Archives for December 8, 2012

‘”That’s not what I like to hear,” Bradford said earlier in the week, when told some snow flurries might fall that day. “I like the warm weather.”‘

‘”That’s kind of my attitude toward everything. I try to stay as low-key as possible. My goal here is just to come to work every day, get better and help our team win football games,” he said. “We’re trying to build this thing going forward and I think this organization and this team is definitely going in the right direction now.”‘

‘”It’s taken a while because where has he played?” defensive tackle Kyle Williams asked rhetorically. “He’s played over here, he’s played over there, he really hasn’t had an opportunity to get comfortable until this year.”‘

‘”It’s going to be rainy, cold, and maybe spittin’ a little snow,” Gailey said, in his Southern drawl. “It’s just ideal.”‘

‘”I’ve been blessed because my dad was able to have a great deal of ball skills, and I think it was just something that was passed down to be able to do that,” said Byrd, whose Bills play host to the Rams on Sunday at Ralph Wilson Stadium.’

‘Only eight quarterbacks have thrown more touchdown passes than former Ram Ryan Fitzpatrick this season (20); but only nine have thrown more interceptions (12). The Bills are 26th in passing yards and Fitzpatrick, who lacks great arm strength, doesn’t complete a lot of downfield throws. It’s a quick-passing scheme, often out of spread formations. That scheme, plus Fitzpatrick’s maneuverability in the pocket, helps explain why the Bills have allowed only 20 sacks, the sixth-lowest total in the league.’

‘Temperatures Sunday are expected to hover in the range of 40 degrees, with rain and possible snow also in the forecast. For the Rams, that means a fairly drastic change in playing conditions, particularly coming off a home game last week and a game in Arizona with temperatures outside in the 80s at game time.’

‘”Kyle Williams may be the most underrated defensive lineman in the league,” Turner said. “I have had the opportunity to play him whether it’s been at center or jumbo tight end or anything like that but he’s a good player, hard worker, blue collar guy and he’s going to give you everything he’s got every single play so it’s something to prepare for.”‘

Rams brace for Buffalo weather (Saint Louis Post Dispatch)

Another ball-hawk from St. Louis starring for Buffalo (Saint Louis Post Dispatch)

Defending Amendola (Saint Louis Post Dispatch)

Rams truly have a must-win game (Saint Louis Post Dispatch)

Amendola will be game-time decision (Saint Louis Post Dispatch)

Rams/Bills: Seven for Sunday (Saint Louis Post Dispatch)

Rams’ Amendola game-time decision for Sunday (The Sports Network)

Rams look for first win vs. AFC opponent this season (KMOV-TV)

An NFL without kickoffs? It could happen (KMOV-TV)

Rams Prepared for Cold Weather Conditions (StLouisRams.com)

Keys to the Game: Buffalo (StLouisRams.com)

St. Louis Rams Super School Wins $10,000 Grant (StLouisRams.com)

”’It’s insane how many guys we lose every year,” said Kraig Urbik, who will start at center or right guard. ”It’s not like guys are just wearing down. These are actual, physical injuries.”’

‘Johnson suffered the injury last week against the Jacksonville Jaguars. He practiced on a limited basis on Thursday and Friday after missing Wednesday’s session.’

‘”He was better [Friday] than he was [Thursday],” Gailey said. “We’re going to talk about it and see how he feels [Saturday] morning before we make a full decision.”‘

‘I hear people talk about “winning out”. If this Bills team goes out and finishes the season at 9-7 and misses the playoffs in a tiebreaker the worst thing you can say about them is that they blew a couple of winnable games and it costs them an end to the playoff drought. I don’t think anyone, short of the most optimistic fans, expect that over the next month. So how about the Bills go out and do the unexpected and make Buddy Nix look right when he says they are making progress. To me, going 2-2 would be typical Bills. They would finish the year 7-9 and try to sell that they are better than a year ago. That would be a major stretch. But 3-1 or even, heaven help us, 4-0 in the last month might give fans an actual reason for hope that this decade and a half of failure could end. Beating the Rams and Jets doesn’t make you great. But losing games like that makes you seem like nothing has changed. And with the Bills recent history, nothing could be worse.’

‘Buffalo’s run game is coming off a season-high 232-rushing yard performance and ranks fourth in rushing and fourth in yards per carry average. The Rams rank 13th in the league against the run, but in their last four games they are giving up an average of almost 135 yards on the ground (132.2).’