Archives for October 2015

'Manuel, who took the majority of the first-team snaps in practice, has not played this season after losing the job to Taylor. Manuel completed 58 percent of his passes for 838 yards, five touchdowns and three interceptions in five games last season.'

'The Bills roller coaster season hit another dive as the team fell to the Cincinnati Bengals this afternoon 34-21, the loss moving Buffalo's home record to just 1-3 on the year. It was an electric start for the team though, as EJ Manuel made his first start for the team since September of last year. On the very first play from scrimmage LeSean Mccoy made his presence felt, scampering for 33 yards and exciting the crowd. That was followed by a 19 yard gain on a pass to Charles Clay. Manuel would call his own number on third and goal from the two yard line as he punched it in for the first touchdown of the game.'

'Overall, it looked like the same inconsistent Manuel I’ve seen since he came into the league. He’s 6-9 in his career and I don’t know if he can play in this league or not. So far he’s shown us that he really can’t, but that doesn’t mean given a chance next week, it doesn’t improve.'

'The wrongdoing is somewhere in the middle between Rex Ryan calling too many players back into coverage, like Mario Williams intimated to reporters after the game, and the defensive line not winning enough one-on-one battles. Point blank, the defensive line needs to be much better, specifically when there is a pair of winnable matchups up front against the right tackle and the center of the Bengals.'

'The Buffalo Bills, infamously known by now for their penalties, had no answer for sloppy play and needless penalties that would lead to multiple successful drives by the Cincinnati Bengals.'

'Each person has a spot on the Buffalo Bills offense, but it has gotten so bad that the team is heavily preaching the “next man up” philosophy.'

'Buffalo was whistled eight times for 93 yards Sunday. That brings the season total to 62 accepted penalties for 583 yards, an average of 10.3 per game for 94 yards per game. “I will never give up on a guy learning or whatever,’’ Ryan said, when asked if it makes him question whether certain players are ever going to get the message. “But it is like what do we have to do? How much more emphasis can we make until we got to just start making (line-up) changes? And that is something you can certainly look at.”'

'That’s exactly what happened against E.J. Manuel and a short-handed Buffalo offense. Rex Ryan’s defense was taken apart from the get-go, more or less, and the offense didn’t have enough big play potential, especially once Sammy Watkins went down with another injury, to beat a quality team (even at home).'

'Buffalo’s offense got a touchdown on their opening drive for an early lead, but it was almost all Cincinnati after that. Not counting a one-play kneel down at halftime, the Bengals scored on five of their seven possessions to steadily pull away from the Bills in a 34-21 victory and remain undefeated at 6-0.'

'“It was great to see Sammy out there until he got hurt,” said head coach Rex Ryan. “I think the thing that’s killing me right now, I mean it’s frustrating. I mean injuries are a part of the game there’s no question about it. But we’ve been so snake bit it’s just unbelievable to me.”'

'“Obviously he’s a huge weapon we’ve been certainly missing him,” said head coach Rex Ryan. “To get him back out there that was impressive with 90 yards rushing. That’s great to see him out there.”'

'I wish I knew the answer to that because you are right. I mean against New England, against this team, against whoever. We have had some great opening drives and then for some reason it doesn’t look like we can get a first down. Like it just…I don’t understand. Obviously it comes down to execution and things. But I wish I could tell you.'

'“I think EJ did a tremendous job for us in the preseason,” said head coach Rex Ryan. “We moved (Matt) Cassel as we mentioned before because of EJ and his development. We’re very comfortable and confident that he’ll do a great job for us.”'

'Cincinnati, which rallied to win at Baltimore three weeks ago, and overcame a 17-point deficit to down Seattle in overtime at home last Sunday, is second in the NFL in yards gained and fourth in points scored.'

'“It’s all me,” Lewis said with a chuckle. “But I tell (the players) it’s all them. I think our guys understand what it takes, the mental strength, the mental toughness to play (especially) on the road. It’s got to be a focus on not just the offense, but the defense. It’s got to be everybody, special teams. We have to have a great focus to block the noise of everything going on around them and just focus to get (their) job done.”'