Archives for September 21, 2015

'On the other side of the ball, Belichick's defense made Bills quarterback Tyrod Taylor look silly for a half, but Taylor's performance down the stretch showed why the Bills made him the starter. Taylor nearly brought Buffalo back from 24 points down, throwing for two scores and running for another in the fourth quarter. He made plays with his arm after using his legs to buy more time behind the line of scrimmage.'

'"Blame it anywhere you want. I don't care. It's my fault," Rex said. "We talked too much. That's why we lost."'

'"There’s a difference between coming out ready to go, fired up ready to play and coming out and being totally without poise, without focus, and a lot of stupid, idiotic stuff," said Bills defensive tackle Kyle Williams. "That plays right in their hands. If you have no poise, no focus, you get caught up in all the B.S. That’s what they do. We did that especially in the first half."'

'On the ensuing drive, New England chewed up a large chunk of time thanks to Brady's arm and aided by a pass interference penalty on Nigel Bradham. They failed to score a touchdown however, and settled for a Gostkowski field goal, giving the Bills a chance, down 8 with 1:15 remaining. Unfortunately for the Bills, that excitment was short-lived as a Tyrod Taylor pass sailed into the hands of Logan Ryan, sealing the 40-32 victory for New England.'

' Brady was in complete control and at times looked like he was just toying with the Bills and their vaunted defense. Brady showed it all with his command on the field, his ability to read the defense, remaining calm in the pocket, finding the open man and throwing the ball with incredible precision. It was something to behold. I just wish he wasn't doing it to the Bills, again.'

'Last week against Indianapolis Buffalo had 11 penalties for a league leading 113 yards. Against a great team like the Patriots, Rex Ryan coached a team that came totally unhinged. Buffalo had 14 penalties for 140 yards. That means in two weeks the Bills have 25 penalties. On one kickoff there were three penalties and on another there were two personal foul penalties. Ryan in his first press conference said he wants to build a bully and he’s done that. The problem is he’s built a dumb bully. Ryan took responsibility after the game, but I don’t know if he believes it, “Emotions got the best of us and that starts with me.”'

'The point is this. Rex Ryan tried to instill in his players a belief that they were New England's equal. Respect them but don't fear them. While not reaching new heights in the boldness department, Ryan worked to wind his players up and that all seemed to agree with the fans as we enjoyed a really fun week pondering what beating the Patriots, maybe even convincingly, would feel like.'

'The 25-year old Williams sent out a tweet late Sunday night thanking people for all their well-wishes.'

'Bills QB Tyrod Taylor was sacked eight times. And he was on the run a heck of a lot more than that, as well. Of course, when a team is down three scores in the second half they essentially become one-dimensional. The Bills tried to run the ball and not be fully committed to only passing in the second half, but throwing it was really the only way they could climb back on the scoreboard – and the Patriots knew it. Their defense was able to pin their ears back and go after Taylor. But his line didn’t give him much help. They were beaten far too often by New England pass rushers and didn’t give Taylor enough help on some big plays. But Taylor didn’t help himself much sometimes, either…'

'"This loss is squarely on one man's shoulders. It's on my shoulders," Head Coach Rex Ryan said after the loss. "Yeah, we have to get better as a team, there's no question. But I have to get better. Belichick out-coached me, there is no question about it. That's how it ended up. It's unfortunate. The plan has to be better on defense. You can't give up 500 yards and beat anybody."'

'Not surprisingly based on the Week One performance against Indianapolis, the offensive line play was atrocious on Sunday. With the exception of Richie Incognito, the other four starters along the offensive line all struggled mightily.'

'The Bills recognized, acknowledged and admitted that emotion carried too much onto the field. Now, they have to prove they can control it.'

'Buffalo won out against the Indianapolis Colts in the first week through defensive pressure, paired with a capable offense and strong special teams. That wouldn’t be the case in Buffalo’s second showing. Buffalo left five points off the board in the form of two extra point attempts and a missed extra point kick.'

'“Of all the games I’ve played, this is the most teachable,” Kyle Williams said, noting both veterans and green players had a lot to gain from the narrow defeat.'

'Williams and company would disagree. In their eyes, Brady looked better than ever. In a painfully recurring theme in this one-sided series, he beat them again, and they beat themselves again.'