LouGrant
10-08-2002, 08:22 AM
By JERRY SULLIVAN
Bffalo News
10/8/2002
I think it's safe now. The Oakland Raiders have stopped scoring points and herded their sinister, silver-and-black selves back to the West Coast. So this might be a good time to reflect on the first five games of the Buffalo Bills season.
It's been an extraordinary beginning. The first five weeks of the Drew Bledsoe era have been a heartstopping delight, one continuous carnival of big plays and fantastic finishes. I doubt there's been any five-game stretch in Bills history - including the Super Bowl era - that was so consistently entertaining.
Entertainment value aside, the season has gone roughly the way we expected. The offense is much improved. The defense is a liability. Heading into the opener, most reasonable fans would have been content to reach the five-game pole with a 2-3 record.
Still, no one expected the gap between the offense and defense to be this vast. Who would have predicted that Bledsoe would be on a pace to break Dan Marino's record for passing yards in a season? Or that both wideouts, Eric Moulds and Peerless Price, would be on pace to break Moulds' team records for catches and yards? ...MORE... (http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20021008/3002134.asp)
Bffalo News
10/8/2002
I think it's safe now. The Oakland Raiders have stopped scoring points and herded their sinister, silver-and-black selves back to the West Coast. So this might be a good time to reflect on the first five games of the Buffalo Bills season.
It's been an extraordinary beginning. The first five weeks of the Drew Bledsoe era have been a heartstopping delight, one continuous carnival of big plays and fantastic finishes. I doubt there's been any five-game stretch in Bills history - including the Super Bowl era - that was so consistently entertaining.
Entertainment value aside, the season has gone roughly the way we expected. The offense is much improved. The defense is a liability. Heading into the opener, most reasonable fans would have been content to reach the five-game pole with a 2-3 record.
Still, no one expected the gap between the offense and defense to be this vast. Who would have predicted that Bledsoe would be on a pace to break Dan Marino's record for passing yards in a season? Or that both wideouts, Eric Moulds and Peerless Price, would be on pace to break Moulds' team records for catches and yards? ...MORE... (http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20021008/3002134.asp)