It may seem like an eternity ago, but if you go back to last spring, you’d have been stunned to see the midway point of the 2010 NFL season come with the Buffalo Bills still in search of their first victory.
Not only was Dick Jauron long gone, but so was his extension of him, hand-picked defensive coordinator Perry Fewell. Director of Pro Personnel John Guy was also canned. Buddy Nix, regarded around the league as a pure football guy, took over as general manager. Chan Gailey, who had a solid but not spectacular career as head coach in the NFL and college, was tabbed to lead the rebuilding Bills.
The biggest development was the announcement the team would switch to a 3-4 defense. After being pushed around in it by division foes for years, Buffalo decided it was time to join the club and so some pushing of their own. They even hired George Edwards, who spent five years coaching up linebackers with division rival Miami, as the new defensive coordinator.
The Buffalo Sabres played another strong road game, but this time came up short in overtime as they fell to the New York Rangers, 3-2.
Artem Anisimov buried a shot past Jhonas Enroth in the extra session to get the win for New York, just moments after Derek Roy couldn’t handle a Thomas Vanek pass on a two-on-one that could’ve given the Sabres their third straight road win.
Tyler Ennis and Mike Grier scored for Buffalo, who were looking for their third straight road victory. They finish their three game road trip earning five out of six possible points.
Buffalo outshot New York, 31-28, including an eight shot margin over the final two periods.
The Sabres return home on Saturday night to face the red hot Washington Capitals at the HSBC Arena. Starting goaltender Ryan Miller is expected to be back in the nets for Buffalo. He’s missed the past four games with a lower body injury.
It’s a dream weekend for fans of UB athletics, as six different teams will be in action in a span of less than 24 hours this Friday and Saturday on the University at Buffalo campus. The weekend will feature the season openers for both Bulls basketball teams, a national top-10 foe squaring off against the Buffalo wrestling team in Alumni Arena and a rematch of the 2008 MAC Championship for football.
The weekend will begin with a bang at 3:00 pm Friday, as two terrific teams will take to the mat as Buffalo welcomes in Oklahoma, ranked eighth nationally in all of Division I. This will be the Sooners’ first visit ever to Alumni Arena and the first time the two teams have battled since 1975. The Bulls are hoping to beat a vaunted Big 12 member for a second-straight year, as the team took down traditional power Nebraska last season. Buffalo currently has four members with top-25 individual rankings at the moment (Kevin Smith, Desi Green, John-Martin Cannon and Jimmy Hamel) and the team fully expects an exciting dogfight with the Sooners.
After a run of 26 consecutive sellouts dating back to 2006, the Buffalo Bills are embarking a streak they’re surely not proud of. For the second straight home game this season ( we refuse to acknowledge Toronto as a home game), the Sunday afternoon contest against the Detroit Lions will be blacked out locally.
The Bills announced Thursday afternoon that the game wasn’t sold out and won’t be available on television locally. While they didn’t disclose how many tickets have went unsold, speculation is there are still close to 10,000 seats available.
The worst part for frustrated fans is this is perhaps the Bills best chance for a win this season. Detroit is just 2-6 on the season, will be without injured starting quarterback Matt Stafford, and have not won on the road since late 2007.
With two blackouts now already in the books and the potential for at least two more looming, it’s hard for the organization to spin the fact that fan frustration is growing while support is dwindling. The Bills have been losing for several years, but it hasn’t affected the turnout on game days. That has officially changed.
When it comes to the Buffalo Bills 2010 season, let’s use a few clichés’ everyone seems to agree on. They ‘re 0-8 and halfway through what could be a winless season. The defense stinks. Special teams superiority is no longer a given. The offense is greatly improved over last year.
Regarding that last point– not so fast.
Yes, Ryan Fitzpatrick has head and shoulders been better than Trent Edwards performed over the past couple of seasons. Yes, Stevie Johnson is emerging as a stud and after being held back forever, Roscoe Parrish finally found his way before suffering a broken wrist.
