Archives for October 2010

‘The Bills are awful. Their best option seems to be a quarterback who twice threw deflected-looking passes that weren’t actually deflected. Their best option – I guess – at right tackle is a guy whose team picture looks like a guy who doesn’t want to open his mouth to show what lies inside (lots of cake). Additionally, they just gave a lengthy, expensive and inexplicable extension to a team leader whose only value is inside the locker room. Ladies, gentleman and primates… these are your Buffalo Bills.’

I’m never going to discourage you from watching college football because I happen to enjoy it more than the National Football League, but it’s time to stop power ranking who will go No. 1, 2 or 3 based on one bad game. Some guy went 14-of-24 for just 134 yards in his final college game, prompting some to fear how he would fare against NFL-level defenses like the one he faced in that 1998 Orange Bowl. Peyton Manning turned out to be okay.

‘The defense is worse – MUCH worse. The switch to the 3-4 was supposed to help the Bills improve their terrible stats of a year ago against the run, but things have actually gotten worse this season. The Jets rushed for 273 yards, which means in four games, teams have rushed for just under 700 yards against the Bills and are averaging 4.64 yards per carry. That means long drives, lots of third and short yardage situations, and reduced opportunities for takeaways. Other than that, its not a problem!’

‘Ryan Fitzpatrick could get nothing going as he threw for just 128 yards completing just 12 passes. You know it’s a bad day when he was the team’s leading rusher with 74 yards on 7 carries.’

‘Chan Gailey didn’t have answers for the Jets. Only gave the ball to his talented trio of running backs nine times.’

‘New York poured it on in the second half, with three touchdown drives in the third quarter as they rolled up yardage on a Buffalo defense that looked worn out after spending 30 of the game’s first 45 minutes on the field.’

‘”It’s one of the greatest days of my life, outside of my kids being born and coming to Buffalo,” Edgerson said. “Each day people ask me how I feel about going on the wall. I have a different story each time they (ask) me that, and today it’s ‘wonderful.'”‘

‘Bills coach Chan Gailey lauded his backfield before the season. None of his running backs had more rushing yards than Fitzpatrick. He scrambled for a team-high 74 yards, tying Gary Marangi’s 34-year-old franchise record for rushing yards by a quarterback. Fitzpatrick tripled the output of the Bills’ best running back. Fred Jackson had 22 yards.’

‘They flew out of Mexico City at 1 a.m. Friday, headed to New York City. The plane ended up having to make a stop in Philadelphia but eventually made it to the Big Apple several hours late. From New York, they boarded a train to Buffalo.’

‘”We don’t make change just to make change,” Gailey said. “We do things that are going to help our football team be better this year to go win football games. I hope that (the players) understand everything we do is trying to get our football team better.”‘

‘ The Jets are a blitz-happy team, and they will do it regardless of down and distance. The Bills’ offensive line did a pretty good job keeping the Patriots away from Fitzpatrick, but they’ll be in for a far tougher test against the aggressive Jets.’

‘The bottom line: Most of the OL selections became reliable and productive players. The best of them didn’t contribute as much as the best of the QBs. There have been flops at both positions. Mike Williams is the OL version of QB JaMarcus Russell.’

‘"This week is going to be about beating the man across from you, getting off a block and making a play," Bills safety George Wilson said. "This is not going to be one of these backyard, drawing plays in the dirt kind of game. This is going to be a physical smash-mouth game."’

‘Jets, 20-16.’

‘"If you’re a good football team, you’re going to be hated by a lot of people," Ryan said Wednesday. "Our fans love us, and almost everybody else doesn’t like us. That’s fine. It’s like when the bully comes to town. Everybody wants to see him get beat. But I’d much rather be that way than the other way, where people don’t respect you. Do they like us? Probably not. But I know one thing, they respect us."’