After being the toast of the NFL over the past week following his sensational touchdown run against New Orleans that resurrected the term “Beast Mode”, Marshawn Lynch along with the majority of his Seattle Seahawks teammates were missing in action Sunday afternoon.
Seattle was pounded by Chicago in the NFC Divisional round, 35-24 and Lynch was non-existent. After gaining 131 yards last week against the Saints, Lynch rushed just four times against the Bears and managed to gain all of two yards.
The blowout loss hardly falls on Lynch’s shoulders alone. The running game as a whole was a non-factor and the defense couldn’t stop Jay Cutler to save their lives. Still, it’s a bad ending for the man who had Bills fans throwing fits he was traded just a week ago.
Chicago will host Green Bay in the NFC Championship game next Sunday.
While the Bills have once again been long gone from the NFL playoff picture, Buffalo was very well represented this weekend in Wild Card postseason action.
The biggest story, of course, is former Niagara Falls High School and University at Buffalo running back James Starks. The sixth-round rookie was the difference for the Green Bay Packers in their 21-16 victory over Philadelphia, rushing for a game-high 123 yards on 23 carries. The rushing total was also a Green Bay rookie postseason record.
“He (Starks) had a great night tonight,” Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers said. ” The offensive line did a great job.”
Despite missing his senior season at UB with a shoulder injury, Starks still set a school career rushing record with 3,140 yards to go with 40 total touchdowns. Before that he was a former All-Western New York quarterback at Niagara Falls, where he threw for over 1,000 yards and ran for 600 more in 2005.
If you didn’t watch the New Orleans vs. Seattle playoff game Saturday because you’re either from another planet or just assumed it wouldn’t be worth viewing like most of us, here is a replay via YouTube of that absurd 67-yard touchdown run by former Buffalo Bills running back Marshawn Lynch.
He literally makes eight different Saints defenders miss and throws last year’s Super Bowl hero, Tracy Porter, out of the way like he was yesterday’s garbage.
Folks, “Beast Mode” is back in effect. By the way, Matt Hasselbeck got away with a block in the back at the 28-yard line, but oh well– it wasn’t like he was going to stop Lynch anyway.
We’re journeying today on a series of the best… and worst of Buffalo Sports Daily circa 2010. Kicking things off today is what we deem our five best stories of the past year.
I’d like to assume we’ve had more than five meaningful stories over the past year, but these are the one I both enjoyed writing the most and received (generally speaking) the most positive feedback from.
Before commencing on our pats on the back, it’s definitely worth noting we’re highly conscious of dropping the ball more than a couple of times (but not as many as Stevie Johnson). We fully intend on taking pokes at ourselves multiple times over the coming days, as you’ll see.
Since this website was launched in September of 2009, we’ve and myself in particular, have been hard on Marshawn Lynch. Maybe it’s wrong of me, but having being spoiled by the Bills winning and personalities of the players as I grew up watching them, I expected more on and off the field from players like Lynch when I got involved in the media world.
I don’t regret many of the things I’ve written about him over the past few years. Clearly, he’s admired by his teammates but I consider him a malcontent to the fans and community that support the team. I also know for a fact he showed a lack of respect for a lot of the former Bills that occupied that locker room when the team was great, most notably Hall of Fame running back Thurman Thomas. There’s really no need to get into things further because Lynch is gone, now a member of the Seattle Seahawks after Wednesday’s trade.
I have to admit, getting to know him over the past few years I fully expected him to tee off on the organization after the trade, acting like a prisoner freshly released from the can. But since I teed off on him ad nauseum when I felt it was warranted, then it’s time to man up and give him some credit. Things may change in the blink of an eye…err quote, but Lynch has said nothing but the right things about his teammates and the organization since being traded.
So the Marshawn Lynch era is over in Buffalo, and the return from Seattle is a fourth rounder in 2011 and a conditional pick the following year.
First and foremost, the move was necessary because there isn’t enough footballs in this (to this point) anemic offense for C.J. Spiller, Fred Jackson and Lynch. Spiller is the ninth overall pick while Jackson signed an extension just a year ago, and is a young 29 years old.
Jackson proved last year he can carry an offense, gaining more than 1,000 yards both in rushing and kickoff returns. He deserves more playing time and now will get it.
