Archives for September 2016

'If ever there was a road season opener that was there for the taking, this was it. The Ravens are no world beaters, and they sure weren’t on offense in this game, but the Bills were so miserable on offense that it didn’t matter. If the Bills hope to make the playoffs, these pivotal swing games, especially against AFC teams, are must wins. Now they’re 0-1.'

'"We've been trying to tell Tyrod to believe in your protection, let it hold up and make them pay," Ryan said. "We had a big drop, an uncharacteristic drop by Sammy (Watkins) on that one. That's what we're trying to get him to do. We're trying to get him to throw it down the field, hold up protection-wise without him taking off all the time. He did make a couple of good runs and made some good plays. We just weren't consistent."'

'"It's never a disappointment, man. I strapped up today. I put on the cleats and I went out there and played the plays I had to play out there and played. I'm not going to sit here and mope and pout about it. It's just the way it is. It's the way the coaches want it. I was in with it. It's not something I disagreed with. I agree with them as well. The guys that are out there are going to give their all. When it's my time to go in, I'll do my job."'

'"The game plan was to make him be a quarterback," Ravens defensive tackle Brandon Williams said. "Sometimes he got out of there, but not too many times."'

'That's what we're trying to do. But there's some that I just can't live with. Like the field goal. You have to be smart there. We know the rules. And there's other ones that are just frustrating.'

'"We've been trying to tell Tyrod to believe in your protection, let it hold up and make them pay. We had a big drop, an uncharacteristic drop by Sammy (Watkins) on that one. That's what we're trying to get him to do. We're trying to get him to throw it down the field, hold up protection-wise without him taking off all the time. He did make a couple of good runs and made some good plays. We just weren't consistent.'

'"He's going to be on the field," Schefter said. "He's going to play. He's probably going to be targeted an awful lot. But he is not 100 percent after undergoing offseason foot surgery. In fact, about a week or so ago, that foot got tired on him during practice. But he will be out there today despite the fact that he's not 100 percent."'

'Starting linebackers Jerry Hughes and Zach Brown ended up taking an Uber to the stadium after they missed the first team bus. There was a later bus to the stadium for players, but the two wanted to get to the game quicker. Hughes documented the ride on his Instagram page.'

'On the Bills first three offensive drives, the team only netted two yards of offense.'

'Aside from one time when Tyrod Taylor kept a play alive with his elusiveness, the Bills quarterback only tossed a ball 20+ yards down the field one time.'

'There wasn't much to like about Tyrod Taylor's performance Sunday. It's not what you'd expect from your so-called franchise quarterback in his first game since signing a big contract extension.'

'“It really sucks,” Buffalo running back LeSean McCoy said.'

'“Obviously, it was a hard-fought game, and we knew it would be. It’s tough any time you come in here. It’s a tough team, and they made a few more plays than we did. We made some mistakes and had a couple of penalties that hurt us. Then the field goal; when you need the ball back, you can’t afford to give them that. Even though they went three-and-out after that, it just takes up time. It’s not smart. Jerry [Hughes] gets that one where he hit the quarterback. I know the rule is you can’t hit the quarterback below the waist, we all understand that, but the quarterback was running away from him. He [Hughes] thinks he’s [Flacco] running with the football, and we get a 15-yard penalty. So, we had a couple of big ones like that that hurt us. We made one mistake. That was my fault. That’s on me. We should have doubled on the receiver that caught the touchdown. Instead, we doubled somebody else. Other than that, our guys did well on defense. We had a chance to make a big play. Unfortunately, we didn’t and that’s really the story of this game.”'

'Taylor used his quickness to avoid a ferocious pass rush, but he did not have much success passing downfield. He was 15 of 22 for only 111 yards and ran five times for 11 yards.'

'Because the Ravens took away Buffalo's deep game, quarterback Tyrod Taylor found it difficult to utilize his tight ends, especially Charles Clay — a frequent target over the middle during preseason. When Taylor scrambled, his tight ends were reduced to blockers instead of targets. Clay finished with three catches for 40 yards, but one of them was a 33-yard reception.'