Archives for September 2017

'The escape was a big one. It came on a third and 6 in the fourth quarter with 9:29 to play. Taylor couldn't find anyone open, and after he drifted to his left he made a move back to his right toward the middle of the pocket. He slipped, and Denver pass-rusher Shaq Barrett was next to him but was unable to corral the quarterback. Taylor put his hand on the ground for balance, reversed his field back to the left, then outran safety Justin Simmons to get the first down.'

'Trevor Siemian threw at him eight times, and completed four of those passes for 65 yards. White defended three passes and added an interception. The Denver quarterback had a passer rating of 38.0 when targeting White, the 10th-lowest figure of 108 qualifying cornerbacks in Week Three.'

'Vance Walker, free agent: Walker spent 2016 on the Broncos' IR list after he suffered an injury that August. In 2015 in Denver, the former Georgia Tech standout had a +11.8 run-stopping grade that featured 25 run-game stops on just 447 snaps. The 30-year-old, 6-foot-2, 304-pound defensive tackle wouldn't provide a ton of pass-rush but could help clog the middle.'

'White looked to have made a good play on the football to break up the pass thrown to Demaryius Thomas, but there was a good amount of contact, and he was flagged. It continued the drive for the Broncos, and they gained 20 more yards before being forced to kick a 38-yard field goal.'

'When McDermott was a safety for the College of William and Mary, one of the graduate assistant coaches in 1994 was Quinn, who worked with the defensive line. Quinn, four years older than McDermott, went on to work for VMI and Hofstra before entering the NFL with the 49ers in 2001. He became head coach of the Falcons in 2015 after a successful two-year stint as defensive coordinator for the Seahawks when Seattle made back-to-back Super Bowl appearances, winning the game following the 2013 season.'

'Of course, the other issue with Dareus – which McDermott raised last week with an NFL Network reporter – is the level of his commitment to the team and whether he’s fully buying in with what’s happening on defense, and his role in it. McDermott was asked again Wednesday whether he’s comfortable with Dareus at this stage.'

' To date Buffalo has faced the New York Jets (30th), Carolina Panthers (28th) and Denver Broncos (11th) offenses. More specifically, they’ve faced journeyman quarterback Josh McCown, a physically limited Cam Newton and second-year starter Trevor Siemian.'

'“I haven’t thought about that,” McCoy said. “That was last week. You see around the whole NFL, people really took the president’s words and really expressed themselves. Some teams didn’t even come out for the national anthem. Guys were just extremely hurt. I guess we’ll go over that with the (team players’) council and see what the team, how we feel together and where we want to go in the future.”'

'"I like LeSean McCoy, don't get me wrong, but I totally, 100 percent I disagree with what he did," Kelly said. "You want to kneel? Fine. But when you go and do what he did yesterday, that sort of bummed me out. And I lost a lot of respect for him. … You want to kneel? That's your prerogative. I would never do that. I will always stand, thank the good Lord for everything I got. But when you disrespect the way he did and just go by his everyday duty in the national anthem being sung? Uh-uh. I won't go for that."'

'"I was extremely hurt to be honest," McCoy said. "Because at first everybody has their own opinion like I talked about. People believe different things. They want to stand up for it or they don't want to stand up for it. That's their right. Some of the words the president used just rubbed me the wrong way. It really did. I was upset and I was frustrated. That was the way I wanted to express myself. I took a knee, I started stretching. I was angry. I was hurt. Like I said before after the game, somebody like the president and being our leader of this country for millions and millions and millions of people. They look at America and see the type of words he's saying about us. It just got to me. It really did. Every week it will be different."'

'Worthy has missed the first three games of the season after suffering a concussion in the Bills' fourth preseason game against the Detroit Lions. He has not practiced since suffering the concussion.'

'After three weeks, the Cincinnati Bengals are 0-3. There's no telling how they'll fare in Week 4, but Buffalo matches up well with Cincinnati. The Bengals are 25th in the league in run defense (129.7 YPG) which bodes well for LeSean McCoy, Tyrod Taylor and company. Offensively, the Bengals are really struggling this season. They've averaged 11 points per game through three weeks and could continue to struggle in the short-term as tight end Tyler Eifert is expected to miss the next few weeks with a back injury.'

'A few days later, gunman James Eagan Holmes walked into midnight screening of the film The Dark Knight Rises and took the lives of 12 people while injuring 70 others. The incident was the largest number of casualties from a mass shooting in United States history until the Orlando nightclub shooting in June of 2016.'

'“This is a good offense, the stats speak for themselves,” McDermott added.'

'“I told (Kelly) exactly: My respect for you hasn’t changed. It’s still very high. He was a hell of a player and I respect him,” McCoy said. “It didn’t affect me at all.”'