Archives for December 2, 2015

'Brian Hoyer might not be Tom Brady. He might not even be Alex Smith. But the quarterback whom the Texans already benched once this season is capable of being dangerous as a thrower … and throwing on the move.'

'The game Sunday was yet another reminder that, no matter what he says, Ryan doesn’t have enough confidence in his players. If he did, he would have turned them loose against the Patriots in Week Two and never stopped. He would have told them to keep punching until someone pulled them off the pile.'

'“I think we’re all held to a pretty high standard,” fullback Jerome Felton said Tuesday. “We had a lot of high expectations coming into the season and, obviously, it’s not over. But whenever you don’t perform up to those expectations, you’re going to take some heat. And we do as players and they do as coaches. I don’t get mad at the fans or anything like that. It’s just part of the job.”'

'Best-case scenario for Bills: The Colts beat Pittsburgh on Sunday and the Texans in Week 15.'

'“It sucks that Nigel had to get hurt,” Steward said, “but this is really how guys get opportunities in the league. I think right now I’m where I want to be. I feel comfortable in the system.'

'"Yeah, to be honest with you," he said after a pause. "Every game is going to be different. The quarterback, Smith, he can buy time with his legs. And Brady, he couldn’t do that. He’s more of a dropback passer. It’s going to be different every week. We’re all in it together. So when they’re getting pressure, we’re happy. When they’re not, we have to hold up on the back end, no matter what. So we’re in it together.”'

'The key to playing cornerback, Gilmore said, is being "strong-minded." Sunday was especially a rough day for Darby. When the rookie sent Gilmore a text message on Monday, the vet who has embraced more of a leadership role told him "It happens." He endured similar valleys as a rookie. As he said, everybody around you can say to "Forget about it," but certain plays will stay on your mind.'

'“The hard part is just getting in your mind that it’s not really an extra point,” Carpenter said. “It is, it’s worth one point, but it’s hard to get into the frame that” distance-wise “it’s a field goal. When you’re kicking a field goal, it’s like the offense fails and you’re going out to finish the drive. Now, it’s getting in the right frame of mind to go out and kick a field goal instead of the extra point kind of thing.'

'The Bills can pretend that they're still in the playoff picture because they haven't been officially eliminated, but Sunday's 30-22 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs was a near lethal blow. Now at 5-6, they sit behind four 6-5 teams, and one of those teams — the Chiefs — owns a head-to-head tiebreaker, not to mention has an easy schedule down the stretch. The Bills will need to win a minimum of four of their last five games, and will still probably need help to end their playoff drought, which is now perilously close to 16 years.‚Äã'

'The Bills operated from the no-huddle offense throughout the first quarter and rolled to a 24-0 lead as Jim Kelly completed all eight passes he attempted for 229 yards and three TDs.'

'"I said it from day one I don't want to let our fans down," Ryan said. "I know the frustrations, but I want to take that head on … this is fully my responsibility, that is how I am approaching it. Now I am not admitting defeat by any stretch of the imagination that we have some opportunity."'

'Barnes is listed at 6-foot-7 and 364 pounds and spent the past two seasons with the Jets, where he played under coach Rex Ryan. That makes Barnes familiar with Buffalo's defensive system under Ryan, who took over in January.'

'Reddick joins the 53-man roster of the Bills after spending time on the team's practice squad earlier in the season. He was an undrafted free agent in 2013.'

'“Definitely, you have to give Houston their props,” Steward said. “They’re kind of rolling right now. They’re playing good football, but really we’re just worried about ourselves, trying to get our game plan down and doing what we have to do to get our next win.”'

'"We can't fulfill everybody's expectations. But what our expectations are, is to win ball games. If we can keep a goose egg (on opponents) and they may run up and down the field but don't score, that's a victory in our book. As far as our expectations are, we want to be the best defense we can be. That's what we're still striving to get to."'