Denver Broncos at Buffalo Bills
DENVER BRONCOS (0-0) @ BUFFALO BILLS (0-0)
September 9, 2007
It was an emotional day for the Buffalo Bills. Not only did they lose a gut-wrenching, heart-breaking season-opener to the Denver Broncos by a single point, 15-14, they also lamented as one of their teammates was taken from the field in an ambulance. As hard as it was to watch the Denver kick team celebrate the game-winning points, it was much harder to see that TE Kevin Everett had shown no signs of movement after a serious neck injury.
The misery didn’t stop there. While Kevin’s situation was of primary concern, three other players may have suffered long-term injuries. Starting safety Ko Simpson fractured his ankle. Starting cornerback Jason Webster broke his forearm. And LB Coy Wire suffered an MCL sprain. Head coach Dick Jauron expressed concern in his postgame presser:
“Clearly it’s a big disappointment. To lose like that sure took the wind out of us. We made a number of errors and we made a number of good plays, and the good news is the guys fought ….. It was a very down locker room because of the injuries and because of the loss.”
The good news? Well, I’m finally getting to that. The Bills played hard. And they fought through a lot of adversity only to lose the game as time expired. Rookie RB Marshawn Lynch was impressive rushing for 90 yards on 19 carries with a TD. And there was the defense and special teams. Sure, giving up 470 yards of total offense doesn’t sound like a positive. But in the end, points are all that matters and the Bills’ bend-but-don’t-break style worked. Almost. Punter Brian Moorman was typically good. The cover units were strong. And Roscoe Parrish electrified the crowd with his 74-yard punt return for the first points of the game.
This is a young football team with a lot of promise. It’s a good football team. And a win would’ve gone a long way in establishing early season momentum and the belief that any young team desperately needs. But QB J.P. Losman said the Bills can’t let this loss hinder their forward progress:
“We come back tomorrow and we watch the film and probably talk amongst ourselves as players, but when you’re in the locker room there are a lot of people very emotional about this loss. They need to realize that we do put a lot of heart and effort into this and in the first game means a lot especially when you’re about to win the game and the outcome doesn’t go that way. What we have to do as a team, is make sure more than ever that it does not slow us down one bit. When it comes to tomorrow however tough it is we have to forget it learn from it and move on. We have a tough team in front of us, ahead of us and we can’t let this affect us. This game even more so than ever dealing with the emotional standpoint the injuries we have sustained. I think this is going to play more of a factor than anything going into next week.”
It will be an important week of practice for the Bills as they deal with this loss and the injuries in preparation for a road game against the Steelers.
PODCAST: BPR Home Team Edition Roscoe Parrish
Tags: Buffalo Bills, Denver BroncosRelated Stories
POSTED IN: Buffalo Bills, Denver Broncos
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