Web Rumblings: Buffalo Bills News, 8/26

Bills can't sustain early rhythm in loss to Steelers - BuffaloBills.com
"It was the main dress rehearsal for Buffalo’s starters and the offense and defense got off to a good start, but they could not sustain their level of play throughout the first half. A turnover led to a momentum shift for Pittsburgh and the Steelers carried it into the second half with three takeaways all leading to touchdowns in a 38-7 win over the Bills."

Inside The Bills | Bills that are practice squad eligible
"With roster reductions taking place this week, a factor in some of that decision making is the practice squad eligibility of players. Here are the players on Buffalo’s roster that still have practice squad eligibility."

Special teams looking regular-season ready - BuffaloBills.com
"(They are) playing well," said Gailey. "They have done a good job. The punters have done a good job, had another good punt return or two tonight. They have done some good things. They really have."

Transcripts: Bills-Steelers - BuffaloBills.com
Chan Gailey, Ryan Fitzpatrick, George Wilson and Fred Jackson talk about the game.

Spiller and Chandler: 2012 goal is Super Bowl - BuffaloBills.com
The goal is to win the Super Bowl this year. Why wouldn’t it be? As Bills tight end Scott Chandler put it, "Teams don’t have 3-4 years to build anymore. You need to just go out and do it. Why not this year?" Chandler also recounted the story of how he came to be at this point, and why it made the season opener last year in Kansas City that much more sweet when he pulled in two touchdowns.

Q & A: CB Aaron Williams - BuffaloBills.com
The second-year cornerback answers questions about his off-the-field personality.

Chan Gailey Postgame Press Conference - BuffaloBills.com
"The Bills head coach talks about the 38-7 loss to the Steelers."

Ryan Fitzpatrick Postgame Press Conference - BuffaloBills.com
"The Bills quarterback talks about the 38-7 loss to the Steelers."

Bills Roundup: Turnovers, Sloppy Play Prove Costly - BuffaloBills.com
"The Bills couldn't maintain their good start to the game, as turnovers and sloppy play led to a 38-7 loss to the Steelers."

Inside The Bills | Dareus wants better
"I’m so not happy," he said. "I feel like we can do a lot better if we just put our mind to it. We really had some moments where we saw that we can be real good. I think if we keep chopping at that wood we’ll get there."

Inside The Bills | Stevie on the offense
"We put up a touchdown and we moved the ball a little bit with the first group," he said. "That’s just okay though. To me we can do better. I think me and (Ryan) Fitzpatrick can be on another level, but at the same time I have seen some progress with the guys and how we move downfield. We have to get some first downs."

Inside The Bills | 98-yd drive didn’t wipe away positives
"The way we played the first 28 and a half minutes, that is how we have to play the entire game," said George Wilson. "We cannot just let our guard down, especially going into halftime. That is a key situation that we have to win. We are going to be in that position again at some point during the course of this season and we cannot give up points going into halftime."

Inside The Bills | Chan on 1st team pass pro
"I think that we did average," said Gailey. "I thought the line blocked pass protection average. Run game (blocking) was not bad. I thought we were average in the pass protection area tonight."

Inside The Bills | Incompletions due partly to miscommunication
"We had somebody stop on a route," said Gailey. "We had somebody think that it was going to be down the field when it was a back shoulder, stop throw. We have to keep working on getting on the same page on those things like that."

Inside The Bills | Fred feels offense will be alright
"I think we are good," he said. "We know what we have to do. Go in and fix, like I said, look at the film and figure out what it is we need to work on. But I think we are heading in the right direction. We made some plays while we were out there and we made some mistakes as well. But I think we will be alright."

Inside The Bills | Fitz still very confident
"I feel really good. I really do," he said. "Like it hit on earlier I’ve got a lot of confidence in myself and in the group and I know they have a lot of confidence too. Hopefully when we get to play the Jets and we start the real stuff we’ll start keeping score."

Inside The Bills | Just cramps for Gilmore
"Yeah just a cramp," said Gilmore. "I am good. I am 100 percent."

Inside The Bills | 3 man race for 4th DE spot
"Prior to Gilbert kicking outside to defensive end just over a week ago, Eddins and Moore were the primary candidates to land the fourth defensive end role. But Gilbert, who was playing defensive tackle didn’t look like a great fit inside. So defensive line coach Giff Smith moved him out to end where he played most of his college career, helping him earn WAC Co-Defensive Player of the Year honors at San Jose State."

Inside The Bills | Leodis excelling as nickel CB
"Leodis has played really, really well at nickel," said head coach Chan Gailey. "It would be hard to move him out of there."

Inside The Bills | Fan Friday 8-24
Chris Brown answers fan questions about improving the rushing defense, who they might cut on the defensive line, the long snapper position, keeping two back-up quarterbacks plus Brad Smith, and whether Ryan Fitzpatrick is the real deal or not.

