Two Bills Drive

'Clay had Buffalo's edge rushers ranked 27th in the league, linebackers 24th and, as previously mentioned, the cornerbacks and safeties as dead last in the league. The only unit to fare well in Clay's preseason rankings was Buffalo's interior defensive line (6th). Overall, Buffalo's defensive rankings had them 30th in Clay's projections before the start of the season.'

'"It changed a little bit," Bills safety Micah Hyde said. "All week we had been game planning around (Julio Jones). With him going out of the game, it kind of freed things up for us. Then when (Mohamed Sanu) went out, we sort of had a sense of 'We need to step on their throat.'"'

'He's not been the prolific weapon the Bills paid him to be, but Clay showed what he is capable both with ball in hand and blocking on the edge against Atlanta. His 112 yards led the team and it was built on some good work after the catch. He forced three missed tackles as the Falcons struggled to bring him down. His 5.33 yards per route run leads all tight ends so far this week.'

'"We practice these situations a lot more than we have in the past," Bills defensive tackle Jerel Worthy said. "When we get out there, it feels a little bit more comfortable than it did in the past. To be honest with this team, we attribute our success to preparation. I think we prepare a lot differently. Coach McDermott keeps us on our toes in team meetings. He'll call you out in team meetings and ask a random question about the offense. You have to know the situation and know what the offense is thinking. He just tries to make the game a little slower for us."'

'“I’m happy for the team. Those guys worked hard, the coaches worked hard, the players worked extremely hard. We have a group of hard workers. The coaches put together a good game plan across the board and they stayed with it. This is a tough place to play. They are the defending NFC Champions, with one of the top quarterbacks in the league. Things didn’t always go our way. We had some things we would like back so we have some work we have to do in that regard, but I am just extremely happy with the way the guys battled, they are a very resilient group and extremely appreciative of the fans that showed up to cheer us on. I can’t say enough about that. It was just a great showing by our fans both from Buffalo and from this region that just showed up. I really appreciate the support.”'

'"Y'all picked us to lose, so y'all come talk to the winners!," McCoy shouted. "Come on. Come talk to us. We want to talk! Y'all picked us to lose, but we want to talk to the winners, right? Come on, come on! We all around. We were supposed to lose today, but we won, so come talk to the winners! Yeah, in Atlanta!"'

'Remember when Gilmore & Gillislee went to NE, Boldin retired, Darby & Watkins were traded and this was a "throw away" season for the #Bills?'

'If you were waiting to give the Buffalo Bills’ defense credit because of the quarterbacks they faced in the first three weeks, wait no more. The Bills went into Atlanta and went toe-to-toe with the defending NFC Champions because of their defense. They hit Matt Ryan five times, picked him off twice and forced a fumble that led to a touchdown. Ryan shredded Sean McDermott’s Carolina defense twice last season, but McDermott got the best of him on Sunday.'

'No one on the Falcons took a knee before today's game. The team instead stood together with locked arms.'

'"Part of it is I still have three years left on my contract," Ryan said. "That's some serious cash."'

'Clay's cleats had "#ImWithKap" written on them. Generally, NFL players are not allowed to wear custom cleats during games expect during Week 13, which is designated as My Cause My Cleats week. However, Clay's cleats otherwise meet the standards of the dress code except for the writing.'

'Ryan Davis will start in place of Lawson and defensive end, and rookie Dion Dawkins will start in place of Glenn. Sean McDermott has expressed confidence in Dawkins, who started last week as well.'

'“What more can you say about Steven Hauschka?” Buffalo head coach Sean McDermott said.'

'Defense draws blood: While the Bills defense has seemingly done it all coming into Sunday’s game, they actually have not, until now. Buffalo’s defense scored for the first time this season as Jerry Hughes forced a Matt Ryan fumble which was picked up by rookie Tre’Davious White and brought into the end zone. Buffalo added two more turnovers, two interceptions by safety Micah Hyde.'

'Taylor isn't Tom Brady or even Matt Ryan. But he's capable of making plays in other ways. He's a big reason why the Bills are 3-1.'