Bills know there are problems to solve 14NOV11

I still have faith in the Bills, they are still my team as they have been for 40+ years, and I, like all their other fans, expect them to address the coaching and team performance issues that have plagued them the last two games and start winning again, starting with this Sunday's game in Miami. The one reason I think they can do this, after reading this article, is there is no finger pointing by any of the Bills players quoted. Just like when they were celebrating their wins earlier this season and there was no one player claiming responsibility for the win but all celebrated their victories as a team the players are also accepting responsibility for these losses as a team. That team attitude, team spirit, gives me hope for the Bills for the rest of their season.

After their loss to the Jets, the men in Buffalo’s locker room felt it was their own lackluster play that cost them an important division game at home two weeks ago. After their second consecutive lopsided defeat the feeling has changed to genuine concern. At 5-4 the margin for error for the Bills has been significantly reduced. Going on the road again this week to face a Miami team that’s finally on track with two straight victories has Buffalo’s players determined to find answers.
“Against the Jets we thought we just came out and just played flat,” said David Nelson. “Obviously, it’s an issue and it’s something we have to look at and compare the two games and get better from. In the past this year we’ve gotten better after a loss and this week we got worse. We have to re-evaluate what we were doing, come together as a team and move on.”
For the Bills offense the big play has been noticeably absent the past two weeks. In their first six games Buffalo had at least one play of 40 yards or more, and were routinely turning in 10-12 plays of 15 yards or more per outing. On Sunday Buffalo had just six plays of 15 yards or more with four coming in the fourth quarter with the game out of reach. The Bills’ longest play from scrimmage was just 21 yards.
“It was definitely tough,” said Fred Jackson, who had two of those six plays. “It’s not the performance we wanted to put on myself included. They came out ready to play and they made plays. We didn’t, myself included. I didn’t make plays and that’s part of the game. We’ve got to look at it and learn from it.”
Head coach Chan Gailey believes the Bills can still move the ball on anyone and feels the execution has not been sharp enough of late. At the same time he made it plain that his team is not going to be playing after the regular season is through if the current level of play continues.
“I believe in the character of the football team and we will regroup and continue to work to get better,” said Gailey. “So my responsibility as the coach is to get our guys back to playing where we were playing earlier in the season. Right now we’re more of a pretender than a contender.”
Defensively, the problems are two-fold. The run defense has allowed runs to bounce outside for extra yardage and the pass rush has not generated enough pressure to disrupt opposing quarterbacks the past two weeks.
Mark Sanchez (20-28 passing) and Tony Romo (23-26) have combined for a completion percentage of almost 80 percent the past two weeks (79.6%) for 500 yards.
“Pressure, coverage, tackling, everything you do on defense needs to be better,” said Drayton Florence. “That sense of urgency throughout the whole game just wasn’t there. It was a must win game for them just like it was a must win game for us and they out-executed us in all phases and it showed.”
In the same breath Florence believes the defense can get back to what made them successful earlier this season, which were timely blitzes and takeaways.
“You’ve seen us beat good teams in this league,” he said. “I think you know we’re capable. You’ve just got to do it. Just because you come in capable doesn’t mean you’re going to win. They’re just as capable as we are and they made the plays and we didn’t. They whipped our (expletive). That’s the bottom line.”
What cropped up as a new issue Sunday were mental errors, something uncharacteristic of a Chan Gailey coached team. Buffalo only had three penalties Sunday, but it was the mental errors in terms of execution.
“We had a lot of mistakes (Sunday),” said Fitzpatrick. “It wasn’t just one guy. It was everybody. I’m the quarterback. You usually see my mistakes the most and I had a lot of them. Mentally we didn’t even play the game we usually do. We made too many mistakes.”
“People running wide open down the field, that can’t happen on this level or any level for that matter,” said Kelvin Sheppard. “It’s just a matter that we know it’s got to stop now point blank.”
The Bills believe they can get back to what helped them sprint out to a 4-1 start on both sides of the ball, and after their first pair of back-to-back defeats the sense of urgency is palpable in Buffalo’s locker room.
“Something has to be done," said Danny Batten. "We have to respond, rally and win some games. We have no choice. We have worked too hard to go 5-11. We know what that feels like. We have to rally, keep working, work harder, whatever it is.”
“If we want to have any thoughts of being what we planned on being, then it has to stop now,” said Sheppard. “Something has to change.”
“We have seven games left in the season,” said Bryan Scott. “It is make or break at this point. As a team we have a bunch of fighters. Our guys are resilient. A lot is just going to be said in these next few weeks. How do we respond to it?”

