Archives for December 2016

'Mike Gillislee capped a 10-play drive with his second touchdown of the game on the Bills' next possession, putting them up 24-9 with 24 minutes to play.'

'The Bills did a great job neutralizing All-Pro defensive end/linebacker Khalil Mack in the first half. He was in on only three tackles and didn’t record a quarterback hit. He made one tackle for loss late in the second quarter but didn’t have any game-changing plays.'

'Taylor hit Watkins twice on the drive (while going 6 for 7 for 75 yards) after not targeting him until the second quarter last week.'

'It’s a problem when McCoy is the team’s leading receiver, as he was with seven catches for 61 yards. Buffalo’s longest completion was a 22-yarder to Justin Hunter that served as his only catch. Tyrod Taylor has now gone three straight games throwing for less than 200 yards. He and Sammy Watkins clearly weren’t on the same page on at least a couple occasions Sunday. The injuries at wide receiver certainly don’t help, but that excuse is getting old. General Manager Doug Whaley can share some of the blame for mismanaging the position if the players on the field can’t get it done.'

'Also inactive Sunday for the Bills are: cornerback Ronald Darby (concussion), wide receivers Percy Harvin (migraines) and Robert Woods (knee), quarterback Cardale Jones, tight end Logan Thomas and defensive tackle Jerel Worthy.'

'The Bills played the way losers play, the way a team that doesn’t know how to win plays. They played scared, they played conservative, they played not to lose, and of course, what did they end up doing? They lost.'

'What a charade. What that line doesn’t say is that for the miracle to happen, the first thing they’re going to have to do is win their remaining four games, and after watching that performance in Oakland Sunday, does anyone truly believe they’re capable of sweeping the last four, especially when the gauntlet starts with the Steelers next week?'

'It was a complete quarter of misery for the Bills as they allowed two more touchdowns to the Raiders to lose the game. The offense stunk, the defense stunk, the special teams stunk, and the coaches stunk.'

'As horrendous as this loss wound up being, it wasn’t a completely horrendous day. The Bills played very well for 2½ quarters and seemed to be in command with a 24-9 lead before it all came crashing down in spectacular, season-killing fashion. But this is what the Bills do, they almost always fail in a big spot, which this was, and it should come as no surprise that they lost to a team that is now 10-2. Oakland is clearly the better team, I can’t deny that, but the Bills had a 15-point lead and proceeded to play some of their worst football, in all three phases, thereafter. They’re 6-6. That’s what they are.'

'The Bills could have punched back. A more well-coached team might have stopped the bleeding. Rex Ryan's team went three-and-out, allowed the Raiders to score 29 unanswered points and lost its sixth game of the season, this one by a score of 38-24.'

'"Look, let's just let this play out," Ryan said. "We feel pretty comfortable with Tyrod. There's a lot of factors that go into everything. Obviously their quarterback is, I don't know how many fourth quarter things he's brought back this year, but it's a whole bunch of them and another one today. But with that being said, there's other factors that go into it."'

'"I just think it's a testament to what the o-line has been doing up front, and I think it's a combination of the backs as a whole," Murray said after the game. "Yeah, I'm going in there and putting in a bunch of touchdowns, especially on the goal line, but on that first one, I told Jalen, 'Thank you.' Because he's the one who set that up for me. DeAndre as well. It's been a team effort, a group effort, starting with the o-line and the running backs as a whole. I've just been fortunate to get the opportunities to finish off the runs."'

'Well, that escalated quickly.'

'Of the 16 games that will be played this season, this is one the front office could look at and question whether this coaching staff has what it takes to lead this team to the playoffs. Playoff teams don't blow 15-point leads and give up 29 unanswered points. That's inexcusable.'

'"You feel that momentum shift and it just snowballed on us," coach Rex Ryan said. "Sometimes I think we lose confidence and you just can't let that happen to you."'