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OBL 1/6: Bills Playoff Matchup Set With Broncos, Game Preview With James Palmer And Eric Wood

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Published Jan 6, 2025, 8:25 PM
Chris Brown and Steve Tasker quick recapped Sunday's regular season finale with the Patriots and looked ahead to the Wild Card matchup with the Broncos. The two went around the NFL to discuss the latest coaching moves and playoff matchups from around the league. They asked the listeners did you get the first round playoff matchup you wanted for the Bills? Underdog Fantasy Senior NFL reporter James Palmer joined the show to discuss this weekend's game against Denver, who deserves credit for the Broncos turnaround, and Bo Nix's impressive play. He also shared his thoughts on the upcoming wild card games. Radio color analyst and former Pro Bowl center Eric Wood kicked off the third and final hour. He talked about his biggest takeaways from the Broncos, how the Bills stack up against Denver, and the matchup between head coaches Sean Payton and Sean McDermott.

The one Bill's Live presented by Kalida Health.

Good Afternoon, Bill's Mafia. Welcome to the final week of the regular season. As we get you ready for today's matchup between the thirteen and three Buffalo Bills and the three and thirteen New England Patriots. Here's the snaff back to pass pressure coming from von Miller and he's got him wrapped up for a sack. Here's the snaff. The handoff rollout.

Dave is open and he's into the end zone for the touchdown.

Handoff goes to Gipson. He fumbled the football.

Let's loose on the turf and the Bills say they have it.

It is a takeaway for Buffalo.

Jevon solovon hand off to Cook finds a hole on the left side and he is in for a one yard touchdown run. The Cook is in the kitchen for the sixteenth time on the ground this season. The Patriots will get their fourth win of the season and when twenty three.

To sixteen over Buffalo. This game had no bearing on Buffalo's playoff seed. They will be the number two seed next week in Super wild Card Weekend. Their game rewind is presented by Connect Life, an official sponsor of the Buffalo Bills. Sign up to donate at connectlife dot org. All right, here we are wild card week as we set the table for Bill's Broncos on the heels of the season finale up in New England age twenty three to sixteen defeat. With the bulk of Buffalo's roster on Sunday made up of reserve players in the lineup, there were some starters mixed in here and there, especially some that needed to get some regular season snaps to tune up for the playoffs who had been out of the lineup due to injury. Tomorrow, Hamlin, Curtis, Samuel, players of that ILK and.

A couple of guys getting some incentives.

That's right, Which is big Sam Martin, von Miller mac Hollins. Yeah, it was, you know it was. It had a preseason feel to it. I'm not gonna lie, Steve, you had no doubt about it.

We had a question less, you know, on the on the postgame show about you know, what does it isn't important? You know, for these incentives, what doesn't mean to the player. Certainly the money's nice. I mean you get a guy like Vaughn who's getting a big, a big bonus, but a guy like Mac Hollins, a couple of catches, all the stuff that goes into that. Here's what it means really for the players. Certainly, the money is awesome and in some case great, but what it does mean is the club by allowing, like the coaching staff and it allowing you to get those putting you in there when you really didn't have to be in there for the standings or for the seating of the playoffs, or to get into the playoffs, just to give it to you, give you a chance to get it. It really gives you a feeling you're playing for an organization that's for you, that wants you, that that that's in it with you, that appreciates you. Because I'll say what there are there are dozens and dozens and hundreds of stories over the years of the NFL where coaches would hold a player out to keep them from getting an incentive. Ownership like that has existed in this league. It's never been here in Buffalo, even back when I played, when Ralph Wilson was the was the owner. But this, this ownership group, this GM, this coaching staff, it's a huge message for these players that Hey, we're in it with you. We want you, we want the best for you, we want you to succeed. We're in it for you. And it's not about the money. It's about you. Let's go. That's a huge step. That's a huge gesture on behalf of the ownership toward the players and the coaching staff towards the players. It's not that way every place, and believe me, word like that gets around, So it's it's kind of cool in a game like that. I know that you guys said some stuff about it late in the broadcast yesterday or during the broadcast yesterday where guys, you know, Mac mac hollins was awesome. Man, He's like, yeah, I got it. Von Miller you know, same thing. After three snaps he got it. Yeah, It's just it's just cool stuff in the big picture doesn't mean much to the team, but in a moment like yesterday when he got it, when the team has played so well during the regular season so as to earn some you know, an eas is he Sunday like it was yesterday. Yeah, it's a nice gesture and it does go a long way.

Probably the biggest achievement turned in by James Cook who reached one thousand rushing yards on the season yesterday, becoming the first Bills back with back to back one thousand yard rushing seasons since twenty sixteen to twenty seventeen, when Lashawn McCoy did it. Cook also scored his sixteenth rushing touchdown, tying him with Hall of Famer OJ Simpson for most by a Bill's back in a single season. Cook also tied for the league lead in rushing touchdowns with Jamiir Gibbs, who had three last night in the Lions win to pull into a tie with Cook, so Cook didn't get to have it by himself. Cook is the first to share the league lead in rushing touchdowns since Oj in nineteen seventy five for a Bill's player. The Bills set single season franchise records for total points five hundred, twenty five total touchdowns, sixty five rushing touchdowns, thirty two fourth down conversions, sixteen turnover margin plus twenty four, fewest turnovers eight, fewest interceptions six, fewest twumbles lost, two, fewest total fumbles eleven, lowest sac great highest touchdown to interception ratio, most twenty five plus yard completions, third quarter points scored third quarter point differential and second half point scored two hundred and eighty three points in the second half this year. Pretty crazy yeah. Buffalo's offense also became the only team in league history to have at least thirty rushing and thirty passing touchdowns in a single season. It happened on the two yard touchdown pass from Trubisky to Ray Davis, so the Bills finished the regular season with thirty two rushing touchdowns thirty passing touchdowns. Those combined with their three defensive touchdowns, gave them a team record sixty five on the season. Bill's finished plus one yes day, and the turnover margin with the fumble recovery by Javon Solomon, so they're a plus twenty four. That's the best in the league since twenty twelve, when the Patriots finished plus twenty five. This was also the seventh game this season that the Bills have allowed zero sacks and had zero giveaways, most such games in a single season by any team ever, and they finished the season as one of the only teams in NFL history with five games or more like that. In league history, the twenty twenty one Bills also did it in five games. This year's team did it in seven. No team since nineteen sixty has allowed fewer than a sack per game and fewer than a giveaway per game in the same season. Buffalo's under one on average for the entire year. Nobody's ever done that.

They have been a wagon all season, and they've played like it. It's been fun to watch. The defense is exactly the kind of defense that is successful in the league because they've been able to be consistent in what they do well. That's churn out turnovers and that's that's been huge. They've been pretty good at getting sacks. They do force the ball to be out on time, although they haven't been gotten the payoff that they would have liked a lot of times because of them, you know, even the pressure they're getting. But they've been a really good group, really good group. And I think, you know, we've been hearkening back to Brownie and I in the beginning of the season when none of us knew anything about this crew and what they were going to be like, and they were all the doubts that we had in the question marks. It turned out better than even Brownie and I thought it could. When we were spending a positive at the beginning of the year.

Well, I think we both share the opinion that with proper player development, by the end of the season this year, this year's team could be even better than last year's team, and I think they are.

I think they are even more important than that, though, Brown he's not only did you feel like they're a better group, they're healthier?

Well, yes, and that certainly counts for something. This time. They're fresher as we saw last year. Well, and partly because they didn't have to sprint to the finish like they did last year when they were six and six and had to win their last five games. Their foots pressed to the floor on the gas pedal right to the end and have anything left to give.

This team had the division sewed up at week thirteen. That's a long time ago.

Yes. Concerning those takeaways that the Bills had thirty one in all, second most in the league, the Bills scored one hundred and twenty eight points off those turnovers. That's good for second most in team history and the most since the two thousand and four Bills, who tied the team records set by the nineteen ninety three Bills. They had one hundred and forty points off turnovers. This year's Bills one hundred and twenty eight points off turnovers. That's second most ever in team history. Buffalo also went two for two yesterday in the red zone. They up their red zone touchdown percentage for the season to seventy one point six percent. That's good for second in the league. First in the league the Baltimore Ravens seventy four point two percent.

It really feels like the Bills are on a collision course towards the Ravens.

Well, wasn't it that would be around two Yeah, it'll be two weeks for Visional Round.

It really does seem like every collision course. And of course Kansas City's sitting there lying in waits. Well, they're like all fat and happy and they should be. They and they had troubles getting in and out of Denver yesterday.

Or they just flew out this morning.

They flew out this morning to get back home after their game yesterday. So Denver they got thirteen days off, they're fine. The Baltimore Ravens, however, this is the you got to the guys that are in the heated debate about who's the MVP. Their teams are going to have a chance to go head to head again. They did it back in Week four and the Ravens lumped the Bill up pretty good, thirty five to ten. It's the biggest loss the Bills have had in a minute, and so it's it seems like that's on the horizon. But you know, obviously you got both those teams have a hurdle to clear before they get to this.

They do. Bill's also finished second in the league in points per game thirty point nine points per game, Detroit first at thirty three point two. Head coach Sean mcdermotty after the game yesterday said it appeared they came out of the game clean in terms of injuries. Sometimes things crop up a day later, so gross your fingers and toes that there aren't any surprises coming out a Sunday's game. When coach McDermott addresses the media later this afternoon, let's go around the NFL presented by Kalida Healthy, official healthcare system of the Buffalo Bills. Because there is news galore. Obviously, this is often Black Monday. For girod Mayo, it was Black Sunday. We'll get to that in a second. The New York Jets are already putting out interview requests like they're writing down a grocery list.

Brownie's on the list, Bill's.

Offensive cordator Joe Brady is on their list. A formal request has been made by New York to interview the Bills OC for their head coaching job. They've also put out requests for Pittsburgh O c Arthur Smith, who interviewed with the Jets four years ago, Houston OC Bobby Slowick, Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn, who's a former first round pick of the Jets, as well as Denver defensive coordinator Vance Joseph, Chiefs offensive coordinator Matt Naggi, and Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores. They are also putting out requests for GM candidates to interview, among them Chiefs assistant GM Mike Borganzi. They've also scheduled an interview with Eagles assistant GM Alec Halabi. Meanwhile, Chicago Bears have put in formal requests to interview Lions d C Aaron Glenn, Lions OC Ben Johnson, Cardinals OC Drew Petsing, and Dolphins defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver. Saints doing a lot of the same stuff here, fired their coach a while back. Formal interview request for Aaron Glenn, as well as former Stanford head coach David Shaw, who has most recently been a senior personnel executive for the Denver Broncos. As for firings, we saw about an hour after the game yesterday, Robert Kraft fired Gerrod Mayo as head coach of the Patriots. We were on the bus, we hadn't even pulled out of the stadium yet, and the news broke that Mayo was fired. I was like, WHOA, that was fast.

Yeah. Uh, it's smacks of being decided before the game. It could have been that. You know, the Patriots are sitting up in that the owner's box, are going listen. It's better for our team to lose this game, no question. But you know, I want to see him go out and play hard. But the coaching staff got to know we got to we gotta get that number one pick of the draft. They couldn't win a game all year, then they go out and win the one game they needed to lose. There's an enormous amount of value in a number one overall draft pick, and it was squandered yesterday by the by the Patriots, who now picked fourth, who now picked number four war and because of all that. I don't know if it's because of all that, but like I said, an hour after the game, when you win, that smacks of the decision already being made.

Yeah, it's a bad look. I don't think Craft cares. I think he got spooked after hearing that the Jets had already interviewed Mike Vrabel for their vacant coaching position last week. So he's thinking he's behind now and he has to play catchup. And so I think that's what prompted the decision taking place so quickly, because he knows he can't just hire Mike Rabel out of hand or offer him the job. He has to interview minority candidates, as we know as part of the Rooney rules. So there's a process that has to begin here, and it's got to begin in earnest because the Jets are way ahead of them in terms of interviewing head coaching candidates.

So I'll see where it goes. I'll say this though, it does give you a little bit of for the Patriots. They're like, okay, we got a little time because the Patriots have I mean, the Jets have asked for like nine guys to be interviewed, so that's gonna take a while for them to do that, so the Patriots can catch up to them because they don't have to interview all nine guys that there was an interview, two, three, whatever, if they've decided already. But that's neither here nor there. These all these teams are looking around trying to get ready for wild card weekend, and most of the hot coordinators are going to be the tops of the list.

Well. And the other reason for the prompt turnaround is if you like any of the coordinators for the top seeded teams in the AFC or the NFC, this is your week to interview them because they're on by right, and.

That's the Patriots seeds.

The Patriots have put in request to interview Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson, who is going to be a very popular candidate.

I think that Matt and Nage is in on the Jets list too, who is the offensive coordinator of the Chiefs.

