Archives for October 2015

'“Usually, where I can kind of accelerate through and burst through, I don’t have the same type of get-off,” the running back said. “To be honest, I’m not the bruising type, just running through everybody. My thing is making them miss and getting out of there. If you can’t do that, you can’t do nothing.”'

'Rex Ryan learned the hard way that he should never deviate from what he and his defense do best. After paying a heavy price for trying to pressure Tom Brady primarily with his defensive line, Ryan saw excellent results from frequently blitzing Ryan Tannehill when the Dolphins tried copying the Patriots’ quick-passing tactic last Sunday.'

'For a team that wanted to run the ball, Mulligan was the perfect tight end for that style, and sure enough, he made the 53-man roster and has been active each of the first three weeks.'

'"Fans who waited until the last minute to buy tickets can probably save some money, as we have seen prices drop over the past week," he said, noting that since Sunday median listed prices have dropped 36 percent, or from $260 to $167. "Looking over the past few months it actually looks like prices were building up throughout the start of the season, and now with the game just a few days away sellers need to offload tickets, and because of that are dropping prices."'

'"Obviously the guy's a fantastic football coach but he's really a good guy to be around,'' Ryan said. "Yeah, we're different and things like that but he's kinda got a neat personality and I've always enjoyed being around him and had the utmost respect for him. This is one of the true legends in the field of coaching and he'll obviously be in Canton one day.'''

'"I like to think I haven't grown out of being the guy from East Syracuse," he says, "because that is my foundation."'

'Those red flags were enough to scare off every team in the NFL. Besides the Bills. Buffalo was risking more than just Williams' off-the-field history, though. The Bills were also taking a running back who had played the position for only two seasons and whose yards per carry average dropped from 8.0 to 4.6 between his junior and senior seasons.'

'So I called Gogolak Friday, at his Connecticut home, to tell him I was reposting the old column, edited for space (and timeliness). Gogolak, now 73, told me he'll be watching Sunday's game on television. He expects it to be close, and he said he still carries allegiance to both teams …. although if put to the test, based simply on the number of years he played with New York, he'd side with the Giants – who in 2010 added Gogolak to their "Ring of Honor."'

'"Especially the past couple of weeks just evaluating myself," McCoy said. "As much as I want to go out there and help my team out and play, it's actually hurting me and my teammates. There's certain plays I should be making and I'm not because I can't physically do it. There's so much to think about. Coming to this team, the team we have, you just want to come out here and perform, so I was just trying to fight it off. I can't play through pain. I can, but it's not going well for me."'

'"I've never drafted a player. I know I had the GM title, but I never drafted a player. That was the responsibility of the director of college scouting how we were structured then. We had a director of pro scouting. It wasn't an ideal situation, but that's how we were structured. I've never drafted a player. The funny thing is, the one draft that a lot of people pinned on me, it was a great draft with the exception of the first-round pick (Aaron Maybin in 2009). All that credit goes to Tom Modroff. That's part of the business. I get a kick out of it sometimes."'

'“He’s real dynamic,” the defensive end said. “And he doesn’t play like this is his first time being a full-time starter, for sure. He has a lot of weapons at his disposal, and he has a good defence to depend on and lean on, so he can just play comfortable … the team believes in him.”'

'Take the opening TD drive. The Bills moved 77 yards in just five plays — all of which featured pre-snap shifts, all of which keyed on misdirection, and all of which were passes off play-action (that is, after fake handoffs) thrown either horizontally, or to horizontally moving targets.'

'Here is the Giants’ formula for success: Smack Ryan’s Bills in the mouth first, before the Bills have a chance to smack them. This is always the best way to neutralize a supposed bully. It also will slow the Bills down, because Ryan is a front-running coach whose teams reflect his personality.'

'The Bills are 5.5 point favorites per the guys and gals over at bovada.lv. And here are the NJ.com staff predictions for the game…'

'"I've definitely got to be smarter and more mature about situations, and try to handle stuff like that," said Williams, who was restrained by teammates and coaches after being flagged for an unnecessary roughness penalty against New England.'