Archives for November 22, 2009

‘Coaching wasn’t why they lost.’

‘Yes the Bills lost the game in the fourth quarter again but it wasn’t a total collapse. They only gave up one touchdown on defense but the offense again just was inept in the final period as they have not scored in three straight games in the final period. There are positives to take out of the loss and not just the fact that they are closer to a higher draft pick. They played with more passion and emotion under interim coach Perry Fewell. They also played tougher despite having another rash of injuries they played hard until the end and this time they had a chance at the end instead of getting run over by a runaway train.’

‘The Bills defense again appeared to wilt late in the game as they were on the field for better than 36 minutes, but couldn’t get stops on Jacksonville’s final drive, which went for 12 plays and 68 yards.’

‘”We didn’t win many games,” said Reed. “There were a lot of different circumstances. We were rebuilding. There were so many things going on and the year before we were 2-14. Of course we were excited we felt it was a new start.”‘

‘"We wish the Bills and their fans good luck today and for the remainder of the season," a large white caption in the blue ad says. A photo of Buffalo’s defensive line anchors the page, topped with a Bills team logo.’

‘Those were the days. More to come … some day.’

‘Lynch is averaging only 42 rushing yards a game, well off his career average of 77 yards a game entering this season. The past three weeks, the Bills have rushed with their backs only 17, 18 and 22 times.’

‘ Jags, 20-16.’

‘"A new coach is going to come to be very critical of the tape," he said. "He’ll be looking for ballers. He’ll be looking for guys who show the right attitude, the team attitude, the willingness to do whatever it takes to get the job done."’

‘There are such people capable of making chicken salad out of chicken scratch. Two of them come quickly to mind: Ron Wolf, the former Green Bay general manager who traded a first-round draft choice to Atlanta for a backup quarterback named Brett Favre; and Ernie Accorsi, the former general manager of the New York Giants, the real Cleveland Browns and the Baltimore Colts. In New York he traded for Eli Manning, in Cleveland he traded for the rights to Bernie Kosar and in Baltimore he drafted John Elway only to have the owner, the late Robert Irsay, trade Elway’s rights behind the GM’s back to Denver.’

‘He has integrity. But he’s not a commanding presence. He makes Jauron look almost dynamic. Because of the Jauron experience, I think the Bills are going to find someone with more overt leadership qualities for their next coach.’

‘”This is my opportunity to step in and try to get the team some wins,” Fitzpatrick said. “We’ve struggled on offense all year long, but the situation isn’t one where we don’t have the talent, because we do. We have the right guys to do it; it’s just about going out on Sunday and doing it.”‘

‘Does playing Ryan Fitzpatrick over Trent Edwards really matter? Fitzpatrick has the third-lowest completion percentage of any QB in the league. Maybe the Bills were thinking that since he led the Bengals to a 21-19 victory over the Jaguars last year that he’d have the magic touch.’

‘Losman, 28, had a decent season for the Locos. In his five starts, he was 102 of 163 (.626) for 1,193 yards with 9 TD passes and 2 INTs. The only QB in the four-team UFL with more impressive numbers was Brooks Bollinger of Florida (121 of 179 (.676) for 1,526 yards, with 14 TD passes and 3 INTs. It will be Losman vs. Bollinger on Friday if any NFL scouts choose to check them out the day after Thanksgiving.’

‘The battle won’t ever end. He has recovered, but still gets treatments every eight weeks in which he gets fed intravenously.’