Archives for September 16, 2012

‘They’ve been mediocre. Erratic. Fitzpatrick and Cassel lead teams that need consistently competent play to achieve their playoff aspirations. Now they’re both coming off miserable opening-day performances and trying to avoid 0-2.’

‘Bills 27, Chiefs 17.’

‘They’ve played only one game, I know. But Gailey has won 10 of 33 games here. The Bills have lost nine of their last 10 regular-season games. It’s too early for panic, but not too soon to wonder anew about where this team is going.’

‘Eight regular-season games over five years? A 2-1-2-1-2 scenario? Don’t be surprised if it ends up something like that, give or take a game.’

‘Previous Buffalo News reports, confirmed by the Bills, show security and law-enforcement officers arresting or ejecting anywhere from 75 to 150 fans per game in recent years. That averages out to less than one-fifth of 1 percent of a sellout crowd, but it’s still much more than a handful of fans.’

‘Lost in the overblown reverence for Ralph Wilson is a cold, hard fact: The Bills patriarch has long had the power to lock the team here for decades after he is gone. He has refused to do so.’

‘”With C.J. the biggest thing is confidence,” said quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick. “Last year he found that confidence at the end of the year after Fred went down and he became the man. So you could see in that game versus the Jets, the C.J. that was there at the end of last year with the swagger and all of that. He’s here to stay.”‘

‘When it comes to the Bills, the only thing that’s ever been certain is Ralph Wilson’s loyalty, his promise to fans he will not move the team as long as he owns it. It is part of his legacy.’

‘”I have to be,” Graham said. “Coming into the first game last week I was unprepared, because I’ve never been in this position before. So this week, I feel like I’m a lot more prepared and it’s going to be a lot more fun to get out there and play.”‘

‘Fans are losing patience with both quarterbacks. Neither franchise has been a factor in the postseason for nearly two decades. The Chiefs haven’t won a playoff game since the 1993 season, while the Bills haven’t been to the playoffs since 1999 and haven’t won a playoff game since 1995.’

‘Prediction: Chiefs 24, Bills 23.’

Bills’, Chiefs’ QBs are under a microscope (Kansas City Star)

Chiefs-Bills scouting report (Kansas City Star)

Can Crennel still play bad cop with Chiefs? (Kansas City Star)

‘Chiefs 24, Bills 21.’

‘In a 16 game season every game is huge. When you suffer an embarrassing loss in your season opener the second game of the season, especially your home opener becomes that much more important.’

‘”It’s amazing when people start talking about who worked at Bethlehem Steel, where they lived outside of Buffalo, and what they did during this and that snowstorm,” Cirincione said. “There’s an automatic link.”‘