Jacksonville Jaguars this morning fired head coach Doug Peterson. Cincinnati Bengals fired defensive coordinator lou An Room after six seasons with the club. An Arumo was a big reason why the Bengals beat the Chiefs in the AFC title game three years ago. They shut the Chiefs out in the first half of that game. And he is gone. I imagine he will find a DC job rather quickly, probably with one of these new head coaches in all likelihood wherever they might land. Since so, we mentioned that Giants co owner John Marraw released a statement today saying they are retaining GM Joe Shanan head coach Brian Dable as they believe in their vision going forward. So it looks like the Giants brass will be able to draft their quarterback for the franchise going forward here, so probably good news for them. Ravens coach John Harbaugh calls Zay Flowers day to day and clarifies that the injury is not season ending. Sounds like it could be a challenge this week for him to be ready for the Ravens wild card playoff game against the Steelers, but we'll have to see where it goes through the course of this week. In end of season, you know, locker Room. After losing to the Jets, Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill indicated after Sunday's loss that he'd be open to move on to a new team next season. Here are some direct quotes from Tyreek Hill. This is my first time I haven't been in the playoffs. I just got to do what's best for me and my family, if that's here or wherever the case may be. I'm going to finally open that door myself. I'm opening the door. I'm out, Bro. It was great playing here, but at the end of the day, Bro, I got to do what's best for my career. I'm too much of a competitor to be just out there. He did play in all seventeen games this season, despite wrist and thumb injuries. He came up forty one yard shives, fifth straight one thousand yard season. Injuries to two obviously compromised his productivity. So this is a guy that likes being a frontrunner, likes being on a playoff team, and the Dolphins were not that this year. So he wasn't in the postseason for the first time ever, and he didn't like it. So he wants to go ABC later on the Dolphins. I believe they have an out in his contract this year, although I have to take a look at that, because I want to say they reworked some stuff for him as well. But I'll take a look at that. But that's a pretty bold statement to make right after the season's over in the locker room. Yeah, I know, in the locker room amongst your teammates, Like, what come on, man.

Well, yeah, it's certainly he'll be a highly valued guy out there for a lot of teams.

He'll be thirty one years old before next season.

He's still as fast as anybody in the league, maybe faster that. I think. The thing that has always set him apart from the fast guys in the league is his ability to go from zero to one hundred very fast in like two steps.

Yeah, they don't have it out in his contract until next year.

But I could see a team like a an Arizona Cardinals team like that jumping up and grab and maybe one of the others as well, a Seahawks team or one of these other teams who needs a guy to balance the scales from a guy like Marvin Harrison Junior in Arizona or a DK Metcalf in Seattle.

Or what.

But the guy's making thirty bill thirty million. Yeah, you gotta have.

His cap hit next year is twenty eight to six. I mean, you could for the Dolphins his dead cap if they move on from him, fifty seven million dollars. Yeah, they'll trade him though, Yeah, and I think that would reduce that figure, but I don't I don't know how much. I don't know if it'll be enough because the Dolphins books are a mess. I know they gave a bunch of money to Bradley Chubb but didn't even play this year. They got to sign Jalen Phillips to a big contract extension. H Javon Holland has to get signed to an extension. I mean that's that's their leader in the defensive backfield and probably the only one under age thirty besides Cater Kohu and Duck. So they've got issues there that they've got to figure out. Steven Ross, by the way, their owner said that they're going to continue to go forward with Chris Greer as GM and Mike McDaniel as head coach. I think McDaniel's job was safe. People were wondering about whether Greer would be reassigned or let go all together. But he's gonna stay on despite some questionable contract extension decisions like the one they just handed to Jalen Ramsey at age thirty.

Wow, you're gonna have to go to you go down the list going forward. I mean, you've got teams like San Francisco, Cleveland, Detroit all have some cap space, Vegas has cap space. New England obviously.

Has one hundred and thirty million in caps.

That's yeah, So that's what the teams. You're gonna look at the teams that can acquire a guy like that. New England's got a hundred, yeah, over one hundred, Vegas got one hundred and twelve, Washington's got one hundred and two, Detroit ninety five. All the way down to Tennessee, who's at the bottom is at the bottom of the top ten with sixty four million dollars. Any of those teams could could take that money on and trade for him. You got to think about a team like a Minnesota, who with all that cap space and where they sit right now, they could say when a guy like Tyreek could put us over the top. But does Minnesota do that or do they sign Sam Darnold.

Oh, Minnesota's not doing that. They got Jordan Edison and justin Jefferson. They already got boatloads of money in the receiver position. They got Hockinson a tight end. They don't need weapons. They need to try to figure out the quarterback position.

Right, They got to sign. They've got to sign the guy. But that yeah, Tyreek's gonna move. The question is where's he going? Yeah, that's that's but that is a little if they think about it, if they if they had won that game Denver losers there in the playoffs, does that whatever, does he still want to move? He might.

I think he's tired of his quarterback not being available.

I think he's tired of catching twelve yard passes.

Well, that might be part of it too. Finally, in around the NFL, Browns quarterback Deshn Watson suffered a setback in his recovery from a torn achilles that according to Browns GM Andrew Berry, who gave his end of season State of the Browns press conference today. Berry added that the team is awaiting more details determine how it will impact Watson's twenty twenty five season, but he did confirm it would push his timetable for full recovery back. They just don't know how much, right, now so poor and they are. I mean, his contract is an albatross. I think he's a ninety seven million dollar capit. If they cut him, yeah, this year, they can't do anything. They're stuck with him for two more seasons.

And they're going to be in the basement of that division for two more seasons. I mean, there's just no getting around it.

There is an update concerning the Jets and their GM search. They've requested a general manager interview with Buck's assistant GM Mike Greenberg, who is a Long Island native actually grew up a Jets fan. Don't know if that's going to convince him to go work for them, but we'll see. He's been put on the interview list. So there it is. The Seahawks have fired offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb after just one season. He was working under first year head coach Mike McDonald, who came over from Baltimore defensive coaching background for McDonald, Ryan Grubb his OC clipped after one season. So the pink slips continue to fly here on what is commonly known as Black Monday in the NFL.

Yikes, because of the way that now that the playoff field is set, the top eighteen picks of the draft are also set coming up starts, obviously with Tennessee, then Cleveland, then the Giants at number three, Patriots at fours we talked about. Then it's Jacksonville, Las Vegas at the Jets, Carolina, New Orleans at nine, and the Bears at number ten.

Two more head coaching interview requests by the Jets. I think the list is up to about fifteen now. It's a lot Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores and Vikings quarterbacks coach Josh McCown.

Josh McCown back.

Yeah, he's got a history with the Jets, as we know. I spent some time there.

As who was flirting with him as their head coach last year. I'm not going to pretend to remember the Holy Crow. Is this list long?

Oh?

Mike Vrabel interviewed, Ron Rivera interviewed Rex Ryan, Brian Flores, Josh McCown, Joe Brady, Matt Naggy, Arthur Smith, Brian Greasy. I didn't see that name before. Aaron Glenn Vance, Joseph Bobby slowick.

Shoo, Brian Greasy.

Yeah, he's coaching somewhere. I can't remember where. Though. Long list for the Jets that's gonna take him in it. I don't know. I almost think you shouldn't you whittle that list down? Like do you need to interview like a dozen candidates? That's a lot. Usually when a team the usually i'll go more than six, you know what I mean? And then they get it down to a couple of finalists.

Yeah. Maybe, Well, if they're doing it the right way, I say, the right way.

Well, I don't know that they are, because wouldn't you hire the GM first to be part of the head coaching hire.

Here's what I the way I would do it. You'd have all these guys coming, but you'd only have them for like a couple of hours each. Bring them in for a couple of hours and just get just to see is it is it gonna work? Could it work? And then after you get through that, you can throw out six candidates and then start on a second round and bring them back.

Okay.

I don't know though, if they're doing it the way I think it should be, you bring in some professional head, You bring people who know what they're doing in and you bring them in, say find us the best candidate using all the criteria whatever that is, and do it.

Yeah.

I mean, that's Sean McDermott.

They did that here, they did.

They say, we last night, we bought We hired Rex Ryan last time. So we're going to get some help.

Well the Patriots incident, interestingly enough, are not hiring a search firm. The Crafts are doing it themselves. We'll see how that works.

Well, they did that last time, didn't they twelve months ago? So I you as keep just get professionals to do it. You know, I don't know it. It's it's a and it can't be a personal decision. It's a billion it's a multi billion dollar business, multi billion dollar business and part of a multi billion billion dollar industry. You can't just like, you know what, I like this guy better.

He's you can't really kneel like the way I like the way.

You know, come on, you can't do it that way, right.

Wanted to remind you that this week's game and the proud sponsor of this year's playoffs is Northtown Automotive Group. Whatever you're looking for, you'll find it at Northtown, the official automotive dealer of the Buffalo Bills. So the proud sponsor this week's wild card game against the Broncos. And in case you were living under a rock and don't know, the game is on Sunday at one pm.

Good.

I was happy to see that, Holy Crow.

I kind of am too. Yeah, Sunday once.

It's a little better for the fans too. The sun's still up, you're not freezing. You took us off. Appreciate not that fans would be dissuaded from coming, but I think a lot of fans appreciate the fact that this is a one o'clock game on Sunday afternoon.

So yeah, I'm I'm very I was tickled by that. Yeah, tickled. Okay, Sunday one. Ah, yeah, thank you. That's that's like our wheelhouse.

Okay, I've got my that is our wheelhouse. H right.

Yeah, we've all got our like routine for a Sunday one.

Yes, we do. We have can do that in our sleep.

We've been sorely missing Sunday one o'clock games.

We do have to pivot to our conversation today with you. Topic of conversation. Did you get the first round playoff matchup you wanted for the Bills? Tell us why eight oh three oh five point fifty one eight eight eight five fifty two, five fifty the numbers to join us, and we do have open lines for you there, or if you don't have time to give us a call, you can hit us up on the tweet sheet at one Bill's Live. Coming up on today's show, to begin hour number two, we're going to catch up with our good friend James Palmer, formerly of NFL Network. He's now doing some other work out West and spends a good deal of his time covering the Broncos, so we'll kind of get the update from him as to how the Broncos feel after their resounding victory over the Chiefs backups yesterday. Offense looked very good under bow Knicks, and their defense has been a top five unit all season long, so it's gonna be an interesting matchup this weekend for Buffalo. Seemingly strength on strength, Broncos are number three run defense in football. They're really gonna challenge their Bills run game.

Listen, playoff team, folks. They're good and they have a.

Super Bowl winning head coach on the sideline.

Sean Payton is a heck of a coach or a heck of a coach, So I'm you know this is I told you wouldn't you rather have the way they look the other day? Wouldn't you rather have the Cincinnati Bengals today? I mean the Broncos looked I mean, I get it. The Chiefs were, they tang it out, they took it out of gear. Yeah, I mean, you know, I get it. But the Bengals in the game they had to win, had to win, and the Steelers same thing. The Steelers could have wanted to win, and that wasn't as important for the Steelers. They were already in and they barely squeaked by the Pittsburgh barely squeaky look bad doing it. They couldn't run it. I mean it was so I'm.

I don't know.

I yeah, that played. That played in the back of the end. So double tip, triple tip, quite gruple, Like five guys touched this thing. Yeah, and they end up with a touchdown. Yeah, it was I don't know. The Broncos are a really good football team, great defense, young talented quarterback and bow knicks And if you saw that yesterday, he had a chance to show it all yesterday and he did. He showed out and he can run. That dude can run. He is He's like Josh Allen for the Broncos. He can do it all. And uh now he's young. I get it. And everybody says, well the Sean McDermott rookie quarterbacks, Well, you know, if the season ended today, bow Nickson in the court isn't a rookie anymore. You know, he's not a rookie anymore. So I this Denver team, you know, they're the best team. So you wish he had the worst team. You wish he had the Miami Dolphins who are all down there and dissere today. Right, Yeah, I don't know. Yeah, this is this is a tough game. The Broncos are for real.

Yeah, and I think it's been nine years since the Broncos have been in the playoffs, so it's been a while for their fans. So they're excited to be back in the postseason year two under Sean Payton. So you let us know, did you get the first round playoff matchup you wanted for the Bills eight oh three oh five fifty. We do have to step aside here for a break. When we come back, we'll be taking your phone calls. So if you are on holdsday right where you are, we'll get to you when we return here on a Buffalo Football Monday on One Bill's Live presented by Colida Health. It's Buffalo Bills Radio, and off goes to Gipson.

He fuffled the football, it's loose on the turf, and the Bills say they have it is a takeaway for Buffalo Javon Solomon.

This week's Player the Game, defensive end Jevon Solomon, who had seven tackles, including a tackle for loss a quarterback hitting a fumble recovery in the defeat at the hands of New England. The Player of the Game presented by Wegmans, the official tailgate headquarters at the Buffalo Bills. Whether you are tailgating at the game or at home, Wegmans has everything you need including subs, pizza, sushi, and Moore. Download the Wegmans Meals to Go app and order for the game this week. As Solomon man, he probably should have had about two sacks in that game. And I thought Eric Wood, my broadcast partner, did a great job of describing how younger players have that extra thing that they have to learn at the NFL level as a pass rusher, and that's how to finish the play and get the guy on the ground too many times to see him swiping and missing or unable to hang on, or they overrun the quarterback and the pocket where they don't peel back and finish. And we saw that from Salomon yesterday, but still encouraging signs. Nonetheless, he was living in the offensive backfield yesterday.

The yeah there, it's it's the frantic mindset of trying to make a play and hurrying to do it. You got to remain patient and break down, slow down, so you don't go past a quarterback to let him escape.

Not for nothing. Joe Milton is a huge man. It's six five, two hundred and forty eight pounds.

No question. What you really need to do is make sure you get a grip on the guy. Instead of getting a big hit on the guy, you get a grip on him that bothers a QB. He's gonna start to protect the football. Then he won't throw it then most of the time. So yeah, that's it's it is. One of the things that young pass rushers have to learn is not to come in so fast and so furious as to give the quarterback a chance to make you whiff and miss. So you go by and you take yourself out of the play.

