Archives for October 2011

‘”But we’re 3-1 now and you just got to move on,” Florence said. “Green Bay won the Super Bowl last year. How many games did they lose? One loss is not going to determine our season, just like three wins isn’t going to determine our season.”‘

‘The Bills (3-1) came in as the AFC’s last perfect team after pulling off historic comebacks, rallying from deficits of 18 and 21 points in the previous two games. They found themselves on the other end of one in front of the smallest crowd in Paul Brown Stadium’s history.’

‘Bills right guard Kraig Urbik, who had been listed as doubtful with a knee injury, was inactive. Chad Rinehart started in his place. Cornerback Drayton Florence replaced Terrence McGee, who has a hamstring injury.’

‘Buffalo became the first team in NFL history to post back-to-back wins in games in which they trailed by 18 or more points. On Sunday, the Bills (3-1) squandered a 14-point advantage at halftime.’

‘Perhaps the biggest game changer was a questionable call made by the officials, as they ruled a catch made by Stevie Johnson an incomplete pass. This lead to Buffalo punting the ball with less than a minute left in the game.’

‘Let’s talk about that defense, shall we? This was the first week in three that the Bills’ offense didn’t allow the defense to be exposed. When the team needed a stop, they didn’t get it. They got stops last week against New England, but somehow against a young signal-caller Buffalo just couldn’t get the job done. They surrendered 458 total yards to the BENGALS.’

‘Defensively, the Bills gave up an eye-popping 458 yards, and that’s not the worst of it. Gailey said his TOP priority this season was to stop the run, and the Bills gave up 171 yards rushing, with Cedric Benson picking up most of his 104 yards in the Bills second half melt down.’

‘”Offensively, we played very poor today,” said Ryan FItzpatrick.’

‘”We’ve all been used to watching up until the first half with not much produced. We came out with a lot of points in the second and to come out short is a tough pill to swallow. We’ll get it going next week. It’s a nice reality check.”‘

‘”I think when our defense plays that well in the first half, we just got to win games like that,” Fitzpatrick said. “The offense didn’t come to play today.”‘

‘”Complete a football move?” Stop it. The ruling against Stevie Johnson’s third-down snare of a Fitz pass was horrendous and probably inaccurate. Johnson made a catch, went to the turf and while moving in a slow-motion army crawl found the ball touching the ground. I don’t debate that, but if we went up to the park with our friends and played football and you tried to eliminate an opposition catch by making that same ruling, we’d make a beer commercial about how ridiculous you look. Poor call by the NFL.’

‘The NFL is a humbling league. The Bills were flying high undefeated and leading an apparent weaker foe by two touchdowns and lost. Now we know how the Patriots and the Raiders feel. Was there a hangover from last week? Did the Bills fall to the dreaded trap game? I think both are somewhat true but the bottom line is they were thoroughly outplayed and didn’t deserve to win.’

‘Chan Gailey didn’t make the right halftime adjustments to hold on to the league. The team didn’t keep playing after halftime. George Edwards needs to make changes fast. The defense was awful for most of the second half and caved in the fourth quarter. Bruce DeHaven his unit continues to play well. Grade F: Can’t blow leads to opponents that are not supposed to be as good as you.’

‘Tied at 20 with 4:09 remaining it was once again on Buffalo’s offense to pull out another victory for the Bills, but Ryan Fitzpatrick and the offense could not sustain the drive leaving it to Buffalo’s defense. With the ball at their own 19-yard line and 1:48 remaining rookie quarterback Andy Dalton moved Cincinnati into field goal range with four seconds remaining. Mike Nugent’s 43-yard attempt was good as time expired lifting the Bengals to a 23-20 come from behind win handing Buffalo their first loss of the season.’

‘Buffalo, despite being less wealthy, almost always sells out the games at its 73,000-capacity stadium, and garners impressive loyalty from its better-heeled fans. Last year, when the Bills failed to sell out their final home game, local restaurateur Russell Salvatore bought the remaining 7,000 tickets, gave them away to children and members of the military, and precluded a TV blackout of the game. It’s hard to imagine that happening in the NFL’s big-city markets.’