Archives for October 13, 2014

‘The phrase describing the Pegulas ownership is "One Buffalo," which was spelled out in a card stunt before kickoff.’

‘”If you want to worship somebody, go to church on Sunday,” he said of the adulation he’s received over the two purchases. “Its sometimes a little bit uncomfortable to me that people try to make me something different than what I am. I’m just like everybody else in this room, so that’s been something that sometimes it’s hard to overcome. I’m a private person.”‘

‘"You do get sick of hearing it. It’s all the time. Patriots this, Patriots that," running back C.J. Spiller said. "They put their pants on just like we do, but the thing about them is they execute and they take advantage of the mistakes that we made today. But we’re not going to make them out to have super powers or anything like that."’

‘You can change the names of the owners, but whether it’s Terry and Kim Pegula in their third day in charge or Wilson’s 54 years at the helm, the script for Bills versus Patriots pretty much stays the same.’

‘Oh, and he punctured the idea that the Bills have some elite, dominant defense. Once again, when people desperately needed the Buffalo “D” to live up to its reputation as a top unit, it wasn’t up to the challenge.’

‘Actually, there was a sense that Brady loved simply being around Gronkowski with his youthful exuberance and energy. Gronkowski, more than any other player on the Patriots’ roster, breathes life into a successful but stodgy organization with a boring coach who gives the impression he sucked the fun out of football.’

‘Exactly zero Bills tight ends have cracked the century mark since Pete Metzelaars in September 1992, a staggering factoid.’

‘The Bills’ middle linebacker played a strong game, making eight tackles and helping Buffalo hold New England to just 50 yards rushing. New England averaged a paltry 1.9 a carry. Contrast that to last year’s two games against the Pats, when the Bills allowed a combined 425 rushing yards and 5.5 a carry. Spikes was on the field for 40 of 68 snaps, by unofficial count (which included two interference penalty plays). That’s 59 percent. He had averaged 51 percent of the snaps the first five weeks.’

‘Orton had an interception and a fumble as part of the Bills’ three first-half turnovers that led to 13 points.’

‘Early in the third quarter, Brady put a dagger in the Bills with a 43-yard touchdown pass to second-year receiver Brian Tyms. It was a first-and-10 play. Perfect time for play action. Stephon Gilmore was close, but the coverage needed to be great, because the pass was perfect.’

‘Why was Bills cornerback Stephon Gilmore playing off coverage with 6 seconds left in the half? That allowed Brady to complete a 7-yard pass to Edelman that set up a 53-yard field goal by Stephen Gostkowski on the final play of the quarter.’

‘Defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz honored his rotation and kept top defensive ends Mario Williams and Jerry Hughes on the sideline with 5:58 left in a one-score game.’

‘The roar from the crowd was so loud they could probably hear it in Toronto, Los Angeles and every other city that covets an NFL franchise. It also signaled relief from years of suspense over what would happen to the team after the death of Ralph C. Wilson Jr., the only owner the Bills had until now.’