I wouldn't be surprised if he gets a little run this week though, the way he played yesterday. Yeah, when he plays, you notice him. Yes, I mean even earlier in the season, like in some mop up duty against the Jaguars, and I realized the Jaguars are in pass all out pass mode down forty to ten or whatever the heck it was at the time when he came in. But when he gets on the field, you notice him right away. I think that resonates with this coaching staff. We'll see. Let's go to the phones though at eight three zero five fifty one eight eight eight five fifty two five fifteen the numbers to get on board. Did you get the first round playoff matchup you wanted for the Bills? And let us know why you like it if you do. And leading us off today is Judy in Buffalo. What do you offer for his Judy?

Well, you know, the Bills are notoriously slow starters, and this has got to change. I would like to see the Bills adopt that philosophy when they played New England that every time they touched the ball they went in for a touchdown. I think or maybe not a touchdown, but six times in a row. The Bills have to be very assertive, put the games out of question, and especially this first game, and just wait to see what comes because they'll have a monumental battle against the Ravens. So they just need to be very assertive in what they are going to do.

Yeah, okay, Judy, I think that's what every NFL team tries to do every single week. Problem is, you got another team trying to do the same exact thing, and when you get to the playoffs, it's harder than ever to do that. What you saw in the twenty twenty one wild Card round between the Bills and the Patriots was an anomaly, a perfect game, touchdowns on every drive. I mean, I think it was the first time it happened that many times in the game. That's how rare it is. And to think that the Bills are just gonna go out against the top five defense of the Denver Broncos and whip up seven straight touchdown drives including drive one, two, three, four, five, six, and seven. I hate to tell you it's it's unrealistic. Not saying it can't happen, but it's very rare. When it does, especially in the postseason where games are notoriously close and usually of the one score variety.

Yeah, certainly, And I think Judy's mindset here is is kind of the angst that all Bills fans feel, and all all fans of all their teams field. You got, guys, you just want your team to put it away quick because you're just you know, everybody's just nervous as can be. We're all wringing our hands and clutching our pearls and just all kinds of you know, anxiety going into games like this because you know, if you lose, it's it's a soul crushing and you just can't stand to think about it. So I that's that's where you live in these kind of weeks.

You just want to win the game. And look, if they can get off to a fast start, sure, that would obviously help. It would probably calm a lot of the nerves and let the team settle into the game rather than fighting an uphill battle being down. So I understand the sentiment, Judy. My only point is it's really hard to be that air tight on offense against teams of this caliber when you get to the postseason. That's why it's hard to win a super Bowl because everybody's great.

This is a tough matchup, I think for Buffalo because it is strength on strength. The Broncos defense is real. It's no joke at all. They are really, really good. They got they got a gazillion sacks this year.

Sixty three guys in the top twenty two in the league in sacks, three guys with seven sacks or more. The Bills have won, grew so up.

They've got a ton of guys who can really get after the cornerback, and they got some corners that are no joke at all. They are really good. So their defense is really where it's at for them. Now. They've got a rookie quarterback with some weapons and a good, you know, a good and a great offensive play caller. But he's gonna come into Buffalo on the road in the playoffs and got to do it in a rough climate, you know. So there's that matchup against the Bills defense that you know, quite frankly people have doubts about because of their third down defense and their run defense and all that stuff.

Weather looks pretty favorable for Sunday, mid thirties, Yeah, mid thirties, No sip, right, So should be okay for football, should be able to play football. Yeah, let's go to Tony in South Dayton next. What you got for is Tony Tony? Are you there?

All right?

I'm gonna put Tony on hold and we'll move over to Carlton on the west side. What do you got forus? Carlton?

Good afternoon, Happy playoff season, gentlemen too.

I like us against anybody. I don't tear who we play.

Line them up, let's go get it.

We got to win a soldiers, let's do it.

That's it.

You have a good day.

Okay, fair enough? What Carlton say I have Mike? He said, I like us against anybody. I don't care, so let's just do it. Yeah, very very direct.

I kind of agree with him. If the Bills play their best, he ain't no stopping them. You're right, I mean, we've seen it there. Think about this though. This team that they're playing this week lost to the Kansas City Chiefs by a block field goal on the last.

Play of the game in Kansas City.

In Kansas City, and they beat him yesterday. Now yesterday, you can throw that one at whatever. Uh, there's only one team in the league who have beaten the number one seed in the conference in the AFC and the number one seed in the NFC, that's Buffalo. But the Broncos beat the Chiefs and probably should have beaten them twice this year.

This game yesterday is kind of an asterisk, that's right. But think about the inactives were Patrick Mahomes, Chris Jones, Yeah, Isaiah Pacheco, Travis Kelcey, I mean, Creed Humphrey, Yeah, I mean, it was a it's.

An all pro list. Yeah, but they did. They played them really well in their building, and that's the kind of environment they're walking into Sunday. They're going to be in a building like Kansas City's Arrowhead And they had a chance to beat the Chiefs on the last play of the game, and it was a superhuman effort that stopped them. Man, that's rough, you know, that's that's not a team that you're gonna come in here and say, Okay, here we go. We're gonna play the Baltimore Ravens next week. Let's go. You know you got yeah that this Bronco this is not the matchup is hoping for. I'll just be honest.

What are your chief concerns.

Here, their defense, their head coach, they're special teams.

Well, I will tell you Bills have the longest active winning streak in the regular season at home. It's now eleven in a row. Their last loss at home to Sean Payton and the Denver Broncos.

In the twelve minute regular season the twelve minut on the phone, men on the field.

Game will let's got second chance to kick a game winning field goal after missing the first one. So we have to step aside here, take a break. But when we come back, more of your phone calls. We'll lead off with Cindy and Amherst and others holding at eight oh three oh five fifty. Hey, did you get the first round playoff matchup you wanted for the Bills? Let us know aight oh three oh five to fifty open lines for you. They are more of your phone calls. Next here on a Buffalo Victory Monday or a Buffalo Football Monday. On one Bill's Live presented by co Lo out of Health.

It's Buffalo Bills Radio the.

Numbers that Matter, presented by the New York Lottery backing the Bills. Sounds grande like the New grounde scratch off games from the New York Lottery with prizes up to three million dollars. Gambling problem called one eight seven seven eight Hope and why the Bills became the first team in NFL history with thirty plus passing touchdowns and thirty plus rushing touchdowns in a season. Bills running back James Cook also tied the franchise record for most rushing touchdowns in a season with sixteen, tying the record set by Hall of Famer O. J. Simpson, who, by the way, did it in fourteen regular season games. That was the length of the regular season back when he was playing so interesting thereon. Congrats to James Cook on his second consecutive one thousand yard rushing season. Back to the phones at eight oh three zero five to fifty one eight eight five fifty two, asking you, hey, did you get the first round playoff matchup you wanted for the Bills? And if so, why are you satisfied or dissatisfied with that matchup? We go to Cindy and Amherst. Next.

What's up Cindy, Good afternoon, gentlemen, how are you good?

Good good?

Well.

I'm super excited because this is an exact matchup that I was looking forward to seeing because I want to see bon Nix and the Denver team come into town. And I think Buffalo is going to handle their business with one confidence. My score prediction is going to be twenty seven to ten. Buffalo takes care of business. And I was just watching the internet this morning and I saw a clip of the fans at the Mile High Stadium or whatever stadium name that is out there yelling bring on Buffalo, Bring on Buffalo. And my only response to that is, just be careful for what you ask for, because you're gonna get it. They're going to come down off their rocky mountain high next Sunday.

Thanks guys, all right, thank you Sidy.

So Cindy apparently happy with Denver as an opponent. Yeah, fair, get it.

Sure.

Yeah. We move on to Ron in Virginia. What's up Ron?

Hey, guys, thanks for taking my call. Chris. He appreciate you. I also want Denver and just hear me out. I think that we have the best way because I think the Chargers can take out the Ravens and Pittsburgh they kind of have Baltimore's number. I'm a little fifty to fifty on that. But if they take out the Ravens, we end up playing I think the Chargers, and then the Steelers will go to Kansas City or vice versa. So one of the biggest obstacles in Baltimore will already be out the way with the Chargers because they're very good.

Well, Chargers are playing the Texans just so you know.

Right, right, so they take out the they take out the Texans, based on the outcome of the other game, they'll go to the Chargers will go too Baltimore. So I'm just kind of excited because I think that will better better for us in the long run.

Yeah, yeah, I don't know that. I don't know that you got that, Baltimore.

Right, Baltimore has to play Pittsburgh and wild Card weekend.

Right, and so uh, if Baltimore wins their game, they come to Buffalo and the Chargers would go to Kansas City. The Chargers Chiefs are going to draw the lowest seed. I mean, that's how it works. So yeah, so I I respect your hope, but that's just not how it would unfold. I mean, if Pittsburgh somehow beats Baltimore, you know, they're they're the what are they They're the six? Chargers are the five? Oh? I see what he's saying. He's saying Pittsburgh wins, Pittsburgh would come to Kansas City, and then the Chargers would come here. He's predicting two upsets.

Yeah, okay, if that Yeah, if that happens, that's what he's predicting. Sure, if the other two games go the way of the underdog.

Guy, then you draw the Chargers.

When you draw the Chargers.

Sure, but whatever, we're a long way from that. Let's let's take it one at a time here. I have. I had a coach a long time ago, and he used to call this paper shooting, and he said, don't payer shoot, you know, just because this team beat that team and that team beat this team. You know what I mean. So don't get ahead of yourselves.

Yeah, it's not it's not mathematics. It's it's more art than it is that.

Yeah, let's go to Dan in Lancaster next. What do you got for us? Dan?

Hey?

Thanks taking my call? I mean we only had three options, right for who were Ideally I always say, don't play another division. Bible I originally was this is the year I said, oh yeah, we'll easily beat Miami, so I probably would have want Miami. But yes, I'm glad we got Denver. I didn't want no part of Joe Burrow and those two receivers. It's still in my mind about what happened, I believe two years ago with big Pouton and I just Joe Burrow has the experience. I am worried about Denver's defense. But yes, the matchup, definitely, I would rather play Denver. And I'm also a Bronco and a Steeler fan. There's only three AFC teams I ever root for my life, my hometown Bills Steelers in Denver. And as far as the kick returns, if you kick the ball out of the end zone, do they start at at thirty, yes, I would do it every time. I'm worried about that MEM's guy.

I just kick it out of the.

End zone every time. That's what I would do if I.

Easy to say, but you're in Buffalo and it's thirty degrees and so sometimes you can't do that. That's part of the deal with this new dynamic kickoff is you know, the later it got in the year, the more returns we saw going through the outdoor teams, up in the northeast zone, so it's a problem.

It's harder. It's definitely harder now because you're kicking a rock. The thing that I'm surprised that more teams have not attempted is if you kick it into the landing zone and it lands between the twenty and the goal line and then skips into the end zone and it's down there, they get it at the twenty. Why have not more teams tried that? Is it that difficult.

Bill to tried it the other day and they got they can't landed the bolt at the twenty three yard line and.

It Yeah, but you got kickers that are good enough to kick it there.

Listen. I agree one thousand percent with what you're saying. I covered kicks for a long time in the league. A bouncing football is the coverage team's best friend. It is hard to do it, particularly when you got guys blowing snot bubbles coming down there trying to take your head off, and you're trying to look at them, and while you're feeling at the ground trying to find the ball. It is a nightmare for a return.

I just don't know why more teams didn't try that.

It must be harder than we think it is. I think it's a I think I would get a guy to kick it with straight and forget the soccer style thing. Get one of your linemen with a square toe shoe, put the thing sideways on the ball and bang that thing down there like a helicopter and let those guys try and find it it is. Kick it right down the middle of the field with side spin on out and just see what they can do.

Now, I will say, here is the danger of that. If you kick the ball and it is low enough for one of your up men to touch it on the return team, they are an extension of the out of bounds area outside the landing zone. So if you don't kick it high enough to clear those guys and they slap at it and hit.

It, they're only they get it at the forty yards away. They're not Yeah, that's they're not going to do that. They're some of them don't even face the ball.

Yeah, that's that's.

Not an issue. You can you can, Yeah, yes, I get that, but no, that's easily avoided. Okay, But I'm with you.

I want to skip it through there.

You know.

Now, you got to get it to the end zone. But even if you don't, it's bouncing around.

Like Sam, totally with it, right, it's a problem teams. The other side of that coin is that when you do that, the ball skiters down there. It gets there a little quicker. Okay, so you you know, but when it hits the ground, guys are down there already. When the ball hits the ground, you can go yes, and.

It's down and the guys are down there already. They're not standing with the kicker back at the thirty five.

I'm with you.

I wanted to see more of that this year. I was kind of disappointed.

I'm totally with you. I'm and yeah, there's yes, I'm with you. I mean, I don't want to go down there.

I mean, I know it. I know it does provide an element of uncertainty in terms of where the ball is going to cover it because you know how it's gonna bounce.

I'm totally with you, and I'm not gonna get down this rabbit hole because my experience doesn't automatically make me qualified to talk about these new rules.

I think it gives you a little more credit.

But there's there's a lot of stuff in it that I would explore.

Gotta take a break here because when we come back, we're going to begin our number two with our good friend James Palmer. He's now the senior NFL reporter for Underdog Fantasy and he spends a lot of time covering the Denver Broncos. So we'll catch up with him to talk Denver Broncos when we return here on One Bill's Live presented by co Lot of Health.

It's Buffalo Bills Radio.

The One Bill's Live presented by Calllida Health.

