November 2
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle
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Wide receiver Justin Jenkins has never caught a pass in three seasons playing for the Buffalo Bills. Up until Sunday, he had never carried the ball. Frankly, what the Mississippi State product is perhaps best known for is his love for the sport of bowling, competing in pro-am tournaments before PBA events and such. This is the player the Bills pinned their hopes on when trying to rally against the Houston Texans at Ralph Wilson Stadium. The Texans turned to Matt Schaub, a rising star quarterback. The Bills turned to Walter Ray Williams. Unfortunately for Buffalo, Jenkins resembled a bowling pin as he was knocked about by a swarm of Texans, led by rookie James Casey, on a fake punt reverse ..."
November 2
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle
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After watching his offense self-destruct with two interceptions, one fumble and a handful of red-zone execution failures, Houston Texans coach Gary Kubiak made a deal at halftime: His words: "Go out and play like you're capable of playing and I'll burn the first half of film." The question today: Will Kubiak be true to his word? The Texans scored 25 second-half points and turned a 10-6 deficit into a 31-10 rout of the Bills. But you can bet seldom-used running back Ryan Moats wants to watch the second-half film. He quite likely wants his own copy. Moats took over for benched starter Steve Slaton in the first quarter and ran around, between or right over Bills defenders for 126 yards and ..."
November 2
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle
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We may be watching one of the most unwatchable offenses in Bills history. The numbers are simply incomprehensible. How is it possible that an NFL offense can be this inept? Well, here's a guess: there is a gross lack of talent, top to bottom. Terrell Owens scored his first rushing TD since 2002 on a nice 29-yard reverse. Too bad he only caught five passes for 39 yards. Of course that was better than Lee Evans' big production — two catches for 29 yards. The shine has worn off Ryan Fitzpatrick pretty quickly. Not that it was very bright to begin with. The sad part is that now Dick Jauron can easily go back to Trent Edwards if he's healthy after the bye week. Oh, happy times indeed. One ..."
November 2
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle
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Blinded by their loyalty, for the better part of a decade it would seem, beleaguered Buffalo Bills fans made quite a statement Sunday afternoon at Ralph Wilson Stadium. With nine minutes left to play, and the Bills trailing Houston 24-10, Ryan Fitzpatrick threw an interception and without hesitation thousands and thousands of fans stood up, packed their belongings and streamed toward the exits. Who could blame them, really? Yes, there were still nine minutes to go and it was "only" a two-touchdown game, plenty of time for a competent NFL offense to perhaps stage a comeback. But the fans knew it might as well have been a five-touchdown deficit because they've seen this tired act for too ..."
November 1
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle
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Despite some truly horrifying losses, a rash of debilitating injuries, the usual array of questionable coaching decisions, the near invisibility of Terrell Owens and some frequently unwatchable play by the offense, the Buffalo Bills have a chance to be .500 at their bye week. Seriously? "To be 4-4 at the bye would be huge for us," quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick said. "We were sitting at 1-4, and (.500) was our goal. I think that everyone believed it could happen and we are one win away from that." Of course, getting that one win won't be easy with the rejuvenated Houston Texans coming into sold-out Ralph Wilson Stadium this afternoon with one of the hottest quarterbacks in the league, Matt ..."
October 30
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle
columnist Leo Roth
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With his normally crack special teams units fumbling about and penalties piling up faster than laundry in a house full of teenagers, Bobby April had to come up with something to tell his troops. "Gentlemen," the Buffalo Bills special teams coach said after walking into a team meeting. "I want to talk about Carl 'Stickman' Templet." That's the name of a college teammate April played with at Nicholls State in Thibodaux, La., during the mid-1970s. A teammate that haunts April's thoughts and drives him to be the successful coach he is today. Templet, a superb punt return man, was among NCAA leaders when he broke a big return one afternoon. "He was tackled inside the 10 yard line but way up ..."
October 29
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle
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Quarterback Trent Edwards was at practice Wednesday, though he only did limited individual reps as he continues to recover from the concussion he suffered against the New York Jets. "I'm good, it's good to be back," Edwards said. "I wasn't here last week and it was kind of lonely at the house, but now I'm feeling better each day and I'm glad to be back." Edwards said his post-concussion headaches have "slowly but surely" started to go away, and that he's not worried. "It's the same as any other injury for me, really," said Edwards, who also suffered a concussion last year at Arizona. "It's an injury and once you get past it there's not any looking back. Any time you look back that's not ..."
October 29
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle
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When the Bills signed free agent linebacker Chris Draft on Oct. 13, it was one of those moves that received one innocuous line in the transactions section of most daily newspapers. clear pixel Signing wide receiver Terrell Owens in March certainly qualified as a splash, but typically, the budget-constrained Bills barely make ripples, especially when they bring in street free agents during the regular season. Draft, however, may be an exception. "I really like Chris Draft," coach Dick Jauron said the other day after watching Draft start against Carolina despite being in the Bills' system less than two weeks. "He's a very smart veteran. He brings additional leadership and is a very savvy ..."
October 29
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle
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Terrell Owens had one word to describe his statistics to date for the Buffalo Bills. "Pathetic," Owens said, managing a smile despite his obvious angst. It's hard to argue with Owens' own description of his season, and it's hard to believe that his performance in the first seven games has been on par with how his reality TV show did in the Nielsen ratings over the summer, which is to say it has been a flop. "I'm frustrated, but what can I do?" Owens said. "I just continue to work hard and continue to try the best I can when I'm on the field, running my routes and doing whatever I can when the opportunities come my way." With just 18 catches (tied for 82nd in the NFL) for 242 yards (tied ..."