However, if you look at the numbers, this offense isn’t as good as you may think. It’s true, they are far more bearable to watch than when Edwards was under center, I’ll give you that. But while the passing game has improved by seemingly leaps and bounds, the ground game has regressed in ugly fashion.
The Buffalo Sabres announced that they will hold a Fan Food Drive at four home games during the month of November to benefit the Food Bank of Western New York.
Sabres fans attending the home games on Nov. 15, Nov. 19, Nov. 20 and Nov. 24 are encouraged to bring along non-perishable food items or cash donations. Fans who donate to this cause will receive a voucher for $20 off 100 Level Preferred and 300 Level II tickets to a select Sabres home game. Games included in the offer are Friday, Nov. 19 vs. Los Angeles, Saturday, Nov. 20vs. Tampa Bay and Friday, Dec. 3 vs. Columbus.
Items will be collected at all major entrance points at HSBC Arena. All donations will be passed on to the Food Bank of Western New York.
The Food Bank of Western New York is a member of Feeding America, a national network of over 200 affiliated food banks and food rescue organizations throughout all 50 states and Puerto Rico. They have been serving the needs of hungry people throughout Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Erie and Niagara counties since 1979. Their mission is to obtain nutritious food and support from public and private sources and efficiently distribute these resources to the hungry in Western New York through their member agencies.
Three Buffalo State football players were recognized by D3Football.com for their efforts in Saturday’s 45-21 victory over Morrisville State. Wide receiver Rob Smith (Rochester/McQuaid)and kicker Nick Debbins(Lancaster/Lancaster) were named to the national team of the week in their respective positions, and MikeDoherty’s (Tonawanda/Kenmore East) 92-yard touchdown reception was the play of the week.
Smith, a senior sports management major, had four receptions of 45-plus yards in a 45-21 win over Morrisville State, en route to seven catches for 247 yards and three touchdowns.
Debbins, a junior social studies education major, was 3-for-3 on field goals and perfect on extra points in a 45-21 win against Morrisville State. He connected from 27, 29 and 35 yards, tying a school record for field goals in a game.
Doherty, a freshman, made an acrobatic one-handed catch that he turned into a 92-yard touchdown reception that was a finalist for national play of the week.
Prior to the Buffalo Sabres Wednesday night’s contest against the New Jersey Devils which saw Lindy Ruff coach in his milestone 1,000th game, Ruff told the media he’d trade the 1,000 games for two wins.
He got one of them by the time this one was over.
After being tied following regulation and overtime, Thomas Vanek scored for Buffalo in a shootout. Meanwhile, Jhonas Enroth made two fantastic stops on Jason Arnott and Patrick Elias. Down to their last shot after Tyler Ennis failed to clinch things, Devils captain Jamie Langenbrunner scored to extend the shootout to extra skaters. Derek Roy immediately scored for Buffalo and with New Jersey having a chance to prolong it again, Ilya Kovalchuck completely lost the puck and never got a shot off, resulting in the Sabres taking the 5-4 shootout victory.
To say Eric Moulds is eminently qualified to discuss the Buffalo Bills is an understatement. He’s second by a wide margin in franchise history to only Andre Reed in every significant receiving category; 675 receptions, 9,026 yards and 48 touchdowns. It’s numbers like that over a 10-year Bills career that earned him the distinction of being named to the Bills 50th year All-Anniversary team in 2009.
Like most Bills fans, Moulds finds himself today perturbed with the team’s ongoing ineptitude.
I got the chance to interview Moulds and among other things, we discussed the team’s struggles, his opinion on Buffalo playing in Toronto as well as past uproars when he played here, including Wade Phillips, the Rob Johnson/Doug Flutie controversy and Moulds’ unceremonious divorce from the organization.
Just 15 minutes into his first practice as a member of the Buffalo Bills, former Pro Bowl linebacker Shawne Merriman was forced to leave the field after an injury to his lower right leg. Merriman was in a linebacker cover drill when he pulled up lame.
