Web Rumblings: Buffalo Bills News, 9/30

Bills' 'Goon squad' keeping things loose - BuffaloBills.com
"The name came up in the normal kind of kidding conversation that young NFL prospects often have with one another. Joking around often eases the stress of trying to scrape and claw one's way onto an NFL roster when you're an undrafted rookie, which was the case for Bills receivers Donald Jones, David Nelson and Naaman Roosevelt."

FOOTBALL OUTSIDERS: Innovative Statistics, Intelligent Analysis | Week 3 Quick Reads
Fred Jackson is the most valuable running back in the league. Ryan Fitzpatrick is fifth on the QB list.

NFL free agency's winners and losers - FOX Sports
Alex Marvez of FOXSports.com looks at NFL free agency's winners and losers. The Bills are winners.

Fitzpatrick named AFC Offensive Player of the Month - BuffaloBills.com
"The way he manages the game and the accuracy he's throwing with right now... he's done an amazing job," said Bills head coach Chan Gailey. "The highest compliment you can pay a quarterback is that he wins. It doesn't matter whether we're up or down or what, he keeps playing well. He's a winner, obviously."

Bills strike new training camp pact with St. John Fisher - BuffaloBills.com
"Having this new agreement that keeps our Training Camp at St. John Fisher College is tremendous," said Bills quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick. "Everyone at the school does such a great job during our time there and it’s a first-class operation all the way. I talk to a number of players around the league and I’m thoroughly convinced that we have one of the best, if not the best, training camp in the NFL."

Bills Focus: Underrated Defense Awaits in Cincy - BuffaloBills.com
The Bills' offense might be facing their biggest test this week when they played the Bengals defense.

Inside The Bills | A play for prime time?
"We’re just trying to get ourselves some Monday night games so we’re keeping the games exciting and keeping them close," Florence deadpanned.

Inside The Bills | Only 3 Bills QBs AFC Plyr of Mo.
"The only other offensive player in the history of the Bills to have won an AFC Offensive Player of the Month award besides these three quarterbacks is Hall of Famer Thurman Thomas."

Inside The Bills | Last yr in Cincy was 1st big comeback
"I remember Stevie asking me if I had ever come back from a deficit that big and I was just kind of talking to him about my first NFL game, the first one I got into, I said, ‘Yeah,’" said Fitzpatrick. "I told him about it at halftime and he said, ‘OK, let’s go do it.’ And that’s what we did."

The Concordia Sentinel: Daye hits right notes for Bills
"Ferriday native Daryl Daye was promoted to linebackers and special teams coach before the season with the Buffalo Bills. He never knew songwriter would be added to those titles. The Bills unveiled the song, "Red, White and Blue" at their home football game against New England Sunday."

Bills TV Ratings Are High, But Should Go Higher - WNYMedia.net
"The audience for the victory that broke the Pats 15-game mastery of the Bills peaked to almost a Super Bowl-like rating in the 40s in the final 45 minutes, ending with a 44.5 before Rian Lindell’s winning field goal."

Sightings: Russert sports intense Buffalo Bills outfit | Washington Examiner
Luke Russert headed to the White House decked out in his Bills garb to celebrate earlier this week.

Lacking balance, the Chicago Bears' offense is wobbling - ESPN
"David Nelson was correct: The Buffalo Bills' streak of 15 losses to the New England Patriots ended on Sunday, just as he had told me it would."

ProFootballWeekly.com - Scout's Notebook: Bills TE Scott Chandler
"A very long-limbed, rangy, dependable pass-catcher, Chandler competes as a blocker, but noticeably struggles in protection (too tall and underpowered) and is at his best in the short-to-intermediate receiving game, where he has proven to be very reliable running option routes."

9/29 David Nelson On The Howard Simon Show - WGR 550
"The Bills WR talks about his success in the Bills offense and hanging with Bills fans in Buffalo."

Buffalo Bills say lack of sacks has a context | Democrat and Chronicle
"We saw two of the top running offenses in the league from last year and you're in a little different mindset," said linebacker Shawne Merriman, who was supposed to improve Buffalo's rush, but has been rather invisible in the three games. "We have to go out there and do what we have to do to win. If you go out looking for sacks against teams that run the ball and you get upfield, you can get hurt by that."

Bills camp to stay at St. John Fisher - The Buffalo News
Catching up with all the news from yesterday.

Bills must learn to deal with success - The Buffalo News
"I'm talking a lot to these guys about handling all this stuff and making sure they don't get away from what got us to where we are," Gailey said as the Bills prepared to travel to play at Cincinnati on Sunday.

Buffalo Bills, St. John Fisher reach new camp deal | Democrat and Chronicle
"The relationship will continue for at least five more years after the two parties announced an extension of their agreement on Thursday."

AFC East Week 4 X Factors - AFC East Blog - ESPN
Can Leodis McKelvin make an impact this week against the Bengals?

Will Bills' Spiller, Smith find niche? - AFC East Blog - ESPN
"Former 2010 first-round pick C.J. Spiller and free-agent signing Brad Smith haven't made much impact so far in Buffalo. The surprising, first-place Bills (3-0) are undefeated thanks to a variety of less-touted, overlooked players on offense. Buffalo spent a combined $40 million in contracts on Spiller and Smith. But their roles on the team remain undefined."

Brady, Fitzpatrick No. 1-2 in QBR - AFC East Blog - ESPN
"New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady (85.3) and Buffalo Bills quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick (83.7) have the league's best QBRs through three weeks. They have combined for 2,168 yards, 20 touchdowns and eight interceptions."

Stevie Returns To Bills Practice, Urbik Out - WGR 550
Joe Buscaglia updates all the injuries from Bills practice.

ProFootballWeekly.com - Wilson helps lead young Bills into new territory
"The saying goes: Winning is contagious. And the opposite end of the spectrum is, too - so is losing. We had to look back and reflect on what put us in that 0-8 hole a year ago," Wilson told PFW this week. "It was a lot of mistakes -penalties, mental errors, missed tackles, turnovers, giving up big plays, things of that nature."

Fantasy Football 2011: Week 4 IDP Rankings - FakeTeams
Nick Barnett and George Wilson are highly-ranked on the Individual Player Rankings.

'Lights Out' In Cincinnati? Bills' Merriman Hunts For Sack No. 1 - WGR 550
"I'm going to always be my biggest critic," Merriman asserted. "I don't think anybody can bring any more pressure on me than I bring on myself, in order to go back there and make some big plays in the backfield."

Cincinnati Bengals And Buffalo Bills Connections - Cincy Jungle
"Every week we try to push out a weekly feature that digs into the connection between the Bengals and their opponent that week. It's informational, only. How many Bengals players are from the Buffalo region? How many Bills players are from the state of Ohio, or the Cincinnati region (which includes areas in Kentucky). How many players played together or coaches coaching together?"

Another group deserves respect - Times Union
Jennifer Gish published a column questioning Bills fans last week. This week, she published the hate mail she received.