Archives for December 2008

‘The truth is, the deal Lind negotiated with the Bills was doomed from the start. He thought Toronto would pay anything, stupid money really, to watch eight National Football League games at the Rogers Centre, watch a team we have no real connection to or care about, three of those games of the awful pre-season variety.’

‘”When he first came here, he had lost his love of the game. He wasn’t having fun anymore. But he rediscovered that up here. He told us playing in the CFL allowed him to enjoy playing football again. It really rekindled his passion.”‘

‘The other part, though, the real elephant in the room, remains Wilson’s larger intentions, and more to the point, his mortality.’

‘Jauron refused to buy into the theory that Edwards can’t perform in bad weather. “I don’t know that anybody can get perfectly used to the conditions we play in,” Jauron said. “Anytime the weather is like that, when the ball gets wet and the field is wet, it’s going to affect you in some fashion. I think he does a pretty good job in the weather. The weather against Cleveland and New York last year, I don’t know if he’s ever going to play in weather like that again. Condition-wise, I’m not worried about him, per se, because he’s a mentally tough guy. He’s getting used to our conditions and playing in them.”‘

‘It was a lousy day for Dick Jauron, who failed to get his team ready to play in a must-win game. It was an inexcusable loss on the Bills’ home field and pretty much cooks their playoff chances. Turk Schonert had a terrible day calling plays in the red zone, and the Bills failed to score a TD in four trips inside the 49ers’ 20-yard line. On defense, Perry Fewell’s group was gouged on the first drive of the game for a TD, but bounced back to play very well after that.’

‘The Bills coaching staff continued a disturbing trend against the 49ers by wasting precious timeouts. The Bills have had problems all year with needing to call timeouts, mainly because of confusion getting plays called. In this game, four of Buffalo’s six timeouts could be considered wasted.’

‘Despite various reports Wilson has either offered or has given Jauron a contract extension, there is simply no way Wilson can now feel comfortable his team is still headed in the right direction.’

‘If you thought their 29-27 loss to the Browns, two weeks ago tonight, was hurtful … consider yesterday’s 10-3 defeat by San Francisco before 70,988 wet and chilled fans at Ralph Wilson Stadium.’

‘He’s played for two teams, served a second stint on injured reserve, was released and signed again as something of an NFL afterthought.’

‘Any lingering thoughts that Buffalo was still a post-season candidate were dashed yesterday afternoon in a galling 10-3 loss to San Francisco in a “must win” situation at “The Ralph.”‘

‘Lynch rushed for a season-high 134 yards on 16 carries, his second 100-yard game of the year and the fifth of his career. His best was 153 yards against Cincinnati last season. Early in the third quarter, Lynch had a 50-yard run, his longest of the season. Last year, as a rookie, he had two 56-yard runs.’

‘So while the Bills view this tilt against the Dolphins as more of a home game than a neutral-site game, don’t be surprised if the crowd is pro-Miami.’

‘”It’s unexplainable,” said Buffalo defensive end Chris Kelsay. “We didn’t capitalize on opportunities, and we had plenty of them.”‘

‘”He really felt it the last throw of the first half,” coach Dick Jauron said Monday, adding that Edwards is day to day. “I don’t know how much significantly more information we’ll have unless the soreness goes away.”‘

‘”Really overall our defense played a good football game,” said head coach Dick Jauron. “To only give up 10 points, three of them ended up being field position points, that’s a strong game in the NFL. To allow less than 200 yards of total offense that’s a good performance.”