Archives for September 2015

'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.'

'The atmosphere was unbelievable at the Ralph with fans hoping to witness at the very least a transition to equality between these two franchises that have gone in very different directions this millenium. The result was that as much as everything changes, it all remains the same. There may have been a late rally but it the bottom line is the Patriots took it to the Bills and knocked tham back to earth. The Bills now know that they still aren't on the same level as the Patriots as much as he we hate to admit it.'

'New England carried a 24-point lead into the fourth quarter, but Buffalo responded with three straight touchdown drives in the fourth quarter to make it a five-point game with four minutes left. The Patriots got a late field goal drive and their defense intercepted Tyrod Taylor a third time in the final minute to win 40-32.'

'“Certain guys and penalties were getting called, certain guys don’t like it and I’m pretty sure the fans didn’t like it either, and the fans were getting involved and the players were getting involved,” said Sammy Watkins. “I think that’s one thing that we’ve got to manage, our emotion and passion for the game. We’ve got to let the ref do their job and keep playing.”'

'It’s a collective loss. We lost as a team. He did say that he was going to take the blame but we can’t put the blame on him. As an offense, like I said, there are some things we can clean up and I’m sure defensively as well. But we’re going to learn from this definitely and continue to get better.'

'“Yes, we definitely felt that [we could rally around Aaron" target="_blank">,” he said. “After that happened, we said ‘Let’s just play some football, man.’ We can’t let outside factors get to us. We have to go out there, know our assignment, and just go.”'

'Yet if you root for the Bills, you might have been thinking about this deja vu: Something about last Sunday, amid the ear-splitting chaos at Ralph Wilson Stadium, was reminiscient of another stadium-shaking Bills opener almost 30 years ago.'

'Of course, the Patriots have one edge … 10 games to prepare, a scenario where coach Bill Belichick shines, hence their being a 1-point favorite. But the Bills counter with a raucous, playoff-starved crowd that’s looking to set a Guinness World Records mark for loudest crowd noise ever recorded.'

'For the record, the Patriots’ boss has a 9-4 edge over his counterpart, one game into his first year with Buffalo, though the latter actually beat New England in a playoff game after the ‘10 season. And, in those six years, Ryan has a better record against the Pats since ‘09 than Buffalo’s Dick Jauron, Perry Fewell, Chan Gailey and Doug Marrone who combined to go 2-10, the second of those victories in last season’s finale when New England rested its starters.'

'“I’m on a tear,” Harvin said. “That’s what I’ve been saying the last couple years. And I finally found a coach and an organization who believes in me where I’m happy to wake up every morning with a smile on my face driving into work. I have great teammates. So I come in each day having fun with these guys, just working on my craft.”'

'Patriots 28, Bills 24.'