According to a report in the Burlington County Times, the Philadelphia Eagles have contacted the Buffalo Bills about a possible trade involving Marshawn Lynch.
The Eagles are searching for a running back with starter LeSean McCoy out indefinitely with a broken rib suffered in Sunday’s game against the Washington Redskins.
Lynch has carried the ball 37 times in four games for Buffalo this season while splitting time with C.J. Spiller and Fred Jackson, running for 164 yards despite an offensive line that has struggled to open any holes.
There have been rumors of a Lynch trade since the start of last offseason, but with the team off to a 0-4 start and going nowhere, coupled with the need to get Spiller more involved offensively, this is a rumor that may very well have some teeth to it.
Some news & notes regarding the Buffalo Bills from a fairly busy Wednesday.
♦ Many people anticipated the Buffalo Bills would make an attempt to trade for suspended San Diego wide receiver Vincent Jackson, but I’m told that the Bills made no such inquiry. I’m also told the team doesn’t have an interest in trading for Philadelphia quarterback Kevin Kolb either.
♦ Marshawn Lynch started and carried the ball 17 times against the Packers last Sunday, prompting heavy speculation that he was being auditioned for other teams as trade bait. I spoke to an offensive player wishing to remain anonymous on Wednesday, and he told me in no uncertain terms that Lynch isn’t going anywhere. “He started and got the bulk of the carries because coach (Chan Gailey) thought he’d give us the best chance to move the ball,” the player said. “Marshawn isn’t going anywhere and he’ll continue to be an important part of the team as we try collectively to all get better.”
♦ Despite questions surfacing on why the Bills used a third round draft pick on a player (Alex Carrington) who has yet to suit up for a game, it appears Gailey isn’t in any rush to get him on the field and is leaving it up to defensive coordinator George Edwards to determine when he’ll be ready.
Early Monday Buffalo Bills head coach Chan Gailey announced that quarterback Trent Edwards was being benched in favor of Ryan Fitzpatrick, hoping it will “provide a spark” to jumpstart a Buffalo offense that’s been deplorable over the first eight quarters of the 2010 season. While the news was a relief to scores of fans suffering ulcers watching Edwards successfully prove he’s not a legit NFL starter, reality soon set in that the team isn’t much better with Fitzpatrick at the helm.
Since it’s become glaringly obvious that the 2010 version of the Bills are well on pace to suffer the same playoff-free fate as its previous 10 editions, Gailey shouldn’t stop with just Edwards. While the embattled side-burns guy deserves the lion’s share of blame, he’s far from alone.
It’s no secret to anyone except perhaps Buddy Nix that the Bills are in desperate need of a franchise quarterback, offensive tackle and an athletic playmaking outside linebacker. I say that because Nix showed enough confidence in Edwards, Demetrius Bell and Aaron Maybin to target none of the above this past April.
It took roughly 30 seconds from the time it was learned Green Bay Packers running back Ryan Grant would miss the rest of the season with an ankle injury for the Marshawn Lynch trade rumors to start circulating in Buffalo.
The rumors fueled further early Wednesday afternoon when Packers starting quarterback Aaron Rodgers, a former teammate of Lynch at the University of California, had this to say to the Green Bay media about Lynch’s talent and character issues.
“He’s a great player,” Rodgers said to reporters. ”And any character issues the team might see, I think in a situation like that, and I think you’ve seen that with other players across the league, when you give a guy a change of scenery and a guy like that who feels he might have something to prove, and surround him with two guys, (Desmond) Bishop and myself who played with him. … I think that can only help him feel comfortable and see a lot of production.”
There are many, many questions regarding the Buffalo Bills as they begin their 2010 campaign. Upon the entire roster, sans C.J. Spiller and Aaron Schobel converging Wednesday in Pittsford in preparation for the start of training camp, one speedy glance at the faces on the roster and a burning question became abundantly clear.
For the love of God, who is a star on this football team?
Nearly universally around the league, each team has a player the organization simply can’t withstand losing. Take away Peyton Manning, Tom Brady or Drew Brees and are the Colts, Patriots and Saints, respectively really a Super Bowl contender? How quickly does Houston’s offense go down the drain without Andre Johnson? If Patrick Willis goes down, the San Francisco defense immediately gets significantly softer. Do the Titans have a chance to win six games without the services of Chris Johnson? I can go on and on.
