Archives for January 2016

'How did they do it? Despite Carpenter's malaise and no stability returning punts/kicks themselves, the Bills forced opponents to start deep in their own end most of the season.'

'Over the Bills’ first 54 seasons, through snowstorms and subzero temperatures, through painful 1-13 and 2-14 seasons, through his own honeymoon and the birth of his children, Jimmy Nydahl missed only two Bills home games, one because of a serious back injury in 2008, and the other as a teenager when his family couldn’t afford the price of American Football League championship game tickets.'

'In his first season in Buffalo, it didn’t work. In fact, it failed miserably, mainly because the Bills never seemed to buy in, led by the disgruntled defensive line that collectively felt that Ryan’s defense sapped them of their ability to perform at peak efficiency.'

'The strange thing, though, is that for a team with as much talent as they have, they also have some glaring holes on the roster that will need filling ahead of the season. There still needs to be answers to multiple questions in the offseason before their draft needs are finalized, but, with the deadline passing, it’s time to take a preliminary look at what they could be targeting come April.'

'“I think that was one of the main reasons we led the league in rushing,” said head coach Rex Ryan. “It was the talent that we had a running back. We draft Karlos Williams in the fifth round, we pick up Mike Gillislee, ‘Touchdown Mike’ as a free agent. Then you add a Greg Roman system with tremendous coaches that we have and it just works.”'

'Ted was beloved not only by the players and coaches, but also everyone in the administrative building, from executives to cafeteria workers.'

'Of their NFL-leading 143 accepted penalties this season, 25 were on special teams for 228 yards.'

'It was Marchibroda, as a first-year head coach in Baltimore, who gave Belichick his first NFL job in 1975 at age 22.'

'But the basic economic arguments that Rams owner Stan Kroenke used against St. Louis in a pitch to his fellow NFL owners are realities that Buffalo hasn’t escaped.'

'As Billick said, it might not be Taylor's fault that he rarely risked throws over the middle of the field. He's running the plays called. But he'd want to see more out of the quarterback before committing long term.'

'“Continuity is key amongst offensive linemen and to have us back would be a huge step in the right direction for this team,” said Incognito. “We played well together and built that cohesiveness and we started dominating games at the end of the year.”'

'Taylor heads into next season knowing he will be the starting QB. Watkins knows, too. They’ll have the entire offseason to work – and talk – together and get on the same page a lot more quickly. And they won’t have to be on the other side of the Atlantic to start that process.'

'He’s being called a guy that “isn’t a player’s coach.” Which, again, is carefully crafted language. It implies that he’s going to be the new sheriff in town – he’s going to clean up all that nonsense ya’ll been havin’ here in these parts. Imagine if they said, “he’s a tyrant that constantly ticked off every leader on the team and belittled everyone around him.”'

'“We feel he is a dominant player,” said Whaley. “He himself has put a lot of pressure on himself to be that type of player. He wants to be, believes he can be and he’s working to be and we have all the faith in the world that he’ll become one of the top tier receivers in the league. We’re extremely happy we have him.”'

'When you play defensive back for Rex Ryan, you have to survive residing on an island. For the most part, the Bills’ DBs did. And it wasn’t as if they had a whole lot of help from the pass rush, which generated a mere 21 sacks and usually applied minimal pressure on the quarterback.'