Archives for December 2017

‘Four teams can finish 9-7, and that would be bad for Buffalo. You could take our word for it and stop reading here.’

‘I’m not saying the drought will last another decade, or another day. But regardless of what happens Sunday, there’s no guarantee that the Bills will maintain the modest level of success they achieved in the first year under McDermott and General Manager Brandon Beane.’

‘Bills 25, Dolphins 18.’

‘Cutler is 74-78 in his career as a starter with 227 TDs, 160 interceptions and an 85.3 rating. He will be remembered as a great arm talent who never shed his undisciplined tendencies.’

‘The safety needs to get a deep drop to make the throw difficult for Jay Cutler (6). Carolina often stays with three linebackers against three-receiver sets. Most teams, including the Bills, will bring on the nickel cornerback.’

‘Miami’s defensive tackles are stout but the linebackers can be attacked in the run game. This was a fullback lead zone run the Bills hit for 14 yards in the win two weeks ago.’

‘Announcers: Andrew Catalon (play by play), James Lofton (color analyst).’

‘“To say do I wish that the Bills would make the playoffs; I hope that the Chargers make the playoffs,” he said with a laugh this week. “Anthony Lynn is obviously the head coach there and my son’s out there with him coaching. So to say I’d rather see the Bills in instead of the Chargers, no way! But if they’re not in, then absolutely.”’

‘Hunt had a dynamic rookie season and Pittsburgh running back Le’Veon Bell very much belongs in this conversation. However, no player matches Gurley’s overall offensive production.’

‘“They come in very casual, Bills jerseys on and everything else like that,” he said. “We will not allow that even in our restaurant on New Year’s Eve, to come in with Bills jerseys in the middle of a dinner hour.’

‘This year, the group will host the Bills fan tailgate party in bus lot 7 of Hard Rock Stadium. “We’re renting a giant party bus and I’ll have a 20-foot flag pole with two big Bills flags waving,” Holler said. “I’ve got my brother-in-law bringing his DJ equipment and I told him to play the ‘Shout!’ song at least once every half hour.”’

‘A 2015 study from the Mexican football website Primero y Diez found the Bills to be the seventh most popular team in the country, with an almost 4 percent share of the country’s reported 28 million NFL fans. That same year a Harris Poll ranked Buffalo as America’s 19th favorite team.’

‘”My impression of a lot of guys has changed once you get to know someone, in terms of building a relationship,” the coach said. “Like I said, he’s one of the big leaders for our football team. It’s changed just because of getting to know him, but for really no other reason that that.”‘

‘There is good news at receiver for the Bills, though. Kelvin Benjamin was not included on the team’s final injury report, meaning he’s good to face Miami. Benjamin practiced on a limited basis all week, but is coming off a game in which he played 52 snaps, his most since coming to Buffalo.’

‘The passion of the fan base, like I’ve mentioned numerous times before, the work ethic, the blue-collar approach I think goes hand-in-hand with those two sports in particular, as you mentioned, hockey in this case.’

‘(How was it coaching QB Jay Cutler this year?) – “It was good. It was fun. It was fun to be back around him. There was a lot of good things.’

‘Maybe their coach, Adam Gase, can sell his players on the idea of being a spoiler. He already has made it clear that they’re playing for their jobs. But expecting that to carry the Dolphins through an entire game against a team looking to end a 17-year playoff drought is probably expecting too much.’

‘I’ve often wondered if Tom Donahoe would have kept Bledsoe if they had reached the playoffs. I suspect not. Donahoe was ready to turn the job over to J.P. Losman. A similar decision looms as Tyrod Taylor gets ready for the finale in Miami.’