Archives for December 2015

'Greg Roman got way too cute with the trick plays again. They aren't working. Went deep way too many times on third down instead of moving the chains with shorter pass plays.'

'Buffalo committed 15 penalties for 111 yards including four neutral zone infractions on defense.'

'Eleven of Buffalo’s 15 assessed penalties were against Bills offensive or defensive linemen Sunday. Defensive linemen Marcell Dareus, Jerry Hughes (twice) and Mario Williams were all cited for neutral zone infractions prior to the snap handing the Eagles five free yards each time. All four of those penalties came on 3rd-and-long situations and gave Philadelphia 3rd-and-medium or 3rd-and-short plays.'

'“We kept shooting ourselves in the foot. We had penalty after penalty,” said Ryan. “[We’d" target="_blank"> get a first down. Penalty . . . Penalty. Penalty. Penalty. That was the difference. We were moving the ball up and down the field on them. [Penalties were" target="_blank"> the difference. We never let ourselves get in any kind of rhythm because we’re backed up. It’s now first-and-20 or third-and-15 or whatever it is, and when you’re behind the sticks, it’s tough to do anything.'

'“All right, this one’s tough because I thought we were the better team today, but obviously we got beat. And you know, that is a good football team. Penalties – we’ve got ourselves to blame. You can’t have that many penalties obviously and it’s a no-brainer when you jump offsides a zillion times and we got – I don’t know how many holding calls, but it looked like it was a record out there. We fumbled a punt. We played field position, make them go three-and-out again and think we’re going to get good field position and we fumble a punt. So we’ve got ourselves to blame on this one. How it affects us – we’re going to be sick, I can tell you that much, if this costs us, which it probably will.”'

'“I think any player going back to his own home wants to have a big game,” McCoy admitted. “(But) the main thing is getting a win, so it’s going to be a tense environment for sure. I know how the Philly fans can get. This is a game that they must win if they want to keep their playoff hopes alive … same with us. I think that blows the game up even more.'

'Buffalo first must beat the Eagles, of course. And if that happens and the Jets lose to Tennessee at the Meadowlands and the Steelers fall at Cincinnati, the Bills move into sixth place and that second wild-card berth.'

'There are those who feel the trade was made merely because McCoy was Andy Reid’s back and that he wanted the offensive skill positions to bear his stamp, not his predecessor’s.'

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'Moody? Competitive? LeSean McCoy blurs the line. When harnessed, such an attitude is a powerful, unstoppable force.'

'They need to play aggressively today, but also intelligently and under control. That’s been a rare combination for this defense, which has struggled to find its identity and an emotional balance on the field.'

'“It’s a whole other animal,” Bills special teams coach Danny Crossman said. “You can push or pull” a 20-yard kick “and you’re not going to get harmed. But now you push or pull it a little bit, it’s coming back and biting you in the butt.”'

'When judging the trade, one must consider how Kiko Alonso progresses and the salary cap space that the Eagles opened with the move. But when focusing specifically on McCoy, the bottom line is he was perhaps the best running back in franchise history, produced in the scheme and remained in his prime. And when comparing Murray's production in Philadelphia to McCoy's production, it's not even close.'

'Bills 34, Eagles 26.'

'Roman has done a fine job working with a young quarterback who is still very much a work in progress. The game plans have mostly been sound, and the inclusion of the deep ball in recent weeks has not only gotten Watkins on track, but has also helped the running game. On defense, the mundane performances continued.'