Every week some coach, and normally more than one, says his team played hard in a loss. That effort wasn't an issue.
Does that ever make anyone feel any better -- players or fans? Buffalo Bills receiver Stevie Johnson sounds over it.
"Every week he's saying that we have the effort ... which is obvious," Johnson said Tuesday of coach Chan Gailey on NFL Network's "NFL AM."
"At this point you can't be a team that's so-called turning the corner if you're not winning games. We still have more work to do. We still have to learn how to finish these games."
The Bills lost by six to the New England Patriots last Sunday and trailed by just three in the fourth quarter. They led the Patriots 21-7 in third quarter of a Week 4 loss. Buffalo also led the Tennessee Titans 34-28 in the fourth quarter before losing 35-34 in Week 7.
The offense has made up for the NFL's worst scoring defense, but the Bills haven't been able to finish.
"We just need to go to our bread and butter when we need to," Johnson said. "At that moment going against the New England Patriots, you know they're going to go to (Rob) Gronkowski or Wes Welker. We have many weapons, C.J. (Spiller), me, Donald (Jones) and Scott Chandler. The four of us should have the opportunity at the end of that game."
The whole you-guys-played-hard thing has to get old after a while as the losses pile up. It seems very middle school-ish. Coaches and players always say, there are no moral victories. Isn't "playing hard" a moral victory considering that's the minimum expected each week?
Just sayin'.
Follow Kareem Copeland on Twitter @kareemcopeland.