Defense improved, but Fitz off target - The Buffalo News
"Let's not open the debate about whether he should remain the starting quarterback just yet. You could practically hear Bills fans screaming for Vince Young from their couches - or was that about the Little League World Series? - before Young threw an interception on his first play of the game. The offense belongs to Fitzpatrick until further notice."

Steelers' defense gives the Bills Fitz - The Buffalo News
"Fitzpatrick wasn’t as sharp as his counterpart in the face of a strong five-man pass rush from the Steelers. Fitzpatrick completed 7-of-18 passes for 89 yards, was sacked once and knocked down repeatedly."

Defense is disappointed about Steelers' drive - The Buffalo News
"After forcing the Pittsburgh Steelers to punt on each of their first five possessions, the Bills allowed the Steelers - with one timeout and just 1:46 on the clock - to travel 98 yards for a touchdown."

Video: News wraps up Bills' loss - The Buffalo News
The reporters from the Buffalo News deconstruct the loss.

Can Bills afford kickoff specialist? - The Buffalo News
"Let's say Potter can be at the top of the league, at about 70 percent touchbacks. That would mean the Bills would have to cover about 32 fewer kickoffs than last season. The Bills had to cover 56 of 79 kickoffs last year. At a 70 percent touchback rate and given the league average of 78 kickoffs per team, that would mean they would cover only 24 returns this year."

Points after: Steelers 38, Bills 7 - The Buffalo News
Tim Graham gives his high and low points from the game.

How the Bills fared in 'Madden NFL 13' ratings - The Buffalo News
"Earlier this week, EA Sports revealed a spreadsheet for the 2,367 players in its "Madden NFL 13" video game -- all the Buffalo Bills from Aaron Williams to Zebrie Sanders -- in advance of the game going on sale to the general public Tuesday. " Check out some highlights here.

Video: Pro Football Weekly previews Buffalo Bills - The Buffalo News
"Pro Football Weekly's team-by-team video preview series examines the Buffalo Bills today. PFW publisher Hub Arkush and associate editor Kevin Fishbain break down the pros and cons of the Bills' chances to make the playoffs for the first time since the 1999 season."

WGR 550 - Sideline Reactions: Steelers 38 - Bills 7
Joe Buscaglia says the Bills took a step forward despite getting blown out.

WGR 550 - HAMILTON: Bills' Still Need A Lot Of Work
"The Bills starters got to play the whole first half and what started off well, didn’t end well. To me, the positives like no penalties in the first half don’t outweigh some glaring problems."

WGR 550 - Steelers Rip Bills 38-7
All the stats from Saturday night.

WGR 550 - Bills' Wood Welcomes More Playing Time
"I’m excited and it’s just another step moving forward. We’ve stayed on track this whole time and haven’t had any speed bumps and we’re hoping that stays that way until September 9th. I’ve taken a majority of the reps the past couple of weeks with the ones in practice, so still getting in a lot of good work in here, just not quite as many reps during the game. In the grand scheme of things I think I missed eight or so reps last week in the game. I probably got in 10 times that many last week out on the field so we’re getting good work in, we’re just not trying to take any chances."

Buffalo Bills fall flat in loss to Pittsburgh Steelers | Democrat and Chronicle
"The Bills were unimpressive, especially on offense, in their 38-7 loss to Pittsburgh." Sal Maiorana is none too pleased.

Walker's 2012 AFC East predictions - AFC East Blog - ESPN
"Second and third place was the toughest call to make. But after spending time in both camps, I just have a more optimistic feeling about the Bills."

Observation deck: Bills-Steelers - AFC East Blog - ESPN
James Walker recaps the game by explaining what he liked and what he didn't.

Over/under: Buffalo Bills - AFC East Blog - ESPN
A stunning 70-30 majority thinks the Bills will win 9 or more games in 2012.

Lessons learned from Saturday's preseason games - NFL.com
"At some point, the struggles of the Buffalo Bills' first-team offense should become a concern. They have not looked good all preseason. It's just not that talented a group other than the running backs."

Lions' next opponent: Meet the Buffalo Bills | Detroit Free Press
Taking a general look at the Buffalo Bills in advance of the fourth preseason game.

Brown's two TDs lead Steelers' rout of Bills - Wellsville, NY - Wellsville Daily Reporter
"We got a little rattled," said Bills head coach Chan Gailey. "We've got to hold our composure a little better than we did."

Steelers run over Bills - Toronto Sun
"Overall, the defence, particularly the front four looked extremely good in its one half of action. With limited reps together in the first two pre-season games, and even without right defensive end Mark Anderson in the lineup Saturday night, the trio of Marcell Dareus, Mario Williams and Kyle Williams looked very comfortable."

Lang on NFL: Grading the Bills' performance - sportsnet.ca
"For head coach Chan Gailey and the Bills’ coaching staff the final score in the Steelers 38-7 rout of Buffalo wasn’t as important as the final grade they will give the starters for their performance on Saturday. In a moment of grand generousity, I’ve decided to save Coach Gailey some time and do it for him:"