Archives for October 2005

‘I can’t complain. The winning feels good. While it may set back the development of Losman, the Bills do find themselves in a strangely winnable division thanks in part to a New England team that isn’t playing close to their usual standard. Of course, it won’t be easy for the Bills to take the East-in fact, with their tough schedule it may be nearly impossible-but the chance is certainly there.’

Thrown for a loss (New York Post)

Jets report card (Bergen Record)

Strategy and personnel (The Sports Xchange)

Momentum Shifted on Turnover (NewYorkJets.com)

‘The Buffalo Bills have a laundry list of things to clean up before they can be considered legitimate playoff contenders. Like stopping the run. Like winning a game on the road. And like finding a way for Willis McGahee to keep pounding the football when the inevitable happens and defences decide to key on him.’

‘Quarterback = B. In his second straight successful start, Kelly Holcomb completed 18 of 26 passes for 172 yards, 2 touchdowns, and 2 interceptions. Despite the turnovers, I actually thought he was more impressive in this game than in last week’s game, when he didn’t throw any interceptions. Against the Jets, he looked poised in the pocket and picked apart their 5th ranked pass-defense on certain occasions.’

‘Fifteen days ago, Bills’ fans were pondering Buffalo’s discouraging 19-7 loss to the Saints at San Antonio. Their team had slipped to 1-3 via a trio of consecutive ugly losses in which young quarterback J.P. Losman had looked increasingly lousy. Suddenly Buffalo fans had gone from thinking playoffs to hoping for 6-10. But a QB change and two home victories later, the Bills are atop the AFC East and their faithful are beginning to do some numbers crunching with an eye toward the post-season.’

‘The windfall has the Bills ranked fourth in the NFL with 15 takeaways (nine interceptions, six fumble recoveries). That is slightly ahead of last season’s pace when they finished with a league-high 39 takeaways. Buffalo also has a plus-8 turnover ratio. Only the Cincinnati Bengals (plus-16) and New York Giants (plus-10) are better in the giveaway/takeaway category.’

‘Security officers logged 10 arrests inside the stadium. Six of the 10 were charged with criminal trespass, either for refusing to leave the stadium or for getting kicked out and coming back inside. The other arrests were for criminal mischief, harassment and disorderly conduct.’

‘”That was a huge, huge, huge play,” said linebacker London Fletcher of Crowell’s interception. “They were driving on us, we were giving up yards, and Crow makes the interception. Then he makes a sack that takes them out of field goal range. That’s 10 points off the board by him. He’s playing some great football for us.”‘

‘McGahee can be one of the best backs in the league, but he needs to have the ball in his hands. He’s not a guy who can thrive on fewer than 20 carries a game; he needs it 25 to 30 times, and in the last two weeks the Bills finally started realizing that.’

‘”When I found out I was going into the Hall of Fame, I prayed every night, ‘Please God, let Hunter live long enough to see me go into the Hall of Fame,’ ” Kelly told the crowd. “I was blessed to do the things he never could do. Hunter never walked, never smiled, never moved a bone. He was on oxygen 24 hours a day and had to be suctioned out about 150 times a day because he couldn’t swallow.”‘

‘The Bills offense, ranked 30th in the NFL, is starting to find a groove under the Holcomb-McGahee plan.’

‘He put the ball where his receivers could run after the catch and make plays.’

‘DT Sam Adams on hearing that coach Mike Mularkey has come out and named Kelly Holcomb the starting QB for Sunday’s game at Oakland after refusing to name his starter for two weeks: "What? Publicly giving him support? Mike must have hit his head because he never gives up secrets."’

‘We know this Bills team has many positives and many flaws, and yet that’s the beauty of parity these days. You don’t have to be perfect, to be fun to watch and follow and stay in the hunt, and there are still lots of reasons to keep watching.’

‘Laux Sporting Goods says they’ll have the jerseys in tonight, but where can you get them sooner? Bills headquarters, perhaps? Scott Berchtold, Bills VP of Communications, has this to say: "At the beginning of the year we ordered two quarterbacks’ jerseys … it’s just they were JP Losman and Jim Kelly." But rest assured: the Bills Store is now well-stocked with the uniform of good ‘ol #10.’