Archives for September 25, 2017

'That Von Miller penalty might be the worst I've ever seen. Seriously. Both guys were laughing. That's inexcusable in that spot. Inexcusable.'

'Tyrod Taylor didn't rack up the yards against the Broncos, but he was efficient on Sunday. Taylor completed 20-of-26 passes for 213 yards and two touchdowns. The quarterback also picked up a crucial first down late in the game with his feet. Denver applied a lot of pressure to Taylor throughout Sunday's game, but the quarterback did a great job of taking what was available in front of him.'

'"I am told he is in a make-or-break year for the Buffalo Bills, needs to show this administration he is in fact all in, to stay with this team," Rapoport said of Dareus on NFL Network's Gameday Morning. "This is the same Marcell Dareus who got sent home for the third week of the preseason for violating a team rule. He does have a tough contract to get out from under, but this is a player — a really good player — who needs to show the team a lot during this 2017 season."'

'You know, they’ve done a great job. I mean, they’re playing well. We had a couple plays today that got away from us but they are a resilient bunch. They really are. If it’s not the front getting after the quarterbacks, somebody else is making a big play for us in the back seven. They play as a team, which that’s how you play good defense in football. You play as a team and they did a good job of feeding off of one another and really just doing their job, being one-eleventh of the defense. '

'"Well, the flag, the national anthem means a lot to me, to my teammates," McCoy said. "We had a long meeting on Saturday night, and I was very bothered by the comments of our president of this country. As a president, you're supposed to lead us, you're supposed to bring us together. You're supposed to lead this country. I can't stand and support something where our leader of this country is acting like a jerk."'

'"I think it comes from leadership," Incognito said. "I think it comes from the top down. I think it comes from Sean. The same consistent message. Having an open forum, letting guys talk about it and not just ignoring the fact that all of this stuff is going on. I think coach did a really good job of addressing it. The team leaders did a really good job of talking this thing out. I think when you're able to do that, you're able to put it to the side and focus on the task at hand."'

'45 (President Trump) is going to say those things and, as disturbing as that is, that’s not what our leader is supposed to do. Our leader, especially of Americans, our leader of our country is supposed to be bringing everybody together, no matter race, no matter nationality, no matter religion. We’re here in this country as free people and we’re all here to be Americans. It doesn’t really matter. That’s how our country was brought up, so for 45 to divide the nation like that, it’s sad, but, you know, at the end of the day, you kind of expect it from our president.'

'Videographer Joed Viera asked fans for their thoughts after the game and, not surprisingly, there were strong opinions.'

'Here's a look at how fans in attendance reacted and how fans on social media felt.'

'Here’s a list of the Bills players who took a knee.'

'Shaq Lawson, Charles Clay, Marcell Dareus. McCoy, Mike Tolbert, Ryan Davis, Shareece Wright, Leonard Johnson, Cedric Thornton and Kaelin Clay were among the players who knelt during the anthem. Other players linked arms and put their hands on the shoulders of the players who were kneeling. Bills coach Sean McDermott linked arms with his players, while former Bills quarterback Jim Kelly put a fist in the air.'

'"There's so many things I admire about Mr. Trump, but one thing I really admire about him is, you know what, he'll say what's on his mind," Ryan said. "But so many times, you'll see people, a lot of people want to say the same thing. But there's a big difference. They don't have the courage to say it. They all think it, but they don't have the courage to say it.'

'The Bills will travel to Atlanta to play the Falcons next week and have opened up as an eight-point underdog in the game. The Falcons have one of the league's best offenses and haven't shown too many ill effects from their devastating Super Bowl loss a year ago.'

'Following the contest, multiple players on the Bills used the words unity, equality, and love to describe their decision to protest. The team also had a meeting on Saturday evening to discuss how they would react. ESPN first reported the meeting and the Batavia Daily News later confirmed it.'

'Running game still stale: For all that was well in the passing game, it wasn’t really at all in the running game. LeSean McCoy was held under 50 yards and Mike Tolbert was the team’s leading rusher on the day. McCoy had nine yards on 12 carries a week ago. But interestingly enough, it appeared Denver employed the same plan they did against the Dallas Cowboys last week, shutting down the run game and daring the Bills to beat them through the air. They did.'