Archives for January 14, 2022

‘Buffalo Bills Wall of Fame linebacker Darryl Talley used to slather his body with Vaseline, then pull on a pair of Big Mama pantyhose, then his football pads, pants and jersey, just one old-school trick for staying warm in the extreme cold. Then he’d lube up his feet and pull on silk socks, then GORE-TEX socks to remain dry, then his uniform socks, then his cleats. The idea was simple, yet brilliant.’

‘The Pats’ ability to get chunk plays is attributable to a bunch of factors. Defenses tend to gang up on the Pats’ power ground game, which opens up the pass. Jones has superb accuracy, hitting receivers in stride on in-breaking routes and giving them more yards-after-catch opportunity. The Pats’ offensive scheme sets up those in-breakers and crossing routes with good play-action fakes. Jones was eighth in the NFL in yards per attempt (9.0) on play action, according to Pro Football Focus.’

‘Of the players on the active roster, no one was listed with an injury designation on Thursday’s practice report. Wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders (knee) and defensive end Efe Obada (ankle) were full participants all week. Wide receiver Stefon Diggs had his usual end-of-week veteran’s day of rest Thursday.’

‘Far be it from me to count out a Bill Belichick-coached team, but I think the second meeting between these two teams was far more telling. The first game was simply too weird to replicate. I don’t think it was a really illuminating showing for either quarterback, given how unusual the weather was. If you’ve read anything about the Bills this week, you know that weather will also be a factor Saturday, but with a different forecast. It should be colder and less windy, the latter a boost for Josh Allen and the Buffalo offense. While Patriots quarterback Mac Jones has gone up against the Bills twice already, I think the Buffalo defense finds ways to rattle the rookie. I imagine it will be closer, but with the Bills giving the largest home playoff crowd in decades a reason to celebrate. Bills, 20-16.’

‘Prediction: Bills over Patriots by 13.’

‘North said a Monday game between the No. 4 and No. 5 seeds will help the two winners of the games involving the 2-7 and 3-6 seeds on Sunday know what they are doing on divisional weekend “as soon as their wild-card games are over.”’

‘The Bills’ quarterback isn’t in the discussion for NFL most valuable player, as he was last year. He didn’t eclipse his team-record totals from 2020 in passing yards and passing touchdowns. However, Allen arguably carried an even heavier load of the Bills’ offense in 2021 and produced one of the best quarterbacking seasons in Bills history.’

‘What we learned: The No. 1 seed in the AFC was probably a goner. In fact, the Bills’ playoff worthiness was in question after this result. This was a reminder that the NFL truly is a week-to-week league, and showing up isn’t enough to produce the desired result. That’s a lesson the Bills learned the hard way.’

‘“You know, last year, damn near we had smooth sailing,” wide receiver Stefon Diggs said. “We barely lost. We barely had slow days. Things weren’t off cue. But I feel like this team, we have built a little more character this year. … We took our lumps. You’ve got to take your lumps like a man. You got to take your ‘L’s good and you got to take your wins good, so I feel like this team does have a lot more character and we know what we’ve got to do to win. We know the stuff we shouldn’t be doing in game to cost us the game.”’

‘The Bills only had back-to-back losses once this season, at the hands of the Patriots and then Tom Brady. The former, the Monday night game at home, was weather-wrecked and a slower type of pain. The Tampa game alone probably hit every point of the meter in one contest. The slow start, the comeback, the eventual loss in overtime – this game could not have been good for Bills Mafia’s heart rates. But the players and coaches saw something in the second half to build on, leaving Tampa with the loss, but also with renewed drive. Meter reading: 2’

‘The defensive stats for both the 17th game and the entire 2021-22 season are mind-boggling.’