Archives for September 2013

‘Clinging to a one-point lead, the Bills got the ball at their 20 with 5:51 left. They went three plays and out and held the ball for only 1:20.’

‘EJ Manuel performed admirably in his NFL debut. He completed 18 of his 27 passes for 150 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions. He wasn’t sacked. But the passing game includes other players, too. Stevie Johnson had a critical third-down drop in the fourth quarter. Marquise Goodwin lost a fumble. T.J. Graham was invisible. Spiller averaged 2.8 yards on five catches.’

‘The governor stopped by the Taste of New York tailgate party under a tent behind the Bills field house Sunday morning with Lt. Gov. Robert Duffy, Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz and other state and local officials. They were welcomed by Russ Brandon, Bills president and chief executive officer, and local delicacies such as chicken wings, beef on weck and Sahlen’s hot dogs.’

‘”If I had a dollar for every tough one with those freakin’ guys …” Williams said Sunday afternoon, his voice trailing off before rising again to add that losing yet another heartbreaker to the dastardly New England Patriots “makes me want to vomit.”‘

‘There are about five or six quarterbacks in the NFL who could win with this group of guys named Danny Amendola, Julian Edelman and Kenbrell Thompkins, and luckily for the Patriots – who sure don’t need any more luck to go their way – Brady happens to be one of them.’

‘By fumbling twice, committing 10 penalties (twice for too many men on the field), by failing to work the clock in the fourth quarter and by giving up 431 yards, 26 first downs and 40 minutes of possession time to the Patriots, the Bills certainly left themselves a lot of room for improvement.’

‘It was exactly what you would have expected – some good, some bad.’

‘”I’m here to win. We’ve got to find a way to make the plays at the end of the game.”‘

‘”You talk about a sense of disappointment, it is devastating,” said Marrone, the Bills’ first-year head coach. “We put in a lot of work and we’re going to get better, but we know what the people want and we know what the region wants.”‘

‘”We’ve got to make plays offensively,” center Eric Wood said. “When we do make the plays we can’t get them called back on penalties. I don’t know how much yardage they took away from us, but it seemed like every big play we had, we’re all turning around, the crowd is finicky and there’s another flag.”‘

‘EJ Manuel made a few big throws, including a beautiful touch pass to Stevie Johnson in the back corner of the end zone to put the Bills in front. Not all the throws were great, as the rookie was nearly picked off twice. Buffalo could’ve used more than 150 passing yards. Grade: B-‘

‘The Bills’ main problems on Sunday were taking too many penalties, allowing the Patriots to go 11 of 20 on third downs and an inability to establish a running game.’

‘When Stevie Johnson dropped a short third down pass that would’ve kept a fourth quarter drive alive, unease undoubtedly swept over the Ralph Wilson Stadium crowd. When E.J. Manuel threw a dinky crossing pattern to Scott Chandler for 4 yards on third-and-10 on the team’s next possession, you could feel the energy level plummet.’

‘Jackson can still contribute. He might not rush for 1,000 yards, but he showed Sunday why he’s still a key part of the Bills attack. He’s a good change-of-pace back and is an effective receiver. Expect the Bills to use him a lot this year.’

‘Another impressive stat for Manuel: zero turnovers. He didn’t put up big numbers, but he didn’t make any major mistakes. That was important and a big reason why the Bills almost won Sunday afternoon.’