It wasn't that long ago, in the springtime of the Buffalo Bills' offseason, when T.O.-mania was in its infancy. A buzz of hope bloomed around town that this franchise might finally be relevant again. Where have all the good times gone? "That's self-explanatory," defensive tackle Marcus Stroud said.
The Bills are using their bye week to do “self-analysis,” as coach Dick Jauron called it.
And for them it means analyzing two areas of major weakness: third-down conversions on offense and stopping the run on defense.
“We look at ourselves, obviously,” said Jauron, whose team is 3-5 at the break and in danger of missing the playoffs for a 10th consecutive season. “We do a self-analysis and then we look at our problem areas and we’ve got a lot of them.”
Buffalo has converted 27 of 104 third-down tries, just 26 percent. If the season ended today, in would be the second-worst percentage in team history.
Meanwhile, the Bills continue to rank last in the NFL in run defense, allowing an average of 174 yards per game.
Bills coach Dick Jauron wasn't kidding when he wondered whether he'd have enough players available to practice during the team's bye week. The Bills on Tuesday kicked off their first of two scheduled practices this week with 16 players either absent or not participating. Among those not practicing was starting cornerback Terrence McGee who, a day earlier, had arthroscopic surgery on his…
Buffalo Bills cornerback Terrence McGee had arthroscopic surgery on his right knee to repair minor damage and expects to be out for about two weeks.
Quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick isn't sure whether he'll remain the Bills starter once Buffalo comes off its two-week break. A bigger concern for the backup is for the Bills to use the bye week to start fixing their anemic offense. "We're glad that there's a bye week, because we've got a lot of stuff to figure out," Fitzpatrick said Monday, a day after the Bills stumbled…
The Buffalo Bills expect to promote James Hardy to their active roster because the second-year receiver has shown he's fully recovered 10 months after having left knee surgery. Barring "something unexpected," coach Dick Jauron said Monday he's leaning toward promoting Hardy, who spent the first six weeks on the physically unable list.
If Texans running back Steve Slaton's latest turnover means he's fumbled away his starting job in Houston, Ryan Moats is certainly ready to step in.
Bills owner Ralph Wilson has received his Pro Football Hall of Fame ring in a halftime ceremony during Buffalo's game against the Houston Texans on Sunday. Wilson, who was inducted into the Hall in August, was awarded the seventh AFL franchise in October 1959. Hall of Fame president and executive director Stephen Perry presented Wilson his ring at midfield.
Bills rookie safety Jairus Byrd joined San Francisco's Dave Baker as only the second NFL player to have two or more interceptions in three straight games. Byrd intercepted Houston's Matt Schaub twice in the first quarter of Buffalo's game Sunday. The second-round draft pick out of Oregon also had two each in Buffalo's previous games, wins over the New York Jets and Carolina.
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. – In only his third year in Houston, Matt Schaub has no way of telling whether the Texans have completely shed their also-ran label.