Olean Times Herald

‘As McDermott pointed out several times on Wednesday, he’s here to win for the future, but also win now. Clearly he decided Tyrod had peaked and that a rookie QB gave them just as much of a chance to win as did a 7-year veteran.’

‘Outside linebacker Lorenzo Alexander, at 34 the Bills oldest player, conceded, “I don’t have (an) answer as far as what we can do. We’ve just got to be professionals, correct (the mistakes) and have a better total effort defensively the next game.” To which Brown added, “We have to change something (but) I’m not sure what that is right now.” And maybe that’s the most troubling takeaway from Sunday’s loss.’

‘No matter how McDermott spins it, the Bills are in trouble.’

‘“It starts up front at the line of scrimmage … that’s where the game is won and we’ve got to do a better job there,” first-year coach Sean McDermott said when asked why the Bills are struggling.’

‘When the Bills host the Saints this afternoon at New Era Field, it’s not a stretch to suggest that the rest of Buffalo’s season could well be in the balance.’

‘The Saints are first in the NFL with fewest sacks surrendered (eight in as many games) while the Bills’ defense is 28th of 32 teams in generating sacks (only 14).’

‘At age 38, in his 17th season, Brees has the Saints at 6-2, tops in the NFC South, and on a 6-game win streak.’

‘“We’ve certainly done some good things,” McDermott said. “We’re still building, we’re not where we need to be. We’ve won five games, which I’m proud of. (But) we have to continue to build; continue to evolve as a football team, (doing) what it takes to win on a week-to-week basis; what’s it going to take to win in order to get to the playoffs; what’s it going to take to win when you’re in the playoffs? That’s a coming of age of an organization; a coming of age of a football team.”‘

‘Making Benjamin inactive was probably a good decision. Besides his brief time with the team, it would have been a bad optic, especially for the psyche of rookie second-round draft choice Zay Jones, who stands to lose his starting job when the former Panther is ready.’

‘What was most bothersome about this Buffalo defeat is that it was reminiscent of the Rex Ryan teams the past two years.’

‘They come into tonight 3-5, one of those losses to the Bills on the road in the season opener. But after an 0-2 start, the Jets won three straight and could easily have doubled that streak. They were absolutely shafted when the NFL’s reviewers in New York nullified an obvious Jets’ TD late in a 24-17 loss to New England. It’s the consensus worst call of the year.’

‘“As a younger player you tend to go out there and be a little shook. But we didn’t see that … we’re teaching ‘next man up’ and these guys are going out there to ball.”’

‘Of the current 53-man roster, 29 are new faces.’

‘However, on this day, though the Bills played three backups on defense — linebacker Matt Milano, cornerback Shareece Wright and safety Trae Elston — they held Pro Bowl quarterback Derek Carr in check. Yeah, he was 31-of-49 passing for 313 yards — the third straight 300-yard passer against Buffalo — but he managed only a 4-yard touchdown pass to DeAndre Washington and threw a pair of interceptions to Elston and fellow safety Micah Hyde, his NFL-leading fifth of the season.’

‘Mack shifted between both sides of the line out of Oakland’s defensive huddles, sometimes standing up, sometimes in a three-point stance against Buffalo right tackle Jordan Mills or left tackle Cordy Glenn. But he only reached the vicinity of Taylor on a handful of plays and hit him once.’