Archives for December 1, 2013

‘Kickoff returns have faded into near-irrelevancy around the NFL, and they’ve become downright moot for the Buffalo Bills.’

‘Still, it’s fair to ask, which is the real C.J.? The runner who terrorized defenses last season and reached 1,000 rushing yards faster than any back in 78 years? Or the guy who has put up single-game rushing totals of 9, 11, 23 and 6 yards this year and virtually disappeared from the passing game?’

‘Bills 30, Falcons 20.’

‘”I think that Toronto series has turned into pretty much a joke,” Wood roared. “I think they started it hoping that we’d have a lot of fan support in Toronto. We have none. And it’s a bad atmosphere for football. I mean, nobody wants to play there. I guess for opposing teams it beats the hell out of going into somebody else’s stadium and dealing with a bunch of crowd noise.”‘

‘Bills 24, Falcons 17.’

‘When an NFL team has only eight home games, giving up one – no matter the profit margin – is extremely punitive.’

‘But the Falcons’ defense has been the real problem, ranking 27th overall, 28th against the run, 24th versus the pass and 29th in points surrendered.’

‘The Falcons, 2-9, unraveled early, losing four of their first five, the defeats coming by an average of under five points.’

‘Without local ownership, there would be little reason to keep the Bills in a place where Wilson had to buy some 3,500 tickets to his team’s Nov. 17 home game to avoid a television blackout.’

‘The Falcons defence has struggled to stop the run, especially during their current five-game losing streak. The Bills love to run it behind the NFL’s only backfield duo with 500 yards, Fred Jackson and C.J. Spiller. The Bills would do well to draw up a game plan whose intention is to establish the run, and then try to burn the Falcons deep with play-action passes, as QB EJ Manuel did so well two weeks ago against the Jets. We saw in that game the blazing speed of wideouts T.J. Graham and rookie Marquise Goodwin. Regular starters Stevie Johnson and Robert Woods are expected back, the first time since September that all four receivers have joined Manuel on the field.’

‘Sunday’s crowd is expected to top 40,000, as it did last year. A few thousand seats were still available through Ticketmaster as of late Friday.’

Matt Ryan’s key passing numbers are down (Atlanta Journal Constitution)

On the hot seat: Falcons linebacker Sean Weatherspoon (Atlanta Journal Constitution)

Oh Canada: Falcons prepared for international travel (Atlanta Journal Constitution)

The X-factor: Buffalo quarterback E.J. Manuel (Atlanta Journal Constitution)

Q&A with Matt Ryan (Atlanta Journal Constitution)

3 key matchups (Atlanta Journal Constitution)

Robert Alford’s Weekly Diary: Week 13 (Atlanta Journal Constitution)

‘Both are trying to regionalize their franchises, and each plays a game a year on foreign soil – Buffalo plays an annual game in Toronto (this year’s game is Sunday against Atlanta), and the Jaguars are playing a game in London for at least the next three years. The foreign games get both teams more revenue despite the loss of home field advantage for the game.’