Lost (Extended) Weekend
Nov 18, 2008 NHL
What a terrible weekend to be a Buffalo sports fan. Two bad Sabres losses (I missed the third period of the Pens game, color me surprised when I saw THAT score later), and of course, the Bills were unable to recover from 3 picks in the first quarter last night. At least the football team showed signs of life, with a great game from Marshawn Lynch and a return TD from Leodis McKelvin (finally, he’s been close so many times).
Vote for Teppo update later.
Tags: bills, buffalo, football, Hockey, lynch, mckelvin, NFL, NHL, penguins, pittsburgh, sabres
Bills Rebound But Sabres Fall In Skills Competition
Due to the TV situation for the football game, and general busy-ness, I saw neither game live. Though, for the football game, sounds like quite a few had some problems thanks to the power outages at the Ralph. Anyway, the Buffalo Sabres tied the game and forced a shootout, but Lalime and the boys ended up losing to Atlanta 3-2. Vanek scored again, giving him his seventh. Patrick Lalime played very well, stopping 35 of 37 shots faced. The Sabres still have yet to allow a goal on the PK. Boston is up next for them, on Tuesday. It’s Buffalo’s first appearance on Versus (of many), so get your radios ready.
The Bills got back on the winning track against LT2 and the Chargers, winning 23-14 at the Ralph. Lee Evans caught a fade route TD from 2 yards out (apparently one handed and against his helmet). Marshawn Lynch had 92 total yards and a score also. What really keyed the win was the defense, especially free agent signing Kawika Mitchell, who had the Gordie Howe hat trick of pro football (Sack, Forced Fumble, Interception). Buffalo starts three straight division games, and winning those (or at least 2 out of 3) could very well put the division title out of reach. Especially with Cleveland and KC coming up after that.
Tags: atlanta, bills, buffalo, chargers, evans, football, Hockey, lalime, lynch, mitchell, NFL, NHL, sabres, san diego, Thomas Vanek, thrashers
Bills Gut Out A Win In Jacksonville
Sep 14, 2008 NFL
It was a solid road victory for the Buffalo Bills as they beat the Jacksonville Jaguars in the 4th Quarter, 20 to 16. Trent Edwards was outstanding, completing 80% of his passes for 1 TD and no picks. Lynch had another TD to go with 59 yards against the Jags D. Fred Jackson was excellent catching passes out of the backfield, and rookie James Hardy had his first two receptions, one of them was the TD pass from Trent Edwards.
Buffalo was down 16-10 a few minutes into the 4th quarter, but came back with 2 scoring drives to take and extend the lead on Jacksonville, and the defense held from there. Oakland is up next, who managed a win against the also-terrible Chiefs this week. BRING ‘EM ON.
Tags: bills, buffalo, edwards, football, hardy, jackson, jacksonville, jaguars, lynch, NFL
NFL Week 1 - Forget The Script
Sep 8, 2008 NFL
I was “camping” all weekend at Jellystone, so I hope that you enjoyed your weekend news like Peters reporting to the Bills. The wi-fi was lame so I couldn’t check in with you guys at all.
The Buffalo Bills looked dominant at times in beating the Seahawks 34-10. The special teams in particular had a great game, with Roscoe Parrish returning a punt 63 yards for a touchdown, a fake fieldgoal turned TD pass from Moorman to Ryan Denney, and finally forcing a fumble on the ensuing kickoff to set up another score. The offense was efficient, with a Beast Mode TD on a 3rd and 11 draw play. Evans caught 4 balls for 102 yards, and Robert Royal had a TD. The defense was in the Seattle backfield constantly, with Kavika Mitchell and Marcus Stroud showing why they were added. Youboty actually made some plays, and Posluszny was involved a lot as well.
The Bills’ excellent play makes the AFC East interesting now, as Tom Brady may well be out for the year with a torn ACL. Bernard Pollard of the Chiefs hit Brady’s knee with his helmet, and well, I’ll let him tell it:
“He was in a lot of pain,” Pollard said. “When you hear a scream, you know that.”
Matt Cassel finished the game out, a 17-10 Pats win, but it definitely was not the Pats of last year, when Brady threw for 50 TDs. There is still and MRI yet to happen, but it’s telling that Chris Simms and Tim Rattay were already rumoured to be on the way to get a physical. Of course, it’s Belichick, who will probably just declare that Brady has a ‘lower body injury’ and is day to day.
Anyway, it’s interesting to look at the quarterbacks now playing in the division, as Trent Edwards doesn’t look so bad compared to Pennington and whoever the Pats end up rolling out. Favre is still Favre but I’d still take the Bills’ situation over the Jets.
Did Kyle Orton’s Bears just beat Peyton Manning’s Colts? Eli’s brother sure looked to be laboring out there, maybe he needed the preseason work more than he thought. That Matt Forte looked very good as well, for guy I hadn’t heard of until I started my fantasy drafts.