It’s not the same leg that has dogged Merriman throughout this season, but Merriman has had problems with the leg he injured Wednesday during practice.
We don’t want to speculate on more details until we hear from Chan Gailey, but this is definitely not a good sign for Merriman or the Bills. Merriman is basically a half-year Buffalo rental while he tried to resurrect a spiraling career that’s seen him go from one of the elite players in football to a guy playing in essence for his next contract.
I hate to say it, folks, and the last thing the Bills or their fans need is more bad news, but Merriman is damaged goods. There’s a reason San Diego made no effort to keep him and let him walk away rather than pay him the $1.8-million required to keep him under contract for the duration of the season.
Lee Evans is also not at practice today and as of now, no explanation has been given. Cordaro Howard, Eric Wood, Demetrius Bell and Chris Kelsay are also not practicing, according to WGR 550.
Just a few quick Buffalo Sabres notes from various reports as the team prepares to return to action tonight in New Jersey against the Devils.
Patrick Lalime is suffering from appendicitis and will not make the trip with the team. Ryan Miller, still nursing a lower body injury will serve as the backup to starter Jhonas Enroth. In his last start Saturday in Toronto, Enroth got his first career NHL win in a shootout, 3-2. Enroth will likely also start Thursday on the road against the New York Rangers before Lindy Ruff hopes Miller is able to return when Buffalo hosts Washington on Saturday night.
Defensemen Craig Rivet missed his third straight practice Tuesday while battling the flu is all-cut-certain to be out of the lineup tonight. Drew Stafford (shoulder) and Nathan Gerbe (broken jaw) both skated for some time on Tuesday, but neither are close to returning to the lineup.
Meanwhile, Ruff will be coaching in his1,000th career game, all with Buffalo, tonight when the Sabres take the ice. Ruff will be the first coach ever in the NHFL to coach his first 1,000 games with the same team and will tie Roger Nielson for 17th place on the all-time list.
The Buffalo Bills made one roster move on Tuesday, signing former Clymer high school running back Jehuu Caulcrick. Before the move, the Bills had two active roster spots and one practice slot open. We’ll have to see if Caulcrick was signed to the active roster of practice squad. With Roscoe Parrish going on I.R. Monday, it’s very possible that Naaman Roosevelt will get promoted from the practice squad to the active roster, but that’s not set in stone.
♦ As we reported first yesterday, rookie starting offensive tackle Cordaro Howard is going to miss some time with a torn labrum and rotator sprain in his shoulder. Mansfield Wrotto will get the start at right tackle Sunday while fifth round draft pick Ed Wang should see the field for the first time this season as a backup.
♦ A lot of people have asked if the Bills would consider bringing back a pair of late wide receiver cuts, Chad Jackson or James Hardy, to fill Parrish’s roster spot. From anyone I’ve talked to involved in the organization, that allegedly hasn’t even been discussed as an option.
According to his twitter account, the Buffalo Bills have signed a running back with local ties. Jehuu Caulcrick tweeted ” I am really glad to be a part of my hometown team, the Buffalo Bills,” on Tuesday evening.
Caulcrick was a stud while playing his school in Western New York for Clymer high school, where he led his team to four consecutive Section VI championships and was a three-time, All-State fullback. He went on to play his college ball at Michigan State, where he ran for 2,395 yards and 39 touchdowns in four years.
The Canisius College athletic department has announced that all reserved seats for the season-opening doubleheader in the Koessler Athletic Center on Friday, Nov. 12 have been sold, and only a limited number of general admission tickets are still available.
The basketball season at Canisius will officially get underway Nov. 12 at 6 p.m., when the Canisius women’s team takes on Kent State. Following the women’s contest, the Canisius men’s team will open the 107th season in school history when the Blue and Gold plays host to long-time rival St. Bonaventure, with tipoff set for 8:30 p.m.
