Archives for November 2013

‘”Obviously there were things I did that I thought I could’ve done better,” said Manuel. “That’s a part of learning. Six games old and I still have to continue to get better every day. Just got to move forward.”‘

‘Everything is challenged, everybody has been challenged. It starts with myself, the challenge I have for myself. To scrap those things, of taking us to a place where it’s ok and making sure we understand and we use that feeling, that feeling that’s in your gut that you can’t explain to a lot of people. Use that as motivation. Use that as a way to get over the top. To make sure that we can stand up and make each other accountable. We’re in a day and age right now where people have a tough time doing that because when you do stand up and you do say those things, you become exposed. People will question you. You know what? That’s what you need in this time and that’s what is called leadership and it starts with me.’

‘We want to win. I think that’s the biggest thing, you can’t look at it as pressure. Just have to look at it as, it’s the situation. We’re 3-7 and we still have some games, or a lot of games left, opportunities ahead of us. We’ve just got to put all of our efforts in to this week and then have a bye week. We have to take care of the Jets first.’

‘”At the end of the day, if you want to know exactly what happened out there, he was going through his footwork too quick,” said Bills coach Doug Marrone. “Not as slowed down to see things develop. … And you know what? That happens to young quarterbacks.”‘

‘”They stuck with it … 4 yards here, 3 yards there. It really made a big difference,” Dareus said. “That was their game plan. They ran pretty effectively. I didn’t think they would, but they did.”‘

‘”It’s obviously disappointing,” said a dispirited Gilmore. “I mean, I’m just trying to fight for my team.”‘

‘They were outplayed in all three phases. The defense played soft against the run and gave up big plays in the passing game. The offense was terrible. Punter Brian Moorman was dreadful. The play calling was uninspired and amateurish. The players gave in to discouragement after getting off to a slow, non-opportunistic start.’

‘Johnson has been dogged by groin, lower back and hip injuries much of the year. He will need to get hot over the final six games to record a fourth straight 1,000-yard season. He’s on pace for 754 yards as it is.’

‘The Bills have been outscored, 56-96, in the second quarter.’

‘The Bills continue to flail away in the red zone and on third downs. They had a glorious opportunity to bolt ahead with their first three possessions at the Steelers’ 29, Steelers’ 44 and the Bills’ 44. The Bills turned all that into three points. Down by two touchdowns with 14 minutes left, Doug Marrone chose to punt on fourth and 5 from the Steelers’ 36-yard line.’

‘The Bills offense was completely muted by a Pittsburgh defense that gave up 55 points and 610 yards to the Patriots last week.’

‘Not that I prefer watching Lewis or Tuel, or hoped that Doug Marrone would have started either of them instead of Manuel, because I don’t. But at no point in the week did I ever believe that on this particular day Manuel was going to be the cure-all for the struggling offense, and I fully expected this to be a tough game for him.’

‘Manuel was awful.’

‘This was the Bills worst performance of the season. Never mind the numbers, Pittsburgh owned this game pretty much from the moment the Bills failed to score a TD on their first possession and settled for a field goal. This is still a prideful Pittsburgh defense that took advantage of Manuel’s inexperience.’

‘The decision made the Steelers 3-6 and Bills 3-7, but for Buffalo the loss was a dramatic about-face for a team that seemed to be improving weekly.’