Archives for September 12, 2016

'Good teams don’t beat themselves. They do the little things right. The Bills made a mess of the little things in the 2016 season opener.'

'The Buffalo Bills couldn't figure out how to win.'

'In his first opportunity to do so since signing his contract extension, Taylor was unable to come through.'

'Carpenter was wide right on a 49-yard field-goal attempt that could have tied the game, 10-10. His miss meant the Bills' opening drive of the second half ended after 11 plays and 44 yards.'

'McCoy rushed nine times for 39 yards and caught four passes for 12 yards in the first half. Buffalo's touchdown drive covered 75 yards over 12 plays and came at a good time.'

'Quarterback Tyrod Taylor didn't target a wide receiver, while running back LeSean McCoy managed just 6 yards on six total touches.'

'The team also announced that quarterback Cardale Jones (shoulder), cornerback Kevon Seymour (hamstring), running back Jonathan Williams (ribs), safety Colt Anderson (foot), center Patrick Lewis and linebacker Bryson Albright are inactive.'

'To put it succinctly, the Bills offense was putrid. It started poorly, it put together one scoring drive in the second quarter, and then failed miserably throughout the second half. And thus, on a day when Rex Ryan’s defense played very well and the game was so winnable, the offense couldn’t do it.'

'What a brutal performance by the offense.'

'The Ravens defense dominated as Buffalo ran nine plays for a net gain of two yards. … Baltimore possessed the ball for 10:36 and had five first downs compared to zero for the Bills. … No Bills’ WRs were targeted in the quarter, though Taylor threw only five times.'

'If ever there was a road season opener that was there for the taking, this was it. The Ravens are no world beaters, and they sure weren’t on offense in this game, but the Bills were so miserable on offense that it didn’t matter. If the Bills hope to make the playoffs, these pivotal swing games, especially against AFC teams, are must wins. Now they’re 0-1.'

'"We've been trying to tell Tyrod to believe in your protection, let it hold up and make them pay," Ryan said. "We had a big drop, an uncharacteristic drop by Sammy (Watkins) on that one. That's what we're trying to get him to do. We're trying to get him to throw it down the field, hold up protection-wise without him taking off all the time. He did make a couple of good runs and made some good plays. We just weren't consistent."'

'"It's never a disappointment, man. I strapped up today. I put on the cleats and I went out there and played the plays I had to play out there and played. I'm not going to sit here and mope and pout about it. It's just the way it is. It's the way the coaches want it. I was in with it. It's not something I disagreed with. I agree with them as well. The guys that are out there are going to give their all. When it's my time to go in, I'll do my job."'

'"The game plan was to make him be a quarterback," Ravens defensive tackle Brandon Williams said. "Sometimes he got out of there, but not too many times."'

'That's what we're trying to do. But there's some that I just can't live with. Like the field goal. You have to be smart there. We know the rules. And there's other ones that are just frustrating.'