Power number two on a Buffalo Football Monday. Chris Brown, Steve Taskar, thanks for joining us here on One Bill's Live and also joining us now at this time senior NFL reporter for Underdog Fantasy, also NFL insider for Bleacher Report. It's the good friend James Palmer joining us on the line, who spends a good deal of time in and around the Denver Broncos, and he was there yesterday for the game against what amounted to the Chiefs minus they're all pro players. That inactive list was a who's who yesterday for the Chiefs. Holy Cow. Bill's in a similar boat yesterday sitting a lot of people against the Patriots and uh, you know, the Broncos, to their credit, took care of business, James. So how much do we put value in the impressive performance we saw from the Chiefs for the Broncos offense yesterday. How much of a grain of salt do we have to take knowing who the Chiefs were putting on the field.

Yeah, I think you'd take a grain assault with it, for sure. But I think outside of Week eighteen, the Denver Broncos really showed everybody they are a playoff team, right. They had three games to win. One, they should have beaten the Chargers, they had an unbelievable first half and fell apart. They should have beaten Cincinnati and my opinion, should have went for two before it went into overtime against Joe Burrow. And so being in both of those games where they're both playoff teams with a chance to get into the postseason, showed you and what else they did throughout the course of the season that this was a playoff team. And obviously they got in in a fashion that was a little bit you know, it was a dominant performance against the team that was found out that they were staying in Denver the night because of the Weather and Kansas City, who was probably you know, the morale was low on that side of things, and locked up the number one seed. But nevertheless, this was the longest playoff drought for a team since winning the Super Bowl eight seasons now, since they won Super Bowl fifty with Peyton Manning quarterbacking that team. So nevertheless, it was a huge moment in Denver, huge moment for the fans with a rookie quarterback and Sean Payton. And actually, I will say this, guys, I was talking to Peyton on the sideline, Peyton Manning, that is, prior to the game, and he said, I'm gonna get us this win because I've been dying to see a playoff game with my Denver Broncos with my son, and I changed sweets. I used to be in that corner over there when I was a player. I've changed sweets, I've changed the mojo, and so Peyton Manning is responsible for them.

Well, I probably, And I'll say this, this is the inside information.

This Broncos team is no flukey. They've been in the playoff bracket since Week seven. I mean they've been there now, They've been all the way up to six. Because they're not catching the Chiefs that whatever. Although they should have beat the Chiefs into the pass city, right, I mean, that's how good they are. They really did rise up and play a great game that day. Got one bad play at the end of the game and it cost him. But that's a team that they're the only the team in the league that really could say we should have beaten the Chiefs, and the Bills are the only other team. This is a Broncos team with a defense like they've got a head coach as savvy and smart as Sean Payton is. They really got to like the way they they're feeling coming into this playoff run, right.

Yeah, they really do. I mean this is a hot defense. I mean, this is one of the better defensive units in football. And I think we do have to give Vance Joseph some credit. Who's getting his name, you know, out there once again in the hiring cycle for the head coach positionings and openings that are out there. I'd expect a couple of interviews from VJ talking to him yesterday without a lot of household names. Guys on this defense, we all know Patrick Sartan one of the best corners in football and in my opinion and a lot of other people's opinions, should be in the conversation for defensive Player of the Year. That's how good he's been. He shadows number ones quite a bit. That doesn't happen in the league all that much. But outside of Cirtan, I think people outside of Denver can name five members of this defense. I mean, that's how good they are as a unit. Zach Allen upfront's been playing great. I think as a defensive line, that's been their biggest strength. And I'm excited to see them go against one of the best offensive lines in football that Buffalo has. I mean, I think this game has two of the better offensive lines. Actually, Denver's been healthy as well on their offensive line, but this group up front is really just I talked to DJ Jones about it after the game. It's a bunch of man strength up there right with Malcolm Roach and DJ Jones and Jonathan Franklin Myers, Zach Allen. They got two great edge rushers and Jonathan Cooper and Nick Benito. So getting after the quarterback has been the name of the game for them. It's sixty three sacks this year. That's unbelievable. I think the Ravens were second with fifty four. So they get after the quarterback. That's been the name of the game. Secondary doesn't have to cover very long. The one weakness that we can get into it, I think is the linebacker spot at the inside, and we know the way Buffalo can attack the middle of the field. I think that's an issue for this defense. But there's a lot to like about Denver's defense for sure.

All Right, so we've gotten this far and we haven't talked about bo Nicks yet. And you know, this is a guy who, you know, I think unfairly didn't get as much coverage as Jaden Daniels did, but played in just as many college games, had just over sixty college starts, just like Jayden Daniels did. And holy cow, is that the new calling card for picking a quarterback in the draft. I mean, yet, some of these kids that played through the COVID years and got six years in college, over sixty starts, they've seen everything and they're ready. More ready, I think you can argue for the NFL. And with Peyton kind of schooling him and bringing him along, you know, you've got a guy that can hit all areas of the field with his arm and can take off and run for yardage as well. I mean, I don't want to call him a mini Josh Allen just yet, but there are some of the same elements to his game that Josh has in terms of being an all around talent.

Yeah, you don't have to call him that because he has been called that by Steve Spagnolo. Spags actually said that going into this Week eighteen game. So when I see bow Nicks run, I see some flashes of Josh Allen. Now, I think Josh is a unicorn in terms of how he runs the football. I don't think there's a comparison out there. But bo Nix is the Broncos third leading rusher. I mean of rushing plays over twenty yards, they have ten for the season. They don't run the ball very well. Bo Nicks has six of the ten. I mean, he is an explosive runner, He's got a quick twitch to him. He's tied for the team lead and rushing touchdowns like he will tuck it and go And that is the part that you're gonna have to account for. But I like that you brought up the amount of experience that he has because if you look at what Michael Pennix has done in his short period of time as a starter in the NFL, and then obviously Jaden and bow and what they've done for the course of this season. I think that college experience cannot be overlooked. And they're about as calm and big situations as you see rookie quarterbacks. And I think that's gonna be a feather in the cap of Bo Knicks going on the road, going into a hostile environment in Buffalo. If you're looking for any sort of help as a rookie quarterback, I think that experience does help him. It's an inexperienced group of skill guys around him outside of Courtland Sutton, right, I mean there's some rookie receiver that he throws to. Sutton has been their go to guy, and Bo's really had to carry this offense in Buffalo. Anybody up there, I'd keep an eye on. Sean Payton is completely fine putting him in the gun, playing three wide, not really running the football that much, and putting this offense on his rookie quarterback shoulders. And he's answered the call more often than not. And I think that's maybe the most impressive part of it is that he's had the ability to kind of really carry this offense for stretches, because that's the way Sean Payton has called this offense.

Yeah.

How much cut credit does Sean Payton deserve for the way this team has turned it around? I mean there's no question. I mean he had. It was an absolute disaster last year with the Russ Wilson experiment, and you got to tip your hat to the leadership inside the building and to Sean Payton for just cutting it. Listen, we got to move on and then turn it around as fast as they did.

Yeah, he deserves a ton of credit, him and general manager George Peyton. There's so many Peytons in this town. Peyton manning, George Peyton, Sean Payton. But you're right, they get a lot of credit. I mean everybody was going, why are you gonna let Justin Simmons walk and all pro safety? They haven't missed Justin Simmons at all on this defense. Briton Jones has done a good job filling in and as a unit. We talked about how good they've been. They let you know, one of the favorites is in terms of an experienced receiver, and Tim Patrick. They let him leave at the end of training camp because they wanted some young guys like Devon Vele to go out there and play. He's pulled a lot of levers with some young players and putting them in big spots, and it's paid off. I would say this is a young culture that he's established that they may not know any better. Right, Sometimes with a young team, you have that to where they may not know what they're walking into the buffalo and that might be actually a little bit beneficial to what this team that Sean has built and put together. So yeah, the culture has flipped very quickly, and he's relied on a lot of young guys and flipped this roster. And the other part that he deserves credit for is they're working with about a third of the less money than everybody else is in the NFL. With the dead money that they have with Russell Wilson, I mean, it's some of the most dead money we've ever seen from a single player ever, and they've still gotten themselves to the postseason. Sewan has done a very impressive job. And I think I mentioned how much you know is put on bow. I think that's also Sean kind of showing the league like none of you thought he was a first round pick. I did. I think he's a great fit. Let me go succeed with this rookie quarterback. It's a little bit of Sean's personality if you know it.

Oh the way he's called this, Oh yeah yeah.

What What is your explanation for why the run game has been hit and miss for them this season? Because if you look at their offensive line, there are recognizable names there. I mean, Ben Powers, Quinn Minors, Mike mclinchy, Garrett Balls. I mean, these are all recognizable names for people to pay attention to the National Football League and some veteran players at that is what has been the missing link there?

Well, it's been a revolving door for sure. They've been able to stay remarkably healthy upfront, which is a feather in their cap. And I've talked to some defensive coordinators that they've gone against this year and they've gone to me, like, I look at the group up front, they're actually run graders. They're better at that than there are in terms of pass pro and they just don't seem to run it. And dcs have said to me, like they can run it why don't they. And it's been something that we've seen from Sean Payton putting it on his call sheet to saying run it like you saw against the Chargers, Like they just don't call a whole lot of runs. Whether it's the revolving door of backs, whether Julia McLoughlin's kind of the hot one right now, Audrick Estimate, the rookie out of Notre Dame's gotten some run, and then Javonte Williams. I'd say that's probably the reason why this has struggled the most two years. Removed from just a catastrophic knee injury that they were hoping this year he'd be back to the player he was before that knee injury. He kind of hasn't been. And then at the same time, he is hands down clearly the best pass protecting back that they have. So with throwing the ball as much as they do and wanti protect Bonnicks, which they've done brilliantly this year, you have your worst running back on the field probably for the most number of snaps. And so that's been kind of just the situation that they've put themselves in in terms of running the football and their inability to run.

The football Listen, you mentioned Portland Sutton as being kind of the veteran guy on their skill positions. They've got, you know, Jordan Humphrey, They've got Marvin Mims, who has also played extremely well in the return game. What about their skill guys aside from the running backs who've kind of revolved through there.

Yeah, Mims has been that try to get the ball in his hands a variety of ways, So you could almost throw what they do with him into a little bit of their run game, right, whether it's some of these sweeps, some of these end a rounds, some of these different ways to just get him the ball in space. That's kind of an element of the run game that's been lacking, just trying to find ways to get explosive. And Marvin's been really, really good over the last several weeks. I mentioned Vele who's kind of come on. Troy Franklin hasn't done a whole lot in Bo Nick's teammate at Oregon who they picked in the fourth round, but Cortland Sutton has been the go to. And obviously it's a fifty to fifty ball type of receiver, a big bodied receiver that's played really well in the red zone for them. What's been lacking for this team? And it's a surprise, right because we know Sean Payton is any production out of the tight end spot. I mean, it is kind of miraculous they're in the spot they're in, guys because they don't run the ball all that well, and they don't run it all that often, and they don't have very much tight end production at all, and so a lot of this falls on Bow and the way things are schemed. I think that's a big part of the way this offense works, as guys have to be schemed open. They have difficulty at times throwing the football downfield. They have sporadic moments where they're successful, but it's really Sean's scheme that just tries to get whoever's open, you know, open, as quickly as possible for Bow. But Cortland's really the one that has made this offense go and and Buffalo has to find a way to kind of defend those those fifty to fifty balls that's he's been so good at over the over the last couple of years.

All Right, let's take a look at, you know, the AFC picture here and some of the other matchups. I think Chargers Texans is pretty intriguing. The Texans kind of limped to the finish a little bit. Injuries have kind of compromised the effectiveness of their offense. So what do you kind of see there against the Chargers team that looks to be on the ascent into the postseason.

Yeah, you're your spot on. These are two teams headed in opposite directions right now. The way this second half of the season has gone. I've covered a couple of Texans games. I've covered a couple of Chargers games this year, and Jesse Minter, the defensive coordinator for LA, just keep an eye on that name. I mean, he's been outstanding and he would be a guy that I think in the next cycle after this one, he's a He's a head coaching candidate for sure. They've they've been so diverse, and they've been so multiple as a defense. I think that's gonna make things even more difficult on an offensive line in Houston that has just struggled. And you know, talking to Bobby Slowk earlier in the year, their offensive coordinator was we're having different breakdowns in our offensive line, and we don't know which breakdown is going to happen on which play and that makes even harder on our quarterback in CJ. Shroud. Oftentimes, if you have a weak link on your offensive line, guys right, you know where maybe some of the pressure is gonna come from, it kind of comes from a different spot, and that makes things even harder on the way CJ plays the position. And so the way that Jesse Minter mixes things up, I think makes things very difficult on this on this banged up Texans team, obviously at the wide receiver spot. And I think it's going to be a difficult, you know, difficult, difficult game for Houston to come away with the way Herbert has played so efficiently and the way that Chargers defense is played.

And do you think it's are you did you chalk it up to injuries in Houston as their problem?

Mainly it's it's it's injuries. It's talking to people that adjustments needed to be made, and they haven't. Offensively. You know, the book was out after the first year of so much success and then you got to counter that, and they've had an inability to kind of counter that. And what defenses have brought to this, to this offense, I think that's been part of it now that we do have the opportunity in this game to have Texans defense that has had moments where they've been outstanding, and so if they can flash and create some turnovers. Derek Stingley at the corner spot has been just unbelievable, and Ladd McConkie has been kind of the Chargers passing game. I mean, he has been unreal as a rookie. Praise across the league when I talk to people. If Stingley can kind of shut down Ladd McConkie, I think that does change things a little bit though.

All right, let's flip it over to Raven Steelers Round three and again two teams seemingly going in different directions. Do you think Mike Tomlin pulls the Justin Fields card just to try to differentiate things and give Baltimore an extra thing to handle defensively.

