Archives for October 3, 2017

'A day after Buffalo beat the NFC’s Super Bowl representative and one of the National Football League’s two undefeated teams … on the road, that’s exactly what he was doing.'

'“To see him in training camp and the preseason games, to see that the game wasn’t too big for him early on in our discussion about ‘should we start a rookie, and if we are going to start a rookie, when should we put him in the starting lineup.’ It was evident to us early on that this guy could handle it.”'

'The culture change he’s spearheading isn’t limited to the scope of his locker room. This is a complete organizational overhaul, one that requires everyone inside the facility to adopt a new outlook and a new standard.'

'So if the Bills are middling it, this is an opportune time for it. There's a vast NFL middle and it's not hard to see the playoffs from there. For four weeks, at least, the Bills are winning while laying a foundation for the future. They're a confident, well-coached team, one that should be even better in the years ahead if Beane and Co. hit in the drafts.'

'The game was a mixed bag for all five linemen. Center Eric Wood had a tough assignment blocking Grady Jarrett much of the day. Wood held Jarrett once and was beaten by him three times. But Wood bulled him on a key third-and-1 play and held up vs. Jarrett on four other important positive run plays. Passing grade for Wood.'

'“This is life in the NFL,” coach Sean McDermott said Monday. “This is what happens. We're certainly facing adversity. We've faced adversity before, and this is only going to make us stronger.'

'On the 15 pass plays in which he was "kept clean," Taylor completed 10 of 15 throws – and one drop – for 104 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions, a stat line good for a 108.8 passer rating, the 12th-highest out of 30 qualifying signal-callers.'

'Let's examine all of the Bills' penalties in their win over the Falcons. At the bottom of this article is a collection of the flags through four games in the 2017 season.'

'Brandon [Beane] and I talk about a lot of things. At this point, we haven’t had any of those conversations about Anquan, but we look at everything every week to improve our football team. We’re going to have a lot of conversations this afternoon, but this is why, with respect to injuries, this is why we develop and count on players to develop in our system. Our coaches work with our backups who stepped up last night, did a great job, I thought, in a couple key areas in the game. We work with our practice squad players in the same way that we develop. You need depth in this league to sustain wins. Injuries are going to hit every team.'

'Peter King mentioned the Bills several times in his MMQB column, listing their 3-1 start as one of the early season oddities that “nobody saw coming,” referring to “rising teams like Buffalo coming out of nowhere” when discussing the AFC playoff picture, and awarding them the Bill Parcells Memorial Clock-Eating Scoring Drive of the Season for their 19-play, 11:20 possession on Sunday. King also selected Stephen Hauschka as his special teams player of the week.'

'The Bills tight end had gone over 100 yards in a game three times in his NFL career before. The first came in Week Two of 2013 as a member of the Dolphins, but his overall grade was just +1.0 (+0.7 pass-catching, +0.3) run-blocking). He had six grabs for 114 yards in Week Sixteen the following season. However, that game yielded a PFF overall grade of +2.2. Before Sunday, the last 100-plus yard effort from Clay came as a member of the Bills against the Giants in Week Four of 2015. While he had a +1.9 pass-catching grade in that one, his run-blocking score was -2.0.'

'But Bills coach Sean McDermott called time out before the play. Atlanta stayed in its base personnel for fourth down. Buffalo switched its defensive line, subbing stouter defensive tackles Kyle Williams and Cedric Thornton for Jerel Worthy and Ryan Davis. Jerry Hughes and Lorenzo Alexander were at defensive end. Preston Brown and Matt Milano were the linebackers. But Johnson didn't re-enter the game.'

'"The coaches put together a good game plan across the board and they stayed with it," coach Sean McDermott said. "This is a tough place to play. They are the defending NFC Champions, with one of the top quarterbacks in the league. Things didn’t always go our way. We had some things we would like back so we have some work we have to do in that regard, but I am just extremely happy with the way the guys battled, they are a very resilient group."'

'They're playoff chum: It feels weird thinking about the playoff implications of the Bills' Week Five game in a year they were presumed to be rebuilding, but at 3-1 it's not crazy. The Bills have a viable path to 10 wins if they beat the Bengals (1-3), Jets (2-2), Chargers (0-4), Colts (1-2), and Dolphins (1-2) twice, plus one of Tampa/Oakland/New Orleans/Kansas City/New England (x2). Every mention of the Bills actually having a shot comes with obligatory reminders to, 1) pump the brakes, and 2) remember nothing ever goes this smooth in the NFL … but this scenario strikes me as not unrealistic. If the Bills are thinking playoffs, this is a game they have to have.'

' Defensive tackle Marcell Dareus played just 22 snaps in his first game back after missing Week Three because of an ankle injury. Dareus' snap count was the lowest of any player on defense. He did not record any statistics, and remains at one assisted tackle in three games.'