Archives for September 13, 2011

‘There’s a very good chance that the Bills will still be as mediocre as ever. Yet, there’s little doubt this team is better than last season and should finally show real progress – it’s time.’

‘Thanks to a brutal schedule and a horrific turnover margin, the Bills won only four games in 2010. As any Chiefs fan will tell you, it’s a new season. Buffalo’s offense looks more than capable, while the defense looked significantly improved. Buffalo wasn’t a trendy pick this off-season; bringing back Chan Gailey and Fitzpatrick looked more like a concession than a plan. But the Bills were a tough out last season – recall that Johnson dropped the potential game-winning touchdown in overtime against Pittsburgh last season – and with an easier schedule and more talent, they are capable of being the surprise team in 2011.’

‘And after years of Buffalo’s coaching staff claiming it would make greater use of the tight end, it seems Chan Gailey actually means it.’

‘”What that tells you is that everybody else was in their spot because the safety is the extra guy in run support,” said head coach Chan Gailey. “So everybody else was filling their gap. They had nowhere to go, but to go back to the safety when they were trying to run the football.’

‘”Those guys have now worked together for a while and it was really good to see,” Fitzpatrick said. “They played great. It was one of those things where a lot of times you don’t notice things happening, quarterbacks getting hit or anything. You look at all the good throws, all the good catches and the good runs, but really it’s those guys up front that set the tone. They did a great job. With all of the hard words and criticism they were getting, I think they deserve some praise for what they did out there.”‘

‘”Yeah, this team kind of has a chip on its shoulders,” center Eric Wood said Monday. “I felt that since day one of training camp. You try not to put too much stock into it, but we see where people have us in the power rankings.”‘

‘That means Drayton Florence and Leodis McKelvin are the starters, and rookie second-round draft pick Aaron Williams will see a lot more time on the field when the Bills go to their nickel or dime packages.’

‘It was amazing and fun to watch but a lot of folks think the 34-point margin shows how overrated the Chiefs were as a playoff team a year ago, not how far the Bills have come.’

‘Encouraged as he was on Monday, a day after a 41-7 season-opening victory at Kansas City, Gailey says there’s still plenty to prove for a team that opened last season 0-8 en route to a 4-12 finish.’

‘Coach Chan Gailey on Monday ruled out McGee from playing this weekend against Oakland, and says the player is expected to miss a few weeks. McGee was hurt in a 41-7 win at Kansas City on Sunday, when he pulled up and held his left hamstring immediately following Leonard Pope’s 15-yard reception. The hamstring had been bothering McGee the entire week leading up to the game.’

‘The former Northwestern State product was limited to nine games a year ago due to a nerve issue which required a corrective procedure. He posted just 18 tackles in 2010, largely in a reserve role late in the year. He was also placed on injured reserve after just 11 games in 2009 with a shoulder issue that required surgery.’

‘”We didn’t doubt our capabilities coming into this game; we know we’ve got the right group of guys here,” said left guard Andy Levitre, a third-year veteran who was a second-round pick in 2009. “We came in, got our work done, and we all did a good job of doing that. It just shows the things we can accomplish if we all do what we’re supposed to be doing.”‘

‘Chan Gailey was pumped to win against the team that fired him in 2009, and he was rewarded with a great effort from his fired up team. His offensive plan took advantage of some obvious mismatches, the product of good scouting. On defense, George Edwards and his crew did a great job containing the Chiefs ground game, and Matt Cassel isn’t good enough to win a game with his arm alone. He needs the run.’

‘How bad have Buffalo’s tight ends been in recent years? Before Scott Chandler caught five passes for 63 yards and two TDs against Kansas City, check out these facts: The last time a Bills tight end had two TDs in a road game was Pete Metzelaars in 1992; the last five-catch game for a Bills TE was by Derek Fine in 2009; the last time a Bills TE had at least 63 yards receiving was by Robert Royal who had 70 in a 2008 game; over the previous two seasons, the Bills’s tight ends had a combined two TDs. Yes, it’s been a dry period for that position, but the 6-7, 263-pound Chandler could break the drought. “He’s a big guy and he creates mismatches with guys because of his size,” said quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick. “You can put the ball almost anywhere and he has the range to get it.”‘

‘Fred Jackson said it’s a conversation he’s had with the Hall of Famer, “He talked to me early in my career and it’s just one of the ways you have to approach this game because it is you against everybody so the only people that are going to have as much faith as you is the people in this locker-room. Nothing’s going to be handed to us and we know that.”‘