over Tennessee. They readily admitted they made mistakes, but the fact is it was just the first game, and the Titans weren’t exactly a nice, cushy opponent to kick off the season against. "That was a good team we played," running back Antowain Smith said. For all the missed blocks, penalties, errant passes and ineffective runs, the bottom line — as coach Wade Phillips pointed out — was that the Bills came out with a 1-0 record. "My biggest concern is the win," Phillips said. "If we win, that’s the important thing and that’s what I want the team to realize. The most important thing is to win."’

‘The Bills special team units are dominated by young players long on exuberance but short on experience, and it showed Sunday night in the season opener against Tennessee. Be honest. Every time the Bills went flying downfield to cover a kick or punt, you flashed back to the Home Run Throw Back, especially on that last kickoff return when Derrick Mason was streaking up the middle of the field in the final half-minute looking like he was protected by an invisible force field. Be honest. Every time new Bills’ return man Chris Watson went to field a kickoff or punt, he looked like a Little League outfielder trying to gauge a fly ball. "Just catch it! Just catch it!" many in the crowd of 72,492 screamed.’

‘Eric Moulds, who stormed out of the locker room after Sunday’s night’s victory over the Tennessee Titans, again refused to speak with reporters yesterday. "I’m not happy," Moulds was quoted as saying following Sunday’s win. Quarterback Rob Johnson speculated that Moulds’ frustration is showing early over the extra attention he’s receiving from opposing defenses now that veteran Andre Reed is no longer with the team. Moulds caught just two passes — not until the fourth quarter — against the Titans for 46 yards. His last catch, for 36 yards, set up Steve Christie’s winning field goal. Apparently that wasn’t a good enough start for Moulds. He becomes a free agent after this season and is looking to join the highest-paid receivers in the NFL, such as Joey Galloway and Keyshawn Johnson, who earn $5-6 million annually. Moulds’ cap figure for this season is just under $1 million.’

‘Since Ted Rogers bought the Blue Jays – what, already? – and installed Paul Godfrey as the tallest forehead, hardly anyone holding the reins of power seems to be talking baseball. Somebody thought Rogers would leap into the fray to buy the Maple Leafs, once the Honest Grocer (ret.) was eased out, and there were suggestions The Cable Guy take over the Argos, too. But it turns out the real sporting passion for the new baseball proprietors seems to be a favourite old fantasy friend and trend, the NFL coming to Toronto…But if we’re thinking NFL – and the usual suspects are because of Godfrey’s re-emergence into the limelight – let us consider the following: That new $700 million (U.S., of course, meaning more than $1 billion Cdn.) price tag for NFL expansion franchises apparently is no matter any longer. Because now Toronto is going to sit on a Ralph Wilson mortality watch and wait for the Buffalo Bills to become available? Hmmmm. The suggestion, obviously, is that the NFL will allow the move of a team out of an established market, one with an 80,000-seat stadium, into an unestablished market, one that is governed by trends (Raptors in; Blue Jays and Argos out). Most importantly, it also is a market that contains no stadium suitable to the NFL. The only way you buy this scenario is to believe that the stadium will be provided. How? Well, you know how. That 100,000-seat Olympic 2008 stadium, the one that is going to be 20,000 permanent seats with 80,000 Meccano-set seats added on.’

‘Pat Williams has surprised everyone in the NFL. Everyone, that is, except for the Buffalo Bills. Signed as an undrafted free agent for the NFL minimum salary in 1997, the defensive tackle Williams is emerging as a force in the Bills’ new-look scheme. Lining up alongside fellow heavyweight nose tackle Ted Washington, the two 310-plus-pounders provide an effective and — after one game — unstoppable one-two punch. “It worked good. Not anybody can stop me or Ted,” Williams said after practice Wednesday. “(Washington) softens then up for me, and then I go out and punish them a little more. “So Ted punishes them, I punish them, and they be done.”‘

‘Let’s talk sexy defense. No, not the Bills’ defense. While they’re very good, probably a top-five unit – possibly No. 1 again – they’re not sexy. They’re into fundamentals. They play sound, they play great, they rarely take risks. They stuff the run, they stop the pass.’

"You Make the Call" is a presentation of both real and imagined NFL scenarios, where we invite you to "make the call" based upon the Official Rules for the NFL for 1999. Good luck, because you’ll need it.

Game day photo gallery from Sunday where the Bills avenged their dramatic playoff defeat against the Titans.

‘Gabe Who? That’s what a lot of Buffalo Bills fans are saying after outside linebacker Keith Newman’s performance during Sunday night’s thrilling 16-13 win over the Tennessee Titans. The second-year pro had a tremendous night with the first two sacks of his career and was solid against the run. Although his first tackle was wiped out by a Tennessee penalty, Newman’s hit on running back Eddie George on the game’s first snap set the tone for a dominating night for the Bills’ defense.’

‘It was no fluke that cornerback Antoine Winfield led Ohio State, a school famous for linebackers and hard-hitting safeties, in tackling his senior year. For the Bills, it’s like having an extra linebacker on the field.’

‘Now that Gilbert Brown’s career has eclipsed you might not find a better pure run-stopping nose tackle than Ted Washington and Pat Williams. The problem for the Packers is they both play for Buffalo. "Those two big fat guys they play inside are really good athletes," an executive in personnel for another team said Tuesday. "If you go in there and just try to run the ball, you’re going to be in trouble. The run defense of their front seven is probably the best in the National Football League."’

‘[Paul] Godfrey [the new president and CEO of the Blue Jays] and his Rogers friends [of Rogers Communications] have identified four NFL teams as being vulnerable to franchise moves — the most logical of the four being the geographically correct Buffalo Bills. With team owner Ralph Wilson turning 82 next month, and Wilson being very aware of his own mortality after a life spent in the insurance business, the Detroit-based owner is very aware his time frame for selling the team and not putting his family in a mess of inheritance tax is short.’

‘The Bills got some misguided inspiration even before kickoff. As coach Wade Phillips noted, "When they came out and introduced their special teams, they got some of our guys mad because that was last year." His reference was to the unit that produced "Home Run Throwback", the kick return for a touchdown that beat the Bills in last January’s playoff game at Nashville. But the Titans weren’t trying to show up their hosts. The introductions were a tribute to Tennessee special teams coach Alan Lowery, who designed that fateful play, but had severe chest pains earlier in the week, was hospitalized, and didn’t make the trip to Buffalo.’