Archives for December 2016

'• Lorenzo Alexander: He played every defensive snap, along with 17 on special teams, and got his first sack since Week Nine. Alexander now has 11.5 sacks on the season. That's more than Khalil Mack has.'

'Lynn knows the players, the players know and like and respect him. He already has a good idea of what works and what doesn't with the current roster, and what changes he wants to see going forward. He is offensive-minded, which would be the logical type of replacement for the defensive-oriented Ryan. Lynn also is known for being strict and demanding with players, and detail-oriented, which is the exact opposite of Ryan's approach.'

'Canadian chef Matty Matheson from the TV show "Dead Set on Life" on Viceland visited Orchard Park earlier this season to dig his teeth into some of Bills tailgaters' best dishes and soak in the experience from the famous Hammer's Lot.'

'“We built a team that wants to be physical, and they took it to us,” Ryan said. “They took our blueprint and outperformed us. They ran the ball, did a great job.”'

'McCoy was named to the Pro Bowl last season, his first with the Bills, but it was a somewhat dubious honor as he missed four games with injuries and rushed for only 895 yards. This year, there was no doubt about his inclusion on the team.'

'"Probably this year I probably deserve it more than last year," McCoy said. "It's a collective type of achievement. I think the guys up front blocking away for me week-in-week-out. Tight ends and wide receivers and Jerome Felton, so it's all together type of achievement."'

'"I missed eight weeks, so I can't really say too much," Watkins said Tuesday. "I can say, I think that we can be one of the best passing teams. We have all the weapons and guys, I think it's more-so we have to put more effort into passing than running and mixing everything up, which we've been doing a good job of. We've got to do better at passing. It takes passing to win games. Like I said, our rushing's been, we've been rushing for 300 yards, but this league is changing. It's a passing league, so in order to win those tough games against the Raiders or Kansas City or New England, I think we're going to need to pass the ball against those guys."'

'"It's kind of hard to take in sometimes because that's our teammate and we love Aaron," cornerback Nickell Robey-Coleman said. "I know I love Aaron and he's been battling injuries this whole season. Things were just getting good for us on that back end with him back there. From that standpoint, I feel like he took one of our guys away from us."'

'The Bills keep hovering around the .500 mark and not just this season. Buffalo is 24-22 the past three seasons but have no playoff berths to show for it. The Bills are still technically alive, and a win against Miami on Saturday could keep them in the hunt.'

'"There's so many things that he gets blamed for that's out of his control," McCoy said. "I think as players, we need to step up as men and be accountable, be mature. There's certain things that happen during the course of games that he's not out there playing."'

'I'm projecting the Bills to move on from Tyrod Taylor because I don't think they see him as an $18 million-a-year franchise quarterback. They could get out of his contract after the season for a small cap hit. Taylor is 14-13 as a starter in his career, and he hasn't gotten an endorsement from the front office or Rex Ryan, who might be out after the season. Taylor's completion percentage has dropped from 63.7 percent to 60.6, and his yards per attempt are down from 8.0 to 6.8.'

'In fact, Williams started all 15 games he appeared in for Buffalo last season, while this season he started the first five but hasn’t the past six. Despite that, he doesn’t miss Western New York, the place he’ll be returning to for the first time as a member of the Miami Dolphins on Saturday afternoon.'

'While it’s his first season as a defensive starter in the NFL, Alexander was named to the 2012 Pro Bowl as a special teamer while with Washington.'

'Injuries usually aren't an excuse in the NFL, but the Bills have been hit hard by some significant injuries this season. The lack of roster depth shouldn't be blamed on Rex Ryan. (That's on general manager Doug Whaley.) A healthier defensive unit could've made a difference in at least one or two games this season."'

'Here’s the Coles Notes lowdown on the contract situation that’s facing (if he survives a potential house cleaning) Bills GM Doug Whaley: Bring Taylor back on a one-year deal in 2017 for the ridiculous price tag of $27.5 million (not happening), exercise options in the contract for 2018 through 2021 and commit, renegotiate the deal completely based upon another season of up-and-down work, or cut the dual-threat pivot outright and move on.'