Archives for September 2015

'“The Pegulas are here! Rex Ryan is here!” Brown’s wife, Carrie, 31, boomed in the concourse at sold-out Ralph Wilson Stadium. “We are ready to win!”'

'Rex Ryan couldn't have scripted his Bills' debut much better than this. In front of a loud, energetic crowd, the Bills were in control almost from start to finish, and the two biggest takeaways were that the defense looks to be as good as Ryan said it would be, and Tyrod Taylor may be the real deal at quarterback. Of course, it is just one game, and two guys named Belichick and Brady are coming to town next week.'

'"He couldn't tell guys what to do," Brown said. "They were all trying to listen but they couldn't hear. It was great to see him try to communicate. The crowd was so loud. It was amazing."'

'"His speeches, man, he could make you run through a wall," linebacker Nigel Bradham said. "His speeches are unbelievable. Everything he says is so real. I think that's why we connect with him so much, because he's very honest and he keeps it straight with us. … He believes in us, we believe in him."'

'"When we winning, it's not a problem," Watkins said of his lack of targets. "Now if we would have lost this game and I had zero yards and zero catches, it probably would have been a problem. For the most part, it's Week 1. We have 15, 16 more games and the playoffs. You can't really base it off yards. The only thing I can do is put everything on film. The coaches see I'm open. They saw. It's just how the game went and other guys had opportunities."'

'The team with Super Bowl aspirations strolled into Ralph Wilson Stadium and took a punch to the mouth from Ryan's Bills, who have faced questions at every turn this offseason.'

'"Our fans were awesome. The thing we really have to start working on, I have to pump the volume up for our defense at practice. We kind of lose some communication things out there because our fans were so awesome, but we have to expect it, our team has to expect. I have to really work that and dial it in. But man, it was unbelievable. You could barely hear yourself think or anything else.'

'Williams, who was as close with Jackson as anyone on the team, drove Jackson's green Chevrolet with a 'HUULLK" license plate to the stadium Sunday.'

'A win over the New England Patriots next Sunday at Ralph Wilson Stadium won't be enough to thrust the Bills into the ranks of Super Bowl contenders, but it should push this season's expectations to the point where missing the playoffs would be a big disappointment.'

'The Bills were efficient on offense, and Roman is the reason why. He went with a balanced attack to beat the Colts — and it worked.'

'With Dixon, the Bills have a guy who can move the ball forward in short-yardage situations. He can also play on special teams, which is an asset in today's NFL.'

'Everyone said if the Buffalo Bills could just get good play from a quarterback, they’d look like a Super Bowl contender. Well they did. And they did.'

'A team with swagger.'

'"We said all along you can ignore practices and you can ignore film if you want, but we know who he is," Ryan said. "We felt great about it."'

'“The message was clear what I feel about this football team, the personnel we have here, the organization. We feel great about this team. We also feel a responsibility not to let our fans down. That’s the way it is.”'