Archives for November 2010

‘But there’s no getting around the fact that they played a home game at a neutral site, before a crowd that was decidedly pro-Chicago. The Bills were coming off consecutive overtime losses on the road. If any team deserved to come home, it was this beleaguered bunch. They deserved better.’

‘”I felt fine,” Lindell said. “[Idonije] came from up the middle. If I could go back and do it again, maybe I would have chipped it a little more. It was unfortunate, especially with what happened after that.”‘

‘Bears tight end Greg Olsen scored on a 4-yard TD pass from Jay Cutler in the second quarter to give Chicago a 7-0 lead. It was the eighth touchdown reception by a tight end in eight games against the Bills this season.’

‘Edwards came up with solid defensive game plan for run-challenged Bears. Gailey is showing too much faith in Fitz because of shoddy run game.’

‘”I just tried to make a play for the team. That’s it. I found a hole,” Johnson told reporters after the game. “We were talking about it all day. They played a zone, a great zone. Just find a hole and do what you have to do after. (Ryan Fitzpatrick) knew that and I knew that also. So I just found a hole and ended up trying to get in that end zone and get some points for the guys.”‘

‘”He’s made big plays like that (blocked PAT) in his time in Chicago,” Bears coach Lovie Smith said. “But it was good to see him do it here in Canada.”‘

‘”With $78 million, I think Ralph is laughing all the way home,” said Norton Kinsley. “I don’t see a whole lot of hype in Toronto about them being there.”‘

‘”It’s very, very difficult (the losing),” said wide receiver Roscoe Parrish, who caught seven passes for 60 yards and one touchdown. “It’s just the little mistakes, it just gets aggravating watching the film and seeing that one little mistake over and over again. It’s just tough right now, a tough situation. I don’t care how close the game is, it don’t mean anything at all.”‘

‘”It was quiet, which made it easy for him (Bears quarterback Jay Cutler) to make some checks out there and easy for him to tell his receivers what to do,” Whitner said. “If we were at home things might have been different with our crowd noise.”‘

‘And Mr. Wilson, frankly, sadly really, is running out of next years. And the same may be true for professional football in Buffalo. As much as the NFL belongs in Buffalo, as much as this league fits the city and becomes the focal point for a town that loves nothing better than to play the part of woe is me, the future of the Bills remains tied to Wilson’s longevity. The longer he lives, the more there is certainty and confusion about a team in Buffalo. Once he moves on, then, the unanswered questions will begin to get answers.’

‘Besides his cycling regimen and roughly four weekly practices of up to three hours each, Scott also lifts weights two to three times a week throughout the season.’

‘Down 14-7 in the third quarter the Bills produced their most efficient drive of the afternoon, consuming 80 yards in eight plays, scoring on Fred Jackson’s four-yard touchdown run and looking to tie the game when Rian Lindell lined up for the extra point. But when Lindell, who had converted the first 326 touchdowns of his career, drove a low line drive toward the uprights Idonije leapt, extended his left arm and swatted the ball away.’

‘The assembled audience was split between Buffalo and Chicago supporters, and perhaps slightly in favour of the Bears, which created a moderately charged atmosphere as the game wore on. The Bills voiced reservations afterwards about whether this is truly a home environment, but let’s face it, they play far better away from Orchard Park.’

‘The end as far as the Bills were concerned occurred on a third-and-10 play from the Bears’ 44 with less than three minutes left in the game. Fitzpatrick connected on a sideline pass to Roscoe Parrish that appeared to be enough for the first down but one of the officials ruled that Parrish was out of bounds when he came down with the pass. Buffalo coach Chan Gailey challenged the ruling but it was upheld. And when Fitzpatrick’s fourth-down gamble throw went incomplete, the Bears had another key turnover on downs.’