Archives for December 2011

‘Veteran outside linebacker Chris Kelsay made a point of saying, “(George Edwards) did a great job of calling the game. I know the guys in the lockerroom are really happy for this win … but moreso just proud of our defensive coordinator and how he put us in position to make plays.”‘

‘Whether it’s attending Bible study, mentoring youth, or offering financial assistance to people in need, Byrd is moved by giving and inspiring others. He has one Twitter account where he has inspirational sayings like, "Blessings come in all shapes and sizes" and another named Louder Than Words where he encourages posts of all acts of kindness they’ve witnessed, big or small.’

‘”Yeah, it was a lot of fun (Saturday),” he said. “Things just happened to fall into place where I was in position to make some plays and I made some. There’s some I wish I had back and missed out there, but defensively, we fought them hard and our defensive coordinator (George Edwards) did a great job of calling the game.”‘

‘”We take a lot of pride in playing defense, and we knew coming in we wanted to win it on defense,” Byrd said. “We did a great job in all phases of the game, and that showed. It definitely feels good. You kind of forget the feeling (of winning) because it’s been so long.”‘

‘PT Leodis McKelvin set a team single-game record with 135 punt-return yards against Denver, including an 80-yard touchdown. He’s averaging 13.4 yards per return, third best in club history.’

”’The Bills allowed one sack in Saturday’s win over Denver, giving them 22 for the year, tied with Tennessee for fewest allowed in the NFL with one game to play.’

‘”You look around and there’s probably as many Broncos fans as Bills fans,” said Mel Harris, 43, a Denver fan from Albany in town for Saturday’s game. “It’s not because all of them are fans of the Broncos – they’re fans of Tebow.”‘

‘Thanks to a generous donation through the United Way of Buffalo& Erie County, Fitzpatrick and his family have provided toys for the children, computers for school, furniture and much more to help these families on the road to recovery.’

‘"It’s been a long time coming," said defensive end Spencer Johnson. "Gosh, seven games? It felt good to come smiling into the locker room. For us to go out and play like we did, it’s great to finally get that big gorilla off our backs."’

‘”It was obviously a great team win and for the defense to do what they did,” Fitzpatrick said. “To be able to return was something that hadn’t happened a lot this year, just in terms of everybody coming together and having a game where there’s a lot of stuff that goes well, in terms of penalties and the tipped passes or whatever it is and there was a lot of good stuff going on.”‘

‘”I think it motivated us to walk out and see a lot of Broncos fans,” said Ryan Fitzpatrick. “Our fans were awesome, but there were a lot of empty seats. A lot of that is because of our play, so that motivated us, too. We want to get those fans back in the seats, so we want to create some momentum going into the offseason.”‘

‘Tebow is a good man who is polished in every aspect of his life but one: His ability to play quarterback in the NFL. Heaven help his performance Saturday. The Bills exposed his flaws when it comes to making good decisions and accuracy. He had been hailed as a savior but looked lost in the Broncos’ biggest game of the year.’

‘Obviously, the college draft could be the solution, but the Bills were too good early in the season to qualify for top prize Andrew Luck of Stanford, who may end up replacing injured superstar Peyton Manning in Indianapolis. The Bills are likely to pick somewhere around sixth to ninth. An important factor in their favor is that in the last draft five quarterbacks were picked in the first round.’

‘”You guys know all the things that have been going on with me this season,” McKelvin said. “Being able to bounce back, being able to go out there and not keep my head down and just go out there, play my part and play my position and do the best that I can do in the game. It’s giving the best field position for the offense or even score, that’s my job.”‘

‘Buffalo was leading the league in takeaways through seven games of the season with 17. But over the next seven games, all losses, it managed just seven takeaways. But the Bills intercepted three Tim Tebow passes in the final 15 minutes and took two of them back for touchdowns. For the game, the Bills had four interceptions.’