“Things could change, there’s certainly talent on that unit, but right now coach Rex Ryan’s “D’ is decidedly average just like Buffalo’s record, 2-2″.
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One-quarter of the way through the 2015 National Football League regular season, the Buffalo Bills are 2-2, and find themselves among nine teams in the AFC that are now. The kicking and punting wasn’t flawless as kicker Josh Brown missed an extra point, and punter Brad Wing sent a couple of punts down the middle of the field but the shortcomings didn’t affect the outcome of the game. But its defense has been gashed for 376 yards per start and while Bills apologists will point out it’s third in the league against the run, at 79 yards, that’s nearly irrelevant.
The evening was an incredible success, and thanks to the generosity of the many attendees, the Tom Coughlin Jay Fund Foundation – Coach Coughlin’s charitable organization which helps families financially, emotionally and in practical ways when a child is diagnosed with cancer – reached its goal of raising .5 million to help ensure that the work of the Foundation will continue for years to come.
National Football League umpire Tony Michalek, left, talks to Buffalo Bills defensive… Next worst are Oakland and Tampa Bay, each with 38 penalties.
-COACHING: F. Rex Ryan praised his team for its competitiveness, an apparent attempt to mask how ridiculously undisciplined the Bills have been this season. Meanwhile, the Giants played without wide receiver Victor Cruz (calf), defensive end Robert Ayers (hamstring), defensive tackle Markus Kuhn (knee), tight ends Daniel Fells (infection) and Jerome Cunningham (knee).
“It’s awful”, safety Corey Graham added.
In fairness, those type infractions tend to be drawn by the defense, but Buffalo’s rate is alarming.
“I think there’s a lot to figure out”, defensive tackle Kyle Williams said.
New York Giants wide receiver Rueben Randle, left, is hit by… “It’s bad. We can’t win games like that”. “We needed to do something about it”, he said. It’s the only way we’re going to be a playoff team. “A recent study out of Boston, found that one-quarter of families surveyed lost more than 40 percent of household income after a diagnosis”.
On defense, there was no pass rush (though that was mainly because Eli Manning was getting rid of the ball in two seconds or less), they were not sturdy against the run, and on the biggest possession of the game, the defense failed to get a stop and allowed a awful touchdown as Giants’ running back Rashad Jennings broke three tackles during a 51-yard catch and run.
Video from the Giants locker room immediately after the Bills victory showed Coughlin addressing the team and talking about being relevant. “It was a great win for us and now we’ve just got to keep chopping at the wood”. His last TD came on a 26-yard pass against the Houston Texans in Week 3 of past year. However, if you’re on the 53-man roster and you get a game-day uniform, you have to step up.
“Sometimes penalties don’t tell the whole story, but sometimes they do”. We rushed for 92 yards, they rushed for 55 yards.
They’ve been who we thought they’d be – at least for the most part.
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There is a time to be bold, and this wasn’t one of those times. Referees are faster to throw the flag on us because they know us. Let’s not act like it doesn’t factor in … if it’s close, they’re going to throw the flag on us. “As players, you have to know that you can’t be borderline”. “If it is, you’re going to get the penalty and as players we have to be smarter”. “We never took ourselves out of the race”.