For tickets, or more information, fans can call the Canisius Ticket Office at (716) 888-2885, or go online to Ticketmaster.com.
I’ve learned that the shoulder injury to Buffalo Bills tackle Cordaro Howard that Chan Gailey touched briefly on during his press conference Monday, is actually a torn labrum in the shoulder. He also has a sprained rotator.
Howard first hurt the shoulder early in the game at Kansas City, which was his second career start at right tackle. The injury got progressively and he was really laboring before being shut down in the second half against Chicago this past Sunday.
Howard is working on strengthening the shoulder but won’t be in the lineup when Buffalo hosts the Detroit Lions Sunday. He hopes to be back when Buffalo travels to Cincinnati in two weeks. He is planning on having surgery on the shoulder after the season is over.
By the end of the 2009 season, most assumed that wide receiver Terrell Owens had little, if anything left in the gas tank. Apparently, first-year Buffalo Bills general manager Buddy Nix was among the doubters. He made the decision weeks before free agency began last winter that the Bills would not make an attempt to re-sign Owens, making him a one-and-done player.
It wasn’t that Owens furthered damaged his reputation while in Buffalo. He was on his best behavior and at times almost robotic with the media and his “I’m just going with the plays that are called” verbiage. Rather, it was concluded because Owens’ time in Buffalo would end because at age 36 his best football was long behind him and the team was ready to give other, younger guys an opportunity.
To say the Buffalo Bills defense has been dreadful at the midway point of 2010 would be insulting your intelligence. You’ve watched the games and seen with your own eyes. Under Chan Gailey the offense has moderately improved since Dick Jauron and Perry Fewell (briefly) held the head coaching reigns. Conversely, the defense under first-year defensive coordinator George Edwards has gotten worse.
Significantly worse.
Whether its Edwards, the 3-4 schematic base he brought with him, the players or a combination of all three, the defense has been abysmal. With the exception of Dwan Edwards, the personnel is essentially the same as it was last year.
The University at Buffalo women’s basketball team got its season started on Monday night, defeating Daemen 86-48 in an exhibition game. UB begins its regular season this Friday at home against Howard.
UB opened the game with the first seven points and went on a 15-0 first half run to take a commanding 35-9 lead. In the first half alone, UB turned 16 Daemen turnovers into 21 points, while getting 24 points from its bench as 10 players saw action in the game.
In a huge blow to an offense still trying to find its way, Buffalo Bills head coach Chan Gailey just announced that wide receiver Roscoe Parrish will be placed on season-ending injured reserve with a broken wrist suffered late in yesterday’s loss to Chicago.
After nearing being released on several occasions over the past year when Dick Jauron was the Bills head coach, Parrish was having a breakout season under Gailey. In eight games this season Parrish had 33 receptions for 400 yards and two touchdowns. The yardage total was already a career-high and he was just two off his career-best of 35 catches, set in 2007.
Parrish broke the wrist trying to catch a pass along the right sideline in the fourth quarter Sunday. Parrish came down with the ball but his left wrist hit out of bounds before his feet did. Gailey challenged the play but the incompletion was upheld. Unfortunately, it’s also the play that’s ending his season.
According to his agent, David Canter as well as several media reports, the Buffalo Bills have signed free agent running back Quinton Ganther.
Ganther has been in the league for five years, spending the first two with Tennessee as well as a year in Washington and most recently Seattle. His most productive year came in 2009 with the Redskins when he ran 62 times for 199 yards and three touchdowns.
He was released by Seattle on two separate occasions this year, most recently last week.
Ganther is regarded as a strong special teams player. Buffalo will have to release someone to make room for him on the roster. Andre Anderson, who’s played sparingly would seem to be the prime candidate, but that’s just speculation at this point.
The Buffalo Bills lost again Sunday, 22-19 to the Chicago Bears in front of a pro Chicago crowd at the Rogers Centre in Toronto. Buffalo has reached the midpoint of their season and they’re still looking for that elusive first win.
