Archives for October 2013

‘Browns 17, Bills 16.’

‘Chudzinski is more dynamic than his predecessor, Pat Shurmur, and there is a better energy and confidence within the team. That counted for little prior to the two-game win streak, but then, it may have caused the two-game win streak. Lombardi is a highly secretive GM who operates with a very heavy Belichick influence. He has not been afraid to make controversial moves, a la bringing in Brian Hoyer and trading Trent Richardson.’

‘The two new initiatives include the development of a 12,500-square-foot operations building and a 33,000-square-foot commissary building that will be located outside of Ralph Wilson Stadium in Orchard Park. These new projects continue a relationship between Manning Squires Hennig and the Bills, which started in 1995 when MSH was contracted to build the team’s main practice facility, the Ralph Wilson Field House, Bouchard said.’

‘While we believe no city has suffered more wrenching post-season defeats, Buffalo reminds us sometimes it’s better to fall one win shy of the Super Bowl. Cleveland has Earnest Byner. Buffalo has Scott Norwood, whose missed field goal is the impetus for Vincent Gallo’s 1998 dark comedy Buffalo ’66.’

‘After four games, Alonso is tied for the NFL lead with four interceptions, to go with one sack, a forced fumble and recovered fumble. His 32 tackles are tops in Buffalo and among league rookies.’

”’Oh, yeah, the whole world is watching,” he said. ”Every little thing you do, you know everyone is going to see it.”’

‘Spiller sat out practice on Monday and Tuesday with ankle and knee problems, but returned for Wednesday’s session on a limited basis.’

‘The focus in Cleveland has been on Brian Hoyer engineering two victories since Brandon Weeden was injured and Trent Richardson was shipped to Indy. But it has been the strength of the defense that is making the Browns competitive again, and Cleveland should be able to stuff Buffalo’s ground game and make life difficult for rookie QB EJ Manuel in a one-sided offense.’

‘This game is a coin-flip. The two players for the Bills that are game-time decisions (Spiller and McKelvin) are of utmost importance to the outcome of the game. Spiller, if healthy enough, has the ability to work well and find space that even the best of run defenses don’t think they’re giving up. Even if he’s not busting huge runs, he’s still ten times the option that Tashard Choice is for game planning reasons.’

‘Browns 13, Bills 9.’

‘”I said to Coach (Lou) Saban, ‘Coach, I’m living my dream. My four brothers are working in factories and in a bar, and I’m in the professional football league. If you gave me a really nice t-shirt and a cap, I’d play for free.’ And I mean that, I really would have.”‘

‘With both of their top backs nicked up coming off a short week, Buffalo’s second-ranked running game could have trouble staying consistent. Cleveland’s fourth-ranked run defense is stout. The Bills need production with the ground game to take the pressure off rookie QB EJ Manuel, who struggled in his first career road start two weeks ago.’

‘”I’m definitely playing,” tweeted Jackson, who sprained a knee in Sunday’s win over Baltimore.’

‘”The coaches got to see our families for a little bit, but after the game was over we immediately came here,” coach Doug Marrone said. “So we started working and looked at the previous game we played and tried to get that put to bed. Then we started working on the game plan that night.”‘