Archives for October 2014

‘The dynasty might be in its final days.’

‘Just moments earlier, it looked as if the Lions were going to win. Backed up at their own 11 with 1:06 to play, Golden Tate beat nickel cornerback Nickell Robey on a short route, made the catch, and sprinted 55 yards to the Buffalo 34. After three unproductive plays, Henery came in and missed with 26 seconds to go.’

‘Well, I didn’t see that one coming. When the Bills fell behind 14-0 in the second quarter and were looking completely inept on offense, this had all the makings of one of those 38-7 road laughers that this fan base has seen too much of over the past 15 years. My Twitter account was aflame with “fire this guy” and “fire that guy.” And I sure couldn’t argue. However, you have to give the Bills credit for staying the course because many Bills teams would have folded right around the time Rashean Mathis crossed the goal line on that pick six. Whether Kyle Orton is the answer at quarterback, it’s impossible to tell after one game. But make no mistake, you have a better chance to win in the NFL if you have a quarterback who knows what he’s doing, and Orton clearly does.’

‘Carpenter’s game-winner was certainly a mighty boot, but it isn’t his career best. That came as a member of the Miami Dolphins on Dec. 5, 2010, when he nailed a 60-yard field goal at the end of the first half against the Browns.’

‘I still wasn’t thrilled with Nathaniel Hackett, but that was mostly in the first half. In the second half, he did a much better job. As for Schwartz, he had his defense ready to play, though it was certainly helped when Calvin Johnson and Bush left with injuries. The Lions had only 13 first downs.’

‘The Bills, afterward, presented a game ball to Mary Wilson, widow of the team’s original owner, Ralph, as it was the last game the family will own the club … and in his hometown.’

‘Three players he brought in, two free agents – quarterback Kyle Orton and kicker Dan Carpenter – and his VERY expensive first-round draft choice, wide receiver Sammy Watkins, had two hands, one arm and a foot in Sunday’s dramatic, 17-14 win over the Lions.’

‘Orton went 30 for 43 for 308 yards and a touchdown and an interception. Fred Jackson rushed for 50 yards and had seven catches for 58 yards. Watkins had seven catches for 87 yards.’

‘”You could just tell he was passionate about it. You could hear it in his voice,” linebacker Brandon Spikes said. “We just fed off that. He gave us the plan, and we go execute.”‘

‘The Bills are still committing too many penalties on both sides of the ball. The Bills finished with 10 penalties on Sunday, but they took five of those in the first half of the first quarter. Those are the little things Marrone is always preaching about, and they add up throughout the course of the game.’

‘”That’s part of quarterback, you know?” Orton said. “You have to lead the offense, make the plays when they’re called to make them, and I was excited for the chance to do that. I think we’ve got a young offense that has a lot of room to grow and has a lot of room to become an explosive offense, but it won’t happen overnight. Take it in bits and pieces and just try to improve each week.”‘

‘”Obviously it was a big day,” team president and CEO Russ Brandon said in the locker room after the game. “All the way around, a lot of resiliency from this team. It was really amazing. To cap it off for the Wilson family in their hometown in Detroit, I mean, you can’t write a better script. It’s a Hollywood type script, really.”‘

‘As close as the 17-14 win over the Lions was, it’s not hard to argue the result may have been different had Detroit had a healthy Calvin Johnson or if Reggie Bush hadn’t gotten hurt, particularly with Joique Bell not dressing with his own injury.’

‘This was arguably Doug Marrone’s biggest win since he took over as head coach in 2013. The Bills came in on a two-game losing streak and Marrone made the decision to bench E.J. Manuel in favor of Kyle Orton.’

‘”I think that he’s a guy who exudes confidence,” Bills tight end Scott Chandler said. “He knows what he’s doing out there and it’s easy to follow a guy like that.”‘