Archives for December 2008

‘”It’s tough when you have been in the league six years and not touched the turf in the postseason,” said defensive end Chris Kelsay, who joined the Bills in 2003. “Coming here from a college program [Nebraska] where I’m used to playing in bowl games and used to winning every week basically, I’ve stood here for six years now with the same taste in my mouth going into the offseason. It’s frustrating.”‘

‘The most interesting thing of all? That Jauron, already on the hot seat for his game-day coaching, could put a big, fat cherry on the season’s final Sunday, a classic failure of clock management and uninspired leadership that just might get him fired.’

‘”I think it was the worst we’ve ever had in here,” said Moorman, who has been with the team since 2001. “It was hard to do anything really, kicking or punting. Typically for field goal kickers at least the ball sits still for them, but even that wasn’t working today. You get the ball up in the air and you don’t know what is going to happen.”‘

‘Coaching: F: How many colossal coaching blunders will it take to get Jauron fired? Over his head (0 for 6) in matchups with Belichick.’

‘”It was a disappointing end to what has turned out to be a disappointing year for us,” said coach Dick Jauron. What else is new, right, for a franchise that hasn’t made the playoffs in nine years and shows almost no signs of ever being able to compete with the NFL’s upper echelon.’

‘Could things be any more bleak for our beloved Bills? I think not.’

‘Will the embarrassment of finishing 0-6 against the AFC East Division spark a front-office shakeup, where a leader with a solid football background is much needed?’

‘Play of the game: Jarvis Green’s sack of Trent Edwards early in the third quarter that forced Edwards to fumble the ball. New England’s Mike Vrabel fell on it at the Bills 43, and it was the beginning of the end for the Bills. Leading just 3-0 at the time, the Patriots proceeded to march into the wind to Lamont Jordan’s 2-yard touchdown run that put the game away.’

Coaching – F – Play calling and clock management were again called into question. The botched clock management at the end of the first half was only partly Dick Jauron’s fault, but a microcosm of a very poor game-day coaching staff. Only the wind kept this score respectable. That’s 0-6 vs. the division, 11 losses in a row to Bill Belichick, a third consecutive 7-9 finish and nine years out of the playoffs.’

‘You know every guy cleaning out his closet in Orchard Park today believes if the teams stayed the same and the coaching staffs switched sides, Belichick’s team would win nine out of 10. To a man they think that.’

‘Winds gusting up to 75 mph tore a strip off the Buffalo Bills’ fieldhouse and tilted both goal posts inside Ralph Wilson Stadium on Sunday before the game against the New England Patriots. Though the blustery conditions didn’t delay the start of the game, work crews used ropes and a forklift to re-secure and re-center the goal posts, which shook heavily in the wind.’

‘Patriots kicker Stephen Gostkowski maybe had the most eventful day with the wind. In the second quarter, Gostkowski attempted a 26-yard field goal. As the ball journeyed towards the uprights, it abruptly sailed right after a gust of wind carried the ball wide to keep the score, 3-0.’

‘”A disappointing end to what turned out to be a disappointing season,” said Jauron.’

‘”The bottom line is we need to win. We’re 7-9 and we left at least four games out there.”‘

‘By the time Gostkowski hit his second field goal, from 23 yards in the fourth quarter, thousands of seats were empty. The Bills (7-9) had squandered a 5-1 start to their season, extending a streak of playoff absences that began in 2000.’