Archives for September 2014

‘Fitzpatrick may be a Harvard graduate, but he was a quintessential Buffalo guy with his friendly nature, his flannel shirts and jeans, and that still present and still-spectacular beard that even members of the Boston Red Sox have to admire.’

‘Texans 26, Bills 23.’

‘On Friday, coach Doug Marrone wouldn’t commit to who would replace Williams in the starting lineup, but rookie fifth-round pick Cyril Richardson could be in line to take over. Veteran lineman Kraig Urbik will also be available, but he’s the team’s backup center, so the Bills like to have him available as a swing man.’

‘”My mom made a little joke with me yesterday,” Williams said. “She said, ‘Dang, you went from getting 89 passes a year to one-and-a-half a game. I’m like ‘Yeah, things change.”

‘”It’s one of those things, when you’re a first-time coordinator, a young coordinator, you pick and choose your battles,” Hackett said. “I mean, they knew how I felt about Fitz. I had a great relationship with him. I really respect him as a quarterback. I was excited to work with him, but this is a business, too, and I have to trust all of the guys that hired me. I mean, they hired me, so I trust them already. There’s so many things that go into that kind of process, it’s like I’m just here to coach the guys that they are going to put in the room and I go from there.”‘

‘Since 1995, Marrone has turned a playing career that included just five NFL games and a brief NFL Europe run in London into three collegiate and four pro coaching stints.’

Contingency plans would behoove Texans (Houston Chronicle)

Bond between O’Briens and Marrones endures (Houston Chronicle)

McClain’s guide to Texans-Bills game (Houston Chronicle)

Blue gaining confidence (Houston Community Newspapers)

NFL preview: Houston Texans vs. Buffalo Bills (Houston Community Newspapers)

‘Wide receiver Marcus Easley (knee) and linebacker Randell Johnson (linebacker) are also out. Linebacker Keith Rivers (groin), safety Da’Norris Searcy (ankle) and cornerback Ron Brooks (illness) are probable.’

‘Goodwin is recovering from a concussion and Williams is out with a back injury.’

‘It is pretty apparent that they make him better. How? Take a look…’.

‘With so many advantages at key spots, the Bills have the talent to pull out another victory on the road. The Texans are a well-coached team with very good players at defensive end, running back, wide receiver and cornerback, but they lack an overwhelming amount of talent throughout their roster. It gets to the point where this game should be a victory for Buffalo, regardless of the struggles the offense had in Week Three against San Diego. The Bills have the superior team and now they need to be able to prove it. The sting of last week’s loss resides with the team, which would make it fair to expect a much more mentally strong approach. If they don’t, they could be staring at a ‘should have had that one’ style of game once the season wraps up and people look back on what could have been.’

‘Head coach Doug Marrone said that Richardson and Urbik each took reps with the starting unit at practice during the week. He also stated that Urbik is the team’s backup center, giving indication that he might be leaning toward having Richardson make his first career start.’

‘Sunday’s game will be the seventh meeting between the Bills and the Texans and the series is currently tied 3-3.’

‘It’s 1,482 miles from Ralph Wilson Stadium, but there will be more Bills fans at NRG Stadium on Sunday than you might suspect. The Bills Backers of Houston are a force to be reckoned with. Not only is their chapter president Katherine O’Brien predicting over 1,000 Bills fans in the stands on gameday, she’s lined up a whole weekend of activities so no Texas Bills fan feels alone.’

‘Spero Dedes (Play-by-play), Solomon Wilcots (analyst).’