Archives for December 7, 2016

'The excuse-making for Tyrod Taylor needs to stop.'

'"I wish I could follow the best receiver, but whatever the coach want me to do, I’ll do," Gilmore said this week. "It’s another good receiver this year I’m playing against. I went against a lot of great receivers and did my thing."'

'From 2013-16, the Bills have spent $573,647,850 — the seventh most in the NFL, according to information released Monday from the NFLPA. The teams ahead of them are: 1. Philadelphia ($614M), 2. Denver ($587M), 3. Seattle ($584M), 4. Green Bay ($583M) 5. Miami ($578M) and 6. Kansas City ($576M).'

'Dareus and Williams, who weren't particularly effective in last Sunday's second-half defensive meltdown at Oakland, need to be able to win at least some of their battles against dominant Steelers center Maurkice Pouncey and right guard David DeCastro. Le'Veon Bell had a career-first third consecutive 100-yard rushing game in the Steelers' victory against the New York Giants last Sunday.'

'And losing it the way they did, by blowing a 15-point lead in the third quarter as they allowed the Raiders to score 29 unanswered points, makes it the sort of game that should have team owners Terry and Kim Pegula doing something other than saying, "Well, they did have Derek Carr and Amari Cooper and Michael Crabtree … and we did have some key injuries … and it was a long trip to the West Coast … and we were playing in the Black Hole, where the franchise had never won in 50 years."'

'The Bills’ 38-24 loss to the Raiders had a 41.6 rating on WIVB-TV, the local CBS affiliate. That beat the previous season high of 41.3 for the Bills victory over the Los Angeles Rams in October.'

'Oakland's defensive front is far more lightweight this year than it was in 2015, and Richie Incognito was able to take full advantage of that this week in the run game, paving the way for some nice runs from LeSean McCoy. McCoy averaged 7.6 yards per carry, and while much of that, as always, was down to him, one 29-yard carry did go right inside of Incognito's block.'

'Tweeted sometime during the third quarter Sunday that the Bills looked awfully impressive. Then they were just plain awful. Literally five minutes after that thought bubble punctured the Twitterverse, Tyrod Taylor starting playing like Bruce Mathison (look him up), the defense appeared to be transported by Scotty directly from the Gailey years and the rest of the afternoon became a Silver & Black track meet. Now what? Win out. Steelers, Browns, Dolphins, Jets … Gotta win out.'

'If you need any evidence that Rex and his ragtag bunch lack a backbone, the loss in Oakland was ripe with examples. Start with the end of the first half when the Bills were up 10-6 and had the football. Instead of putting their foot on the gas and trying to score points, the Bills tried to run out the clock and punted the ball to the Raiders with 30 seconds to go in the half.'

'The question for the Bills is whether Taylor is worth keeping around. He's due to make $27.5 million in 2017. The Bills could cut him loose after this season. Do you gamble and pay him the money, or do you go in a different direction? The front office has a big decision ahead of them in the next few months.'

'QB Tyrod Taylor: Snaps on the Field: 72/72: Grade vs. Raiders: D-plus.'

'“Yeah it’s angles and edges now,” said Felton about the blocking schemes of today’s game. “Every once in a while you get opportunities to really go head up and feel the surge in those scenarios. It is different and I’ve had to adapt and I think I’ve done a good job of that here, especially this year.”'

'Also on the defensive side of the ball, Ryan said that linebacker Lerentee McCray was placed into the concussion protocol on Monday and the team will watch him as the week goes on. McCray has appeared in all 12 games this season and has made an impact on special teams.'