Underdog label just how Bills like it 13OKT11

SING ALONG NOW, YOU KNOW THE TUNE.....HEY BUFFALO BILLS, YOU'RE GIVING US THRILLS, GO BUFFALO BILLS!!!! 

They’ve used the term ‘misfits’ more than once in describing themselves. When you weren’t drafted, or you’ve bounced around the league a bit you tend to feel a bit unwanted. But the men in Buffalo’s locker room have used their collective history of being cast offs as fuel every Sunday. The will to prove the doubters wrong along with a healthy amount of what is still largely unrecognized talent is what has the Bills sitting atop the AFC East at 4-1.
Head coach Chan Gailey was asked how he feels his team responds when being cast as the underdog.
“We’re used to it,” Gailey deadpanned.
Truth be told, the Bills relish it.
“For us we’re the underdog every week in our minds because nobody wanted us or thought we could do anything this year,” said Ryan Fitzpatrick.
“That’s pretty much what we expect,” said Fred Jackson, who currently ranks third in the league in total yards from scrimmage. “Our opponents are usually the big name teams. They have a bunch of big names guys and that’s what the national media is focused on. We’ll continue to fly under the radar. As long as we get the opportunity to go out and stack wins we’ll get that (recognition) eventually. But right now we don’t have any problems flying under the radar.”
For the Bills flying under the radar has been easy because the degree of star power on the roster to those outside of Buffalo is limited. Eight starters on their offense are either a former seventh-round pick or undrafted free agent. As many as seven players that contribute each week on defense are small school products.
Though the Bills might still be seen by the national prognosticators as a lesser side against some of their big name opponents the view in Buffalo’s locker room is the polar opposite.
“We’ve got talent too,” said George Wilson. “We don’t back down from any challenge. We know we’ve played some talented teams, but we get turnovers and our guys stay poised and composed. We fight continuously.”
And the Bills have statistics besides victories to back that up. Their defense leads the league in takeaways. Their offense leads the league in red zone touchdown percentage and is the third-highest scoring team in football.
The local media has labeled the Bills the ‘no names.’ The players aren’t exactly thrilled with the moniker, but they aim to change it.
“I wouldn’t say we’re no names,” said Stevie Johnson, a former seventh-round pick. “We’re going to play our ball. We’re just guys that nobody really wanted.”
“That’s what we’re trying to do,” said Fitzpatrick, finally a starter with his third NFL club in his seventh season. “We’re trying to make a name for ourselves. We’re trying to make a name for our offense. We’re trying to make a name for our team. The only way you get respect in this league is to go out there and play. We’re trying to earn everybody’s respect by our play on the field.”
The team’s 4-1 start may have Buffalo’s loyal fans excited, but for the players their 0-8 start of a season ago is still burning inside them, driving them to do more with each passing week.
“That thought is still in the back of our minds and we had to sit with that 4-12 record for almost eight months,” said Wilson. “We couldn’t come back to work early to start working on the 2011 Buffalo Bills. We had to take that all through the spring and all through the summer. When we came back to training camp the first thing coach said to us was expect more of yourself, demand more of yourself and let’s be accountable. And that’s what you see in that locker room.”
Last season the Bills played the big name teams close, like Baltimore and Pittsburgh, two teams that ultimately beat them in overtime. This season they’re beating those kinds of teams with New England and Philadelphia the two latest examples.
“It’s alright to make mistakes as long as you learn from them,” said Wilson. “We learned from those mistakes a year ago.”
More importantly Buffalo’s collection of unrecognized or, as many of them see it, unwanted talent has melded together. The lack of recognition has only made them a tighter unit and the results on the field are obvious.
“I think we play well as a team,” said Fitzpatrick. “We feed off of each other offensively and defensively.  That’s what we are. We’re a team. We don’t have a lot of big name guys, a lot of national stars or anything like that but we play well together. I think that it says something about us.”
And if the wins keep piling up there will be a lot more to say about the 2011 Bills.
“It’s time for those past Buffalo Bill memories to fade away,” said Drayton Florence. “This is a new day and we’re out here playing good fundamental football. We’ve got the systems in place that work. Everybody outside of the locker room is calling us a surprise, but in this locker room this is what we expected.”

