Archives for January 2018

‘”It’ll be a joint effort by me and the organization and my family,” Williams said at his locker inside EverBank Field. “We’ve got plenty of time.”‘

‘Taylor should have gotten the offense lined up faster and snapped the ball. The definitive replay didn’t come from CBS until 23 seconds after the officials had blown the play dead. Only then did Jags coach Doug Marrone call for the challenge.’

‘The Bills did not miss Marcell Dareus (who did a good job clogging the middle for the Jacksonville defense). Adolphus Washington and Cedric Thornton were stout enough. Yes, Blake Bortles scrambled for 88 yards. But it’s hard to stop everything. Mission accomplished by the front four, which gave the Buffalo offense chance after chance.’

‘If this was Taylor’s final start with the Bills, he went out on a low note. He completed just 17 of 37 passes for 134 yards and was intercepted once, finishing with a passer rating of 44.2. The Bills need an upgrade at quarterback, as well as wide receiver. Kelvin Benjamin, acquired to be the team’s top option at the position, had one catch for 9 yards and a killer offensive pass interference penalty. Deonte Thompson also took a bad holding penalty that erased a 35-yard completion to McCoy, who was the Bills’ leading receiver with six catches for 44 yards.’

‘The Bills still haven’t scored a touchdown in the playoffs since 1999. With the season on the line in the fourth quarter, the Bills still couldn’t get anything going on offense. They were still, collectively, far too conservative, and they were still plagued by their season-long problems, including limited production from the receiving corps, overly conservative game management and questionable offensive coordinating.’

‘After being stopped short of the end zone on three consecutive runs, the Jaguars gambled on fourth and 1 from the 1-yard line. They went with a play-action pass, and Blake Bortles hit Ben Koyack in the back of the end zone for a touchdown. That capped a 15-play, 86-yard drive that used 8:52 of game clock.’

‘The Bills responded with a long drive that stalled on the 3. Taylor failed to get the Jags to jump offside on fourth down before taking timeout, but the Jags were flagged for a neutral zone infraction on the ensuing field-goal attempt. That set the Bills up on the 1, but an offensive pass interference penalty on Kelvin Benjamin moved them back 10 yards and they had to settle for a 31-yard field goal with 1:53 left before halftime.’

‘The opening 15 minutes featured five punts, which at least meant it was a good start for the Bills’ defense. The unit yielded just 27 yards on its first two drives, forcing the Jaguars to go three-and-out on their first possession after a bad third-down drop from running back Leonard Fournette. Punter Colton Schmidt had a strong quarter, pinning the Jaguars back for drive starts on their own 9, 13 and 11-yard line.’

‘”We learned a lot of valuable lessons today, ones that we’ll carry forward as we move forward as an organization. I’m proud of the way LeSean (McCoy) rose to the occasion. He battled in there, and it wasn’t easy for him, but he put a good week in in terms of getting himself ready to go.”’

‘Bills rookie tackle Dion Dawkins took to Twitter to defend Incognito.’

‘Former NHL star and current NBC hockey analyst Jeremy Roenick went so far as to call it the “worst playoff game in NFL history.”’

‘The Bills’ second-round pick will be 53rd overall. They also own the Los Angeles Rams’ second-round pick from the Sammy Watkins trade; that pick will be 56th.’

‘Reports on social media indicate the scene outside EverBank Field in Jacksonville looks like a home game for the Bills rather than for their host, the Jaguars. Buffalo fans were tailgating, singing and draining local bars of beer, leaving relatively little space for Jaguars fans to establish a presence. The Jaguars even had to open the parking lots early because of the flood of Bills fans.’

‘”Walked into the airport with it, I got a couple of strange looks. Then I was met with a whole lot of fanfare and ‘Go Bills!’ ” Konzziela told WGRZ.com. “The rest of the Southwest employees thought it was the funniest thing ever, saying they wanted to take pictures with it, and they can’t believe it’s actually happening.”‘

‘”We didn’t expect to make the playoffs. Once they did, we had to kick into gear,” Duffek said.’