Archives for January 2023

‘Here’s an inconvenient truth for Buffalo Bills fans to consider: The Bills’ offense was a little better under Ken Dorsey in the 2022 regular season – in both the first and second halves of the season – than it was under Brian Daboll in the 2021 regular season.’

‘Dorsey worked to develop a viable running game that wasn’t as heavily reliant on Josh Allen as the season wore on. The Bills’ running backs averaged 72 rushing yards a game the first nine games. They averaged 109 yards a game the last seven. Use of the sixth offensive lineman as a substitute for a blocking tight end helped give a little more diversity and punch to the attack.’

‘“What’s interesting for an offensive tackle is it’s such a unique position – call it different than maybe guard or center – that when there’s more and more film out there of a player, in this case Spencer, people study the heck out of it, right?” McDermott said. “So they know your strengths, they know your weaknesses, almost sometimes as good as you do yourself. So he, and we in this case, have to continually reinvent ourselves and grow in the offseason. I think he had some moments when he was really good and you could say, ‘Hey, that was really strong play against a good pass rusher’ and then some other ones where you’d say, ‘Hey, you know, do we need to add a chip to help out here?’ You don’t want to have to do that all the time.”’

‘He thanked the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, the first responders who “acted swiftly and skillfully to save (his) life,” and the medical personnel and health care providers who have helped him since, at both UCMC and Buffalo General Medical Center.’

‘I can assure you, Liz, that Allen’s elbow was given no shortage of attention. It can be argued there is no more important body part in the entire organization than Allen’s throwing arm, so the Bills will do everything in their power to make sure they are keeping it as healthy as possible. As for the bloody elbow Allen had last week against Cincinnati, unless I’m mistaken that did not have anything to do with an injection and was rather the result of a cut or brush burn that is typical of playing on artificial turf. Both Allen and General Manager Brandon Beane said they do not believe surgery will be necessary this offseason, so all we can do is take them at their word on that. Allen did concede the injury impacted his throwing motion for a significant amount of time after he was hurt, so it’s fair to wonder if that resulted in a dip in velocity. You’re right that dropped passes were a problem. According to advanced stats kept at Pro Football Reference, the Bills had 38 drops this season, which ranked fourth most in the NFL.’

‘Under the summary terms of the community benefits agreement, the Bills would reinvest more than $100 million into the community over the life of a 30-year stadium lease. Though the Bills would contribute $3 million each year for community benefits during the 30-year lease, the contribution would be adjusted for inflation, increasing each year by up to 2.2%.’

‘“Depression hotline,” he announced as he picked up the phone last week. The native Western New Yorker, who now lives near Los Angeles, knew it was The Buffalo News calling, and let out a shrugging chuckle, as if to say: What more can we do?’

‘“There are 20 million people in a (major) metro area, how big a deal is it to get 75,000 people out to a football game?” said Mike Lewis, a fan analytics expert and professor at Emory University’s Goizueta Business School. “You go to a market like Buffalo or Green Bay, then suddenly this is something pretty special. This is more like a college town where every fourth person or every fifth person might be in that stadium.”’

‘The Bills TV games averaged a 45.8 rating representing 290,212 households this season, down 3% from a 47.4 rating but up 15% from 253,399 households the previous season.’