Archives for September 24, 2012

‘Spiller injured his shoulder at the end of a 25-yard reception that was negated by a holding penalty. He walked off the field and went to the locker room for further examination.’

‘Give Chan Gailey and his coaching staff credit, they did not allow the injury to Spiller to affect them in their quest to snap their eight-game road losing streak. Gailey and his staff had the Bills prepared to handle Richardson and the Browns running game and were able to exploit the weaknesses in their defence.’

‘When you’re down to your 3rd running back becoming your primary ball carrier for basically an entire game, things will most likely find a way to go awry. But Tashard Choice did a great job of making sure that didn’t happen to the Bills Sunday.’

‘Ryan Fitzpatrick wasn’t perfect but he was good, throwing for 208 yards and 3 touchdowns(he now has 8 on the season). More importantly, Fitzpatrick was interception-free for the second week in a row. As he said in the post game interviews, all he had to do was hit the layups but he still finished off TD drives by getting the ball to open receivers, Stevie Johnson and T.J. Graham.’

‘Down a man on offense — and a very important one at that, Ryan Fitzpatrick came out and had his best showing of 2012. It wasn’t a game in which he took over, but he was able to read the defense and take advantage of a weak secondary to help his team to victory. There were times he was a bit off on the touch of his passes and left his receivers out to dry, but there were also examples of him zinging the ball in to a spot to keep the chains moving. There’s a chance the Bills head in to their most important game of the season without their two best playmakers on offense (Spiller and Fred Jackson), so Fitzpatrick needs to have his A-game. The New England Patriots are on deck.’

‘Chan Gailey had to make some adjustments and he did that at halftime. Tashard Choice is the third string back, but he and Johnny White were up for the challenge. The two of them had 106 yards on 22 carries. Now that’s not Spiller’s 10.1 yards per carry he came in with, but it is an excellent 4.8 yards per rush.’

‘To me, the biggest play of the game came early in the 4th quarter with the Browns in great field position near mid-field, trailing by only 3 and clearly enjoying the momentum. On 3rd and 12 at the Bills 49, Bills defensive end Mark Anderson sacked Browns qb Brandon Weeden and forced the Browns to punt. Although Anderson’s off-season signing didn’t get the attention the signing of Mario Williams did, his play has been nothing short of terrific in 3 games. This play clearly changed the momentum of the game back, in part because Fitz and the Bills offense regrouped, and a special shout out goes to young rb Tashard Choice with 91 yards on 20 carries off the bench for Spiller.’

‘One guy that deserves a ton of credit is RB Tashard Choice. Clearly the injury to Spiller took the wind out of the Bills sails for a bit, but Choice did everything he could to keep the offense moving. With Fred Jackson already inactive with a knee injury, Choice filled in well and finished the game with 91 yards on 20 carries.’

‘I will stick by my opinion that I think Ryan Fitzpatrick can get this franchise back to the playoffs. After that? I wouldn’t expect much. But then again if anyone would have said to you a year ago that Alex Smith can win the Super Bowl for the 49ers you would have laughed.’

‘The silver lining in this dark cloud is that for the second consecutive week the Buffalo defense flexed its muscles, making four sacks – including the first one by Mario Williams in a Bills uniform. And Bryan Scott and Leodis McKelvin intercepted Cleveland’s rookie quarterback Brandon Weeden in the fourth quarter when the verdict was still in question.’

‘The C.J. Spiller injury is more than a little alarming, even if Fred Jackson is expected back sooner rather than later. And just when I was about to again label Tashard Choice as “unforgivable as anything more than a No. 3 running back,” he rips off 20 carries for 91 yards. He’s not a game breaker like Spiller, but maybe he can be more-than-adequate if the Buffalo Bills offensive line is turning into the turn-of-the-century Broncos lines that regularly gave 100-yard games out to guys like Olandis Gary, Mike Anderson and Blanche from “The Golden Girls.”‘

‘The Bills got off to a roaring start against the Browns and never trailed in a 24-14 win over the Browns in Cleveland, but may have come at a steep price as C.J. Spiller was lost in the first quarter to a shoulder injury and did not return.’

‘”Well, we had to rethink some things there and really we got another drive going and that’s where the ball slipped out of Fitz’s (Ryan Fitzpatrick) hands. If we could have gotten that one in there I think we could have gotten some of that momentum back and gotten it rolling there. We had to adjust a couple things and then we got (Tashard) Choice rolling.”‘

‘”Since I have been in the league it has always been a case of if you get a chance you have to make the most of your opportunities. With C.J. going down and having a chance to run was fun. It was good to get in a rhythm and get a chance to help my team out. I’m more comfortable to be in that situation now. Hopefully, him and Fred (Jackson) can both come back.”‘

‘Mario Williams had his first sack as a Bill late in the first half. Mark Anderson had his first sack as a Bill in the third quarter forcing a punt.’