Archives for October 2017

‘”I had it on my calendar when the schedule came out,” said Holmes, who was with the Raiders from 2013-16. “I was really excited to compete against my old teammates and team.”‘

‘To borrow a phrase from coach Sean McDermott, they have a “playoff caliber” defense that has taken the ball away at least three times in four consecutive games. The offense didn’t play a perfect game, and still put up 34 points. The Bills absolutely smoked an Oakland team that was supposed to be a Super Bowl contender.’

‘For the second game in a row, the Bills’ offensive line controlled the line of scrimmage and incorporated a variety of run plays for which the Raiders had few answers.’

‘Bills cornerback Leonard Johnson used sound fundamentals and dropped his shoulder into Oakland running back DeAndre Washington after a short check-down pass. But the Bills’ defense is on a turnover-frenzy roll, and Johnson said he was thinking turnover all the way.’

‘The Bills dared to leave their unheralded right tackle one on one vs. the Raiders’ sackmaster on a bunch of pass plays. It was not double-team blocking against Mack all the time. Mack had just two tackles. Neither he nor sack-make Bruce Irvin took down Tyrod Taylor.’

‘The Bills entered the game tied for fourth in the NFL in takeaways with 13 and created four more. They lead the NFL in turnover ratio at plus-14.’

‘Did you miss Marcell Dareus? Neither did the Bills. Adolphus Washington started in Dareus’ place next to Kyle Williams and finished with three tackles, while Cedric Thornton chipped in two. Jerel Worthy was held off the stat sheet, but he rotated in, as well. Defensive end Jerry Hughes had the team’s only tackle for a loss. He’s been underrated against the run this year.’

‘The win lifted the Bills to 5-2 for the first time since 2011, when they proceeded to drop their next seven games.’

‘Sean McDermott’s defense created its second and third turnovers of the game in the quarter, with Mike Tolbert recovering a Jalen Richard fumble on a punt and Micah Hyde intercepting a Derek Carr pass that was tipped by Preston Brown. The Bills were only able to get field goals off of both possessions, but they gave them needed breathing room before the touchdown drive pushed the lead to 20.’

‘Cornerback Leonard Johnson jarred the ball loose from running back DeAndré Washington after a completed pass, and Milano, a fifth-round pick, caught the ball in the air and returned it 40 yards to the end zone for the Bills’ second touchdown of the quarter.’

‘They were forced to punt on both of their first-quarter possessions, with LeSean McCoy running three times for 5 yards.’

‘Well, I thought Leslie Frazier and the defensive staff put a good game plan together. It starts there, and then the players put the time in during the week. We really embrace the ‘next man up’ approach. You saw that with [Matt] Milano making another big play or two [and] Trae Elston making another big play, so it was good team defense, I thought, throughout the game. You know, they do have weapons.’

‘So much for that Tank Bowl: Buffalo may have known the Bills weren’t tanking this season, but that didn’t stop New York outlets from referring to the Bills-Jets Week One matchup as the Tank Bowl. So much for that. The Bills are 5-2 and right on the heels of the Patriots, who can’t seem to figure out their defense but still have Tom Brady. The Jets have lost three straight but played the Patriots for first place in the division in Week Six while the Bills were on the bye. They own wins over the Dolphins (4-3), Jaguars (4-3) and Browns (0-8). They may not be a playoff team, but they’re certainly not as bad as anyone expected.’

‘”The people of Buffalo are fun-spirited, loyal people, hard-working, blue-collar people and it was always a good time,” said Mack.’

‘There was a pregame ceremony that included law enforcement officers, and owners Terry and Kim Pegula presented Lehner’s mother, Kathy, with a game ball. The ceremony also included Shield, the 4-year-old German shepherd who was Lehner’s inseparable partner.’