Michael Turner helped Matt Ryan out in Atlanta with a 220 yard rushing performance in the post-Vick era. Good to see Turner make his mark how that he’s no longer backing up LT.
I’m ready for more football, glad the first game starts early tonight, what with my new 6am start time.
Tags: bears, belichick, bills, buffalo, cassel, chicago, chiefs, colts, denney, evans, favre, football, forte, indianapolis, kansas city, lynch, manning, mitchell, moorman, new england, NFL, no the other simms, orton, patriots, pennington, pollard, posluszny, rattay, royal, ryan, seahawks, seattle, simms, stroud, Tom Brady, turner, youboty
Pre-Season Gameday: Buffalo Bills at Indianapolis Colts
Aug 24, 2008 NFL
Trent Edwards is on the shelf after getting his leg contused by Beast Mode (arguably more serious than the injury to Lynch’s last victim) as the Bills and Colts open Lucas Oil Stadium tonight. Peyton Manning is still out as well, so it’s a battle of the backups. James Hardy and Roscoe Parrish are out as well, which reduces just a bit my excitement level for the game. Most interesting to me will probably be the defense tonight, and seeing if McKelvin can shine in the return game again.
Tags: bills, buffalo, colts, edwards, football, indianapolis, lynch, manning, mckelvin, NFL, preseason
That’s More Like It
Aug 14, 2008 NFL
The Buffalo Bills first team offense shined tonight as the first trip of the ‘Buffalo in Toronto’ series ends with a 24-21 Buffalo win. Robert Royal had 2 TDs (in the red zone!) from Trent Edwards, who was 9 for 11 for 104 yards. Marshawn was solid in limited action, averaging 5 yards per on 5 carries. Most importantly, everything just seemed to work. Both TD drives were sustained drives, with a solid running game and checkdown throws at the right time. The D, while allowing some yards and points, also had a few timely turnovers and big plays, including Ko Simpson tipping a Rothlisberger pass to Donte Whitner for an interception. Special Teams had a huge play as well, with Leodis McKelvin returning a kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown. Very fun game to watch, despite it’s locale.
Tags: bills, buffalo, edwards, football, lynch, mckelvin, NFL, royal, simpson, toronto, whitner
Bills Making Moves to Improve
Mar 4, 2008 NFL
The Buffalo Bills are showing they are not going to sit idle and let the usual suspects run away with the AFC this season, making several big moves and signings as free agency began. They signed LB Kawika Mitchell away from the Champion Giants, and picked up Spenser Johnson as well for depth at DT. Most impressively, they took a real chance and traded a 3rd and a 5th round pick to the jags for run-stuffer Marcus Stroud. He’s coming off injury (and a suspension for violating the performance-enhancing substance abuse policy), but if he returns to form it would address a glaring need the Bills have had since the loss of Pat Williams and Sam Adams. Add to all of this the fact that Bryant Johnson (a 6′3″ wideout) looks to be signing here, which would darn near double the average height of the Bills’ starting receiving corps, and safety Marlon McCree is on the radar which would give Buffalo great depth at safety.
What could really make or break the Bills for the next few years is this draft. Buffalo has drafted some very good players the past few years, including Marshawn “Beast Mode” Lynch, Paul Posluszny and Donte Whitner. Another impact player (CB? A good TE if one’s on the board?) could put Buffalo back on the list of teams to pay attention to. A lot of this will depend on Trent Edwards continuing to improve, but there were enough positive signs there that Bills fans are starting to generate a cautious buzz.
It doesn’t hurt the Bills’ build up of buzz that the Sabres are not quite the team they were the past two years.
Tags: B-Lo Sports, bills, edwards, football, johnson, lynch, mccree, mitchell, NFL, posluszny, Sam Adams, stroud, whitner, williams
The Week(end) That Was
It was a busy Buffalo sports weekend, and while I didn’t see everything, there was definitely some things worth noting. The Sabres looked surprisingly strong in their 2 losses, outshooting both opponents by a wide margin but just not finding the net enough. As will happen when you are struggling, the post was not friendly and the zebras swallowed their whistles at inopportune times. Possibly the most important stretch of this division game run is on the way, as the Sabres will be battling with the Sens and Habs for the next 5 games. Getting some points out of these games is CRUCIAL and would make a playoff run easier.
In Bills news, JP Losman looked like crap right up until the fourth quarter, when he went 6-7 and had some important QB sneaks on 2 scoring drives to pull out the win against the Dolphins. Marshawn Lynch got the TD run and 2pt conversion to tie but left the game afterwards with an ankle injury. JP is getting the start against the Patriots, no info yet on Lynch’s status.
Tags: B-Lo Sports, bills, Canadiens, dolphins, football, Hockey, losman, lynch, marshawn, miami, Montreal, NFL, NHL, ottawa, sabres, senators
