Archives for December 24, 2015

'What a difference 14 games makes.'

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'“Listen, I owe this franchise virtually everything I have in the National Football League,” said Polian, who also served as GM for the Carolina Panthers and won a Super Bowl as president of the Indianapolis Colts. “A good reason why a yellow jacket’s on my shoulder is because of the Buffalo Bills. The bottom line is, I want this team to succeed.”'

'"All this finger-pointing," he said. "That's the first thing that has to go, I think. We just have to get on the same page. The blame game is only going to take you so far. So I just feel like we have to get rid of that and then focus on us, focus on ourselves and forget about what everybody's saying and all that. We have too much talent to be losing at the end of the day. Right now, we're losing. So we need to get this fixed obviously."'

'The Bills are a mighty mess, much worse and less stable than they were last season. Ryan has been under siege for weeks. It sounds like most fans want him fired. Players started questioning his defense two months ago, and they’re not holding back. His locker room is fragmented. His team is 6-8 and playing out the string.'

'“I can tell you right now, the personnel” on the Bills “is totally different” from what Ryan had in his previous coaching stops, Williams said. “With the Baltimore Ravens,” with whom Ryan served as defensive coordinator, “they had Ray Lewis commanding the ship. The coaches made a statement the other day about the control of the defense, how Ray would change a call completely. The call would come in, he’d see this, and that’s not even what he called. He called something entirely different. You had linebackers of that nature doing that with the Jets, linebackers who were generals on the field.'

'Williams is as good as gone. He had and still has nothing to lose for bashing Ryan. But to hear Preston Brown reveal that defensive signals consistently came in late from the sidelines and Corey Graham talk about repeated confusion in the secondary and cornerback Ronald Darby contradict Ryan's assertion that the defensive backs played with a lack of confidence, you can't help but feel the coach has a fairly large mess on his hands as his team stumbles to its bitterly disappointing finish.'

'"Myself, and I'm pretty sure everyone else will say it, this is not the way it was supposed to be, hands down," Williams said, referring to the fact that he has just four sacks this year, and the front four, which also includes Jerry Hughes, Marcell Dareus and Kyle Williams, have combined for just 12 after recording 40 last year.'

'This has nothing to do with the fact that it's the Christmas season and I might happen to be in a good mood. I haven't gone soft (except around the waist line), nor have I been numbed (at least not yet) by the perpetual disappointment the Bills provide their loyal and tortured fans.'

'Frank Reich, with a huge assist from Thurman Thomas, directed the victory in front of a record Rich Stadium crowd, many of whom rushed the field afterward and tore down the goal posts.'

'"I expected to be in the playoffs," Ryan said. "As far as the other stuff is concerned, it ties in. I think it goes hand in hand. I think right now if we're talking about the playoffs and we're in the playoffs, that would probably be it. We'd probably be having a different conversation. It's built on frustrations, but again, my locker room's open and you guys will get a chance to go in there and see first hand. I think this locker room is a little closer than anticipated. I just don't think you're getting the majority of the opinions when you're mentioning about one or two or whatever guys. I know there's frustration. Probably 100 percent of them. But I think this locker room is closer than what you're giving us credit for."'

'Earlier this season, McCoy strung together seven consecutive games with more than 100 yards from scrimmage. McCoy joined O.J. Simpson and Thurman Thomas as the only Bills to ever cross the century mark in seven straight contests. McCoy’s 98.9 yards from scrimmage per game ranks sixth among all NFL players this season.'

'"A scheme's a scheme, but to say that it's going to produce, we haven't had the numbers," Williams said Wednesday. "There's nobody saying anything that what (Ryan's) doing is wrong. But for what's out there, the personnel might not be the right personnel."'

'Dallas has won its last three games against the Bills and routed them 44-7 in the most recent matchup Nov. 13, 2011.'

'Offense has topped 400 yards five times this season, most since doing that five times in 2002 during quarterback Drew Bledsoe's first year in Buffalo.'