Lexwhat
09-16-2008, 07:18 PM
The Buffalo Bills (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/clubhouse?team=buf), drenched in sweat and drained from a brutally oppressive afternoon, slogged off the Jacksonville Municipal Stadium field Sunday afternoon.
They were exhausted. Safety Donte Whitner (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/profile?playerId=9594) was wiped out, and that's no figure of speech. He required five bags of intravenous fluids to recover. Left tackle Jason Peters (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/profile?playerId=6012), who missed every offseason workout because of a contract dispute, was paying the price.
Fans back in Western New York had a tough time catching their breath, too. They'd just watched their team stage its biggest character performance in recent memory.
The Bills pulled out a victory that might be remembered as their coming-of-age moment. They scored 10 fourth-quarter points in a strangling Florida heat to defeat the Jacksonville Jaguars (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/clubhouse?team=jac), 20-16.
Sometimes significance takes a few days, maybe even weeks or months, to be understood. The Bills knew the meaning of this victory immediately -- and it went beyond being 2-0.
"When we came off the field," said Bills defensive end Chris Kelsay (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/profile?playerId=4506), "I saw [Bills chief operating officer] Russ Brandon, and I told him 'Last year we don't win that game.'
"Really the last couple years we don't win those close games that come down the last five minutes."
http://myespn.go.com/blogs/afceast/0-3-103/Bills-quietly-turn-the-corner.html
They were exhausted. Safety Donte Whitner (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/profile?playerId=9594) was wiped out, and that's no figure of speech. He required five bags of intravenous fluids to recover. Left tackle Jason Peters (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/profile?playerId=6012), who missed every offseason workout because of a contract dispute, was paying the price.
Fans back in Western New York had a tough time catching their breath, too. They'd just watched their team stage its biggest character performance in recent memory.
The Bills pulled out a victory that might be remembered as their coming-of-age moment. They scored 10 fourth-quarter points in a strangling Florida heat to defeat the Jacksonville Jaguars (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/clubhouse?team=jac), 20-16.
Sometimes significance takes a few days, maybe even weeks or months, to be understood. The Bills knew the meaning of this victory immediately -- and it went beyond being 2-0.
"When we came off the field," said Bills defensive end Chris Kelsay (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/profile?playerId=4506), "I saw [Bills chief operating officer] Russ Brandon, and I told him 'Last year we don't win that game.'
"Really the last couple years we don't win those close games that come down the last five minutes."
http://myespn.go.com/blogs/afceast/0-3-103/Bills-quietly-turn-the-corner.html