Archives for December 2013

‘The Falcons defence has struggled to stop the run, especially during their current five-game losing streak. The Bills love to run it behind the NFL’s only backfield duo with 500 yards, Fred Jackson and C.J. Spiller. The Bills would do well to draw up a game plan whose intention is to establish the run, and then try to burn the Falcons deep with play-action passes, as QB EJ Manuel did so well two weeks ago against the Jets. We saw in that game the blazing speed of wideouts T.J. Graham and rookie Marquise Goodwin. Regular starters Stevie Johnson and Robert Woods are expected back, the first time since September that all four receivers have joined Manuel on the field.’

‘Sunday’s crowd is expected to top 40,000, as it did last year. A few thousand seats were still available through Ticketmaster as of late Friday.’

Matt Ryan’s key passing numbers are down (Atlanta Journal Constitution)

On the hot seat: Falcons linebacker Sean Weatherspoon (Atlanta Journal Constitution)

Oh Canada: Falcons prepared for international travel (Atlanta Journal Constitution)

The X-factor: Buffalo quarterback E.J. Manuel (Atlanta Journal Constitution)

Q&A with Matt Ryan (Atlanta Journal Constitution)

3 key matchups (Atlanta Journal Constitution)

Robert Alford’s Weekly Diary: Week 13 (Atlanta Journal Constitution)

‘Both are trying to regionalize their franchises, and each plays a game a year on foreign soil – Buffalo plays an annual game in Toronto (this year’s game is Sunday against Atlanta), and the Jaguars are playing a game in London for at least the next three years. The foreign games get both teams more revenue despite the loss of home field advantage for the game.’

‘The Bills of back-in-the-day often talk as though they invented the no-huddle offense in 1990, the first of their four consecutive Super Bowl appearances. But “refined” or “perfected” is more like it.’

‘”But it’s always good to have support and just be a role model for guys who might one day have aspirations to play collegiately in the U.S., in the NFL or CFL. Football has grown here and we’ve seen many guys come out and play in the CFL and NFL so I’m definitely excited by that.”‘

‘The two keys to this game for a Bills victory will be C.J. Spiller getting back to being himself once again against a very vulnerable run defense, and the defensive line dominating the Falcons offensive line at the point of attack. If both of these happen, the Bills could run away with the contest and continue along in their playoff pursuits. With a full week of rest and a matchup that is entirely advantageous for Buffalo, the Bills might just collect their second victory in Canada.’