Archives for September 2013

‘Still, there were positives to be gleaned from this defeat. First and foremost, it appears that Buffalo might just have something in Manuel, the first-rounder from Florida State who looked calm and collected while becoming the first rookie quarterback to start for the team since Joe Ferguson four decades ago. EJ finished with a 105.5 quarterback rating after completing 18-of-27 passes for 150 yards and two scores and no interceptions. He also rushed three times for 23 yards, including a clutch 19-yard scramble that helped keep alive a scoring drive.’

‘But Tom Brady passed the Patriots to victory and engineered a 12-play 49-yard scoring drive in the dying seconds to give Stephen Gostkowski a 35-yard chip shot for the game-winning points in a 23-21 win over Buffalo.’

‘”Obviously I think early we battled some adversity and I’m proud of the way the players held on and kept that game where it didn’t get out of control on us early on in the first half,” said Marrone. “I thought we came out in the second half offensively and went down the field. I felt good about it. Then we had some opportunities at the end. We didn’t convert or makes the plays that we needed to to win the game.”‘

‘”Whenever we play a team, they are going to think about C.J. (Spiller) and rightfully so,” said Jackson. “He has played out of his mind the last two years. It’s just my job when I get that opportunity to take some of that pressure off him.”‘

‘Our philosophy, we had to score. When you’re talking about milking the clock they still had three time-outs. We get that ball back; we were still over four minutes, four minutes and fifty-something seconds. I wrote it down when I was going through the numbers. There was still a lot of time. There was too much time and at the end of the day it wasn’t a situation where we felt we needed to milk the clock. We felt that we still needed to score to win the game.’

‘I think it was a few drives late in the third or fourth quarter that we had to continue to get down the field possibly getting a field goal or a touchdown that could’ve sealed the game. But it’s happened; it’s over with, now you’ve got to move forward to next week.’

‘It’s (we’re) not the same team, we just lost the game. We have a lot of new faces on this team. We had a chance to win it, but turnovers killed us. I can’t put the ball on the ground because if I do I minimize our chance of sustaining drives. I just have to clean that up and that’s stuff I can control.’

‘The coaches just made a great call putting me in a position where I had an opportunity to make a play and I just seized the moment.’

‘There is a good feeling after Manuel passed his first test with flying colors. Two touchdowns, no interceptions and he showed poise in the pocket. That is something to hold your hat on as it does appear better days are ahead. Unfortunately Bills fans have been waiting for those better days for way too long now.’

EJ Manuel showed great poise in the pocket and led the Bills back with two touchdown passes but struggled in the fourth quarter. Grade B+: Very good first test.

‘Here’s my personal trip through the years with the Bills. They are all games I attended. These Sundays (and one Thursday night) stick out in my mind for various reasons.’

‘At last Saturday’s 53-man roster cutdown deadline, the Bills had the NFL’s third-youngest roster. The average Bills player was 25.3 years old, higher than only the Cleveland Browns and St. Louis Rams.’

‘”It’s not that I get a kick out of it,” Marrone said. “I wouldn’t use that phrase for me. I thrive sometimes on adversity. Because when adversity hits, in any part of your life, whether it’s on or off the field, that’s when character comes in, the true character of who you are and how you handle a situation.”‘

‘Patriots 37, Bills 20.’

‘Obviously, the Bills could strike a deal with safety Jairus Byrd after the season. But since the two sides had a full year to reach an agreement and couldn’t get one done, it’s hard to see how that stalemate is going to change.’