Don’t sleep on the Buffalo Bills. They can beat anybody right now.”— Steve Mariucci on the Buffalo Bills, who sit atop the AFC East at 3-0
“You can’t say enough about the guys on our football team – grinding it out, fighting, never quitting. We talked about it all week: we’re not scared and we’re going to play as hard as we can for 60 minutes and then see where the chips fall.”— Bills DT Kyle Williams to NFL Network’s Albert Breer following 34-31 victory over the New England Patriots
“When you heard [Bills defensive tackle] Kyle Williams talk, he talked like they were hoping they could win. Today, they found out they actually can.”— Michael Irvin on the Buffalo Bills ending a 15-game losing streak against New England Patriots
“This is Mr. Do Everything; he’s a short-yardage runner, he goes out as a receiver and he will block you.”— Steve Mariucci on Bills RB Fred Jackson, who had 74 yards rushing and 87 yards receiving against New England
“If you’re a fan of New England you can be in an uproar, you can be upset. But to be in a football game [and] your quarterback threw four interceptions and a pick-six, you’ve got something to be happy about.”— Deion Sanders on the New England Patriots
“Is it time to panic? I would say yes to the question because of what was expected at the genesis of this year.”— Michael Irvin on the Philadelphia Eagles at 1-2
“Only a million times have we seen this, especially late in the game for a game-winning drive. This is what he does.”— Michael Irvin on Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger running for a first down on the game-winning drive
“They have an attitude. Ndamukong Suh, he’s leading this team with an attitude. They have great leaders on both sides. Offensively, you can point to one guy and say, ‘he won’t let us lose;’ defensively, you can point to those guys and say, ‘he won’t let us lose.’ When you get that, you have something on your team.”— Michael Irvin on 3-0 Detroit Lions
“He wasn’t around for that Super Bowl run, but he’s back and look out.”— Steve Mariucci on Packers TE Jermichael Finley, who had 85 yards receiving and three touchdowns
“The refs do a great job I think in the sense of allowing all of Mike Vick’s talents to get a chance to operate. Mike Vick is different in this way: some quarterbacks, you go by them and a good blow of wind will make them fall, but Michael Vick becomes Houdini. You have to give him the opportunity to be that.”— Michael Irvin on Eagles QB Michael Vick
“He is a running quarterback. But when he chooses to sit in the pocket like everyone wants him to do, to sit in the pocket and be that prolific passer like he showed us when he was up for MVP consideration last year, call it like you would call those guys because he’s getting hit just like those other guys. Don’t penalize him just because he’s that versatile quarterback that no one has ever seen.”— Deion Sanders on Eagles QB Michael Vick regarding his postgame comments
“They’re a legit football team. They have good players all around making plays, coming from behind down by 20-0. They didn’t blink; they just kept winging it and they stayed with the gameplan.”— Steve Mariucci on the Detroit Lions following a 26-23 overtime victory over Minnesota
“The reason I’m window-shopping – I’m not buying, I’m window-shopping – is because they had 19 rushes for 20 yards. I don’t see a really established running game that is going to take them deep in the playoffs.”— Deion Sanders on the 3-0 Detroit Lions
“We were trying to find out if the Texans were a legitimate contender here. This was a game that would show us whether they could compete with the league’s best, and they just didn’t have enough.”— Fran Charles on the Houston Texans, who lost to New Orleans 40-33
“These are the Colts that you see with Peyton Manning at quarterback: a close game and those guys are relentless rushing the passer.”— Deion Sanders on the Colts defense which forced two fumbles and scored a touchdown
“Let’s stop playing: from this perspective, the reality is we all know the Colts aren’t going anywhere this year. You know there will be no reason to bring back Kerry Collins; you might as well see what [Curtis] Painter has and give him a shot.”— Michael Irvin on the 0-3 Colts and quarterback Curtis Painter
“You can’t outsmart yourself right here. I don’t care what you’ve got, give the ball to the best player on the field [Adrian Peterson].”— Michael Irvin on the Vikings not converting on a 4th-and-1 with a run by Toby Gerhart
“This guy is not just a deep-threat anymore, a speed guy. This guy, he’s a route-runner, he’s a do-it-all wide receiver. He has become [Ben Roethlisberger’s] favorite target.”— Steve Mariucci on Steelers WR Mike Wallace, who had 144 yards receiving and a touchdown
