Archives for October 1, 2017

Click here

'"Many people don't know how critical it is," Vermeil said, "to be 100 percent focused each week on the challenge at hand to win another football game on Sunday.'

'During the 17-year playoff drought, they have won 44 road games. Only 11 of those wins came against teams that finished the season with a winning record. Only three of those opponents won a playoff game that season.'

'Players took Trump's description of those who knelt as a "son of a b—-" and said they should be fired as an attack, and the backlash was swift. The Buffalo Bills held a team meeting last Saturday night with the intention of doing something together as a team, but not surprisingly couldn’t come to a consensus.'

'Falcons 30, Bills 17.'

'Exhibit A in that regard is Marcell Dareus. The new front office inherited the worst contract in football, and despite saying all the right things about trying to get Dareus on the bus … blah, blah, blah … do you really think they are happy with him on the roster? There are certain players with contracts that are too tough to move on from right away, and Dareus is one of them.'

'Atlanta has a good cornerbacks and fast linebackers. Buffalo will need to outmuscle the Falcons on the ground, particularly with the inside zone plays and cutback runs. Get the fast linebackers flowing to the outside and slash behind them up the field. Get guard Richie Incognito into the second level, blocking the Falcons' smallish defenders. Chicago powered Atlanta with two tight end sets in the opener and had some success. Controlling the clock against a high-powered offense is critical.'

'Just like the Bills, Atlanta is an outside zone running team. Just like the Bills, Atlanta's pass scheme plays off the zone run game. The difference is Atlanta has All-Pro receiver Julio Jones. Atlanta loves to run play-action to the right, then throw back to the left to Jones (11) on a short slant. He's a huge target, and it's next to unstoppable.'

'Enter the NBA, which reached out to offer to help the Bills and other NFL teams that had their charter deals canceled. Thanks to a lease deal it cut with Delta for most of its 30 teams, the NBA has access to a fleet of modified 757s, known as VIP jets that are designed to move sports teams and entertainers. Normally, a 757-200 has about 160 seats, but the VIP version has 71, with three levels of first-class accommodations front to back. Twenty-eight are sleeper seats that fully recline, 12 are club seats that partially recline, and 31 are domestic first-class seats.'

'Taylor was barely antsy in the pocket or too quick to leave it against the Broncos. Partly because of that, unsurprisingly, he had one of his finest games (if not his finest) as Buffalo's starter.'

'While basically all of Watkins' figures eclipse Matthews' at this juncture, the identical yards per target figures do stand out. They've been equally as efficient when the football's been thrown in their direction through three games. Interesting, too, is that Matthews has been more of the big-play wideout than Watkins. Before 2017, Matthews averaged 11.9 yards per catch in his career, while Watkins' average was a hefty 16.1.'

'Biggest loss: 28 points, in a 31-3 defeat on Dec. 27, 2009.'

'Claiming to be the largest organization of Bills supporters outside of New York, the Bills Backers of Atlanta count more than 2,000 members. This weekend, they’re welcoming Bills fans from throughout the Southeast – and Buffalo, of course – to join the party.'

'Unrelated to the original Buffalo Sports Garden on Elmwood Avenue, the bar on Southwestern Boulevard in Orchard Park has space for about 100 people and draws close to that when the Bills are on the road. For home games, BSG gets a steady crowd throughout the day, including fans coming from nearby New Era Field.'

'Tailgate forecast: Sunny, breezy, on the cool side. Temps: 58-62 rising to around 70 by noon. East wind: 8-16.'