Archives for October 2015

'How will the Bills overcome the absences of LeSean McCoy and Sammy Watkins? They didn't, plain and simple.'

'210 – The combined penalty yardage between the teams, including a whopping, laughable 135 by the Bills on 17 infractions, the most ever by the Bills in a home game.'

'Coming off such a solid victory in Miami, back home in the place where they once actually had a home-field advantage, the Bills were simply atrocious and they blew a chance to get to 3-1. There was nothing positive to take from this debacle, just a complete mess in every phase. Rex Ryan's honeymoon is over.'

'The Bills had no answer. Playing without LeSean McCoy and Sammy Watkins, their top two offensive players, Buffalo struggled to make big plays. As a result, the Giants controlled the clock and didn't have much fear in Tyrod Taylor and the Bills' offense. The Bills' offense finished the first half with just 78 yards and didn't have a single play go for over 30 yards in the game.'

'"I don't know," Ryan said. "You guys write the stories, so I guess you'll write it the way you want to write it. The one thing I know for a fact is we've got heart. The discipline thing, I get it. When you have 17 penalties, that's obviously a sign of a lack of discipline. That's not the real deal, but hey, it's a free country, write what you believe."'

'The Buffalo Bills could be without star running back LeSean McCoy for up to a month after he suffered a new tear in his hamstring, according to Mike Garafolo of FOX Sports.'

'He had played against a Rex Ryan team before, and he saw what the New England Patriots did to the Bills two weeks earlier in a 40-32 win. That's why, according to Dan Graziano of ESPN, Coughlin told his players the Bills would beat themselves with penalties. Sure enough, the Bills committed 17 penalties for 135 yards on their way to a 24-10 loss Sunday.'

'I mean, it's embarrassing. It's embarrassing to go out there and get all those penalties. I mean, it is one after another. Dumb penalties, situations you just have to shut up sometimes. So it's one of those situations we can't afford to do it, and we can't spot teams all those yards, and we just have to be more disciplined. It's very disappointing.'

'"They were saying it was over out there," Pugh said. "On that last drive, their defense was kind of like, when they were getting penalties, they were like, Tthis game is over anyway.' That is kind of how it was. It was kind of crazy out there that last drive. Mayhem. Refs yelling at players, players yelling at refs. I was just sitting back and trying not to get fined $15,000 for something."'

'Penalties don't necessarily correlate to wins and losses. The Seattle Seahawks, 2013 Super Bowl champions and 2014 runner-up, led the league in penalties taken both those seasons. Still, Ryan's Buffalo Bullies clearly cost themselves a game Sunday, and that's not a luxury a franchise with a 15-year playoff drought can afford.'

'Over the last 10 games at The Ralph, Buffalo is 5-5. That is unacceptable. Playoff teams win the games they're supposed to, including games against teams under .500, games against divisional opponents and the majority of the eight games they get at their own place. Great teams find ways to win no matter where, or who, they are playing.'

'If Rex Ryan was "outcoached" against Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots, he was outsmarted by Tom Coughlin and the New York Giants.'

'The same old Buffalo Bills.'

'They are on pace to be penalized 188 times. Since 2002, only one team — the 2011 Raiders with 163 penalties — has been flagged more than 147 times.'

'Then, in the fourth quarter, with the Giants up 24-10 with 6:22 to go, the Bills seemingly came unglued — helping the Giants eat the clock by committing three personal fouls — one unnecessary roughness penalty (linebacker Preston Brown) and two unsportsmanlike conduct penalties (Brown and Hughes).'