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Dolphins Defense Is The Difference in Loss  Miami Dominates For Three Quarters: Sam Madison's 18 yard fumble return for a touchdown sealed the game for Miami in their 22-13 win over the Bills. The fact that the Bills had the ball with a chance to win the game in the final five minutes was a surprise as Miami dominated the game for almost three quarters. No aspect of the Bills game was working before they finally started to move the football late in the third quarter. First with the legs of Rob Johnson then with his arm. He got hot after playing awful for the first 40 minutes. Doug Flutie would finish the game after Johnson left with his reoccuring tendinitis in his Elbow. Complete Analysis.
All Units Contribute: Through three quarters almost every unit on the team were receiving failing grades. The fourth quarter comeback that fell short, helped bring some grades up a bit. The Quarterback is added to the dismal grades the running game and the offensive line as received during the losing streak. The defense is also showing signs of wear and tear. Gameday Grades. Heat A Factor: Most areas of the country are cold, not in south Florida. The weather for today's game will be partly to mostly cloudy with a chance of showers. High temperatures during the game will be in the upper 80's. It could definitely be worse, but the heat does favor the home team. Saturday October 7, 2000 Injury News: The Bills have added Ruben Brown to the official injury report with a slightly twinged or pulled hamstring. He injured it on Thursday in practice. He is listed as probable and should start on Sunday. The Dolphins added newly acquired TE Alonzo Mayes to the report as doubtful with a foot injury. The Bills got WR Peerless Price back on the practice field on Friday after he missed Thursday's session with flu like symptoms. Injury Page Early Inactives: No surprises in th early inactives. The two players listed as doubtful will not play as Corey Moore and Jay Riemersma are inactive. The other two players are the usual suspects, Leif Larsen and Jon Carman. The Bills will announce three more inactives just before kickoff. Friday October 6, 2000 Big Battles Ahead Sunday: The Bills red zone offense has been the subject of much talk this week. They did struggle against the Colts but were solid in the opening three games. They face a Dolphins defense has allowed a touchdown only 14.3% of the time their opponents have been in the red zone. If the Bills can't stick it in the end zone they may be in trouble. The other big battle will be turnovers. The Bills have been a very protective team turning the ball over only three times. The Dolphins defensive players have been ball hawks, forcing 14 turnovers. The Dolphins defense is also very fast which may preclude the Bills from using any swing passes. One other thing this defense does well is get the sacks, the Offensive line will have to pass protect and well and the running backs will need to pick up the numerous blitzes they will face. Thursday October 5, 2000 Thomas Turns Against Wilson: Thurman Thomas may be sorry for what he said about three prominent Bills defenders, but that didn't stop him from turning his anger towards owner Ralph Wilson. Thomas complained that Wilson did not call him directly and talk to him after being cut in February. Wilson was sorry he felt that way and had sent him a personal letter thanking him for the memories and his years in Buffalo. He thought that was a better way of thanking him then a phone call. Wednesday October 4, 2000 Thomas Regrets Remarks: In his conference call with the Western New York media Thurman Thomas said, "I don't hate anyone around there, I hate that I did say that." He said he spoke to Henry Jones last night to explain the article. He went on to say he has a lot of great memories of Jones and Phil Hansen. He also said that when it is all said and done he will remember himself as a Buffalo Bill since that is where all his memories are. Riemersma Healing: Jay Riemersma is a lot better and is listed as doubtful on the injury report as is Corey Moore. It is unlikely either will play, but Riemersma is progressing nicely from his knee injury and might have at least a 50/50 chance of playing next week against San Diego. They are the only two people listed on the injury report this week for the Bills. Injury Page Miami Game A Must Win: Every game against Miami is tough, especially in their stadium with their defense allowing the least amount of points in the league. Throw "the Thurman factor" into the mix and it will be very tough to escape with a victory. Thanks to back to back division losses the Bills need to find a way to win or their season could be in trouble early in the season. This is a must win and the Bills have nobody to blame but themselves, now they have to deliver. Complete Preview Tuesday October 3, 2000 More On Thurman: It is obvious to most Bills players that the comments by Thurman Thomas is his way of getting fired up for the game, just like he used to get fired up for the Dolphins when he was with Buffalo. The fear here is, that it just may work. Thomas has fired up his Bills teammates into a frenzy several times in the past, that is one of the reasons the Bills have fared so well against Miami over the past decade. With Thomas on the other side, and with extra incentive, the Bills could be in trouble. The flip side is, he may have bitten off more than he can chew. He may have fired up the Bills defense just enough to put the Bills over the top. We will see on Sunday, it will be interesting. QB Club Celebrates 40th Anniversary: As the QB Club gathered for its usual Monday luncheon after the Bills home games, there was a somber feeling about the loss. However, there was some celebrating to do anyway, as the club honored its 40th anniversary with an appearance by Owner Ralph Wilson. Complete Story Monday October 2, 2000 Injury Update: One positive in the game, is injury-wise the team came out fine. Shawn Price and John Holecek showed no ill effects playing with previous injuries. Joe Panos played a bit, easing back from his injury. There were a couple of new bumps, bruises, and contusions but everyone came through fine. Injury Notes Phillips Comments: The Coach met with the media today and said yesterday's game was a first for him. Never has he seen a team: out run, out pass, win the turnover battle, time of possession, and play well on special teams and still lose. He emphasized that special teams played very well, and the extra work during the bye week showed. The important plays included the two point conversion and better play on both sides of the ball in the red zone. The running back's also played well according to the coach. He says he will continue with the rotation since it worked. He re-iterarated it wasn't a knock on Antowain Smith. In responding to questions the coach said Bobby Collins and Jeremy McDaniel played well. On the 4th and 6 call, he said the problem wasn't going for it, it was the delay of game penalty. On the final drive, he felt the facemask penalty was the back breaker since it basically gave them a free timeout. Offensive line shakeup: Despite being healthy Joe Panos continued to backup Jamie Nails. The coach said how Nails has played very well for him. The club did run behind the big left guard on many occassions yesterday. At right tackle Marcus Spriggs continues to take some series away from Jonathan Hicks. Hicks has been a bit of a disappointment this season. Big things were expected from him, but he has been inconsistent this season. Thomas Gets Ready For Bills: If you want to put yesterday's fiasco behind us quickly, we can look ahead to what is being dubbed "the Thurman Bowl". Thurman Thomas is definitely fired up already to face the Bills. He missed yesterday's game with a groin injury but nothing will keep him out of the lineup this week. Thomas has fired the first shots saying he will take some legal shots at certain players and will not shake hands with a handful of players and others in the organization. The players Thomas singled out in an interview with the Miami Herald are Phil Hansen, Henry Jones, and John Holecek. Inactives: Aside from the four inactives we told you about on Saturday, DaShon Polk, Victor Allotey, and Avion Black were inactive. The emergency QB was Alex Van Pelt. The two active players that did not see any action was Doug Flutie and Antowain Smith. Monday Morning Tidbits: The loss to the Colts was Peyton Manning's eight fourth quarter comeback and his fourth last minutes comeback. It was the first loss in 13 games for the Bills when they held the rushing edge. It also snapped a six game home winning streak.  Last Week's News Archives2000 News Archives Index Latest News Main Page Back to Bills Daily Homepage |