Archives for September 2014

‘The Bills came out throwing and seemed determined to find the bulk of their offensive success through short passes they hoped would turn into long gains. With the game as tight as it was for large portions, they needed to be more persistent with the run.’

‘Great players make great plays, but Bills QB EJ Manuel should have been more careful with a pass to the flat for Fred Jackson. Watt read it, held up his rush, picked off the pass and raced 80 yards for a TD early in the third quarter. EJ went to the right place with the ball, because Houston blitzed off the other side. But Watt batted down 15 passes in 2012 alone and seven more last year.’

‘Crennel sent five or more pass rushers at Manuel on 16 pass plays. Manuel went just 4 of 16 for 23 yards on those plays with one touchdown and two interceptions.’

‘What does Corey Graham have to do to get on the field? The Buffalo native has been the Bills’ best cornerback the first three weeks, but was on the sideline to start Sunday’s game in favor of Leodis McKelvin and Stephon Gilmore.’

‘Last week, the secondary looked confused. This week, it was the offense’s turn. The Bills were forced to use all of their first-half timeouts to avoid delay-of-game penalties. The Bills could’ve used a couple when they got the ball back 57 seconds before halftime. Doug Marrone won a challenge in the first half.’

‘They’ve been doing just fine without Jim Schwartz.’

‘Manuel fell to 6-8 as a starter, and he completed just 21 of 44 passes for 235 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. Even with an 80-yard scoring pass to Mike Williams, his numbers were pedestrian.’

‘It was foolhardy to think it when they were 2-0, and now it shouldn’t even be a topic of discussion. There are too many flaws on offense, and the biggest one is the inconsistency of the quarterback. Manuel had another game where you just rub your eyes and wonder why he didn’t complete this pass or that pass.’

‘Houston is a very ordinary 3-1 team and the Bills, if they believe they can be a playoff team, just can’t lose this game. But as is so often the case, they found a way. Team is now 0-11 under Doug Marrone when it trails by 10 or more points at some time.’

‘If you’re wondering how Buffalo beat the Bears in Chicago to open the season … me too.’

‘The Bills had the ball at the Texans’ 12-yard line early in the second half, looking to increase their 10-7 lead. But on third-and-3, Watt intercepted a pass and took it 80 yards for a pick-six.’

‘”For my confidence, it’s a matter of learning, continuing to learn,” Manuel said. “Understand that you can’t walk around with your tail between your legs. Be a man. It is what it is. We lost a game. We didn’t play as well as we wanted to.”‘

‘”It was really important to me,” Fitzpatrick said after the game. “Part of it was just because I spent four years of my life there raising my family. Buffalo means a lot to me, not only as a player and my interactions with the fans, but as a family guy and a member of the community and all that.”‘

‘”He wasn’t in my head. J.J.’s a great player and we knew coming in that he was going to have his opportunities to make plays and get in the backfield as much as he could, but he wasn’t in my head.”‘

‘The 316 total yards wasn’t a terrible total, but there were so many puzzling things about the way the Bills arrived at a mediocre, 17-point total in a 23-17 loss to the Texans. Quarterback EJ Manuel struggled, the play calling was curious, and according to wide receiver Mike Williams, the Bills were thrown off by what the Texans threw at them.’