Archives for December 2014

‘Doug Marrone might have saved his job Sunday. The Bills have improved from last year by at least two wins and will avoid a losing record for the first time in 11 seasons. The fact that they beat an elite opponent significantly enhances the victory’s luster. That offense, though …’

‘Last week NFL Network reporter Ian Rapoport tweeted the possibility of the Raiders moving to Los Angeles next season is “very legitimate,” while CBS Sports’ Jason La Canfora reported Sunday that it’s well known inside NFL circles that both the Raiders and Rams would like to relocate.’

‘Third-string safety Bacarri Rambo, forced into action by injuries, was among many defensive stars with both interceptions of Rodgers.’

‘Hans and Franz may have pumped Rodgers up for those funny State Farm commercials, but it was the Bills’ defense that took the air out of his MVP campaign and made him look like … well, like Kyle Orton.’

‘Rodgers is having the best season of any quarterback in the NFL, but he never looked comfortable, never seemed to be in sync with his receivers, and much of that had to do with the Bills’ play. This wasn’t luck. Well, outside of that dropped Jordy Nelson pass that would have been a touchdown. The Bills’ defense outplayed the best offense in the NFL, and they did it despite getting absolutely zero help from its own inept offense.’

‘The offense was horrible, gaining just 253 yards and scoring no TDs, but when you beat one of the best teams in the league, all bets are off. The defense and special teams more than made up for Orton’s lousy performance and delivered one of the biggest wins in recent memory.’

‘And, behind Buffalo’s inspired ‘D’ Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, arguably the NFL’s best this season, had his worst game as a pro.’

‘”Then, during practices, we saw someone who was really athletic and can be physical. He looked like he could do a lot of things. We talked about him and said, ‘Hey, we don’t want to lose this kid … we think he can play.'”‘

‘Incredibly, the Bills are 6-0 against Green Bay at “The Ralph” and 8-4 overall.’

‘Rodgers finished 17 of 42 for 185 yards and two interceptions. It was an unlikely meltdown for Rodgers and the offense that entered the game on a tremendous roll. Rodgers had been picked off just three times this season, and none since throwing two in Green Bay’s last loss, 44-23 at New Orleans on Oct. 26.’

‘The Bills again had a tough time staying out of trouble. They were penalized 10 times a week after taking 11 penalties against the Broncos. This time, the penalties didn’t come back to bite them, but it’s still something Buffalo needs to get cleaned up.’

‘”We had a lot of miscommunications out there. There was a couple of times where there were some guys open. We missed a lot of tackles, they had a lot of rushing yards. That’s something that’s very uncharacteristic of our front four. We haven’t given up that many rushing yards, especially at home. We go, we break film and just try to learn from that and get better.”‘

‘”It was just a big happy feeling,” Dixon said. “Terry, he believes in us. He tells us that all the time, every time we see him. I was just happy and everybody, it was one big party. It was just my way of saying thank you and we appreciate him. We fighting for him, the whole (city) of Buffalo, and we just have to keep it going.”‘

‘”We were expecting to shut them down. We went up against a Hall of Famer last week, why couldn’t we do it again this week? Aaron Rodgers is a great quarterback, the best quarterback in the league right now. I knew as long as we had a great communication in the back end and held our guys for an extended period of time I feel like we had this game won.’