Archives for December 2009

‘Well, Bills fans, how many times have we seen this before? Buffalo gets a national TV game, and lays out a clunker yet again. I don’t even think mentioning, the last three Monday night games is worthwhile, because it will bring back painful memories. This was the perfect opportunity to impress any potential A list head coaching candidate out there, and the Bills failed to do that in a 19-13 loss in Toronto.’

‘”We did do some good things in the football game,” said interim head coach Perry Fewell. “The thing that was evident was we played hard, but we didn’t always play smart football from a defensive standpoint. That was the most disappointing thing, we didn’t play smart football. But we did do some good things especially up front.”‘

‘For the season, the Bills are converting just 26 percent of their third downs. That’s the worst rate for a Bills team since 1997, when the Bills converted just 25 percent.’

‘The best part of The NFL Network coverage was its use of obscure statistics like how infrequently the Jets lose when up by eight points in the fourth quarter; how many players since 1970 have had a 30-yard run and thrown a 50-yard completion like the Bills’ Ryan Fitzpatrick did in the win over Miami; how often Bills’ opponents use running plays inside the red zone (66 percent of the time); and how many yards running back Fred Jackson averages after contact (2.6).’

‘”Only you can tell yourself why you got involved in this,” the judge told Krauss, who moved with her ailing husband to Corona, Calif., last year after the Bills fired her from an administrative assistant post in the team’s marketing and broadcasting department.’

‘Owens has 43 receptions for 690 yards and 3 TDs. Those are pretty good numbers for many wide receivers 12 games into an NFL season, but not a player who is considered one of the best to ever play his position and who was supposed to revitalize the Bills’ offense.’

‘Beyond that, North America’s most popular pro league has every reason to consider Toronto as a home for a team. And the gorilla-sized one is, well, size: Toronto’s metro population (5.1 million in 2006) would make it 10th largest in the U.S., ahead of such areas as Boston, Detroit, Phoenix, San Francisco and 18 others that lay claim to NFL clubs.’

‘The Jets, still alive in the playoff race at 6-6, pounded Buffalo (4-8) for 249 yards on 43 carries, an average of nearly six per snap. It wasn’t quite the 318 yards on 40 carries (nearly eight a pop) New York generated – second-most in franchise history – in that shocking 16-13 overtime loss to the Bills in mid-October, but it was plenty enough.’

‘”I think the one thing you can point to is the third downs (1-for-11) … that’s how you stay on the field. They had our number today on third downs. The different pressures they were bringing plus still getting double teams on our receivers.”‘

‘Anybody entering the Rogers Centre can’t miss two enormous photos attached to the windows. One is of the long-departed Blue Jays’ closer, B.J. Ryan, whose injury and lost velocity got him run out of town last season. The other is of Trent Edwards, the Bills’ former starting quarterback since replaced by Ryan Fitzpatrick, whose only chance of getting back on the field in a Buffalo uniform is if the man who took his job gets hurt.’

‘Taylor, who was flagged for his first roughing-the-passer penalty of the year on the second-quarter play, was deemed to have “struck the opposing quarterback in the head area,” according to an NFL spokesman.’

‘Losman, who just completed the UFL season, could sign with the Colts, who are concerned about backup Jim Sorgi’s recovery from a shoulder injury suffered in practice more than a month ago.’

‘”We just have to put it all together in every phase of the game,” said Buffalo wide receiver Terrell Owens.’

‘”I knew those guys were going to get some balls that come to them and I just tried to keep their catches to a minimum,” Revis said.’

‘”We didn’t play well, but hats off to them, because they did a good job,” said Bills quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick, who was just 9-of-23 for 98 yards.’