Archives for December 15, 2015

'Do you know why the Bills are going to miss the NFL playoffs for the 16th straight season? Because they don’t deserve to go.'

'The Bills were never able to effectively channel their violence, their eye-twitching adrenaline. All of the renewed energy created by Ryan — via leaps from a plane, impassioned pregame speeches, postgame expletives and public battle cries — never translated to a flurry of touchdowns and sacks. No, it translated to penalties. And more penalties.'

'“Everybody’s doing their own thing,” Talley said. “They’re supposed to be working together like five fingers on a glove. All of them. That’s what made us different because we could beat you on offense, we could beat you on defense, we could beat you with special teams. Right now, they aren’t really beating you any kind of way.'

'It’s the coaches who were the real disgrace. McCoy’s emotional, infantile display was predictable. But Ryan is the leader and the face of the organization. He’s supposed to be the voice of reason, an adult example for his players and a pillar of equanimity in difficult times.'

'“You know, I’m not going to get into all that kind of stuff about, you know, is this right? Is that right? It is what it is,” Ryan said Monday, tap-dancing around a question about whether McCoy returned to Buffalo with the Bills. “I’m not going to say if he did or he didn’t.”'

'The numbers speak for themselves: the Bills are now 0-5 in games in which Taylor attempts more than 30 passes — and 6-0 when he doesn't.'

'“The Eagles defensive line is too athletic and too fast for the Buffalo offensive line,” Wilcots said near game’s end as penalty after penalty on the offensive line piled up.'

'You can look back through the past 15 years and you can pick out this very game in just about every one of those playoff-less seasons; the one game that the Bills needed to win, should have won, and didn't. It's inexplicable how, year after year, this franchise plays the role of Charlie Brown when Lucy pulls the football away.'

'The Bills (6-7), who have won consecutive games only once this season, could still win their final three games against Washington, Dallas and the New York Jets and finish with a winning record. They can still keep playoff talk alive. But even if they accomplish that, Kansas City, the Jets and Pittsburgh, each 8-5, enjoy a two-game lead in the standings and the Bills are in tie-breaker jail. It means an unconscionable 16 seasons of sitting out the post-season.'

'The Bills' road to the playoffs just hit the proverbial dead end it looks like their streak of missing the playoffs for 15 straight years might grow by one. Read on and we'll tell you how the AFC is shaking out in the last month of the season.'

'"I can tell you this, dd it hurt him?" Ryan said Monday. "Oh yeah, and it should hurt him. There's a lot of people in that locker room that were – I don't know if devastated is the right word – but I think in his way, he probably was devastated by it. I know I was. Did I speak to the media afterwards? I did. Did I need some time to cool off? I absolutely did. Maybe he just needed a little more time to cool off."'

'The Buffalo Bills committed 15 penalties for 101 yards against the Eagles. That pushed the season total to 124 accepted penalties, just one behind the league-leading Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Meanwhile, Jerry Hughes had two penalties to put his season total at 13. He's now the only defensive lineman in the NFL with over 100 penalties yards this season.'

'The problem is, Bills fans no longer analyze seasons in a vacuum. Everything is tied to the playoff drought. Any excuse Ryan wants to use, Bills fans have heard it. New quarterback? They've deal with plenty of those. Injuries? Ryan Fitzpatrick's injury thwarted the team's efforts in 2011. Over the last 16 seasons, the Bills have lost in every way imaginable.'

'"For you to sit up there and to walk away without having anything to say whatsoever is just incredibly weak," Smith said. "There's no other way around it. He looks very, very bad. Chip Kelly won the day in every way imaginable as far as I'm concerned.'

'A longtime sportswriter and columnist for The Milwaukee Journal, Bledsoe turned in his typewriter in 1973 to take a job with the NFL. By 1984 he'd been named the general manager of the Buffalo Bills, helping build the foundation for that team's run to four straight Super Bowls.'