Archives for September 19, 2011

‘Personally, looking forward to watching a former seventh-round draft pick and two undrafted rookies from 2010 form the foundation of Buffalo’s passing game this season sounded as appealing as watching a highlight reel of the Bills’ 4-12 season of a year ago.’

‘ESPN would call it an instant classic; I’ll just call it a pleasure, given some of the horror we’ve all watched for the past 11 years.’

‘It wasn’t looking good early as they were badly outplayed in the first half, but there was some old-time magic in the final 30 minutes, and how appropriate that it happened in front of dozens of former players who were on hand for alumni weekend, and for Phil Hansen’s induction onto the Wall of Fame.’

‘”Before, we’d be jammed up and didn’t really have a lot of space for our stuff, but this is perfect,” Brooks said. “You’re forced to go where they tell you to go, but we got here early enough (for a front-row space).”‘

‘Ryan Fitzpatrick justified his contract talks with a dazzling second-half comeback that included three touchdown passes, giving him seven for the young season. He had a bad interception that helped dig a 21-3 hole but more than made up for it with calm, cool leadership. Brad Smith turned into Trent Edwards, refusing to pull the trigger on an option pass with two teammates open, but he made a couple of nice plays out of the Wildcat.

‘”You know certainly I looked the first few times, but then it just became part of the rest of the wall,” he said of acknowledging some of the names on the wall during his career. “But I certainly knew the names that were up there. And then in the last decade, I certainly recognize my teammates up there and they’re definitely worthy names to go up there. But yeah, for me to go up there, I think that’s pretty special. Yeah, for them to think of me in that way is pretty cool.”.’

‘Nelson is making his bones with the Bills by making the tough catches, in the teeth of the defense, on third and fourth downs and in the red zone. The kinds of catches Lee Evans never made. He emerged as a reliable possession receiver toward the end of last season, catching 11 of 17 passes for two touchdowns and five first downs on third down, according to the Football Outsiders Almanac, which named Nelson one of the NFL’s top 25 prospects.’

‘Later in the same drive, right guard Kraig Urbik walked gingerly off the field under his own power. He did not return and Gailey said he could miss a few weeks. Chad Rinehart finished the game at right guard.’

‘”We knew we shot ourselves in the foot the first half,” Nelson said. “We know what we have in the receiver group. We felt we were the reason we were down. We never single anyone out individually. If I have a drop, it’s our receiver group that has a dropped pass. We knew if we could make plays and capitalize, things would go smoothly.”‘

‘”Once we got that thing rolling, every time we had the ball we were going to score a touchdown,” said Fitzpatrick. “There’s so many plays that you can point to in this game.”‘

‘Chan Gailey completely outcoached Oakland coach Hue Jackson. Buffalo made great adjustments in the second half and outscored Oakland 35-14. Gailey’s play calling in the second half was amazing. Jackson looked horrible using a challenge flag on an unchallengeable play. Buffalo did have a bad game at third down conversions (4 of 11). Buffalo was only penalized three times for 26 yards (though a crack back block killed a drive), while Oakland shot itself in the foot repeatedly with penalties. Still unsure what to make of the first half sluggishness. Grade B+’

‘”We’re here to compete. We’re taking it game by game, but we’re here to make the playoffs,” Nelson added.’

‘The Bills waited a good 10 minutes in their locker room before they could celebrate for real, even though Carey said later that the review was a false alarm.’

Oakland Raiders lose to Buffalo Bills 38-35 in gut-wrenching fashion (Oakland Tribune)

Rookie receiver Denarius Moore is on full display against Buffalo Bills (Oakland Tribune)

Raiders give way to Bills, allow 35-point 2nd half (San Francisco Chronicle)

Raiders rookie Denarius Moore shows he belongs (San Francisco Chronicle)

Oakland Raiders’ bully moment will have to wait (San Francisco Chronicle)

Long review at end of Raiders game a false alarm (San Francisco Chronicle)

Raiders’ game grades (San Francisco Chronicle)

Oakland Raiders need to place blame for loss to Buffalo Bills where it belongs: on themselves (San Jose mercury News)

Raiders shredded on defense in 38-35 loss to Bills (AP)

Raiders ‘D’ deserves an ‘F’ for effort (CSN Bay Area)

Refs review final play of Raiders’ loss in Buffalo (CSN Bay Area)

QB Campbell finds new targets (CSN Bay Area)

Raiders Lose Thriller in Buffalo (Raiders.com)

Photo gallery (AP)

Photo gallery (BuffaloBills.com)

Photo gallery (Buffalo News)

Photo gallery (Rochester D&C)

Photo gallery (Canandaigua Daily Messenger)

Photo gallery (WIVB-TV)

Photo gallery (WBEN-AM)

‘Before the shotgun snap even took place with Bills quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick calling signals, the swirling CBS logo came up, followed by a commercial for McDonald’s sausage McMuffins, one for a cell phone company, another for Nissan, one more for McDonald’s extra-value menu, a station promo the “CSI” season premiere, and then an aerial shot of with Jim Nantz proclaiming: “Looking down at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Mass. – Chargers, Patriots … hello friends.”‘