Archives for August 2012

‘The Bills’ starting offense managed one touchdown and seven first downs in seven possessions. The Bills had to punt five times in the first half against a Steelers defense that last year allowed both the fewest points and the fewest yards in the league.’

‘Fitzpatrick completed just 7-of-18 passes for 89 yards while playing the first half against the Steelers’ starting defense. He wasn’t even close on a few throws and, at times, he played more like a shaky rookie trying to nail down a roster spot rather than to his reputation as deep-thinking, accurate passer.’

‘"We have to be able to make a play and get off the field," Kyle Williams said after the Steelers beat the Bills, 38-7, in Ralph Wilson Stadium. "We had played really well up to that point. That’s the big sticker."’

‘Fitzpatrick may have read Pittsburgh’s defenses well, but he was helpless in his attacking of the Steelers as some of his misses looked like Nuke Laloosh beaning the mascot in Bull Durham. To mix baseball movie references, Bob Uecker of Major League would have had a field day with the play-by-play – “Just a bit outside.”‘

‘”We got a little rattled,” said Bills head coach Chan Gailey. “We’ve got to hold our composure a little better than we did.”‘

‘Overall, the defence, particularly the front four looked extremely good in its one half of action. With limited reps together in the first two pre-season games, and even without right defensive end Mark Anderson in the lineup Saturday night, the trio of Marcell Dareus, Mario Williams and Kyle Williams looked very comfortable.’

Easy win comes with a big price for Steelers (Pittsburgh Post Gazette)

Redman makes statement (Pittsburgh Post Gazette)

Steelers’ top pick DeCastro leaves with knee injury (Pittsburgh Post Gazette)

Photo gallery (Pittsburgh Post Gazette)

Steelers’ Roethlisberger dismantles Bills in preseason tune-up (Pittsburgh Tribune Review)

Bad night in Buffalo (Pittsburgh Tribune Review)

Steelers’ DeCastro carted off with injury (Pittsburgh Tribune Review)

Redman, Starks OK, but more early injuries for Steelers (Erie Times News)

Steelers rookie 1st-round pick DeCastro hurt (AP)

Steelers start slow, then roll, 38-7 (Steelers.com)

Labriola on win over Bills (Steelers.com)

Brown is Digest Player of Week (Steelers.com)

Photo gallery 1 (BuffaloBills.com)

Photo gallery 2 (BuffaloBills.com)

Photo gallery 3 (BuffaloBills.com)

Photo gallery (Rochester D&C)

Photo gallery (WGRZ-TV)

‘Fitzpatrick played the entire first half, completing seven of 18 passes for 89 yards with no touchdowns and no turnovers. Fitzpatrick’s final numbers are a bit deceiving as he was the victim of some dropped passes and missed assignments. However, Fitzpatrick did struggle to complete passes in the teeth of the Steelers famed zone blitz. If the Bills are going to be a true playoff contender this season, Fitzpatrick will have to make first down passes as the pass rush closes in on him. The offensive line will struggle, so it will be up to the entire offence to avoid third and long situations at all costs.’

‘The Bills (No. 19) dropped to 0-3 this preseason while continuing a trend of familiar struggles on both offense and defense. And that’s not what coach Chan Gailey was looking for this week in expressing a desire to see more consistency from his starters.’

‘Ryan Fitzpatrick threw for 89 yards on 7-of-18 passing for Buffalo. Fred Jackson accounted for the Bills’ lone touchdown with a 1-yard plunge in the first quarter.’

‘What started out as a promising evening for the Bills and their fans turned into a 38-7 rout at the hands of the Steelers.’

‘The biggest problem is after OTA’s, training camp and now three preseason games, it doesn’t look like QB coach David Lee had done a thing for Ryan Fitzpatrick’s accuracy.’

‘”What I told the players after the game was two things that probably stuck in my craw a little bit more than anything else,” said head coach Chan Gailey. “You cannot turn the ball over and I thought when they came off their own goal line, right before half and completed that long pass we got a little bit rattled. We have to hold our composure better than we did.”‘

‘We had a couple of missed assignments by different guys, it was not the same guy. Missed assignments that cost us offensively from scoring more points. We just did not take advantage of some field position early in the game. (Ryan Fitzpatrick) had a couple passes, great reads, threw it to the right guy but it got batted. You cannot let that happen, but it happens.’