Archives for December 2008

‘”This season’s Playbook Promo received a lot of positive feedback from fans,” said Marquett Smith, the president of Verizon Wireless’s Upstate New York region. “Verizon Wireless wants Bills fans to have fun, test their knowledge about the Bills and win a host of cool Bills prizes. We look forward to introducing our next online game with the Bills around Draft Day which will provide fans with some unique interaction with safety Donte Whitner, lots of prizes and a chance to meet Donte himself. We appreciate the support of the Bills in helping give Verizon Wireless customers and Bills fans the opportunity to have some fun at the team’s site several times a year.”‘

‘There’s speculation he’ll order Jauron to fire one or both of his coordinators to appease the masses. But there’s no way Wilson should get away with that. I can’t see Jauron going for that sort of deal. He’s supposed to be a man of dignity and principle. If he sacrifices an assistant coach to save his own skin, he’ll lose all remaining respect with Bills fans. He has to be bigger than that.’

‘”A play here, a play there and we’re sitting at 10-6, maybe 11-5 even,” said safety Bryan Scott. “It’s kind of tough. I can’t pin it on one thing. You can only self-reflect and say ‘What could I have done better? What play maybe did I leave out there that I could have made?’ That’s what hurts.”‘

‘”I just knew that I just couldn’t go out there,” he said. “Playing [in games], you can take some things to help you through the pain, but practicing, you’ve got to get through the week and I’m just one of those guys who practices the way I play. I practice at the same speed I play the game. You’ve got to be able to do those things at this level to know that you can make the play, and even have the confidence to even make the plays in the game. If you can’t do that in practice you’re wasting your time. You’re fooling yourself.”‘

‘Law enforcement officials logged 19 arrests before, during and after the game. That was the second-lowest number of arrests this season, trailing only the 16 arrests logged at the San Diego game Oct. 19, and that game was marred by a blackout.’

‘"Nine years without a playoff team and three years in a row at 7-9, that’s frustrating. It’s frustrating for us and it’s got to be more frustrating for the fans because we have a say in it, we’re doing it."’

‘”Russ said the door wasn’t closed; he just obviously wanted to see where I was in my rehab and what’s next for me. He said he would definitely be talking to my agent and the door is definitely not closed.”‘

‘It is, and what’s worse is there really isn’t anything you can truly look at and say, ‘Yes, this is going to be better.’ The defense improved this year, so did the offense, and special teams were pretty much the same, which is to say good. And what did it get them? Nothing. In fact, they fell two spots in the standings all the way to dead last in the AFC East.’

‘”A team always needs to keep improving and trying to find the right pieces,” linebacker Kawika Mitchell said. “I think we’re pretty good with the players we have already. But we can be better.”‘

‘Coaching: D-minus — The Bills coaching staff has been criticized often this year for its game-management weaknesses, and there was another classic blunder at the end of the first half. With no timeouts and 22 seconds left, the Bills had a third-and-5 at the Pats 12. A run to Fred Jackson was called, and the thinking was he’d get the first down, the Bills would spike the ball to stop the clock and then kick a field goal. If he didn’t get the first down, coach Dick Jauron though he’d have enough time to run the field-goal unit out. It backfired when the Patriots got away with stalling and the Bills never even got lined up, costing themselves three points. The run was horrible because first down or not, it was cutting it close. Turk Schonert’s choice of outside passes on a windy day was also lame.’

‘WR Lee Evans signed a rich new contract during the season, but despite the fact that he crawled past the 1,000-yard barrier against New England and finished with 1,017, it was not a great year for the Bills’ primary receiver. He finished with 63 catches and just three TDs and in too many games was taken out of the plan by strong defensive strategies. “I guess on an individual level, it’s something to be proud of and a lot of accolades go to my teammates,” Evans said of his second 1,000-yard season in five years in the league. “Trent (Edwards) and the offensive line and all of my fellow receivers. It’s not just me — it’s a representation of the whole offense.”‘

‘But when it was over on Sunday afternoon, it was still SOB … Same Old Bills.’

‘The reality is, the running play reaffirms the major criticism of Jauron, that he’s consistently guilty of egregious game-day decisions.’

‘”I think the players gave us all they had,” he said. “I respect this group of guys immensely. They’ve worked hard, they’ve put up with me all year and they fought through a lot of adversity.’