Archives for September 2015

'When he asked if I’d like to go to the preseason game against the Steelers, I wasn’t too excited. Why go to the expense and travel time when we had a perfectly good big-screen TV at home? No one could have explained to me that it was comparing apples to aardvarks. My eyes have been opened – I’m hooked.'

'"It's shocking, even to me as a defensive player," Graham said. "I watched the Steelers game last week and I see Gronk running down the middle of the field wide open, and I don't know what's going on. Maybe he's just that good, I don't know, but it's shocking to see how much he's open."'

'Well, here we go. Sunday has arrived, and now it's time for Rex and the Bills to shut up and play, and if they play as well as they did last week against Andrew Luck and the Colts, those folks from Guinness measuring the volume inside the stadium may head home with a new line to insert into their world record book.'

'They cheat.'

'Only July’s Rolling Stones concert with a $219 average resale price has been a more expensive ticket at the stadium over that time.'

'The average resale price of $144 is the most expensive Bills home game since SeatGeek started tracking the secondary ticket market back in 2010. In fact, the average price of a ticket to any Bills home game this year is up 21 percent from this point a season ago.'

'It's safe to say anticipation will only continue to build before the 1 p.m. kickoff Sunday.'

'Bills offensive line coach Kurt Anderson, who is filling in for the suspended Aaron Kromer, played with Brady at Michigan. A smile spreads across his face when he's asked to recall what it was like being Brady's teammate. He remembers Brady leading the Wolverines back against Alabama in the 2000 Orange Bowl most of all and could see then what so many in the NFL have seen over the last decade-and-a-half.'

'Now, with that said, this group of AFC East teams is the strongest top-to-bottom in recent memory. There won't be any gimmes for the Pats. All three teams have the talent to make the postseason.'

'"Stephon can be as good as he wants to be," McDonald said. "I mean, the length and the speed and he's quite smart. I just think as his technique improves and he becomes confident in what he's doing, you watch that kid. He's got some serious potential, and I don't think he's scratched it yet. I think he's just getting going. If he stays healthy and continues to improve, he has the potential to be one of the better cornerbacks in this game."'

'Offensively I think Dion Lewis is a guy that is going to be a huge contributor as long as he can hold on to the ball. He did fumble on the goal line against Pittsburgh, and Bill Belichick doesn’t take too kindly to guys who put the rock on the ground. Bills fans are familiar with the other guy I would mention. Scott Chandler, I absolutely loved this pickup. Pairing him with Gronk he creates such a matchup nightmare for opposing defenses. Couple of guys on D, Jamie Collins is an up-and-coming superstar. Love his quickness, ability to cover. He’s really turning into a nice LB. And then one just sort of off-the-grid I’m interested in, is defensive end Tre Flowers, not sure how many snaps he’ll get, but with Dominique Easley hurt (again), he could create some pressure off the edge.'

'Bills 27, Patriots 24.'

'“There’s always gonna be a few new wrinkles every game that you come out,” Taylor said this week, “but it’s gonna boil down to us going out there and executing our plays against the looks that they give us. Each week is going to be a challenge and I’m confident in my guys to go out there and take the challenge head on, and we’re confident as a team and we’re just gonna go out there and play ball.”'

'Will Patriots win on Sunday? Probably, if for no other reason than that they usually do. But the outcome is at least somewhat in doubt. And if you know that, you know this: We wouldn’t have been talking about this game nearly as much if the Bills were still under the rule of Doug Marrone.'

'“From a confidence standpoint you just take the things that you did well last week and you build off that,” Taylor said Wednesday. “The things you didn’t do so well you try to correct throughout practice and go out there and run the show again.”'