Yeah, this has been a question for several weeks now. If you just kind of make your calls around the league, people just being curious, like when does Field start to have a little bit more of a role? Right, he was better in the red zone than Russell Wilson was when he was the starter honestly so could he add an added element to their struggles in the red zone and that's where people were trying to see. And I think what you do in the postseason, obviously is I would want to leak this out as if I was Mike Tomlin. You want somebody to prepare as much as possible. That's one of the things that makes the Ravens so difficult to go against is because you have to prepare for so much during the week. Talk to coaches that have to go against them, the Bills have gone against them. I mean, there's so many different things with Lamar and company you have to prepare for. It makes Sunday all the more difficult. I would if I was Mike Tomlin, wanted to kind of get out there that, hey, keep an eye out on some justin Field's wrinkles. So just mainly so the Ravens have to prepare for it, and you have it in your back pocket to be better in the red zone, because I think you're gonna need to do that against a Baltimore Ravens team that can just put points on the board sometimes just like that and and find ways to snowball that I noticed kind of this this turn in Pittsburgh when I covered their game against Philadelphia and talking to some people in Philadelphia, it was we already know Russell Wilson. We didn't fear Russell Wilson. It's it's it's either it's either touchdown check down, and there's no intermediate game. And that's what's been lacking kind of in a lot of people's eyes with what's going on with Pittsburgh in this offense. So it just seemed talking to people in Philadelphia, what's going on with this offense is starting to get a little predictable, and if some of those moon balls don't fall into George Pickens' hands, I think it's going to be hard to keep up with with Baltimore.

But Pickens is kind of the key for Russ Wilson. When he goes out, they that started the downslide, and even when he got back in, it was hard to get the momentum back.

Very true, yep, exactly, And he's their guy, and if you talk to anybody around the league, they'll tell you he's as talented as anybody at the wide receiver position. There's just a lot of other things that are going on there that they need to find ways to keep him successful and keep him on the field. And that's no secret, but he really is the one. I mean, they thought Mike Williams would start to coming off the knee back end of the year. They wanted a veteran, a guy that you could be that guy. We saw a great cash this past week, but someone that can go up and get the football and when Russ Lazy's out there, but it's really Ben George Dickens and then running the football. They stick with it. But they've had trouble getting it. And then they obviously had some drops Brian who's a good player. But it's a limited offense in the way that you can attack a defense and the other offense might be as versatile as you possibly could be as an offense.

All Right, So NFC fans are gonna have to wait until the end of the weekend before the slate even starts. AFC is going to be done by four o'clock on Sunday and only then do the NFC matchup start. It's kind of a wacky way that they laid this out for the networks. But what to you is the most sexy NFC matchup?

Is it?

Green Bay at Philly, Washington at Tampa or is it you know, Minnesota going LA.

I was fascinated by what La did. I mean, I would want to have, you know, played my starters and avoided whoever lost that game between Minnesota and Detroit, but they they you know, Sean McVay, I think knows more about football than I do. But I would say Green Bay and Philadelphia to me is the one that stands out, and because Jordan Love has it in him to go out there and play unbelievable football. We've seen it in the first round of the postseason before, and I think Philly might be top to bottom both sides of the ball. The most talented team in the NFL. Obviously Detroit's great. Kansas City is great, but Detroit's banged up in Kansas City. I just think it's Andy Reid, Patrick Mahomes, and Steve Spagnola that make a lot of that go. Philly's roster is so damn talented. I think we got to keep an eye on where you know, Jalen Hurts is with this concussion that he's coming back from. That's a major storyline. But I do think the way they turn the football over in Green Bay with the way that defense has the ability to play. I think this is the one that I want to keep an eye on because that is a legit threat to a team that has Super Bowl aspirations for sure in Philadelphia.

Yeah, and the only thing is they might play without Christian Watson. Looks like he's out for the year with an ACL knee injury. Really bad break for Watson, who's twenty.

It's very versatile at the receiver spot though.

Yes they oh they have depth there for sure and tight ends for days that they can throw to also kind of sub into the passing game.

Maybe the probably the one that last one is the Tampa Bay hosting Washington two teams. Tampa Bay once again, first team ever to go to start I think what four and six or something and make it to the playoffs for two and four and they gotten back to back seasons, got to the playoffs, and they're hosting a Washington team where hey, it's been a minute since Washington's been there.

Yeah. Yeah, I love this matchup too, just because we all need to start paying more attention. I know we are, but like more attention to the little nuances of Jaden Daniels, Like I was at that game in Baltimore earlier in the season where he hardly thought he was gonna beat Lamar, And you know what, everybody in that locker room was like, Jane just kind of ran out of time in this game, right, he went toe to toe with Lamar. He in the big moments, the game slows down for him just in remarkable fashion. And so I love watching him playing big moments, playing big games. The poise is off the charts. I mean, they when you talk to people in Washington, they can't say enough good things about Jade Daniels. There's been some cops and I'll probably get Torch for saying this type of thing. But guys that have played with Patrick Mahomes, that are playing with jayde and Daniels are like, there's some traits that I see. There's there's some traits that are, oh, there's no way I fail, you know what I mean, that type of vibe to him. And it's a really special thing that they've started. And they've started this turn much quicker than we thought. But man, like, who doesn't want to see Baker Mayfield play football? I mean, like, especially in Week eighteen going out there, I'm not sliding you know I'm taking hits, and so these are two quarterbacks that can definitely win teams to win, and I think that's a that makes this matchup kind of intriguing. But if they if Washington can go and win this game, I would also say, as a team that has some money and a team looking for another receiver and looking for obviously some other spots they're looking to fill, what a free agent destination Washington has become immediately for anybody this offseason that might want to go to a team that they probably never wanted to play for and now you're very intrigued to possibly play for.

Yeah, I just think that game's got the biggest chance to be the shootout of the weekend between Dan. I mean, Baker Mayfield forty one touchdown passes this year. He's got I mean, everybody's talking about Lamar and Josh and the productivity, but holy cow, like Baker forty one touchdown pass yes.

And they lost Chris Godwin so early, Like who's a great receiver, you know what I mean? And so they've had some young receivers come on as well, and Baker's played great. It's it's one of the reasons why we're hearing Liam's Liam Cohen, their offensive quarters name kind of get you know, thrown around some of these coaching searches. It's been a brilliant job on that side of the ball.

James, thanks as always for the time. We appreciate it, James. We'll catch up with you later down the line here, man.

For sure. Guys, good shout with douse always.

All right, that's James Palmer, joining us senior NFL reporter. Works for the Bleacher Report now and also doing some other stuff for Underdog Fantasy, but still very plugged into the league. Wanted to get his thoughts on Broncos nobody covers them a lot of the time, but also get his picks on the landscape of the playoff matchups this weekend. There's gonna be some good ones, for sure. Isn't it crazy that it went all AFC in terms of the lineup Saturday and then early Sunday with the Bills and Broncos, and then after that it's all NFC Sunday and Monday night TV stuff.

I mean, well, yeah, it's pretty normal to have two AFC teams in the in the early slot on Saturday. That's kind of normal. And you cause you you know, Like I'll say this though, the LA market and the Tech and the Houston market are two of the top markets in the country, and they're kicking off the slate. But then that that primetime game Saturday night, Steelers Ravens. Everybody wants to see that. You knew that was going to be a primetime matchup Broncos Bills. It's the exact same thing. It's the it's the two smaller markets, and then green Bay and the Eagles of Philly market and the Washington market going in the later, later windows. The four thirty Sunday window is usually the massive one. So we'll see what that Eagles game gets with the green Bay Packers.

Who and then he got the LA market Monday night, and they got.

The LA market again Monday night. They probably had they wanted to spread the Chargers Rams game out so that they could well, No, that Chargers are on the road to Houston too, So I was gonna say I thought for a minute, I was telling myself they had to flip the stadium over, but uh no, Yeah, the Rams and Vikings game, that's that's a little sexy to me.

That could be a shootout too. Yes, I was talking about Bucks and Washington being a shootout, which I think it very well could be. I mean, I think that could be a Who's got the ball last kind of game.

Ramsen Vike too, Yeah, Rams, Vikings has a chance to be attract me. I think the Vikings will bounce back in an enormous way from what happened to them the other night in Detroit. They met a Detroit team that was playing as good as it could play, and it showed. I mean, they were zero for three on they were over down close and couldn't get the ball in the end zone to save their lives. And that was startling.

Break time for us. Here. When we come back, we're back to your phone calls at eight h three oh five point fifty one eight eight eight five fifty two, five point fifty Did you get the first round playoff matchup you wanted for the Bills? And if so, why are you happy with it? You let us know next here on one Bills Live presented by Colida Health, It's Buffalo Bills.

Radio efficient drive of the game.

It came late in the game, came in the third, no came in the first quarter. Thirteen plays, seventy five yards, took seven to sixteen off the clock. It was the Trubisky two yard touchdown pass to Ray Davis to tie the score at Sevenfish and Drive of the Game is presented by a National Grid proud partner of the Buffalo Bills, and this touchdown passed Steve gave the Bills thirty passing touchdowns and thirty rushing touchdowns on the season, the first team in NFL history to do it. Thirty and thirty. There you go. It's kind of like thirty thirty in baseball. You know. Now it's forty forty. Heck Otani might do fifty to fifty, fifty home runs, fifty stolen basis. Bills did thirty thirty passing and rushing touchdowns.

Rare and there the first team to ever do that. Yes, that's that's amazing to me. I guess thirty touch thirty rushing touchdowns is a lot, Yes, it is, it's a lot.

Lions came very close last nine, got twenty nine and rushing test Ya got miss last night by that much.

That's kind of cool, very cool.

First team ever.

I like it.

Uh, We've got more coaching news. The Bears have requested to speak with Giants offensive coordinator Mike Kafka for their vacant head coaching job. As Steve mentioned during the break, Mike Kafka former Northwestern grad. He was a quarterback there, so Chicago ties, if you will for the Bears to uh think about.

He's been the offensive coordinator of the Giants. That's correct, and uh yeah, like we were talking about in the break, he doesn't really call plays for them.

I think Dable, I think he handles most of it. There was a question that he used to and then Dable took it back from.

The Yet John Marra, owner of the Giants, was asked directly today in his media comments about they were gonna they're gonna stick with Joe, Shane and Mike and Bryant. Uh Brian dabol as head coach GM and they pointed, he said. I asked. Mara asked pointedly to Brian Dabole if he believed him calling the plays was best. He He questioned that obviously, And that's always a big question for a head coach. Do you want to be the guys calling the defensive signals like Sean McDermott did to you last year, or or the offensive play calling like Sean Payton does in Denver and all these other guys. There's a lot going on, and it does inhibit you from doing stuff between series when you're the head coach. It's an issue.

Yeah, we heard Sean talk about it. It's an issue, you know.

Because you can't as a head coach. You can't go over there and talk to your defensive guys because you got your back to the field while you while your offense is out there. Yeah, it's a problem. It's a real problem it.

Yeah, it pulls it. You're getting pulled in more directions when you're the head CoA coach and the OC or.

The DC that and I think some of these head some head coaches, and I don't think it's because they have a problem like not just giving it away, but they have a problem delegating. Yeah, because let's face it, a guy like Brian Dable got his job in large measure because of the job he does a coordinator call and plays. They're good at it. Yeah, so it's you know, it's hard to find somebody as good as they are who's not already you know, And he goes on and on. Andy Reid's the guy who he calls the offensive plays in Kansas City, so he knows he's never going to lose his offensive play caller to the Jets for their head coach. Right, there's that is a plus if you get the right guys.

Yeah, let's get back to the phones, though. We got people waiting patiently there at eight O three oh five point fifty. Are you happy with the first round matchup? Did you get the one you wanted? For the Bills here in wildcard? Got some open lines for you there. But we go to Stephen in Florida, X. What do you have for a Steven?

Hey, good afternoon guys. Okay, before I get to the Bills playoff game, I just want to say this. Yesterday, Joe, Jeremy and Nate in the postgame show, we're talking about how people have been so critical of Sean McDermott with time management, but they rightly pointed out that game between Pittsburgh and Cincy, what a horrible aspect of time management on the part of Pittsburgh in the last minute and forty seconds. They could have won that game had it not been for that. So, you know, let's put this argument to rest about how horrible McDermott is with his time management. Now, that being said, and by the way, I believe that Baltimore is gonna easily beat the Pittsburgh Steelers going you know into that game. Now I'm to the Bills and the Denver Broncos. I would have loved to and I think the three possibilities were Miami, Denver, and Cincinnati, correct, right right? Okay, of course Denver's win knocks Miami and Cincinnati out of that, but I would have loved for it to be Cincinnati so we could have, you know, overcome what happened two years ago when we were embarrassed at home by the Cincinnati Bengals and knocked out of the playoffs. Now, but I am happy with the Denver Broncos. And here's why. The game yesterday, while I was admirable that you know, Denver won thirty eight nothing again, you have to consider they beat a team that didn't have the Mahomes version of the Kansas City Chiefs. And I'm not taking away from what Denver did, but here's my bottom line. I think Denver, because of that, is going to come into Buffalo, Kacky. And you had an earlier collar talking about how they were saying, bring on Buffalo. I think They're coming in Kaki, and I think the Orange Crush is going to get crushed by the Bills, you know, because Buffalo has the number one offense in the league. I don't agree with what I think it was. Dan Orlowski said that Cincinnati was the number one offense.

Well, there's a number one passing offense in the league. That's what I'm talking.