The Buffalo Bills have had 27 instances when a running back has rushed for 1,000 or more yards in a season.
Did you know that five of them have been by running backs that have only achieved the feat just once: Antowain Smith (1,124 in 1998), Greg Bell (1,100 in 1984), Cookie Gilchrist (1,096 in 1962), Fred Jackson (1,062 in 2009) and Terry Miller (1,060 in 1978).
The guys who have done it multiple times: Thurman Thomas (eight times), O.J. Simpson (five), Joe Cribbs (three times), Travis Henry (twice), Marshawn Lynch (twice) and Willis McGahee (twice).
The Buffalo Bills continue to get their work in collectively as a team at OTA and following practice today, head coach Chan Gailey spoke to the media on a variety of topics, including the situation at running back and quarterback as well as Aaron Schobel, the offensive line and good competition at linebacker.
While Gailey will never be mistaken for Jim Mora or Dick Vermeil, his honesty and willingness to provide detailed answers to questions is a far cry from the days of Dick Jauron. In fact, I can’t even explain the differences in words—kind of sad considering I’m a writer (of sorts).
Anyway, as expected a majority of the questions Gailey fielded centered around Marshawn Lynch and how the running back situation is expected to play out over the summer.
Following his first practice with the Buffalo Bills this offseason, Marshawn Lynch spoke to a pool of reporters. As usual, his comments were pretty straightforward. Here are some of the highlights:
On if he’s disappointed that he hasn’t been traded.
“I’d like to play football, whether it’s here or whether it’s somewhere else as long as I get to play football I’m feeling great,”
On his perception of the fans of Buffalo and if they’ll give him a fair shake given all that’s went on recently.
“I would like for it to be that, but we live in a world where people are going to make up their mind and they have their opinions,” “Take your opinion, take it how you want to, but I’m going to be me whether you like it or not. You can say that you don’t like me from a distance. Most people that interact with me have a different feel. I take it with a grain of salt. As long as I get a fair shake inside these lines that’s all I’m really worried about.”
According to a report by Adam Schefter of ESPN, Marshawn Lynch is back in Buffalo and plans to be a participant in today’s OTA.
Fellow ESPN reporter Tim Graham says Schefter cites someone who has spoken to Lynch as the basis for his participation.
We’ll have to wait and see. On two occasions recently there have been published reports with quotes by Lynch saying he’d practice with his teammates and didn’t.
A variety of reports say Lynch still wants to be traded and reportedly Seattle is still interested in him. Lynch getting into camp could possibly get the ball rolling. Then again, maybe he’s just finally resigned to being back in Buffalo for 2010, as Graham stated.
At this point, nobody knows if Marshawn Lynch will be a member of the Buffalo Bills when the team opens up their season on September 12 with a home contest against division rival Miami.
According to Jason LaConfora of NFL.com, the Seattle Seahawks remain an interested observer in what general manager Buddy Nix does with the disgruntled star. He tweeted the following Monday afternoon: “Seahawks remain quite interested in Marshawn Lynch should Bills opt to deal him. Would make sense.”
It certainly does. With Fred Jackson and C.J. Spiller in tow the Bills are hardly hurting at the position, even if Lynch is eventually dealt. Couple that with Lynch’s public desire to get traded and to this point, the lone veteran on the roster not named Aaron Schobel to fail to hit the practice field with his teammates during voluntary OTA’s, and he’s a distraction waiting to happen.
Skunkpost.com takes a look back at Patrick Kane’s Stanley Cup-winning goal and compares it to other big moments in sports history involving Buffalo-born athletes.
Get ready for Stephen Strasburg fever at Coca Cola field in Buffalo Thursday. The Buffalo News reports over 9,000 tickets have already been sold to see the phenom in his last minor league start.
Adam Schefter of ESPN tweeted on Wednesday that Buffalo Bills running back Marshawn Lynch is expected to take part during team OTA’s on Thursday, after missing the first five sessions.
