Archives for September 26, 2016

'That plan of Rex Ryan and his staff called for using up to seven defensive backs at times, a plan that became full-proof even against the likes of Palmer, Larry Fitzgerland and Michael Floyd when the Bills took a 30-7 lead in the third quarter of their make-or-break showdown against the Cardinals at New Era Field.'

'That, to me, just reinforced the obvious: That Ryan sacrificed a good coach and any friendship the two might have shared in the name of business. But desperate times call for desperate measures and in the NFL, when a ship is taking on water, there's more loyalty among pirates.'

'Cornerback Corey White. He started in place of injured Ronald Darby, and though Palmer went his way a whole bunch — as evidenced by the nine tackles White was credited with — he did a pretty solid job against a talented group of Arizona wide receivers. He capped his day with an end zone interception on the Cardinals’ final possession which sealed the verdict.'

'This was an impressive performance all the way across the board. And as much as it might hurt the Rex Ryan haters to admit it, he had the Bills ready to play against all odds. You can’t deny that. There were a lot of things conspiring against the Bills, not the least of which was the possibility of their season blowing up before the end of the September. It certainly wasn’t perfect, but the Bills beat a good Arizona team that no one thought they had a chance against.'

'"All week, I guess the message was we were simplifying, but as we installed, I was thinking, 'I don't want to say it in the media, but I hope guys aren't taking this lightly,' because we have to study still," center Eric Wood said. "Good work by Anthony preparing, getting thrown into the fire and coming out with a good game plan."'

'"Yeah, we were really, obviously, embarrassed by the type of play that we had last week, but we had to really look deep and try to help ourselves come up with different ways and change the look on them. Bruce Arians is a great coach, so we knew we weren't going to have the same plan that we had going into obviously the last game with. We were wanting them to think we did, but we were going to change everything and really try to keep them off balance. I think we did a great job. Dennis Thurman did a great job calling the game, and then my brother's contribution in the red zone looked pretty decent, I think."'

'I will say this, though, there were a lot of witnesses out there when you see our fans. Like they gave us a chance to win. I mean, they were so loud that it was like, alright, our fans never left us. And you guys know that have been here forever, through all the streak and stuff, that is the most loyal fan base there is, so that really helped us.'

'"That's what we have to be ready in case Edelman (is the quarterback), right?" Ryan said while answering a question about his own quarterback's mobility. "I have a funny feeling he isn't going to be Brady back there."'

'That made Blake the perfect candidate to deliver the Bills' Saturday night speech before they dominated the Arizona Cardinals with a 33-18 beatdown at New Era Field. That 1993 Cowboys team beat the Cardinals, too. And they also went on to win the Super Bowl.'

'That leaves either rookie Kevon Seymour or cornerback Corey White to fill in at cornerback, while Robert Woods, Marquise Goodwin, Brandon Tate and Walt Powell are the wide receivers left for the Bills. Adding to the challenge for the offense, Cyrus Kouandjio will play left tackle in place of Cordy Glenn while going up against dominant pass rusher Chandler Jones.'

'"I just thought it was the right move at the right time and I thought Anthony (Lynn) did a great job," Ryan added.'

'“We know we only have one win and obviously we’ve got a huge task in front of us but we’re going to enjoy this one because we’re going to enjoy that fact that we know what everyone thought of our football team,” Ryan said.'

'When asked if he’s more comfortable on the run, Taylor kept it simple. "Yeah," he said.'

'"Well they played the first two games very differently," Palmer said. "They played this one a lot different than the first two (games), definitely different than the second one. But a lot of the same coverages we saw played when they were in Baltimore Week 1, some of the same stuff that they were doing last week and then some of the stuff that we expected to see. What they did last week, they just didn't do (Sunday)."'

'The defense deserves a lot of credit. After a terrible performance against the Jets, the unit came in against one of the NFL's better teams and shut them down for most of the game.'