To quote Jon Bon Jovi, “Oh, we’re halfway there.”
As has been the case in recent weeks, the Bills played tough. The loss was their third consecutive defeat by three points. This time it was a blocked extra point and a pair of backbreaking interceptions by Ryan Fitzpatrick that sealed the deal. When it comes to finding ways to lose football games, the Bills are geniuses.
It was said last week, the week before and will surely be stated again before this season mercifully ends. But the Bills keep coming close and losing. Unfortunately, close doesn’t count in the NFL. The bottom line is Buffalo fell to 0-8 and headed towards their worst start since 1984 when they opened with 11 straight losses.
Simply put, the Bills are writing a masterpiece on how to not win football games.
The Buffalo Sabres visit the Toronto Maple Leafs tonight. Perhaps it will give them a spark, because playing at home surely isn’t working.
Buffalo lost last night at the HSBC Arena to Montreal and have yet to earn a win in seven tries at home this season. The players are frustrated. Lindy Ruff is frustrated. The fans are frustrated.
Everyone is frustrated.
It’s hard to understand such a drastic slide from just a year ago when the Sabres were already on their way to earning the Northeast Division title. After 14 games this year Buffalo has just eight points, dead last in the Eastern Conference and tied with Edmonton for the fewest points in the NHL.
The Buffalo Bills offensive line is in shambles this year. Ryan Fitzpatrick and Trent Edwards (while he was here) have been sacked a combined 20 times. But to set a team record, the offensive line is going to have to get progressively worse at pass protection.
Drew Bledsoe was sacked a franchise history high 54 times during the 2002 season. Bledsoe also tied Rob Johnson for the second most in a season the next year, getting dumped 49 times. For those keeping score, that’s 103 sacks in two NFL seasons.
That offensive line featured the likes of a young Mike Williams, an old Ruben Brown as well as Trey Teague, Jonas Jennings, Marques Sullivan and the ever-forgettable Bill Conaty.
Well, things have gone from bad to worse for the Sabres. After earning one point in two games over the weekend, Wednesday’s 5-2 loss to the Bruins dropped the Sabres’ record down to 3-8-2, with five of those defeats coming at home. That’s right ladies and gentlemen… Your Buffalo Sabres are the worst team in the league a month into their 40th Anniversary.
But don’t worry folks; the people responsible for this have been sacked. The team has decided to make changes in both the front office and on the bench and even though the trade market isn’t red hot, they’ve even made a small transaction there too!
Does that sound too good to be true? Well, unfortunately, it is. Despite the team playing wimpy, unmotivated hockey, the man who assembled the team, Darcy Regier and the man who’s coaching the team, Lindy Ruff are staying put. And even worse, so are the players. Regier has faith in what he views as a 100-point team and Northeast Division Champion despite the fact none of the factors that contributed to the Sabres first post season appearance in three seasons are currently present in the lineup.
Ralph Wilson Stadium was the venue Thursday night for one of the most anticipated Section VI football finals in recent years, if not ever. On one side sat Sweet Home, the back-to-back state Class A defending champions. On the other was undefeated Williamsville South, led by the most prolific passer in Western New York high school football history, Joe Licata.
During his career, Licata completed 440 of 764 passes for 6,472 yards and 86 touchdowns—all WNY high school records.
Something had to give. Unfortunately for Licata and crew, it wasn’t the Sweet Home defense.
It may seem like an eternity ago, but if you go back to last spring, you’d have been stunned to see the midway point of the 2010 NFL season come with the Buffalo Bills still in search of their first victory.
The Buffalo Sabres played another strong road game, but this time came up short in overtime as they fell to the New York Rangers, 3-2.
It’s a dream weekend for fans of UB athletics, as six different teams will be in action in a span of less than 24 hours this Friday and Saturday on the University at Buffalo campus. The weekend will feature the season openers for both Bulls basketball teams, a national top-10 foe squaring off against the Buffalo wrestling team in Alumni Arena and a rematch of the 2008 MAC Championship for football.
