Archives for September 11, 2017

'Living down to expectations: This didn't figure to be all that scintillating a display of football, and it wasn't. The Jets looked every bit as awful as anticipated as they begin their tank. At times, the Bills, who are taking a little less of a future-based approach, played down to the Jets' level, missing on a pair of scoring opportunities.'

'The Jets' two star defensive linemen – Leonard Williams and Muhammad Wilkerson – were mostly neutralized by the Bills' offensive linemen. Williams was the Jets' best defensive player last season and one of the top 10 interior defensive lineman in the NFL. He was kept out of the Bills' backfield. The sixth overall pick in 2015 had four tackles two quarterback hits. Cordy Glenn did a good job walling off Williams on the backside of LeSean McCoy's 27-yard run in the fourth quarter. Wilkerson, a first-round pick in 2011, had just two tackles and didn't get into the backfield. The Bills gained 4.5 yards a carry on 42 attempts and finished with 190 rushing yards, the most allowed by the Jets' defense in the last 28 games. The Jets' defensive front wasn't awful. But it needs to be outstanding-to-great in order to carry this cast of Jets' misfits.'

'The Bills forced the Jets to respect LeSean McCoy's ability to get outside on zone-blocking stretch plays. Then new offensive coordinator Rick Dennison hit the Jets with counter-punches.'

'Poyer's pick of Josh McCown on the Bills' 23-yard line with 6:44 to play turned the tide for good. He made an excellent play on the ball, stealing it away from Robby Anderson for the Bills' first turnover of the season.'

'The Jets' touchdown drive was their first solid possession of the game. They drove 75 yards in 11 plays after Holmes' touchdown – almost exclusively through the air – while picking up five downs, which doubled their total on the day.'

'Wide left: Stephen Hauschka missed his first field-goal attempt as a Bill, hooking the ball wide left from 46 yards out.'

'The Bills marched down the field on the opening drive but failed to punch it in from the 2-yard line. Mike Tolbert lost 6 yards back to the 8, Tyrod Taylor had a pass batted down, and then Taylor threw behind Charles Clay – getting the tight end hammered – and had his tipped pass intercepted.'

'What in the name of Doug Marrone is going on here? Down 9 with 4 minutes to go, Todd Bowles inexplicably decided to punt. Why, I can’t even begin to know. Bowles said something about playing field position, but what a ridiculous decision. Bilal Powell, possibly the team’s best offensive player, didn’t get his first touch until there was a little more than 3 minutes left in the first half. Yikes.'

'I feel good. I feel good. Very thankful, very thankful. Thank God for the win. Praise God. That was a great team victory. Thank Terry and Kim [Pegula for" target="_blank"> giving us the resources that they give us. Just like I said, it was an entire building win. Good to win as a team and extremely proud of the players the way they played. It’s never easy to win in this league and they played hard for four quarters. I certainly appreciate that. I also appreciate the fans. Four quarters, hanging in there with us. The intensity, the energy in this building was outstanding. Outstanding. To carry that for four quarters, I can’t thank them enough. It’s great to play at home, and we look forward to seeing them in a couple weeks here.'

'The Bills welcomed 23 players from the 1992 roster plus Kent Hull's widow to celebrate old memories that would be easy for the Patriots to pretend never existed had NFL Films, the NFL Network and ESPN not repeatedly stamped "The Comeback" as Buffalo's.'

'Spikeball, a once-obscure game dating back to the 1980s that has gained newfound popularity in recent years after a 2015 appearance on the ABC show “Shark Tank,” involves a small ball and a circular net that is positioned parallel to the ground, and only a few inches above it. The rules are similar to volleyball, but Spikeball is otherwise unique.'

'With Mabin and Clay inactive, the Bills will have just four cornerbacks and four wide receivers against New York.'

'As a pass-rusher, the top-five pick didn't have a spectacular campaign in 2016. In Rex Ryan's defense, he was asked to read, then react more often than simply attack up field, and he was the target of consistent double teams.'

'However, we can all agree that the Bills have a lot of work to do if they hope to beat just about everyone else (except the Jets later) on their schedule because in many ways, they were fortunate it was the Jets on the other sideline Sunday.'

'McCoy is getting better with age and Sunday raised his career yards from scrimmage to 12,043, starting the day 64th on the NFL’s career list before passing Don Maynard, Michael Irvin and Clinton Portis. He’s a long way from the Top 10, which includes Bills great Thurman Thomas (16,532) but McCoy has the type of running style and inner drive that makes longevity possible. And longevity, he noted, equals moving up the ranks as he moves the chains.'