Archives for October 1, 2012

‘If this is what $100 million buys in today’s NFL, the Bills may be in serious trouble.’

‘The defensive staff has a lot to answer for following a game in which the Bills gave up 580 yards, second-most in team history, 45 second-half points and 31 fourth-quarter points, both the most in team history. The Patriots did whatever they wanted, by air and by land, and Dave Wannstedt had no answers.’

‘Tight end Scott Chandler and wide receiver Donald Jones both suffered head injuries, but passed concussion tests and Gailey expects both to be fine. Free safety Jairus Byrd went out in the first half with a hip pointer, and his status will be evaluated later in the week leading up to the Bills’ daunting test in San Francisco Sunday.’

‘”Yeah, I mean as a team I think we can look at what we did in the first half. There’s still more potential there. I think we had three turnovers in the first half. There’s potential to be a lot better. We can’t do anything about this game other than learn from it. So we need to get back into the film room and learn from this game and move on, and get ready for San Francisco.”‘

‘But what was particularly galling for the Bills was that they actually led 21-7 four minutes into the third quarter and had wasted another potential touchdown when running back C.J. Spiller fumbled at the Patriots’ 1-yard line just before intermission. Instead, after Buffalo took that two TD lead, the Patriots scored six touchdowns on as many possessions in a span of 19:08 that created an unexpectedly early traffic jam in the stadium parking lots.’

‘The Pats churned out a numbing 247 yards on 40 carries … over six yards per try.’

‘”You just gotta execute those plays,” he said of his first-half miscues. “We can’t be having that. It hurts the team a lot. (But) it’s awesome that Tom came back to me, trust in my abilities, trust in me throughout the whole game running-wise, still running behind me; still throwing me passes. Overall, it was a great team win.”‘

‘One year and two blowout losses later, it’s clear that victory was nothing more than a wrinkle in time, not the kairotic moment in the Bills-Patriots rivalry it seemed to be at the time.’

‘To pin this all on Mario Williams just because he makes the most money isn’t right or fair. It also let’s a bunch of players off the hook who are collecting big old paychecks too and should also be hiding their heads when the lights go out and the projector goes on in the film room. But in the 2 most important games so far (Jets, Patriots) Mario Williams has a total of 3 tackles, no sacks and to be generous one quarterback pressure. Those are Aaron Maybin numbers.’

‘The Bills chose to stay in their nickel defense almost the whole game, with Scott and Nick Barnett at linebacker and five defensive backs in the secondary. New England countered by using its two-tight end formation almost 40 percent of its plays.’

‘”I mean, you have to tip your hat off [to the Patriots],” Spiller said. “Those guys are a top 10 run defense. . We knew coming into this game that we were going to have to get north and south, so it was not a surprise to anybody. They just did a good job of putting all their hats around the football.”‘

‘But where do you begin after such a wretched defensive performance? The Bills gave up 580 total yards, the most in franchise history in a home game. They allowed 45 points in the second half, the most in a half in team history and fourth all-time in the NFL. The Pats scored those 45 points in a span of 21:12. The Celtics don’t score 45 points that quickly these days.’

‘”Yeah, that was really embarrassing,” Ryan Fitzpatrick said. “We have a lot of pride in this locker room, and right now we have our tails between our legs. We got our butts kicked. Unfortunately, we’ve been in this situation before.”’

‘”Cordy’s got an ankle that’s going to be a while, and so does Urbik,” coach Chan Gailey said after the game.’

‘The Pats scored on all five fourth-quarter possessions and their last seven second-half possessions.’