American Football Conference - 2011 Regular Season
AFC East Team	W	L	T	Pct	PF	PA	Net Pts	TD	Home	Road	Div	Pct	Conf	Pct	Non-Conf	Streak	Last 5
Buffalo Bills	4	1	0	.800	164	120	44	20	3-0	1-1	1-0	1.000	3-1	.750	1-0	1W	4-1
New England Patriots	4	1	0	.800	165	119	46	20	2-0	2-1	2-1	.667	4-1	.800	0-0	2W	4-1
New York Jets	2	3	0	.400	121	125	-4	14	2-0	0-3	0-1	.000	1-3	.250	1-0	3L	2-3
Miami Dolphins	0	4	0	.000	69	104	-35	6	0-2	0-2	0-1	.000	0-4	.000	0-0	4L	0-4
AFC North Team	W	L	T	Pct	PF	PA	Net Pts	TD	Home	Road	Div	Pct	Conf	Pct	Non-Conf	Streak	Last 5
Baltimore Ravens	3	1	0	.750	119	57	62	13	2-0	1-1	1-0	1.000	2-1	.667	1-0	2W	3-1
Cincinnati Bengals	3	2	0	.600	110	94	16	11	1-1	2-1	1-0	1.000	3-1	.750	0-1	2W	3-2
Pittsburgh Steelers	3	2	0	.600	102	89	13	12	2-0	1-2	0-1	.000	2-2	.500	1-0	1W	3-2
Cleveland Browns	2	2	0	.500	74	93	-19	8	1-2	1-0	0-1	.000	2-2	.500	0-0	1L	2-2
AFC South Team	W	L	T	Pct	PF	PA	Net Pts	TD	Home	Road	Div	Pct	Conf	Pct	Non-Conf	Streak	Last 5
Houston Texans	3	2	0	.600	127	95	32	13	2-1	1-1	1-0	1.000	3-1	.750	0-1	1L	3-2
Tennessee Titans	3	2	0	.600	105	94	11	12	2-0	1-2	0-1	.000	3-2	.600	0-0	1L	3-2
Jacksonville Jaguars	1	4	0	.200	59	115	-56	5	1-2	0-2	1-0	1.000	1-2	.333	0-2	4L	1-4
Indianapolis Colts	0	5	0	.000	87	136	-49	9	0-3	0-2	0-1	.000	0-4	.000	0-1	5L	0-5
AFC West Team	W	L	T	Pct	PF	PA	Net Pts	TD	Home	Road	Div	Pct	Conf	Pct	Non-Conf	Streak	Last 5
San Diego Chargers	4	1	0	.800	120	109	11	12	3-0	1-1	2-0	1.000	3-1	.750	1-0	3W	4-1
Oakland Raiders	3	2	0	.600	136	133	3	15	1-1	2-1	1-0	1.000	3-2	.600	0-0	1W	3-2
Kansas City Chiefs	2	3	0	.400	77	150	-73	8	1-1	1-2	0-1	.000	1-2	.333	1-1	2W	2-3
Denver Broncos	1	4	0	.200	105	140	-35	13	1-2	0-2	0-2	.000	1-3	.250	0-1	3L	1-4

BUFFALO BILLS 34 NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS 31 25SEP11

I have been a Buffalo Bills fan all my life, through thick and thin, and it feels so good to have them starting this season this way. This win over New England is a huge boost to the team and they deserve to be on the cover of SI! BILLS, YOU MAKE ME WANT TO SHOUT!!!!

Flo’s SI cover

The Bills are the regional cover feature on Sports Illustrated this week after their win over New England. The cover shot features Drayton Florence’s interception return that broke the 24-24 tie in the fourth quarter. For those that aren’t in Western New York or New England you won’t be able to see it on newsstands, so here it is along with Florence’s thoughts about appearing on the SI cover.
“I’m representing the entire team,” said Florence. ”I wish all the guys on defense could be on there with me, but that’s just one of the things that goes along with winning and as long as we continue to keep winning good things will happen.”