Archives for October 2014

‘Coaching: Grade A-: It was a huge feel good victory in a season of them so far.’

‘The Lions kicker missed three field goals in the second half including a 50-yard attempt to break the 14-14 tie.’

‘”I mean it’s just an everyday thing for me,” he said of his stat line. “We’re just out there having fun doing what we love and playing together as a team.”‘

‘”I was thinking of how he’d be complaining about some of the calls in the first half,” said Brandon smiling in a jubilant postgame locker room. “I thought a lot about him today. I thought a lot about him on the way over (to the stadium). We usually talked before the game.”‘

‘”Obviously, it’s good. I don’t want to say that, but we’ve all got to get better. We really do. There were a lot of things out there today and our guys fought. Defensively, they made a lot of plays, but we had penalties that we shouldn’t have. Our first downs were very poor. So, we’ve got a lot to do, but the quarterback, Kyle (Orton) did his share to help us win the game, which obviously we needed from him. And there were some other guys that made plays around him. But all in all, there’s no doubt we’re working out here. It’s hard to win on the road. We’re excited, but we know that we have to do things better as we go forward and that’s going to be the point of emphasis during the week, and that is every week.”‘

‘Fisher was extremely positive about Manuel as a person and as a hard worker, but he was very open and honest with teams about how limited he felt Manuel was as a quarterback prospect.’

‘”If the Wilson era of ownership can’t end in Buffalo,” Lions President Tom Lewand said, “there is no better place for it to conclude than in Detroit, Mr. Wilson’s hometown.’

‘Lions 24, Bills 20.’

‘”The way he talks, the way he handles business, the way he looks at plays and breaks down defenses is kind of different than EJ,” Watkins said. “He’s really quick. The ball comes out faster.”‘

‘What emerges is the portrait of a self-made billionaire and his wife who have the usual trappings of money. Yet despite that wealth, they are described by people who know them as modest and anything but flashy. For instance, though his companies have access to three private jets, he prefers to drive himself more than 1,500 miles just to watch prospective hockey players.’

‘Pegula recently sold Five Star Athlete Management, an Atlanta firm that represents some four dozen NFL players, to avoid NFL conflict of interest rules.’

‘Lions 31, Bills 17.’

‘Manuel probably hasn’t played to a D-plus level (the Bills did win their first two games), but when you lose your job four games into a season, even when the team isn’t terrible at 2-2, the grade has to reflect that.’

‘”Next up, let’s go,” Hackett said. “You can’t really look back at it or anything like that. I support coach, he made a decision, and I have to do every single thing I possibly can to get Kyle Orton to be successful. That’s my first and foremost biggest goal.”‘

‘”To his credit, he showed a lot last week going against a player like J.J. Watt,” Bills coach Doug Marrone said. “At times, but not all of the time. Going in there and getting better as the game went along, at least in my opinion.”‘