Archives for December 2011

‘”We’ve been down there multiple times and once for a Monday night game. We’ve also been to the Giant’s stadium,” he said. “It’s pretty awesome. It gives you a sense of pride in your organization and your country.”‘

‘It now appears the Bills, known for botching personnel decisions, may have made another. Fitzpatrick looks nothing like a franchise quarterback, and in fact, looks exactly like what he has been most of his career, a backup.’

‘Chan Gailey said he never gave a thought to replacing Fitzpatrick, but he should have. Tyler Thigpen likely wouldn’t have done much better, but the Bills needed a spark that Fitzpatrick wasn’t providing. Gailey’s use of Choice in place of Spiller, who started out hot, was puzzling and ill-advised. Spiller spent far too much time on the sideline in a game in which he totaled 167 yards from scrimmage. As for the defensive side, George Edwards’ career as the coordinator in Buffalo has to be coming to a close. He gets almost nothing out of his unit, which remains one of the worst in the NFL two years running.’

‘The Bills have serious problems at tight end. Scott Chandler missed his second game with a sprained ankle, and his availability moving forward is in doubt. His replacement, rookie Lee Smith, went down with an ankle injury against Miami, and it appears he won’t be playing this week against Denver. That leaves rookie Mike Caussin, who is a terrible blocker and not much of a pass catcher, and newly signed Fendi Onobun as the only healthy tight ends on the roster.’

‘Of course, the fate of Evans and a near starting lineup of players the Bills have traded, cut loose or simply let walk casts an ominous shadow over the situation. Johnson has said the ball is in Buffalo’s court now, something those Bills fans hoping for Johnson’s return may not want to hear.’

‘”I just haven’t been able to connect for whatever reason,” he said of his passes. “Our defense played well today … they held us in the game. So it’s hard for me to go out there and turn the ball over three times and struggle like I did today and have people angry and upset and you hear the boos … that’s the hard thing about playing quarterback when things aren’t going well. I’m a guy that’s never going to stop playing, never going to stop fighting. Unfortunately, following last week’s loss, I came out and didn’t play well today and I just have to figure it out.”‘

‘”It was a good day, tough losing the game,” said Spiller. “Obviously we really wanted this one. I think we played hard. The first half we really couldn’t get anything established on offense; weren’t executing, penalties. We just have to go back and, that’s something we can fix. See what we did bad, correct it, and see what we did good and learn of it.”‘

‘”I think we were the culprit,” said coach Chan Gailey. “We were moving the football, and we’d get a penalty. And we’d end up in second and 20 or second and 15. … We had a couple shots [downfield], and we missed those shots early in the game, but we were our own worst enemy. That’s something we were not doing early in the year.”‘

‘”I’d trade those stats in for a win,” Spiller said. “I was just trying to make plays. I knew what I had to do coming into the game. I knew what I wanted to try and correct from last game. Obviously I wasn’t making enough people miss last game and that’s something I wanted to correct and I knew those guys have a great rush defense. I really took that to heart to go out and show that we can run the ball against anybody.”‘

‘"We’ve been bad for a long time, both of us," said Rose, a member of the Dolphins’ radio broadcast team. "At one time, it was one of the best rivalries. Remember when it meant something? It’s sad that here we are in December and the games mean nothing."’

‘The Bills can deny it all they want, but the door is open to taking a quarterback high in the draft. That was their position last year, remember. If they saw a 10-year franchise guy, they would grab him. But when Cam Newton went No. 1, they decided to stick with Fitz.’

‘”Of course, I’ve thought about it,” Johnson said in a quiet locker room after the Dolphins’ 30-23 win over the Bills. “Is it the first thing on my mind or the second? It’s not even the third or fourth or fifth thing that’s on my mind. I want to get a win.”‘

‘When asked about the miserable losing streak, an emotional Chris Kelsay fought back tears and paused for several seconds before finishing his answer.’

‘It wasn’t a good first half for right tackle Erik Pears, who just signed a contract extension this week. On the first drive, he was called for holding and gave up a sack to Cameron Wake. Early in the second quarter he was called for a 15-yard face mask penalty.’

‘Few answers on either side of the ball. Gailey denied rumor that Wannstedt called defensive signals. Does it really matter with this bunch?’