Archives for November 2013

‘The Buffalo secondary played it’s best game of the year. It was nice to see Jairus Byrd return to Pro Bowl form. The safety finished with a pair of interceptions and a sack. It was the fifth time in Byrd’s career that he had more than one interception in a game. Da’Norris Searcy scored his second career touchdown on a 32-yard interception return for a touchdown. The safety made a great play to step in front of a ball intended for Santonio Holmes.’

‘The run game was non-existent, but thanks to the confident, composed play of Manuel and the step-up performances of receivers Goodwin and Graham (combined 8 catches for 155 yards and two scores) it didn’t matter. In addition to his passing, Manuel picked up two first downs on sneaks and didn’t turn the ball over. B-plus.’

‘Manuel wasn’t perfect, but he was good. More importantly, he wasn’t timid. The rookie took a lot of shots downfield, made some clever throws at less than full speed and faced down some Jets pressure with style. It was good sign, enough to silence even the staunchest EJ critics.’

‘The team can now look ahead to the last five games as building blocks toward the future. It now looks a bit brighter as the young players all played a role in this game and the young coach came of age too against a potential coach of the year candidate in Rex Ryan.’

‘QB: Grade A: Something to build on.’

‘Bills defensive coordinator Mike Pettine turned up the heat on Smith blitzing him on third downs early in the game. It led to a batted pass for an incompletion and a pair of sacks and would foreshadow what would happen the rest of the afternoon.’

‘”We made a decision during the week that we thought it would be better for the quarterback to have Nate down there,” said head coach Doug Marrone. “With a young quarterback, EJ (Manuel), trying to get him back and then with Nate and I down there it’s a different sense. Those guys talk to each other all during the week, they talk to each other all during practice, there’s a little bit separation when he’s upstairs.”‘

‘”We just trusted our receivers,” quarterback E.J. Manuel said. “We’re very thankful that they came out and they were focused, they were ready to go. They knew that the ball was coming to them and made great plays for us.”‘

‘Yeah, I think we were prepared. I think that they had been doing a good job recently in New York, really running the ball well. I was a little, obviously we all get a little upset at the end when they broke the big run. I think we knew that and we knew the challenge was we had to make sure we were able to get them to stop running the football. They had been doing a very good job up front and it was a challenge.’

‘We just trusted our receivers. T.J. and Marquise both did a huge job, a great job stepping up for us this week with Woody (WR Robert Woods) and Stevie (Johnson) being injured,. So both guys, we’re very thankful that they came out and they were focused they were ready to go. They knew that the ball was coming to them and made great plays for us.’

‘Honestly, I’m over that. Like I said, I am who I am. You can’t change it now. We’ve got to win. I’ve been here for four years; I want to win games here. I just thank God that we got a win today, that’s the biggest thing.’

‘Leonhard knows Ryan defenses inside and out. He played for Rex Ryan with the Ravens in 2008 and joined the Jets when they hired Rex Ryan to be head coach in 2009. Pettine and Sutton also were on staff. Leonhard spent training camp this year with Rob Ryan and the Saints before signing with the Bills. “A Ryan defense likes to dictate to an offense,” Leonhard said. “You come after them. It’s trying to get the players to be disruptive.”‘

‘”Yeah, and I think that starts with having a high standard of yourself,” said Williams. “And I do. We have to have a standard on how we work and how we play. You set that accountability high for these young guys. If they’re not living up to it or getting lackadaisical late in the year if things aren’t going well, you have to snatch them back in line and lead.”‘

‘New York 20, Buffalo 17.’

‘”I was thinking to myself, ‘that’s exactly right,’ ” Marrone said. “That’s the one thing that’s going on now. We expect (Manuel) to do better. I think people have to understand that having lost those four weeks has hurt him. He needs to be out there; the more he’s out there, the better he’s getting. That’s what I want to make sure everybody understands. I truly believe in this quarterback.”‘