About, right. But but the thing is is that you know, you just cited the thirty TDS on rushing and passing, and look at all the records that Josh Allen has rewritten this year. So I think, you know the big concern and I wanted to mention this. I looked on ESPN, and the big concern that the commentators had is what you cited earlier, the third down defense by the Bills. But I think that Bobby Babbitts and Sean McDermott, I think that they are going to be up on what's going on with the defense going into this game. You're not going to see another situation like you know what couple of years years ago where they had twelve men or last year twelve men on the field. It could have won that game.

Sotcha.

I think Buffalo will end up handling the Denver Broncos and giving them a real big loss in this game. And I'm gonna make a prediction here. I think it's gonna be Buffalo thirty five Denver twenty one.

Okay, thanks Steven, appreciate the comments there and opinions and yeah, so apparently not. Yeah, worried about Denver as a playoff matchup.

Denver is a good team. They went into Kansas City and we're down to the last kick to win the game in Kansas City when Kansas City was undefeated and they got it blocked, which is you know which is This was during that time when Kansasity was just getting by, just getting by, just getting by, and that was one that they got away with. But they came through and made the play at the end and won the game. But Denver played well enough in that game to give themselves a chance in Kansas City. So that's that's not nothing. I think it's going to be a close game. Denver's defense is the real thing. And they came in here last year, remember when they had Russ Wilson play in form or whatever whoever was, and they beat the Bills with you know when the Bills had the twelve men on the field, but they still got the kickoff and the guy missed it, but he hit the next one. So that's this is not a breeze of a matchup for the Buffalo Bills in this game.

Broncos number three in the league in points allowed. Let's go to Mark in Jersey City next. What's up Mark?

Oh, good afternoon, gentlemen. Thanks for taking my call.

Steve.

That was the same defense they rolled out there last year, and it was that the height of the Bills just I remember Josh looking so he looked as the moralizers I've ever seen him at a postgame press conference, and it was really scary. The next week that morning, actually they fired Dorsey. He cuts his hair and the I feel fing back and they've been who they've been ever since. Really stands a bunch of defections from the wide receiver room. They didn't have Ben for that game. Douglas was in his second game, Hyde was out. I think Knox is on IR. It was a ton of turnover. Who they're gonna face that that same crew, Benito, Cooper, Allen. They didn't sack Josh once. They turned him over four times, but that's an earmark of a Ken Dorsey offense. Lots of turnovers because he puts so much on the quarterbacks plate. So I look at a team that's what two and seven against five hundred plus teams. That was their second win yesterday. That was their most yards yesterday. They are one in five. This is this is this is the good one one in five versus teams that score over twenty points.

Yeah, score over twenty points.

Yeah, Yeah, that's it. Yeah, they do lean on their defense. There's no question about it. And and I agree, I mean, no doubt about it. The Broncos are in for it too. I mean they're playing a good team too. I'm not gonna say like the Bills are aren't all of that because they are. And you're right. The Broncos were the second in a two game losing streak the Bills had last year. It was after that that they went in you know they they is that right when they fired? Of course it was ten after that game they went into New York and lumped up the Jets thirty two to six.

Well that was at home, that came, yes, right.

And then they went to Philadelphia and lost by three in the rainstorm. On a fifty nine yard or so the act overtime, they bounced back in a big way, and it did become a different team after that Denver game last year, So you're right, a lot has changed. And listen, a lot has changed in the last eight or ten weeks, let alone the last eleven months. So yes, this is not the same team that has been on either side, the Denver team and the Bills team. It's not the same guys. But yeah, there's a lot of you can make an argument for both these clubs. Denver's defenses, for real, they got a young quarterback who isn't afraid to go into a place like this and play well like he did yet he did this season in Kansas City, So we'll see. But you're right, they've got to play the Bills too, just like the Bills are playing the Broncos. They've got a good team to come in and face. So we'll see how it plays.

Out this time out here, Steve, for the referee assignments, they're out for this weekend's wild card weekend, and the Bills will have Bill Vinovich officiating the game between them and the Broncos. Just for statistical let me try to slow down and say that properly. Statistical stats on referees this year, Bill Vinovich's crew has caught thrown the second fewest flags in the league this season. And then as far as penalties assessed total penalties assessed. Let me see where he ranks here, he's kind of in the middle. Yeah, so, oh no, he's not.

He's I don't want to be Debbie down or that's that's not good for the Bills.

Let me see you here. No, he's towards the bottom.

That's not good. I don't think that's good for the Bills.

One two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve. He's tied for twelve fewest penalties assessed among crews.

That's look because there's only sixteen crews or fewer. That's I don't think that's a good thing for the Bills. Of a crew that throws a very few flags tends to let the defense get away with things. And the Bills, I mean, if Amari Cooper comes back, okay, but they need some guys who can beat man coverage. That's key for the Bills because the Broncos will play man and brings some pressure thinking they can cover them. Up on the outside because they've got those guys and that defense, and they've got a pass rush, so they're gonna try and do that. And if they're not calling past interference or holding calls on the defense, you're going to have even more trouble getting separation.

Break time for us. Here more of your phone calls when we get back here on a Buffalo Football Monday on one Bill's Live Stay with us, Hey, Bill's Mafia. Construction is ongoing on the New high Mark Stadium, the future home of your Buffalo Bills. Want to secure your seats in the new stadium, join the Priority List by visiting Bill's Stadium Experience dot Com and placing a seat deposit. Priority List members will be invited to pick their New high Mark Stadium seats immediately after current Bills season ticket members. We look forward to bringing you with us on the journey to the New high Mark Stadium. Learn more at Bill's Stadium Experience dot com. We're going right through the win over there.

Yeah they yeah, I h's weren't a time lapse here of what they've done so far that there are days when you go over there, Wow, look at that and you can just see the difference. They've I had occasion to go over there once, yeah, me or twice, and you know the old joke goes, well, there's always one guy working and four guys leaning on their shovels, you know, watching, And that's not what's going on over there, man. Somebody is cracking the whip on those guys. They are. Everybody's busy over there. I mean everybody's walking around like like that thing and signed for George schod They're all just like they got their brow furrow to They're like carrying something, they're driving over It's busy. I mean they are really going hard. So it's it's fun to see and they I can't wait. It's gonna be It's gonna be fun to get in that joint.

Let's get back to the phone Tonato three oh five fifty, where we're asking you did you get the first round playoff matchup you wanted for your bills and tell us why Ato three oh five fifty. We go to Diane in Clarence next, what do you got for us? Diane?

Hi, Chris, Hi, Steve, Thanks for having me on. Love you guys, you're a great duo. What I love about this first matchup is that the Bills are in this first matchup. Just want to remind everybody where we were back in July and August lost all these players. We thought they were going to have a five hundred season. So I'm coming from the view of I'm grateful and appreciate what this team and what this organization has done with the team. And don't get me wrong, I want to win every playoff game. I want to go to the super Bowl. But I just asked that everybody understand nobody wants it more than those guys that team, and I just hope if we don't win whatever game we lose, that it doesn't come down to people coming down on Tyler Bess or coming down on Josh Allen, are coming down on coach McDermott. We should all be grateful for this franchise and for the team that we have. Granted, we all have our qualms and you know, grapes about certain things. I get it, it always will be that, but let's enjoy the moment and the year that this team has given us. And real quick, Steve, I'd like to know what the pressure this team might be feeling. I was a Buffalo Jill's cheerleader, I said on the side, I cheered on the sidelines in Atlanta when we lost our fourth Super Bowl. I witnessed firsthand grown men with tears in their eyes. I just want everybody to realize nobody wants it more than them. And I just hope that our Bill's Mafia, which I know greatest fans in football, will support this team regardless of what this outcome is this year, and let's be grateful because the years to come are going to be awesome. I will say thank you guys for listening, and I will hang up all right.

Thanks. Yeah, it's the pressure that you feel. It's most of the pressure these guys feel is self imposed. They don't want to be the guy that lets their teammates down. They don't want to be the guy that it falls on that to make a mistake or whatever. The best way to play in the end, You're taking it from a guy who had to It took four, you know, super Bowl losses to get to the point where I've kind of figured something out. But watching and talking to guys, the best way to play big games is this. If it doesn't matter, you got to got to go for it like there is no tomorrow, like you don't care about the outcome. Seriously, when you're gonna go and make a play, you're gonna do in that moment, grasp every opportunity. That's kind of the way you got to go into this. And when you start thinking about, Okay, do I really want to do this because I don't want to mess this up? I got to you know, when you start hesitating because you're afraid of the consequences, that's that's when you look like a team that's under pressure. If you worry about the consequences of your actions, sometimes it affects your ability to take the correct action. And that's what pressure does to you. Yeah, you see guys walking off the super Bowl in tears. I was probably one of them, maybe one of them. It's not because of the pressure, it's because of the lost opportunity. And that's you know, that's the sad part about the whole thing. You're right, however this season ends, doesn't diminish how fun this Buffalo Bills team, this version of the Bills team has been this year. It's fun to be a part of a team that shattered expectations. That's what this team did. They were counted out poo pooed third in the division. Everybody else was better, everybody else was doing more, and they absolutely crushed the AFC East crushed it. It was not close. They closed out the division in record time and that's kind of fun to watch for Bill's fans. So I think you're right, Diane, and thanks for the call.

Break time for us here when we begin our number three, we're gonna do it with my broadcast partner, Eric Wood on the Bills Radio Network at his thoughts on yesterday's game and the outlook on the wild card weekend with Bill's Broncos. We'll catch up with Eric next here on One Bill's Live presented by Colide Health.

It's Buffalo Bill's Radio.

These One Bill's Live presented by Kalida Health.

All Right, hour number three here on a Buffalo Football Monday, Chris Brown, Steve Tasker, and Joy now By, the radio color analyst on the Bills Radio Network, host of the Centered on Buffalo podcast. It's my broadcast partner Eric Wood, joining us as he does after every Bill's game. And Eric will certainly talk less about yesterday's game than what lies ahead. But how did you feel the Bill's coaching staff did in terms of navigating the balancing act of playing some guys that needed reps, playing some guys that wanted to hit some incentives, and still trying to kind of protect the guys that they're going to need for a playoff run.

Yeah, I thought it went excellent.

And you know, after the game, Sean McDermott said he didn't think there was any injuries that came out of the game. And that's the key in this situation. Yesterday you have a game that really doesn't win you anything if you win the game, and it actually hurts your division opponent if you don't win that game yesterday. And so it seemed like everything worked out great in that favor. Many guys were able to earn some extra money. Vond Miller kicked it off on the third play of the game, hitting a one point five million dollar bonus, getting a sack yesterday, Sam Martin got a pun inside the twenty, James Cook hit a couple milestones, going over one thousand and getting that rushing touchdown. Now, I'll be honest, the one I was most nervous about was putting Cook back in that game. And look, I know he wanted to tie OJ's record. For most touchdowns rushing for a season for the Bills. But that one scared me a little bit. But the fact that they were a cover to come out of that game healthy. They were able to get some guys some crucial reps heading into the playoffs. When you think of a Curtis Samuel, when you think of a DeMar Hamlin, those guys that are likely going to be coming back into big roles into the playoffs. They were able to get those guys some experience and then young guys. They were able to get some meaningful reps in an NFL game. You think about that entire offensive line getting reps together out there. Kenon Coleman and his rookie year get some extra work yesterday. Just two catches on ten targets, but I give him a pass on many of those where they weren't necessarily catchable. But all in all, I thought it was a successful day in New England.

Yeah, when Brownie asked you, you know, how they threaded that needle, I was like, they would have been better if they'd done all that, got out healthy and still won the game. Then I thought, well, you know what, no, right, I mean, that's that's the kind of weird spot they were in.

Yes, I see, and get the number one pick because of it.

And it's and I'll say this too, it's the only time I can remember. Maybe it's happened some other time, but you win a game and get fired as Gerrodmeo did right after the game, that's that is an unusual thing about this game. I think that's the thing I'll probably remember more than anything.

Yeah, and it's just not a good look when you only give a guy one year as head coach. Now, I if you know he's not the guy, you move on. You don't want to sit there and you know, waste a year next year, especially when you consider you got Drake May in the second year of his rookie contract and you got to maximize those years when those starting quarterbacks aren't getting these mega deals. But the fact that they let him go after one year, it's just not a great look for the franchise. It maybe deters maybe some veteran head coaches from going to New England. Now, I mean, the fact of the matter is that's got to be a very appealing job. You have the quarterback in place in Drake May, you have the most salary cap money in the league heading into this offseason.

We'll see how that shakes out with moves that different teams make.

But they're sitting there with the most money to spend, and you got a top five draft pick. And so Drove Mayo is a guy that I played against throughout my career. Always had a tremendous amount of respect for him as a player. Then how he transitioned into a coach under Bill Belichick, and it's unfortunate, and you know, it's part of the business.

I was with guys yesterday.

I walked down the Patriots before the game to say how to Alex van Pelt and Bob Bicknell. Joe Kim who used to be with the Bills. He's on their staff. Robert Kugler, who I've known for I don't know, fifteen years since he was a kid coaching now with New England. Was his dad, was my first offensive line coach in the league. So in this business, you feel for those guys, And you know, I was spending some time with Alex van pell last night, and I know, you know, obviously upset to get the news yesterday that after just one year and they felt like they were building on some things and maybe didn't have a lot of talent to work with, but were able to put out some pretty good tape, especially towards the end of the year.

So disappointing for.

