Archives for December 2006

‘When Willis McGahee dashed into the end zone for a first-quarter touchdown against the Jets, he made a quick U-turn toward the Buffalo Bills’ sideline and kept on moving. He scooted past his coaches, dodged his teammates and finally found a sliver of light by the Bills’ bench. And then he threw up.’

‘”He was sick, so he wasn’t talking as much,” Vilma said. After throwing up, McGahee took off his pads and rested on the bench for the entire second quarter as he tried to recharge himself with his sandwich. He then gained 50 more yards in the second half, helping to complete the rout.’

‘Through the first 11 minutes of yesterday’s 31-13 Buffalo win, McGahee had 75 yards on six carries, including a 57-yard scoring run. Then he disappeared to the Bills’ sideline, where he became ill from not eating before the game and missed the last 19 minutes of the first half. After eating a sandwich on the sideline, McGahee returned to play in the second half and finished with 125 yards on 16 carries.’

‘”It’s disappointing, man, because we knew coming in that’s who we had to stop to win the game,” Rhodes said. “For those two to make plays is disheartening because that’s who we knew we had to stop.”‘

‘Instead, it was his stomach that hurt and the rib pads added to his discomfort. The cure? How about a sandwich to regain some strength? “Quiznos, if you’re listening,” McGahee joked, ever mindful of an endorsement opportunity. “Something basic. Ham and cheese, but I took the cheese off.”‘

‘But the fourth-year running back has a thing about playing the Jets. A running-rings-around-linebackers kind of thing.’

‘Rookie left tackle D’Brickashaw Ferguson was taken to school by Bills defensive end Aaron Schobel, who notched three sacks and nine tackles in Jets’ 31-13 loss yesterday at Giants Stadium.’

‘On if this was the Bills most complete game – It might have been. There are certainly areas where we weren’t too happy. Areas in the game where it wasn’t as crisp as we would have liked; or executed the way we would have liked. Anytime you win against a good football team you feel good about it.’

Opening for Jets Is Blocked by the Bills (New York Times)

Performance by Buffalo’s McGahee Leaves Sick Feeling (New York Times)

Jets take sick day vs. Buffalo (New York Daily News)

Chad won’t pass buck (New York Daily News)

McGahee eats Jets for lunch (New York Daily News)

The ‘p’ stands for pretenders (New York Daily News)

For Mangini, it’s no risk, no reward (New York Daily News)

Stampeded (New York Post)

Two huge plays torch ‘D’ (New York Post)

December chill (New York Post)

Too dang green (New York Post)

McGahee always in a New York Groove (New York Post)

Failures to execute are self-destructive (Newsday)

Defense chokes on two gaffes (Newsday)

McGahee eats & runs (Newsday)

Chad trips and Jets fall (Newsday)

In NFL, take nothing for granted (Newsday)

Numbers add up to lopsided ‘L’ (Newsday)

Grading the Jets (Newsday)

Jets Q&A (Newsday)

Jets lose, playoff chances dealt a blow (White Plains Journal News)

Big plays lead to Jets’ defeat (White Plains Journal News)

Pennington takes blame for Jets’ latest setback (White Plains Journal News)

Jets fall hard on soft schedule (Staten Island Advance)

Pennington’s still out of step (Staten Island Advance)

Schedule carries too many holes (Staten Island Advance)

Mangini punts away last shot (Staten Island Advance)

Jets fall on faces at home to Bills (Newark Star Ledger)

McGahee leaves Jets feeling sick (Newark Star Ledger)

Rookie Ferguson no match for Bills vet (Newark Star Ledger)

Jets Morning After (Newark Star Ledger)

Jets left scratching their heads after dud (Bergen Record)

Chad falls on sword; now has to remedy problem (Bergen Record)

McGahee displays recuperative power (Bergen Record)

Jets notebook (Bergen Record)

Game balls (Bergen Record)

Bills give Jets a reality check (Asbury Park Press)

Bad Chad off the mark all day against Buffalo (Middletown Times Herald Record)

Face it: Jets just not that good (Middletown Times Herald Record)

Inside the locker room (Middletown Times Herald Record)

Jets notes (Middletown Times Herald Record)

Eric Mangini after the Jets’ loss (Middletown Times Herald Record)

Jets Drop to 7-6; Move to the Road (NewYorkJets.com)

A Lot of Football Remains (NewYorkJets.com)

Post-Game Notes (NewYorkJets.com)

Cotchery: We didn’t play with our “A” game (NewYorkJets.com)

Mangini: We need to play a lot better (NewYorkJets.com)

Pennington: I put my team in a bind (NewYorkJets.com)

Jauron: I Love the Atmosphere Here (NewYorkJets.com)

Losman: There’s No Quit in These Guys (NewYorkJets.com)

‘Linebacker Takeo Spikes was taken to the locker room in the second quarter with an ankle injury, but also came back after halftime.’

‘If Buffalo wins its final three games, it might have a chance, although both on form and on Sunday’s results, Cincinnati and Jacksonville have the inside track on the AFC wild-card playoff spots.’

‘We’ve been waiting all year for the Bills to finally put together a complete effort. They not only did it this week, they did it against a division opponent with playoff aspirations on the road and they did it convincingly.’

‘J.P. Losman made a beautiful pump fake and then connected with Lee Evans for a 77 yard touchdown pass. That was almost half of his total 157 yards on 10 of 15 passing with a solid QB rating of 140.8 as he also threw a touchdown pass to Robert Royal and no interceptions. Grade B+: Managed the game well.’

‘There remain numerous teams still in front of Buffalo in the AFC playoff race, but at least the team can take solace in having surpassed its win total (five) from last season. Unquestionably, first-year Bills head coach Dick Jauron deserves all kinds of credit for turning the former laughingstock around over the last few weeks.’