Adam Caplan of Scout.com, citing a league source, reported earlier Wednesday that Buffalo Bills running back Marshawn Lynch had arrived in Orchard Park. If Caplan’s source is accurate, then Lynch is in Orchard Park, but not a team headquarters.
WGR 550 is reporting that Lynch is once again absent from Organized Team Activities today.
These workouts are voluntary. Buffalo began full-team OTAs last week under new head coach Chan Gailey. Lynch has not participated in any team activities since the close of the 2009 season.
Lynch, according to a report from Yahoo, planned on reporting to OTAs late last week, but that obviously didn’t happen. While Lynch isn’t facing any repercussions for missing these activities, this decision of his isn’t doing him any favors in the court of public opinion.
Marshawn Lynch sat down to talk with the San Francisco Chronicle on television last week. It serves as evidence they did claim he would show up for OTA’s, as Mike Silver of Yahoo Sports originally reported, which of course he did not follow through on.
No word on if he plans on showing up for this week’s activities.
Here are some of the highlights:
On when he plans on returning to Buffalo.
“I plan to get there at the end of this week to get back there and get acclimated with my teammates. Get back in the building, man and go show this pretty smile back in Buffalo. Lift up the spirits.”
On how close he came to getting traded and dialogue with Buddy Nix
“We had a conversation about it and they let me know pretty much that that wasn’t going to happen. From there I took it as, alright I ain’t going anywhere so what is next? Now I know I’m going to be in Buffalo so my mindset is stay focused on what I got going there and hopefully get this thing going and get some games won.”
Last Friday in a rare interview with Yahoo Sports, Marshawn Lynch boasted he was ready to return to “Beast Mode.” Among the many things he touched on in the published piece, Lynch claimed he would show up in Buffalo “sometime within the next week” to participate in some of the Bills OTA’s.
Lynch either forgot to circle the dates on his calendar, or he’s a fraud. In any case, take a wild guess at who didn’t show up for any of the activities this week?
Over the next couple of months the chatter around Buffalo Bills training camp will undeniably center on the open quarterback competition. Head coach Chan Gailey continues to stress that Trent Edwards, Ryan Fitzpatrick and Brian Brohm will all get a fair shake to claim the starting job as the team heads into the 2010 season in search of an offensive identity.
While the inner-battle will dominate headlines, it’s not the only position that will be contested in the hot, summer sun.
The second question after who will throw the ball is what receiver not named Lee Evans will the pigskin get tossed to. Just as Edwards, Fitzpatrick and Brohm are vying for the starting gig, so are James Hardy, Steve Johnson and Marcus Easley for a shot at replacing the departed Terrell Owens in the starting lineup.
Maybe Marshawn Lynch was telling the truth when he told Michael Silver of Yahoo Sports last weekend that was ready to come to Buffalo Bills camp and attend workouts and fight for his job. However, it didn’t happen on Tuesday.
Lynch along with retirement contemplator Aaron Schobel was the only two veterans of note absent as the Bills began voluntary practice today. There is no word on if Schobel is close to a decision.
A number of players didn’t participate because of injury but were still in attendance. They include Demetrius Bell, Eric Wood, Derek Schouman and Nic Harris.
The starting offensive line consisted of, from left to right, Jamon Meredith, Andy Levitre, Geoff Hangartner, Kirk Chambers and Cornell Green. Of course, Bell and Wood are out with injury but still, that just sounds very bad.
Marshawn Lynch, in a rare interview with the media, spoke with Mike Silver of Yahoo Sports over the weekend. Several revelations came from the conversation, most notably that Lynch did request a trade in April but the Bills didn’t pull the trigger on a deal because they weren’t satisfied with a maximim third round draft pick offer. Sources told Yahoo Sports that Houston and Seattle were the teams that made an offer.
Other interesting things to come from an admittedly compelling interview:
♦ Lynch plans on being in Buffalo “sometime this week” to particpate in team voluntary activities. Many, including this author didn’t expect him around until mandatory functions began.
Inside the Buffalo Bills organization, one of the poorer-kept secrets is a mutual aversion between current running back Marshawn Lynch and Hall of Famer Thurman Thomas. Simply put, you’re unlikely to see the duo sharing a meal at Lynch’s Applebees or Dave and Buster’s hot spots anytime soon.
