Rochester Democrat and Chronicle

‘It wasn’t bad enough that the Bills were a 7.5-point underdog to a team that had a worse record, but then to allow the Colts to spit in the face of that point spread as if it wasn’t enough, because clearly it wasn’t, was a disgrace.’

‘McDermott would have been better served to call out his players for a performance that was downright embarrassing, way worse than the 47-3 opening day loss to the Ravens because those were the playoff-contending Ravens, and these were the 1-5 Colts.’

‘It appeared his left ankle buckled underneath him but the Bills announced that McCoy was being evaluated for a head injury. Later in the half McCoy was downgraded to out for the rest of the game. Coach Sean McDermott said after the game that McCoy has been placed in the league’s concussion protocol.’

‘It is uncertain what happened with McCloud. But whether he broke a team rule, or perhaps his attitude wasn’t proper after the move to elevate Phillips, he’ll be watching the game on television from 500 miles away.’

‘The Bills are a team that seems on the brink of disintegrating. There wasn’t a moment in the final 50 or so minutes of the game where you thought the Bills had a chance to win. They fell behind, kept digging the hole deeper, and by midway through the second quarter it looked like the entire roster had checked out. That’s a problem, and one that Sean McDermott never had to deal with last season, even during that dreadful three-game losing streak in November when Buffalo allowed 135 points. There needs to be some major soul-searching this week at One Bills Drive.’

‘Colts 20, Bills 10.’

‘The Bills offense has now gone six straight games without totaling at least 300 yards of total offense, and in those six games they have failed to reach 20 first downs.’

‘“They love to throw the ball and he’s doing a good job of it,’’ Bills safety Micah Hyde said of Luck. “Andrew has always been a decisive guy, always knows basically what the defense is doing on the snap, he does a good job of hard snaps and making the defense get lined up. It’s another tough challenge for us. At the end of the day it’s about making plays on the ball because he’s going to be throwing it.’’’

‘“Absolutely, I’ve thought about that multiple times this week,” he said, especially with Buffalo as the opponent. “And the lessons learned from that comeback game are one play at a time and the lessons learned are when the obstacles to come are really big, you can’t do it yourself, it takes a team effort. That’s really our approach, just get better today, practice well today, lift weights well today, get better today.”’

‘He was a stud last year for the Hokies as he caught 71 passes for 962 yards and seven touchdowns while earning all-ACC first-team recognition. For his career at Virginia Tech, he caught 236 passes for 3,027 yards and 17 TDs.’

‘Peterman, who said after practice, “I respect the decision,” has endured nothing but misery in his time with the Bills. He has now appeared in seven games counting his cameo at the end of the Bills’ playoff loss in Jacksonville. He has completed just 36 of 82 passes (43.9 percent) with three touchdowns and 10 interceptions. His passer rating is historically horrible at 29.11, and last week’s game-losing pick-six in Houston only diminished that number.’

‘The choice of Anderson, 35, who has played in 76 NFL games over Peterman, 24, who has played in six – tossing an interception once every 8.8 attempts – fell solidly into the “no-brainer’’ classification.’

‘Watching the replay, it certainly looks like Mercilus lowered his helmet and aimed it right at Allen’s elbow, and in an age where protecting the quarterback seems to be more important than anything else, referee Craig Wrolstad did not throw a flag.’

‘Get to know Derek Anderson: A by the numbers look at the Buffalo Bills QB…’.

‘“Unfortunately, a similar formula, too many mistakes early,’’ said Reich, whose Colts host the Bills on Sunday at Lucas Oil Stadium, a game pitting two teams fighting to stay relevant. “I can say this at the outset: We believe in what we’re doing. We believe in our guys. We just need to play better football.”’