Archives for October 2011

‘”The atmosphere should be great going up there to Toronto, I know they are looking forward to seeing us play,” receiver Stevie Johnson said Sunday, likely reciting a company line we’re going to hear regularly. “How we are doing now, everybody up there in Canada should enjoy seeing the Buffalo Bills.”‘

‘The biggest problem is that the team doesn’t have a premier pass rusher, and it doesn’t even have a guy with a track record for sacking quarterbacks, other than Shawne Merriman who has been hampered by injuries the past few years and isn’t nearly the force he was during his first three years in the NFL with San Diego.’

‘Chan Gailey was pushing all the right buttons in the first half on offense, but the play-calling was a little suspect in the second half as he didn’t get the ball enough to Jackson (21 touches). As a second-guess, perhaps the Bills should have run the ball late in the fourth quarter rather than have Fitzpatrick try to hit Johnson for that TD which was picked off. A few runs, eat some clock, maybe still score a TD. It was possible. On defense, George Edwards now has a bye week to figure out how to get a pass rush, and that’s going to be a chore.’

‘”We did some different stuff with C.J. and being down another receiver, we just tried to get him out there, get him some touches, getting him involved,” quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick said. “I thought he did a really good job. It’s not easy for a running back running receiver routes and lining up in formations like he did, but he did a really good job.”‘

‘They’re down another left tackle, with rookie Chris Hairston to miss up to four weeks with an injured right ankle. Linebacker Shawne Merriman’s status is uncertain after the star pass-rusher aggravated an Achilles tendon injury last week. And there’s no telling when starting defensive tackle Kyle Williams will return from a nagging foot injury.’

‘”It doesn’t look good,” said Gailey of Hairston’s prognosis. “It looks like it’ll be two to four weeks probably so he’ll miss the next game for sure. I don’t know how bad, but it’s an ankle."’

‘While there are no acceptable losses some hurt less than others. Losing on the road to a non division foe the week before the bye week is a bit more acceptable than others. The Bills were resting hurt players to give them an extra week off. The loss hurts them in the standing as it dropped them behind New England but doesn’t hurt them in a tiebreaker scenarios.’

‘Ryan Fitzpatrick Was pretty accurate with most his passes but two poorly thrown balls were intercepted. He finished with a QB rating of 88.8 completing 21 of 30 for 244 yards and two touchdowns. Grade C-: The two interceptions were the difference in a tight game.’

‘”(Fitzpatrick) did some really good things today – he did a great job of checking to the (60-yard) touchdown to Naaman (Roosevelt) to get us in the right play – we just need to hit those two passes down the field. We’ve been doing that some … (but) we didn’t do it today.”‘

‘”I was doing my best to stay up top,” McGee said. “He got past me a little bit so when I saw the ball come down I knew where he had to catch that I might have a chance to get my arm in there. So as soon as he caught it I was able to stick my arm in there and going down I was able to rake it and luckily the ball bounced out because he had it in his hands.”‘

‘And then it slipped through their fingers. Or, more accurately, it slipped into the fingers of Giants cornerback Corey Webster. Ryan Fitzpatrick’s pass down the sideline for Stevie Johnson, who had a step on Webster, came up short. Webster picked it off, just as he picked off an underthrown Fitzpatrick pass for Johnson in the third quarter.’

‘”I take the blame for the loss, if you want to point someone to blame for the loss, point me out,” said Florence, the veteran cornerback, after the Bills’ 27-24 loss to the Giants. “I didn’t make any plays and I gave up some plays. I didn’t play good enough for our team to win. I think all 10 guys on defense played good enough to win and I didn’t play like I’m capable of playing. … Those pass interference calls really gave them a lot of momentum. To put a game in the referee’s hands is always going to be a bad outcome.”‘

‘There were four acknowledged concerns about the Bills coming into the season: 1) The lack of a consistent pass rush; 2) A lack of depth on the offensive line; 3) A lack of speedy wide receivers who can stretch defenses down the field; 4) The run defense.’

‘”The guy makes you smile,” Fitzpatrick said. “He did a great job after he got the catch. Naaman just being a smart football player, he ran a route where they weren’t. They showed pressure and ran out. Naaman found a hole, and I have a lot of trust in him. I threw it to him and he did the rest.”‘

‘Webster, a second-round pick in 2005, saw his career turn around starting with a game in Buffalo the second last week of the regular season in 2007. He had a 34-yard interception return for a touchdown in a 38-21 Giants comeback win. He started from that point on and played great in the playoffs that year, helping the Giants to the Super Bowl title.’