After a run of 26 consecutive sellouts dating back to 2006, the Buffalo Bills are embarking a streak they’re surely not proud of. For the second straight home game this season ( we refuse to acknowledge Toronto as a home game), the Sunday afternoon contest against the Detroit Lions will be blacked out locally.
When it comes to the Buffalo Bills 2010 season, let’s use a few clichés’ everyone seems to agree on. They ‘re 0-8 and halfway through what could be a winless season. The defense stinks. Special teams superiority is no longer a given. The offense is greatly improved over last year.
The Buffalo Sabres announced that they will hold a Fan Food Drive at four home games during the month of November to benefit the Food Bank of Western New York.
Three Buffalo State football players were recognized by 
To say Eric Moulds is eminently qualified to discuss the Buffalo Bills is an understatement. He’s second by a wide margin in franchise history to only Andre Reed in every significant receiving category; 675 receptions, 9,026 yards and 48 touchdowns. It’s numbers like that over a 10-year Bills career that earned him the distinction of being named to the Bills 50th year All-Anniversary team in 2009.
Just a few quick Buffalo Sabres notes from various reports as the team prepares to return to action tonight in New Jersey against the Devils.
The Buffalo Bills made one roster move on Tuesday, signing former Clymer high school running back Jehuu Caulcrick. Before the move, the Bills had two active roster spots and one practice slot open. We’ll have to see if Caulcrick was signed to the active roster of practice squad. With Roscoe Parrish going on I.R. Monday, it’s very possible that Naaman Roosevelt will get promoted from the practice squad to the active roster, but that’s not set in stone.
According to his twitter account, the Buffalo Bills have signed a running back with local ties. Jehuu Caulcrick 
The Canisius College athletic department has announced that all reserved seats for the season-opening doubleheader in the Koessler Athletic Center on Friday, Nov. 12 have been sold, and only a limited number of general admission tickets are still available.
I’ve learned that the shoulder injury to Buffalo Bills tackle Cordaro Howard that Chan Gailey touched briefly on during his press conference Monday, is actually a torn labrum in the shoulder. He also has a sprained rotator.
By the end of the 2009 season, most assumed that wide receiver Terrell Owens had little, if anything left in the gas tank. Apparently, first-year Buffalo Bills general manager Buddy Nix was among the doubters. He made the decision weeks before free agency began last winter that the Bills would not make an attempt to re-sign Owens, making him a one-and-done player.
The University at Buffalo women’s basketball team got its season started on Monday night, defeating Daemen 86-48 in an exhibition game. UB begins its regular season this Friday at home against Howard.
In a huge blow to an offense still trying to find its way, Buffalo Bills head coach Chan Gailey just announced that wide receiver Roscoe Parrish will be placed on season-ending injured reserve with a broken wrist suffered late in yesterday’s loss to Chicago.
The Buffalo Bills lost again Sunday, 22-19 to the Chicago Bears in front of a pro Chicago crowd at the Rogers Centre in Toronto. Buffalo has reached the midpoint of their season and they’re still looking for that elusive first win.
The Buffalo Sabres visit the Toronto Maple Leafs tonight. Perhaps it will give them a spark, because playing at home surely isn’t working.
The Buffalo Bills offensive line is in shambles this year. Ryan Fitzpatrick and Trent Edwards (while he was here) have been sacked a combined 20 times. But to set a team record, the offensive line is going to have to get progressively worse at pass protection.
Well, things have gone from bad to worse for the Sabres. After earning one point in two games over the weekend, Wednesday’s 5-2 loss to the Bruins dropped the Sabres’ record down to 3-8-2, with five of those defeats coming at home. That’s right ladies and gentlemen… Your Buffalo Sabres are the worst team in the league a month into their 40th Anniversary.