Several current and former players I’ve spoken to confirm the two aren’t fond of each other. Word is Thomas doesn’t think Lynch is very deserving of being part of the Bills organization and Western New York community.
Evidence of Lynch’s contempt for Thomas rests in his locker. We captured a photocopied image of a Mark Gaughan Buffalo News blog entry from March 2009 Lynch has taped inside his stall. In the short column, Thomas said at the time he’d get rid of Lynch, who had previously been arrested a month earlier on a gun possession charge in California.
After being the toast of the NFL over the past week following his sensational touchdown run against New Orleans that resurrected the term “Beast Mode”, Marshawn Lynch along with the majority of his Seattle Seahawks teammates were missing in action Sunday afternoon.
While the Bills have once again been long gone from the NFL playoff picture, Buffalo was very well represented this weekend in Wild Card postseason action.
We’re journeying today on a series of the best… and worst of Buffalo Sports Daily circa 2010. Kicking things off today is what we deem our five best stories of the past year.
So the Marshawn Lynch era is over in Buffalo, and the return from Seattle is a fourth rounder in 2011 and a conditional pick the following year.
According to a report in the 
Some news & notes regarding the Buffalo Bills from a fairly busy Wednesday.
Early Monday Buffalo Bills head coach Chan Gailey announced that quarterback Trent Edwards was being benched in favor of Ryan Fitzpatrick, hoping it will “provide a spark” to jumpstart a Buffalo offense that’s been deplorable over the first eight quarters of the 2010 season. While the news was a relief to scores of fans suffering ulcers watching Edwards successfully prove he’s not a legit NFL starter, reality soon set in that the team isn’t much better with Fitzpatrick at the helm.
It took roughly 30 seconds from the time it was learned Green Bay Packers running back Ryan Grant would miss the rest of the season with an ankle injury for the Marshawn Lynch trade rumors to start circulating in Buffalo.
There are many, many questions regarding the Buffalo Bills as they begin their 2010 campaign. Upon the entire roster, sans C.J. Spiller and Aaron Schobel converging Wednesday in Pittsford in preparation for the start of training camp, one speedy glance at the faces on the roster and a burning question became abundantly clear.
The Buffalo Bills have had 27 instances when a running back has rushed for 1,000 or more yards in a season.
The Buffalo Bills continue to get their work in collectively as a team at OTA and following practice today, head coach Chan Gailey spoke to the media on a variety of topics, including the situation at running back and quarterback as well as Aaron Schobel, the offensive line and good competition at linebacker.
Following his first practice with the Buffalo Bills this offseason, Marshawn Lynch spoke to a pool of reporters. As usual, his comments were pretty straightforward. Here are some of the highlights:
At this point, nobody knows if Marshawn Lynch will be a member of the Buffalo Bills when the team opens up their season on September 12 with a home contest against division rival Miami.
Buffalo News columnist Bob DiCesare feels that 
Get ready for 
Last Friday in a rare interview with 
Over the next couple of months the chatter around Buffalo Bills training camp will undeniably center on the open quarterback competition. Head coach Chan Gailey continues to stress that Trent Edwards, Ryan Fitzpatrick and Brian Brohm will all get a fair shake to claim the starting job as the team heads into the 2010 season in search of an offensive identity.
Maybe Marshawn Lynch was telling the truth when he told Michael Silver of Yahoo Sports last weekend that was ready to come to Buffalo Bills camp and attend workouts and fight for his job. However, it didn’t happen on Tuesday.
Marshawn Lynch, in a rare interview with the media, spoke with Mike Silver of Yahoo Sports over the weekend. Several revelations came from the conversation, most notably that Lynch did request a trade in April but the Bills didn’t pull the trigger on a deal because they weren’t satisfied with a maximim third round draft pick offer. Sources told Yahoo Sports that Houston and Seattle were the teams that made an offer.
Inside the Buffalo Bills organization, one of the poorer-kept secrets is a mutual aversion between current running back Marshawn Lynch and Hall of Famer Thurman Thomas. Simply put, you’re unlikely to see the duo sharing a meal at Lynch’s Applebees or Dave and Buster’s hot spots anytime soon.
