Archives for November 30, 2015

'The Bills took a 16-14 lead into intermission, but it felt like it should have been much more of a cushion. They controlled play for much of the opening half, but the Chiefs made a couple big plays – plus took advantage of yet another incredibly lame bad penalty call against the Bills – to cut into the margin.'

'After possessing the ball for nearly 20 minutes in the first half, the Buffalo offense had it for just over 11 minutes in the second half. The Bills ran only 25 offensive plays after halftime as the Chiefs went on some lengthy scoring drives and the Bills managed just one scoring drive.'

' However, in the end, the Bills defense was a little worse and all you have to do is look at the scoreboard. Buffalo was gashed by Chiefs running back Spencer Ware for 114 yards, and the defensive backs – so good most of the year – had a bad day, something safety Corey Graham readily admitted after the game.'

'This is a straight out failure. In a game they desperately needed to win, the Bills weren't good enough against a team that is not better than them. There's no gray area here. They had to win and they didn't. Their defense was terrible, and the offense did nothing in the second half, granted, with limited time of possession.'

'First, he failed to challenge a Jeremy Maclin catch that would have been overturned. The Chiefs scored one play later. He then wasted a challenge on a Robert Woods drop that cost his team a timeout, and he decided not to challenge a Chiefs first down on which Alex Smith appeared to come up short of the sticks. Late in the fourth quarter, he opted not to challenge a Tyrod Taylor incompletion to Chris Hogan that may have been overturned. Finally at the end of the game, Ryan challenged a play on which Taylor came up short of the first down and lost the challenge.'

'"Like I said, the time of possession definitely changed," Taylor said after the game. "We only had the ball 11 minutes, so we didn't have a bunch of opportunities to take those shots unlike the first half. It was something we had to work for, take shots when we could and get the ball into some other guys' hands."'

'"The 37-yarder, I wasn't aware of it because, again, I wasn't seeing the video on it, and again, so from my vantage point, I thought he caught the ball. That was from my vantage point. Obviously, I would have challenged it if I would have known there was any question whatsoever on a 37-yard play that flipped the game. We were in complete control of that game and then they threw some balls over our heads. Obviously I would have challenged."'

'"It's like Tyrod (Taylor) said when he pulled me aside after the game, 'We've got to pull the guys back into it. The season is not over with,'" defensive end Jerry Hughes said after the game. "He said it best. We just had a quick little one-on-one. He told me to pull the guys aside. He saw my head down because he knew how badly I wanted to win this. For him to do that and tell me to pick my head up, and let's pull the guys up so we can finish the season up strong, that speaks tremendous volumes to the character we have leading this team. We are going to do that. We are going to rally behind each other and we just have to come out fighting after the game."'

'"We're out of mulligans, let's put it that way," Rex Ryan said after the game. "We have to take care of our business."'

'Let that be a lesson to everyone out there: Don't ignore that check engine light, especially if you happen to be driving a busload of players on their way to a must-win game.'

'The former Syracuse and Buffalo Bills head coach is considered a "hot candidate" for head coach openings in the NFL this offseason, according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport.'

'One look at the stat sheet tells the story. Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith had 255 passing yards and two touchdowns. He was sacked once, but that's because he ran out of bounds behind the line of scrimmage on one play. For most of the game, Smith didn't face any serious pressure. The Bills didn't blitz often and it gave Smith time to beat them.'

'Bills head coach Rex Ryan was savaged on social media and local sports radio immediately after the game, for twice screwing up challenges on that drive.'

'"We didn't get the job done," Watkins said. "We've got to put the nail in the coffin when we play great teams like this. You give them a chance and let them live, they start making plays — their defense starts making plays. We've got to put them away."'

'The Bills had a chance for a tying touchdown when they took over at their own 10 with 3:25 left. But after picking up a quick first down, Taylor was stopped short of the marker on fourth-and-9 with 2:16 left, allowing the Chiefs to put the game away.'