Archives for November 29, 2010

‘What matters now, is what happens in the next 5 games. Rest assured Johnson’s teammates still support him, and Fitzpatrick most of all, but while that helps, it’s Johnson who must put it behind him and move forward.’

‘That’s called facing the music. That’s the type of move that earns respect.’

‘Every receiver goes through periods when they can’t hold onto the football. It happens even to the great ones. I saw it happen to Jerry Rice and Andre Reed and, in the past few years, to Terrell Owens. But, like quarterbacks with interceptions, receivers have to experience temporary amnesia. They need to forget about it. They have to be ready for the next opportunity, the next spiral hurtling their way.’

‘Fred Jackson was outstanding for third week in a row, amassing 163 yards from scrimmage, including a 65-yard touchdown catch and run on a screen pass. Ryan Fitzpatrick completed 23-of-45 for 265 yards and a score and would have had better stats had Stevie Johnson not dropped five passes.’

‘This was a heartbreaking, emotional loss that will take a some time to get over. That is a huge improvement from earlier in the year when I was detached to the team and just knew they were going to lose. This team never gives up despite playing a team with so much more talent than they have, they battled back more times than I can count in this game. They just can’t get over the top against good teams as they have now lost to three division leaders in overtime.’

‘Stevie Johnson saw his star drop like a rock at least for one week. He dropped five passes including the big drop in overtime when he was wide open in the end zone. He also dropped a pass that went off his shoulder and was picked off in the red zone.’

‘Down 16-13 Buffalo had a last ditch effort with 46 seconds left in regulation near midfield with no timeouts remaining. The Bills quickly moved 23 yards on six plays and Lindell hit his third field goal of the half to force overtime.’

‘”How would you feel,” asked a visibly upset Johnson. “You go through that whole game knowing you’ve got a big team like the Pittsburgh Steelers and you’ve got this kid coming up in the NFL and making plays and all of a sudden when the biggest play needs to be made you don’t make it. You feel bad.”‘