Archives for December 2013

‘”I’m feeling more comfortable in the offense,” he said. “It was my second time starting and it was six, seven, eight weeks I had only been here. Now the season is almost over. It’s just become routine and very, very familiar with the offense now than I was then.”‘

‘Yes. I think we all do understand that we would have had to miss practice time and continue the treatment to get that swelling down and I think it’s very difficult to miss practice time and go out there and give us the best opportunity to win on Sunday.’

‘I was getting taken down, and just the second guy kind of jumped over somebody else and just kind of landed on my knee when it was on its way up and that’s what caused the friction. It was a freak accident, it’s crazy.’

‘You never think that you’re going to be able to play against your hometown team twice, at least in the same season, let alone being the backup, you never know when your next start is going to come. You’re just kind of sitting in a waiting game.’

‘Rookie quarterback EJ Manuel and Co. went at least 70 yards on three drives that ended in touchdowns, the first time that’s happened in a single game this year. Each of those possessions lasted at least eight plays – Buffalo had only six touchdown drives of at least that many snaps and yards heading into Week 15.’

‘His game in Jacksonville wasn’t eye-popping statistically, but upon further review, I came away impressed. However…before I show you all the things that Manuel did well in the game, I’m going to give a look at what I want next.’

‘As is the case with most teams throughout the NFL, when the quarterback goes so does the offense. In the first quarter, both Manuel and the offense weren’t able to get anything started. Despite having two drives start in Jacksonville territory through the opening 15 minutes, the Bills could only come away with three points.’

‘Buffalo last posted a winning record in the division back in 2007 when they had a 4-2 mark in what was a 7-9 season. They have a chance to repeat that now in 2013 in their first season under Marrone. The Bills have a 2-2 division mark with a home game against the Dolphins and a road finale with the Patriots in New England the following week.’

‘The Bills went into the game with 7 forced fumbles for the season, with none of them caused by the secondary. Buffalo played seven of their first 14 games without forcing a fumble and they are 2-5 in those games.’

‘The win in Jacksonville is fine, but should not be enough to make the Bills feel completely comfortable with Manuel in 2014.’

‘”The ball was there when I came out of my breaks,” Woods said. “I was able to make some plays. It’s what we practiced. We knew it was going to be there and it was.”‘

‘The reason for this week’s blackout here seems obvious. The team, according to Brandon, has some 16,000 tickets remaining for the Dolphins game, a tough sell in late December with the Bills already out of the playoff hunt.’

‘This Buffalo team still has troubling issues, and Marrone – proud as he was about how the Bills stuck with it Sunday, battled through a miserably slow start by quarterback EJ Manuel, and found a way to walk off that field happy – knows it.’

‘”I was proud of our team,” said Marrone, who rewarded his players by giving them a day off from meetings. “It hasn’t always gone our way in those types of games, and we were able to turn it.”‘