The Buffalo Bills played an excellent 28 minutes of football before deciding their preseason was basically over. The Bills scored the game’s first 16 points, before utter sloppiness took over and the Detroit Lions scored four unanswered touchdowns and eventually won, 28-23 in a game the Bills clearly didn’t care about winning.
If you think Chan Gailey put any real emphasis on the scoreboard, the Bills were down four points with 16 seconds left and didn’t attempt an onsides kick.
Here are some random notes I jotted down during the game, in no particular order.
Continue reading ‘Lions 28, Bills 23: Bullets And Bits’
Thursday night wasn’t the way the Bisons had hoped to end the home portion of the 2010 season.
A great year on and off the field in downtown Buffalo concluded on a sour note in front of 15,539 at Coca-Cola Field. The Herd lost to the Yankees, 9-2, and saw their slight playoff chances officially come to and end.
The final game was in no way indicative of the previous 71 contests played in front of minor league baseball’s best fans. The Herd had 11 walk-off victories, including four via a home run. Maybe none was more memorable than Fernando Martinez’ grand slam winner on June 14 at Lehigh Valley.
Continue reading ‘Bisons Playoffs Hopes End in Final Home Loss’
Buffalo Bandits Director of Lacrosse Operations Scott Loffler today announced the team’s 2011 National Lacrosse League schedule. Buffalo’s 16-game schedule features eight home games and eight on the road. Seven of the eight games will be played on Saturdays, with the other taking place on Friday February 4. All home games will start at 7:30 p.m.
Buffalo opens the 2011 season out west on Saturday, January 8 when they visit the Pengrowth Saddledome to face the Calgary Roughnecks in a 9:30 p.m. start. After another road game in Philadelphia on January 15, the Bandits will play their home opener against the Toronto Rock on Saturday, January 22 at 7:30 p.m. in a rematch of the 2010 East Division Semifinal.
The Bandits will face 2010 NLL scoring leader Josh Sanderson and the Boston Blazers in consecutive games on Sunday, March 6 in Boston and Saturday, March 12 at home. The defending NLL Champion Washington Stealth will be in town on Saturday, April 2, when they visit HSBC Arena. The Bandits will then travel to Toronto and Rochester for back-to-back games on April 8 and 9 to close out their road schedule. Buffalo’s regular season wraps up on Saturday, April 23 at home against the Rochester Knighthawks.
Continue reading ‘Bandits Announce 2011 Schedule’
Preseason games, particularly the finale are commonly pointless. If a head coach hasn’t been able to figure out who will start or at least be a key contributor by this point of the summer, odds are that team is in a world of trouble when the real games begin next weekend.
But every team in the league has a set of subplots worth following in the final dress rehearsal of the preseason, and the Buffalo Bills are certainly no exception. Spots at the back end of the roster are still up for grabs, as are roles of certain players on the team and what direction certain units may be headed.
As the Bills take to Ford Field to face the Detroit Lions Thursday night in this finale, here are ten items positively worth your attention as you attempt to stay glued to the television set for a game irrelevant in the standings.
Who Will Win The #2 Quarterback Spot?: According to the organization, the only thing we know is it won’t be Matt Leinart. Ryan Fitzpatrick and Brian Brohm have entered the home stretch of the competition behind Trent Edwards, and the race is likely to be decided based on the result of this game. At this time, it would appear Fitzpatrick has the advantage since Brohm has barely played in two of the first three games. Fitzpatrick also helped himself by looking impressive against the Bengals. But don’t count Brohm out quite yet. He more than held his own against the Colts and if Gailey stays true to his rotation, should get a lot of playing time against the Lions. It’s yet to be formally announced, but expect Brohm to enter early after Edwards departs. If he doesn’t, then that should tell you all you need to know about his future in Buffalo.
Continue reading ‘Bills vs. Lions: 10 Things Worth Watching For’
