Archives for December 4, 2014

‘Adding $78 million to the team’s bankroll to play six regular season games and two preseason games at Rogers Centre was a deal they couldn’t turn down.’

‘In part, that’s because Bills fans in Western New York boycotted the Toronto games, en masse. Only a trickle followed their beloved team across the border, refusing to help underwrite what they believed might be the dreaded relocation of the franchise to Toronto after the death of founding owner Ralph Wilson.’

‘Americans have also developed a ubiquitous, intricate cultural infrastructure to support football, unlike anything that exists in Canada. High school football can fill big stadiums in small towns on Friday nights; college football can captivate entire regions on Saturday afternoons. In Canada, high school football can be played in front of friends and family.’

‘On Sunday, Orton returns to Denver for the second time since he was waived in 2011.’

Peyton Manning takes back seat as C.J. Anderson shines for Broncos (Denver Post)

Peyton Manning not fazed as injuries pile up for Broncos (Denver Post)

As a Bill, Kyle Orton returns to Denver hoping to not repeat the past (Denver Post)

Broncos’ winning formula will have its run as Foxball (Denver Post)

Broncos’ Demaryius Thomas, Julius Thomas fighting through ankle injuries (Denver Post)

Thomas edges closer to returning to lineup (AP)

Mitch Unrein gets the best of Peyton Manning (AP)

Broncos want to improve red-zone efficiency (The Sports Xchange)

Broncos, Bills Possess Multiple Talented Pass-Rushers (KCNC-TV)

Tale Of The Tape: Buffalo Bills At Denver Broncos (KCNC-TV)

Reality, not fantasy, is C.J. Anderson’s focus (DenverBroncos.com)

Battle of the fronts (DenverBroncos.com)

What They’re Saying: Doug Marrone and Kyle Orton (DenverBroncos.com)

Injury update: Aqib Talib, Julius Thomas practice; Demaryius Thomas limited (DenverBroncos.com)

Gameday info: Broncos vs. Bills (DenverBroncos.com)

‘The chances of Spiller playing again this season are partially linked to whether the Bills remain in the playoff hunt. At 7-5, Buffalo is in the thick of a jumbled playoff AFC playoff picture but faces a pair of daunting tests over the next two weeks.’

‘They’ve limited opponents to a league-low 15.2 points since the start of Week 7, but that 4-2 stretch – featuring the New York Jets twice along with Minnesota, Kansas City, Miami and Cleveland – is a bit deceptive. Only the Dolphins (25.1 points per game) and Chiefs (23.1) – the two teams that beat the Bills – rank in the top of half of the league in scoring.’

‘Receiver Steve Johnson questioned whether the warm-weather Falcons “fixed” the schedule in getting to play indoors. Center Eric Wood had referred to the games in Toronto as “a joke.”‘

‘The Bills began playing games in Toronto in 2008, matching up against the Steelers in the preseason and the Dolphins during the regular season. The 2013 regular-season game against Atlanta drew 38,969 fans for the Falcons’ 34-31 overtime win.’

‘”They’re excellent defensively,” said center Eric Wood. “They have a great front four and their secondary makes a lot of plays. They’re fairly similar to our approach (on defense); when you’ve got big-time pass rushers you don’t have to blitz, they let those guys off the edge go after the quarterback and their interior guys are good and they get some push inside.”‘

‘”In hindsight, I know there’s a lot of noise about moving games up north, and I understand that completely,” Brandon said. “But when we look at what it has done for us regionally and what it has done for us back at Ralph Wilson Stadium, obviously southern Ontario has become a very large market for us as far as fans coming to our games at Ralph Wilson Stadium. That has been a positive.”‘

‘Along with that duo, kicker Dan Carpenter (right groin), wide receiver Robert Woods (ankle), wide receiver Chris Hogan (hamstring) and safety Bacarri Rambo (hamstring) all were able to practice but on a limited basis. Tight end Chris Gragg (knee) and defensive end Jarius Wynn (knee) sat out of practice, like they did all last week, once again on Wednesday.’

‘”It was an exciting day for me,” said Spiller. “Just getting back into football type stuff. Get back into some individual drills, get used to hearing some play calling again. We’ve been working hard for this day and the day was successful. We’ll see how it feels in the morning and continue to build from there.”‘

‘Bills President Russ Brandon said, “We greatly appreciate the support we’ve received over the past seven years from all of the tremendous people at Rogers Communications. We will continue to work hard to solidify our footprint in Southern Ontario. Our fan base in this region remains extremely important to our organization and their support has been well documented.”‘

‘”That’s been the most important part with us,” DB Nickell Robey. “It’s starting to come along now. It’s starting to show up and pay off. We work so hard on it early on in the season, trying to be as efficient as possible on the back end making sure nothing slips out. Now it’s showing up in the back end and we’re proud of ourselves. Give ourselves a pat on the back. We just have to keep it going and be consistent.”‘