Them, Yeah, it certainly is. And you feel for members of the coaching profession on a day like this, maybe more than any other, with all the heads that rolled already and probably some more coming down the pike here in the near future. So the Bills now turn their attention towards Wild Card weekend. They get a nice slot there Sunday at one, which the coaching staff has to be happy about, certainly. Don't want to play on Saturday, have one less day to prepare, especially coming off a road trip, even as short as the one was to New England. And now the task becomes getting ready for a Denver team that's got a pretty formidable defensive crew seventh in the league in total defense, third in the league against the run, and third in the league in points alout. I mean, this is a good crew, and I think they're near the top of the league in red zone defense as well and third down defense, so they make life hard for opposing offenses. What are your thoughts at first, blush.

Here, Yeah, they might have the defensive player of the Year and Patrick Certan at cornerback, and Sean McDermott always talks about marrying the rush, the pass rush in the coverage and when you have pass rushers like they do upfront in Benito and Franklin Myers and Zach Allen, and they have a number of guys up front that can flat out rush the passer.

They also blitz, I.

Believe at the second highest rate in the league's They put a lot of pressure on an offense to be completely buttoned up.

You're glad you have this game at home where you.

Can communicate on offense fully and you're verbally communicating out there. Get to your checks. You're glad you're healthy, and you have all your weapons on the outside. Guys that are going to need to get open quick. This could be a Shakir game. This could be a Curtis Samuel game. This could be a you know, take a shot to Amari Cooper or Keon Coleman down the field when you get one on one coverage against the blitz. I just wouldn't test certain on the outside too many times. So UH really impressed from what I've seen this year from this Denver defense, and as a team, this is a team that started out oh to two. They got a rookie quarterback, and you know, it had been easy for them to mail it in at times this year, but instead they fight and they get all the way in.

At the end, they lose two out of their last three.

They beat Kansas City's backups and a blood bath yesterday that you can't put a whole lot of stock in. But you know, give them credit. You start the season oh and two. It takes some heart to then make it to the postseason.

Yeah, they did start out oh and two, but then starting at week seven, all the way till yesterday, they were the sixth, fifth, sixth, seventh seed in the conference. They were never after week seven. They were never out of the playoff bracket. So they've been there the entire year and hung in there really well. We were just reminded by one of our callers about the last time these two teams played was the twelve men on the field with the field goal anything. Wow, that's tough, but that was the game, the caller reminded us. It was right before they changed offensive coordinators. So the Bills were struggling. There was the second of a two game losing streak that the Bills had last year, and then they changed it and things started to climb. So how much, I mean, how much stock can you put into where these teams have evolved to from middle of last year when the Broncos were in a completely different spot and the Bills now as well with a new offensive coordinator from that point on and the steps they've made this year.

Yeah, it seems like both franchises are in a better spot when you consider they likely think they got their quarterback of the future and bone Nick who they took in the first round, and Josh is playing at an MVP level this year, has a you know, great relationship with Joe Brady and how they're able to work together in the efficiency that Josh has brought throughout this season, And so you feel pretty good about both franchises if you're on either side of this. You know, Denver being able to make the postseason with a rookie quarterback that's a feat in itself, and you know, give a lot of credit to that defense. And you know, bon Nicks has developed throughout this year. He's a guy that has some mobility. He can make you pay with his legs. You kind of worry about that a little bit in the playoffs, just thinking that, you know, we see it from Josh all the time and Mahomes in the playoffs, and these guys that can really run, they can make you pay.

They can pick up a few.

Extra first downs again on third down by getting out and scrambling.

So Bills have a tough test. I mean, Vegas has it.

Right now at about a nine point spread, So pretty confident that Bills are gonna be able to handle business at home. But you know, it's the playoffs. Anything can happen, and this is a young and hungry team in Denver and they're going to come in and play with their hair on fire.

One thing that kind of peaks my interest regarding the matchup, at least between Denver's offense and Buffalo's defense. We know that Buffalo's defense has kind of hung their hat on takeaways. They get another one yesterday. There was only one game all season in which they did not get one, and at no point during the season did they have a negative turnover differential in any game. And they come into this game against a rookie quarterback who you know, in the pressure cauldron of a playoff game on the road could be you know, coerced into a mistake. I just think that the Bills and what they've relied upon defensively, takeaways, They're more likely to get him against a rookie quarterback in his first playoff start than they are against a Joe Burrow or even Atua who's played this team several times. What do you think about that?

Yeah, I think you're absolutely right. We've seen Sean McDermott and Bobby Babbage be extra aggressive towards rookie quarterbacks. See if they can handle the blitz especially on the road. I mean, there will be no verbal communication at the line of scrimmage with this Broncos team, with high Mark Stadium rocking and roll, and especially if the Bills are able to get off to a good start, you know, it'll be a tough test for them to be able to identify where guys are coming from, be able to communicate at the line of scrimmage. It's gonna be a tough test for a rookie quarterback to come into Buffalo this week. And then, you know, beyond the blitzing, I expect Sean McDermott Bobby Babbage to really mix up the coverages, rock and roll those safeties and make life really difficult on bow Nicks to be able to make pre snap reads.

Yeah, and look on the other side of the Bay. You mentioned Denver's defense is really aggressive. They blitz a lot. Will they do that against a Buffalo team with Josh at quarterback? Because if you're gonna blitch, you're gonna be a man on the back side. And while they may be able to cover the Bills up, they still got to put find a way to get Josh Allen on the ground and to keep him from extending plays. I mean this, Yeah, what do you think this defense is gonna do with Denver coming in here?

Yeah?

I think they stick to what they're, what they do, and who they are. Now you play with fire, you run Manda man blitz against Josh Allen and he breaks out of the pocket, I mean, you're you're gonna give up a.

Huge gain there.

Early in the season them was starting with that Baltimore game, going to Houston and a number of other times this Bill's offense has been tested by the Blitz. Now, Josh's got an incredible quarterback rating against the Blitz. This year, but there's been times where this offense has sputtered, not being able to separate from man coverage in time when there's a blitz coming and you got to separate quickly. So I expect Denver to test the Bills with the blitz this week, test them with man and man coverage, see if they can separate on the outside. It seems like the Bills have put that narrative to the rest this year, but I'd expect Denver to at least try it early in this game. And then you know there's gonna be some times where you have to sit back and play coverage and try and get home with a four man rush. And that's where when you got an offensive line like the Bills, do you feel really confident going into a matchup against a team that can be really intimidating with their pass rush.

For number of teams in this league, and.

Then just the coaching matchup Sean Payton Sean McDermott, strength on strength here in terms of offensive background defensive background. Peyton's got a Super Bowl under his belt on his resume. We know that a lot of times when he gets to the postseason, he's even more aggressive. Everyone will remember his onside's kick at the start of the second half against the Colts in the Super Bowl when he was coaching New Orleans. It shifted the tie to that game precipitously and they went on to win it. What do you make of what you anticipate his approach to be, especially knowing most people view them as the underdog in this game.

Yeah, I expect them to be aggressive. I don't know if it's trying to steal possession.

Not very easy to know.

You can't fake onside anymore. Yeah, right with this kickoff, but it could be a fake punt. It could be being extra aggressive on fourth down. Just understanding that even though you got the third best point points giving up in the league defensively, this is Bill's offense that's number two in the league and points gained or points put up per game, And so I expect them to be ultra aggressive in this coaching matchup. You know, this dates back to their time Caroline and the Saints, where they were facing off twice a year there.

I had Luke Keickley on My Center on Buffalo podcast.

At one point I asked them who the toughest offensive coordinator was for him to prepare for and play against.

And he said Sean Payton. And that's, you know, a team that.

He's had tremendous familiarity with. So you know, you got to give Sean Payton credit. He's in the position he is because of his offensive expertise.

We asked our listeners if they got the matchup they liked right, or wanted or wanted. Nobody wanted any piece of the Cincinnati Bengals. I was not a part of that crew. I didn't care about whether the Bengals were the team that was struggling. Get they were that team. They were eight and eight, nine and seven, That's what the kind of team they were. Miami's a division opponent. Their offense is really good. Even in Buffalo, they were played really good, although they're bad in cold weather. That would have been a better matchup. But this team, this Denver team, is the one I did not want because of their defense. Because they got a really sharp head coach and they got a rookie who just may not know any better.

Uh.

They got a coach who's experienced in the playoffs. Uh. And defense travels, so whether you're at home or away, you're gonna get their best punch. So this is kind of the one I actually did not want.

This is likely the one I wanted, you know, I didn't necessarily want to face off against Joe Burrow. I think we talked about it last week on the show. Yes, the storybook would be beat Burrow, beat Jackson, beat Mahomes, then go win the super Bowl. But we don't need a story book. Let's go host the trophy parade and so, uh.

Nineteen seventy six Tampa Bay Buccaneers, let's do that right, right.

You know, when you look at it, it's the playoffs. Everybody's good. Everybody's gonna have strengths. You know, you look around the AFC and you look at a Pittsburgh offense that isn't great, but they can certainly make big plays with some of their weapons on the outside. But then they have a really good defense. When you I mean you look around at any of these teams that you could have possibly faced coming into the playoffs, there's going to be strengths to the organization and the franchise or else they wouldn't be in this position.

Now.

You know, with teams looking around the conference as well, they're looking at Buffalo and there's a lot to fear about this Bills team.

You know, if they can if they.

Can play consistently on the defense side of the football and take the ball away and put pressure on the quarterback with a four man rush throughout the playoffs. And I'm not saying that's a straight up four man rush. You know, at times it may be a Bernard, it may be a Milano coming on a blitz, similar to what we saw out of the Din package against Kansas City, you know, unveiling some things like that where you get creative with the pass rush, but you're not bringing five and six guys to compromise your coverage.

You know, this is a scary Bills team.

And you know, although we have a lot of respect for Denver and they have some really nice pieces as well, they're co looking out from the other side, I guarantee saying, well, this isn't necessarily the matchup we want it either.

Yeah, right, I think that's a good note to end on, Eric, So thanks for the time. As always, we'll see you up here later in the week.

Sounds good. Looking forward to you guys.

Have great week.

All right.

That's Eric Wood joining us as he does after every Bill's game. On Monday here on One Bill's Live, and yeah, he's right. And I think the Bills are a tougher team to defend this year than they were last year, just because of the multifaceted nature of this offense. And I'm not just talking about running and throwing the ball. I'm talking about all the different weapons they have utilized through the course of this season. Last year, this Denver team comes in, they say, all right, well we shut down digs and we pretty much take care of the passing game. Right this year, you take care of one of their guys. Okay, they got other people to throw the ball to that they don't have any problem throwing it.

It's a tough exercise as a defense to pick which guy you're going to focus on the coverage, and if you don't focus on anybody, you really leave yourself open to getting hit by anybody. So it's a real mental challenge to pick who Josh Allen's gonna pick to throw the football to, and any given play, that's that's a real problem for most defenses.

Let's get back to the phones though, at eight oh three oh five fifty one eighty eight five fifty two five fifty, where We've been asking you today, did you get the first round playoff matchup you wanted for the Bills? And waiting patiently, there is Rick in Rochester. What do you got for us?

Rick?

Oh?

Jeezus.

Oh you calling me when I'm pumping gas. Okay, anyways, Chris Steve, thanks for taking my call. I just want to talk about like social media and all the Bills fans. Oh, we want Denver, We want Denver. I don't necessarily want to play Denver in the first round. I'd rather have played Cincinnati. And that's because Burrow took a face plant to the ground his last game and Denver's defense, like Eric said, Certan is going to torch us on cover. But I do think the Bills pull it off. But it's gonna be like a twenty one to seventeen game. I hope I'm right, Go Bills, but we could lose reverse that score, is what I'm saying.

All right. So yeah, Rick is a little concerned. He shares Steve's concerns.

And look, I remember it's a better team.

Yeah. Well yeah, and I know that defense travels. I've said it before. Defense travels in the playoffs. Steve just mentioned it again. When we had Eric on. And it's true offense sometimes can struggle on the road because of you know, crowd noise and silent count and you know, pass rushers getting an extra half.

Joe Burrow got sacked a ton, and not only just get sacked, he gets whacked a lot, hit hard a lot. That's yeah, I'm whatever, and he doesn't doesn't mean it doesn't mean anything now.

Yeah, Yeah, it's a mood point. Yeah, because it is Denver and it could be a low scoring game. I was able to hold the Bills offense down and they're slow out of the gate and it's kind of a slog through the first half. Yeah, it could be a lot closer game than Bill's fans would like to see. I mean, they don't want to come out here on Sunday and start biting their fingernails and pulling out their hair. They're hoping for a comfortable victory. But those are few and far between, very often in the playoffs, because everybody's good.

Yeah, yeah, if you want to, if you're if you're interested. Where they finished. Cincinnati was the eight seed, just outside the playoffs. Indianapolis was nine. Miami dropped all the way to ten with an eight and nine record, So yeah, Miami just could not hold it together for the season, and uh Cincinnati finished just out of the playoffs. Actually they were a game back. So yeah, there you have it.

Let's take a look at the tweet sheet. Crack that open tweet sheet, brought to you by Corgan Moving Systems, the official equipment moving company of the Buffalo Bills. Get the first round playoff matchup you wanted for the Bills. Andrea says, no, I wanted Miami. Denver's defense looks tough. We're gonna need our MVP to put the cape on. David says, no I wanted Cincinnati so Allan could run the gauntlet of Hall of Fame QBS on the way to the Super Bowl. Eric advised against that.

But right it sounds good after you've done it.

It sounds fantastic once it's been accomplished. But I don't know if we we need to check all thees.

You need to pick the exact tallest mountain to climb.

