Archives for December 2015

'Woods hurt his groin and Johnson hurt his ankle in a 35-25 loss at Washington on Sunday in a game that eliminated Buffalo (6-8) from playoff contention for a 16th straight season. It's the NFL's longest active playoff drought, and tied for eighth-longest in league history.'

'"It's something that shouldn't happen," Brown said. "[Opposing offenses] run people in and off because they know we're having issues with that upstairs in the box. So people are going to keep doing it, running in and off. I mean, teams that usually are the slowest teams on the ball, they're hurrying up on us and trying to get plays because they know it's something that we've had issues with."'

'“We don’t know how good we could have been because everybody wasn’t doing what they were supposed to do on each play so, we can’t go around saying it’s the scheme or everybody’s not playing with effort,” he said. “I think it’s just mentally everybody wasn’t there.”'

'"I feel like being in the NFL, alone, is enough pay-off for anyone," Lewis said on the John Murphy Show on Tuesday. "Of course everyone wants to be active, but it wasn't my time yet, so I used all the practice squad plays and reps to get better and perfect my craft and continue to learn the game of football. I wouldn't say I got down about anything, because I was still motivated. My team always motivated me, as well as my coaches. So I'm just thankful to have this opportunity now to be a part of this 53-man roster."'

'“I’m going to be back next year, there are no ifs, ands, or buts about it. That’s just my mental state and that’s just what I really believe in,” he said Tuesday as his teammates prepare to take on the Dallas Cowboys.'

'In 12 games played this season, McCoy has 895 rushing yards on 203 carries and three touchdowns. McCoy also has 292 receiving yards on 32 receptions and two touchdowns.'

'Brown also adding the unit has to stop thinking about last year's success and understand it's a different coaching staff, different defensive philosophy and one that can succeed if everybody works together.'

'“I don’t think it has anything to do with effort. I think guys are trying, it’s just guys have got to buy into the system, especially on the defensive side,” said LB Preston Brown. “We don’t really know how good we could’ve been because everybody wasn’t doing what they were supposed to do on each play. We can’t say it was the scheme or everybody is not playing with effort. Mentally everybody wasn’t there.”'

'He has rolled up 1,187 yards from scrimmage this season in just 12 games. Most of that production came between Weeks 7 and 14 when the all-purpose back posted seven straight games with 100 or more yards from scrimmage, becoming just the third back in Bills history to accomplish the feat. Only Hall of Famers O.J. Simpson (9) and Thurman Thomas (9) have had longer consecutive games streaks.'

'WR Robert Woods and LB Randell Johnson were both placed on injured reserve as their injuries sustained in the loss at Washington have a recovery time that stretches beyond the end of the regular season. Woods, who was playing through a nagging groin injury, made the ailment worse on Sunday and will not be healthy in time for either of the team’s two remaining games.'

'Taylor is just 26 rushing yards short of Flutie’s single-season rushing record by a Bills quarterback that he set back in 1999. That season Flutie, in 15 starts, rushed for 476 yards and a touchdown during the team’s 11-5 campaign.'

'LG Richie Incognito: The Bills played Russian Roulette repeatedly last off-season — no risk seemingly bigger than this one. A player once banished by the NFL, the face of a “bullying” scandal didn’t know if a team would ever sign him again as he trained at EXOS in Arizona through the 2014 season. The Bills gambled and Incognito rewarded them. This unpredictable offense has been at its bruising best when Incognito is pulling out in front of LeSean McCoy. So in crunching the numbers, Buffalo must make another calculated decision: How many years does the 32-year-old with 116 career games have left in his prime? He has arguably never played better and gives this offense an assertive, intimidating identity it has sorely lacked seasons past. Incognito has also stated he loves it in Western New York, sounding like a player who wants to stick with the team that took a chance on him.'

'He had 13 sacks in 2013, but was also part of a defense that was bad against the run and allowed 24.25 points a game, which is actually more than this year’s D has allowed (24.0) under Ryan. Last year, Williams had 14.5 sacks for the league’s fourth-ranked defense.'

'A day after being beat up, sometimes literally, by the Washington Redskins, a grim Rex Ryan ran down his team's lengthy injury report.'

'But I’m not sure it would have mattered since Johnston seemed to be answering a different question about Washington whenever Albert tried to get him to talk about the Bills. A few times, Albert and Johnston seemed to have the same problem as the Bills defense – a failure to communicate.'