Archives for November 2016

'The Bills now sit in eleventh place in the AFC, which is actually one spot higher than they were headed into week ten. But with the wins by the Broncos and Chiefs, the gap between the Bills and the two wild card spots grew even larger…'.

'"What I was concerned about was how I was going to be able to use it and how I was going to come back to be myself," Lawson says his shoulder's initial reaction to game contact. "At first, I eased my way, but then I just knew like, my shoulder ain't going to go nowhere."'

'Seth, a reserve wide receiver and the team's holder, is listed as a redshirt junior but is in his fourth year at the school. He could be getting honored today because he plans to graduate and move on after the season, or because it's a rare game his father could make with the Bills on the bye week.'

'“I know we’re all excited, we’re hopeful, that Sammy’s going to be able to play for us this year. But, again, we’re not going to put him out there if he’s not ready to go and we’ll have to evaluate that later because, quite honestly, I can’t answer it. I have no idea if he’ll be ready to play or not, but I know we’re all hopeful he will,” Ryan said.'

'According to ESPN, the Bills have the easiest remaining schedule in the second half of the NFL season, which includes: at Cincinnati (3-4-1), vs Jacksonville (2-6), at Oakland (7-2), vs Pittsburgh (4-4), vs Cleveland (0-9), vs Miami (4-4), and the at New York Jets (3-6), respectively. Those teams combine for a .390 winning percent.'

'The Bills are third in the NFL in touchdowns with 29, and rank eighth in scoring with 26.3 points per game.'

'If Sammy Watkins returns to the lineup — the earliest he can come back is Nov. 27 against Jacksonville — the Bills should not forget about Woods while being overly determined to feed the ball to Watkins. The passing game, as with the rest of the offense, will find its greatest success through balance.'

'He ranks 24th in the NFL with 1,769 yards passing; is 25th with a 60.4 completion percentage among players with 100 or more attempts; and his 87.7 passer rating is 31st. On the positive side, Taylor leads NFL quarterbacks with 362 yards rushing and ranks 10th in attempts (268) versus interceptions (three).'

'“Personally, I’ve always look at it like: I don’t get control of where I kick from on the field or what the game situation is at the time,” Schmidt said. “So I just try to hit the best ball for that time. You could hit like a 30-yard punt, but it could be inside the 10 if you’re close. And on paper, 30 yards brings down your numbers by a lot, but it’s inside the 20. Or you could hit like a bunch of 60-yard punts because you’re backed up and have no inside-the-20s, but your average is high. It all depends on where you kick from.”'

'"They made some horrible calls throughout the game, too. But it’s not a thing where we’re blaming the refs," he said, "I just think that they need to be held accountable for that and at least give some explanation.”'

'These are admittedly very difficult situations to grade Taylor on, but games are won and lost in the final minutes every week in the NFL and general manager Doug Whaley has pointed specifically to late-game situations as an area in which he'd like to see Taylor improve. Taylor's receiving corps has been banged up this year, and losing the game doesn't necessarily mean Taylor played poorly, but the numbers show the Bills need him to do better late in close games.'

'Ultimately, this doesn't benefit Buffalo in any way. The team lost an opportunity to possibly defeat the Seahawks on the road and move to 5-4 on the year. Time will tell if the two officiating errors costs Anderson's crew when it comes to postseason assignments, but Buffalo's Monday Night Football loss could cost them a chance to win a Wild Card spot when all is said and done this season.'

'"I went to block the kick," Sherman said. "I'm not going to let him make a kick. So when they called offsides, I'm not going to let him have a free play. That's not how I play. They didn't blow the whistle so I played until the whistle was blown.'

'Go figure, right? It’s been that kind of week in America. And that kind of era in the NFL under commissioner Goodell, when one player can be suspended a quarter of a season for an unproven, minor football-deflation violation, and another suspended just one or two games after admitting to beating his wife.'

'Sherman said Wednesday he continued to try to block the kick because he did not hear a whistle and figured the Bills would be given a free attempt to make the field goal.'