Archives for October 2013

‘Behind quarterback Thad Lewis, recently promoted from the practice squad to start for injured rookie EJ Manuel, the Bills rallied to force overtime. Lewis, making his second career NFL start, threw two fourth-quarter touchdown passes, the latter a 40-yard downfield strike to rookie wide receiver Marquise Goodwin with 68 seconds remaining.’

‘Johnson is suffering from a back injury that forced him out of last Thursday’s game against Cleveland. He missed practice all week, partially because of a death in the family, and was listed as questionable on Friday’s injury report.’

‘Thad Lewis, who was promoted from the Bills’ practice squad to replace injured quarterback EJ Manuel, played well in his second NFL start. The third-year free agent from Duke completed 19 of 32 passes for 216 yards and two touchdowns. He also was sacked five times and lost a fumble.’

‘There isn’t much of a dropoff from rookie EJ Manuel to third-year quarterback Thad Lewis. Lewis throws a better deep ball than Manuel and moves well under duress. Yes, he was sacked five times, but there also were several occasions when he escaped the relentless pressure to make chain-moving plays.’

‘The Bills’ interest in Flynn, who was released by the Oakland Raiders last week, apparently began before Thad Lewis was injured during Sunday’s overtime loss to Cincinnati.’

‘In the extra frame, Bengals begin overtime with the ball. The Bills defense found new life towards the end of the 2nd half, it carries over as they force a Cincinnati punt, but once again, The Bills are stymied – they go three and out. On the punt, Brandon Tate has 29 yard, giving the Bengals the ball at the Buffalo at the Bills 33 yard line, and after a few run plays, Mike Nugent nets a 43 yard field goal for the 27-24 victory.’

‘2-4 won’t make you happy but 2013 is all about the big picture folks. The Bills have been in every game, against opponents who had a combined 17-12 record going into week six. They’ve scored at least 20 points in every game even though they played a rookie QB in the first five games and their fourth string QB against Cincinnati. Buffalo has also shown the ability to overcome injuries and overcome their own bad play too. Perhaps the good times aren’t that far away.’

‘I’ve talked all season about the ups and downs of a young team. I still think this is a young team on the rise. Kiko Alonso had 22 tackles, Goodwin had the big touchdown. Lewis did pretty well in his second NFL start. It’ll be fun to see it continue to develop.’

‘Defying the odds, the Bills showed their resolve and turned it into one of the most competitive games of the weekend. A 27-24 overtime loss to one of the better teams in the AFC won’t pad their win-loss record, but it was an indication that despite all the adversity this Bills team could overcome the obstacles.’

‘”We’ve lost a lot of close games and that hurts”, said Bills center Eric Wood. “It stings that we’re so close and we could be on the other end of some of these games. You wish you could go back and change something but you can’t. All you can do is change the next time it comes, and hopefully next time we will”, Wood continued.’

‘Lewis was encouraging and it’s obvious the Bills have a much faster receiving corps. That bodes well for the future. Sadly, this was a winnable game and Buffalo didn’t get the job done. The Bills might very well go zero-for-October.’

‘The ball is three feet away from the end zone. Every quarterback in the league is taller than three feet tall. Keeper on second down. If it fails, keeper on third down. If that fails, which it won’t, keeper on fourth down.’

‘There is one thing you have to say about this team, they play exciting football games. Early in the fourth quarter I was prepared to write a much different story but they showed tremendous character in coming back and tying the game. They just didn’t have enough to pull it out once they got there. They hung in there without their prize rookie QB, with their star RB hobbled, and best WR sidelined. They gave a huge scare to a pretty good football team. The defense played very well once they woke up but they did not show up until late in the third quarter and it is a shame because we could be talking about a coming out party for Lewis. Of course in true Bills fashion, he was in a walking boot after the game. One step forward, two steps back.’

‘Quarterback: Grade A: Can hold his head up high about his performance.’

‘But the Bills went three and out. The Cincinnati punt return that followed covered 29 yards staking the Bengals to their best drive start of the game at the Buffalo 33. Four plays later Nugent provided the winning points dropping Buffalo to 2-4 on the season.’