Archives for December 2, 2013

‘The Bills led a losing team by 14-0 right away and 31-24 with 11:48 left in the fourth quarter. That’s a game the Bills must close out.’

‘Of course, it was also the most disheartening for the Bills.’

‘It was a long way to come for a result like this 34-31 overtime defeat, one more awful loss in a 14-year span that has come to be defined by awful losses.’

‘Falcons, who came into the game struggling terribly to run, ranking 31st in the league, had 84 yards by halftime, and finished with 151, their second-best total of the year. That success certainly opened up passing avenues for Matt Ryan and he took advantage, particularly to Roddy White who had 10 catches for 143 yards.’

‘If nothing else, the Bills gave Toronto a fun and interesting game, which certainly hasn’t been the case in this Bills in Toronto series. However, there’s no denying Rogers Centre is not the Ralph, and the Bills are now 1-5 in this place. This was a disappointing defeat to a 2-9 Atlanta team.’

‘While it was Buffalo that was supposed to feast on the Falcons’ suspect rushing defense – ranked 28th in the league – it was Atlanta, with the NFL’s second-worst ground game, that stampeded the Bills.’

‘Since Buffalo last made the playoffs in 1999, Buffalo has lost 49 games by less than a touchdown, 34 by three points or-fewer, seven of them in overtime.’

‘”It’s discouraging,” said Bills head coach Doug Marrone. “We have to do a better job, overall, so it doesn’t come down to that.”‘

‘That’s the difference between mediocre teams and good NFL teams. You need to come up big when you have opportunities to win games. It’s one thing to lose a fumble and redeem yourself in overtime. It’s another to lose two fumbles at the end of the game and hand your opponent a victory.’

‘Instead, the Bills coughed up their already faint playoff hopes with a pair of hilariously foreseeable fumbles. When Matt Bryant’s field goal sailed through the uprights, none of the other stories mattered, and for good reason. The only stories anyone will want to read will feature the same three quotes from Doug Marrone, Stevie Johnson and Scott Chandler, simply because of the magnitude of the loss.’

‘The Buffalo locker room — really, the Toronto Blue Jays’ locker room — was achingly sad. Some players could barely lift their heads they were so upset, no one more than Toronto native Stefan Charles.’

‘Manuel is too much of a class act to play the blame game. Thus, it was no surprise that he refused to wag an accusing finger after the Bills gut-wrenching 34-31 overtime loss to the Atlanta Falcons in what easily was the most exciting display of football in the six games that have been played in the Bills In Toronto series.’

‘”This feels great,” said Ryan, who believes he has learned more in this losing campaign than he has in any of his winning seasons. Introspection can do that for you.’

‘Then they made like the opposite of NHL playoff referees and called everything in sight as the game reached a climax, after the two-minute warning of the fourth quarter on Sunday at the Rogers Centre.’