Connorson credits, Connor says, to be honest, it didn't matter to me going into this weekend. Like Steve says, you have to play your best on that day Buffalo will have to come out and play their best. You don't win a super Bowl by playing mediocre teams in the playoffs. Great matchup should be a fun game. Go Bill says, glad the Chargers got the five, they could give k C a good run. They actually, yeah, they got the five.

That's right.

Pittsburgh matches up better with the Ravens. Well. With that being said, no, I would have enjoyed bringing the Dolphins up here for a wild card game. Dolphins would have had a tough go of it because Tua wasn't even He was far from a sure thing to be ready to play even this week. He didn't play last week, he didn't play the last two games.

Dolphins didn't scare me. That's the team.

Their offense kind of turned into a pop gun offense.

Yeah, that their offense didn't. They did not scare me. They did not scare me. They're there and you can see too. They were ready to check it in after their game yesterday. They were despondent not playing any better.

Than they did.

So I'm yeah, I I that's the and obviously I mean now that that's that's all been set. Of course, you want the worst team out there, which is the Dolphin. They were the ten seed, So theoretically you would have rather had that Indianapolis Colts than Theron than the Yeah, I mean you read the Bronx the Dolphins rather than the Colts in this scenario. Yes, that's that says everything.

We got to step aside here for a break. But if you're holding an eight h three oh five fifty, we will get to you when we return. Here on a Buffalo Football Monday on one Bills Live presented by Colida Health, It's Buffalo Bills Radio Bills. Tickups, check face paint, check your favorite apple with the epic crunch. Snapdragon Apples are available now with Wegmans and other local retailers. Fuel your day with Snapdragon Apples, the official apple of your Buffalo Bills. Getting right back to the phones here on a Buffalo Football Monday, Chris Brown Steve Tasker with you. After the Bill's wrapped up the season up in New England twenty three to sixteen defeat at the hands of the Patriots, They now get set for their wild Card weekend opponent, the Denver Broncos in the two seven matchup in Round one of the AFC Playoffs. We're asking you today, did you get the playoff matchup you wanted for the Bills? And if so, why eight oh three five fifty open lines for you there? But we go to Johnny in Buffalo and X what do you offer is Johnny, are all one? Bill's live?

Hey, guys, undertaking my call. You know, I absolutely love the matchup against the Broncos. You know, really didn't want to see the Chargers. I think Carvo's got that team playing well. And to me, the biggest thing that scares me in the playoffs isn't a defense, it's the other the opposing quarterback. You know, you bring a rookie quarterback, we've seen you know, Stroud did well last year, but he was kind of one in a million type guy. In the playoffs for a rookie, most rookie quarterbacks struggle. And I know McDermott and the defense will probably get this team well prepared. They don't really have a They have a pretty weak running game, which you know, if we can get up early against this team, make them a bit one dimensional. I can see this getting ugly quick. You know, Sutton, big body receiver. But other than that, you know, they don't really have anybody on offense was that scary? And sure, yeah, that defense is is intimidating a bit, and I know, what do you call it? Sertan is a ridiculously good corner. But you know, I trust Joe Brady, I trust Josh Allen in this offense to get it done. You know, they've other than the other than the Baltimore and Houston game this year, which we're early this season, we really haven't laid too many duds offensively, except you know, against a familiar opponent in the Patriots, where it took us little while they're going. But I love the matchup. I wouldn't really want anybody else did not want I'll be honest, did not want to see since he did not want to see Burrow in that offense. But look at Denver the last couple of games before case. Uh, you know, since he put a lot on them, and so did the Chargers, they put you know, thirty plus on them. So yes, they've got a great but I think there are holes in it. And if we can get up early and make Boe Nicks one dimensional, I think we'll kind of run away with it.

All right. Thanks for the thoughts, Johnny, appreciate it. We'll move ahead here and go to Mike in Orchard Park next. What's up Mike, Hey, guys, thanks.

For taking my car up.

Sure.

Yeah, this is where I kind of stand as a buffle bill stand. I had the mindset I'm not in fear of no one at this point. You know, since since week fifteen when we played the Lions, I feel we've kind of been gearing up for the playoffs, you know. I mean, I think you have your top three teams Kansas City, Buffalo, and Baltimore, and besides that, I you know, I I really don't feel in no other teams in the tournament. And that's maybe I'm being.

Biased, but it is what it is.

I don't fear no One, and I feel like this coaching staff, we've been on this run since twenty twenty, and I'm hoping we can learn from number stakes. I feel like a key matchup against Member is going to be the Special Teams Unit Sean Payton. He's a phenomenal coach and I feel he's gonna take He's going to try to use that as an advantage on his side, so that never like key moments of this game, I'm kind of looking at and hopefully we can minimize the mistakes and you know, come out, come out strong there and put on a good performance.

All right, Mike, thanks very much. Yeah, I mean that's that's what a good opponent does. They try to find where you're vulnerable and see if they can exploit it.

Most playoff teams are good enough to do that in some way or at least put it in the game plan, whether the situation comes up or not. Yeah, they'll have some wrinkles in every part of their game, defensively, offensively, and special teams. Uh, they will have some things in there in their ammo box to take advantage of your weaknesses. So we'll see.

I would.

You're right, Sean Payton commands a lot of respect in the NFL. He's won a Super Bowl, been back to a Super Bowl. Uh, got unceremoniously with a bad call, kept out of another Super Bowl. I mean, you know, it's one thing after another for a minute there in New Orleans. But they were at the top of the NFC for a handful of years with Sean Payton, and he is a sharp guy in game and very aggressive and trust his players and they come through for him. So yeah, this is This is a tough matchup in Denver. I know you're right. No team is gonna fear any other team. And Denver's not afraid of Buffalo either. They want a shot at him and they're gonna come in and give him their best punch. So it's you're right. The Bills and the Bills fans have been gearing up for this for six weeks. Takes a long time to get here once you if you're gonna close out the division that early, and the Bills did it, So I think you're right on the on the money. And like I always say, if you can play well on that day, you don't have to worry about too much.

Let's go to Mark n West. What's that Mark?

Hey, guys, I haven't talked to you in a while.

How you Ben?

That's good? That's good hey, looking at it and listening to it. I understand the trepidation and the Yanks that we have as fans, because you know, one bad game and you're out. But when you really look at this game, uh, and you break it down, you can see why we're nine point favorites. When you look at their offense, you've got a team with a very average to blow average running game. You got a rookie quarterback and you've got one wide receiver that's an established NFL veteran. That's the offense that we're going up against on the defensive side of the ball. When you look at what the Bills have to offer across the board, and granted they're a good defense, but we have no reason to take one of our best players and go up against Sertan and try to go mono a mono and force the issue that way. We have no reason that we have to get into a drop pass game and just what their pass rush come at us. Okay, when we have the targets that we have that we can substitute a short passing game. Get their defensive line looking around a little bit, get their linebackers turning their heads, their shoulders and looking out they're going to be throwing the ball short? Or do I have to defend the run and then hit them with quick traps or whatever with Cook Cook, because Cook this year goes through that line like a shot. And then on top of it, we got tight ends and we still can go to our whiteouts. And then on top of all that, the cherry on top of all of that is Josh Allen, Okay, they still have to figure out a way to number one get to them. How many sacks have we given up this year? Barely ten, I think it is. And we get him a little bit on the roll on the outside or whatever, and putting pressure on those guys, they're going to be in trouble. They're gonna We have no reason, Supper, if we just play our game that we should not win this game comfortably. And oh, by the way, time we played a defensive line that was a great pass rushing defensive line. I think that was the Rams who They had all kinds of pressures on quarterbacks all year long, even though they're young, and I think we did pretty well against them, So we really have nothing to fear. We play our game, will be absolutely fine.

My opinion, Well, I think yeah, you're right, Mark, and you can't argue with it. I'm pretty sure though that if Denver plays their game, they're gonna be fine too. I mean, that's the way it is. In the playoffs. You've got to do it now. Certainly, I'll say this. The Bills offense has more ways to beat people than most offenses do, and most defensive rosters, as good as they are in places, don't have enough to cover everything. The Bills can do and do well. They can run the ball well inside, outside, they run the trap game, they run pin and pull, they run zone concepts. They can throw the ball short. They've got a guy with a big arm. They can take guys deep. They've got big number one wide receivers in Keyon Coleman and Amari Cooper to go man on man on the outside. They've got an elite slot receiver in Khalil Shakir. Their running backs are good in the passing game. They can split out or come inside. Their tight ends are really good route runner and pass catchers. They're great weapons and big targets in the red zone and otherwise. And of course that doesn't even mention that the fact that they've got the best player in the league in some people's opinion, in Josh Allen, who can run the ball and throw it everywhere. They're a handful offensively, I will say that. And Denver's defense, as good as it has been, is going to be extremely tested in this game on the road in Buffalo, in pretty good weather it seems like not windy, a little cold, and that's it. Yeah, that's a hard matchup for anybody. But let's face it, Denver's built for it. They live in Denver and they're in a high altitude. It's cold up there. They practice in the cold, and their defense will travel better than an opponent's offense will travel. But yeah, still, the Buffalo offense is a ton is a ton.

Let's get back to some thoughts on the tweet sheet. Steven says, yeah, I didn't want to have to play Joe Burrow, but still worried about our defense. Can you help me with a couple of reasons I shouldn't be worried about our defense. My nerves are through the roof. Dude, it's Steven, it's Monday. You're not gonna make it to the game at this rate. I think what you have to remember is for the bulk of this season, the Bills have been a top ten scoring defense. And what I mean by that is if you and look, I know you don't want to take away games, but if you take the Detroit game and the Rams game out of the equation. This year, the Bills are giving up eight little over eighteen points a game, and even with those two games lumped in the Bills are eleventh in the league and points allowed. I mean, they're almost a top ten defense and points allowed with two teams hanging forty on them. So I think that's something that should at least booie or spirits to some degree. I think the other thing that should make you happy is the fact that the Bills are healthy from everything we've been told to this point going into the postseason, which they could not say at this time last year. And in a game that they gave up thirty five points to the Ravens back in Week four, they did not have Matt Mlano to rel Bernard or Tarren Johnson at the second level of their defense in that game for a single snap. So I think there are reasons to be encouraged that the defense will do what it needs to to support the offense, get them extra possessions with takeaways, which have not been a problem getting all season long, and I think they'll be all right. Especially against the rookie quarterback, they might be able to deceive a little bit.

Yeah, of course fans can always do this for their team, but you can conjure up a couple of ways this could get out a hand quick with a young quarterback who's got maybe one main guy offensively without a really strong running game. You know, if they cough it up or go three and out a couple of times, and the Bills come out and they and they make the hay offensively like they have done even against really good defenses. You can conjure up away where it kind of gets out of hand in Buffalo's favor. But I kind of think it's going to be more of a close game than that one way or the other. I don't know that I can conjure up away that Denver runs off and leaves Buffalo. I you just don't see that very often. You've seen it in a handful of games over the last four years, five years. It maybe happened three times where a team beat this club by by double digits. Yeah, that's that's the one for me, So I do. There's no question Buffalo's got to be the favorite in this game. But Denver is built for games like this. So that's what's give you. That's what gives you pause.

Gotta take a break here when we come back. Some final thoughts on the tweet sheet here on a Buffalo Football Monday on One Bill's Live presented by Kalida Health.

It's Buffalo Bills Radio.

Got some final thoughts on the tweet sheet here on a Buffalo Football Monday, Christine says, I wanted the Dolphins because they do horrible in the cold weather. So now I'm hoping Denver Chokes Alan will need to bring in and maybe do some scoring himself. Go Bills. Brian says Bills are going to have to be really smart about continuing the achievement of not turning the ball over against that secondary, in particular, use of ty Johnson, Cook and Davis effectively is going to be essential with the short passing game with yards after the catch and not giving up big plays. Joe says I would have preferred Miami because of Josh's dominance over them, but I also like what coach McDermott does to completely confuse rookie quarterbacks. Go Bills, Yeah, I mean, that's a it's a thing.

Yeah. Yeah. The Bills are the two seed for a reason. They've shown to be a you know, be able to win games a lot of different ways, but you gotta play well on that day, and it's it's do or die, and if the Bills come out and play their best. I mean, nobody beats them Denver Broncos Chiefs Ravens, nobody. And we have seen this team play at a consistently high level throughout the season, and they have seemed to be particularly on the offensive side of the ball. Ascending here in the last month of the season, not yesterday, you know, the Patriot game, obviously, notwithstanding because of the roster moves and all of that. So we'll see the Bills have been waiting on this week for six weeks because that's when they clinched the division. We'll see if.

Broncos commands will argue they've been waiting nine years.

We've been there. Yeah, we've been there for double the amount of time. I can commiserate with the Bronco fans. We've been there.

Kate says, not worried. Bo is still a rookie and this is still his first playoff and coming into Orchard Park and Bill's mafia, it's going to be a rude awakening. Bill's Mafia is different come the postseason, and Brian says, yes, Broncos have a rookie QB travel in a Buffalo for the first time. If we win, Baltimore likely comes here for the rematch. If we win warm Weather, La Chargers travel across the country to witness Buffalo and Josh in late January. So he's predicting. This guy's already got a charger's upset.

Yes, I get it, but yeah, the charge whatever, Okay, we'll see.

One step at a time, everybody, one step at a time. We'll see you tomorrow. At one. We'll hear from dan Orlowski as well, who'll join us many

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One Bills Live

Get up-to-date on all the happenings from inside One Bills Drive and from around the league. Hear fr… 
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