Niagara Gazette

‘Sixty years have passed since the Bills defeated the San Diego Chargers, 20-7, to win the AFL championship on Dec. 26, 1964, the first of back-to-back championships. All 13 members remaining from the 39-man roster are in their 80s, the last remnants of the franchise’s only teams to hoist a championship trophy.’

‘“Everything was competitive and that included the press,” Pro Football Hall of Fame executive director Joe Horrigan said. “They used to travel with the team, so there was a bond. They traveled on the same plane. It wasn’t like today, getting credentials, it was just an extension of the team, and they were very proud of their team. … It was this homegrown atmosphere, like everybody involved in the AFL had this connection to each other, and that really carried over for a couple years into the merged league.”’

‘He’s among the favorites for the league Most Valuable Player award this season.’

‘Eleven years before O.J. Simpson won the 1973 NFL MVP, 29 years before Thurman Thomas managed it and nearly 35 years before Josh Allen was born, Gilchrist was the first Buffalo Bills MVP. He was also the franchise’s first unicorn.’

‘“Knowing they’re going to bring pressure, you know they’re going to get to the outside,” Torrence said. “So you got to make sure you got the backside. My job was to get to my man and push up fast. Once I got to him, I pushed him fast and I saw Jimbo running right behind me.”’

‘Sunday’s win over the now 3-12 Patriots — a team that looked to be somewhere in the middle of trying to win and tanking for a better draft spot — probably isn’t a regular recipe the Bills want to use, but it’s one every contender needs to pull out on occasion.’

‘“It’s definitely one of those weird years for me,” Smoot told GNN Sports. “Two years ago, getting back from my (Achilles) injury, last year was a weird year. And then coming in this year, I’m thinking it’s going to be the year I’m coming back and I’ve had some freak injuries. So it’s been tough. My faith has been the thing I’ve been leaning on throughout the whole time.”’

‘Since those losses, teams have rued the occasions they presented Allen and the Bills with man coverage. Allen has gone 51 of 79 for 710 yards, with nine touchdowns and two interceptions and nobody learned their lesson like the Lions.’

‘When the schedule is released each year, most eyes dart to the primetime games. But aside from holiday games — Allen has played on Thanksgiving three times — the marquee games, the ones that draw the biggest ratings, are ones in the 4:25 p.m. window on Sundays.’

‘The Bills have been one of the NFL’s worst teams in run defense this season, allowing 4.7 yards per carry entering the game. Detroit, meanwhile, was third in rushing attempts and fourth in yards rushing. The Bills held them to under 100 yards for the first time all season, holding them to season-lows in yards (48) and attempts (15). Instead, the Bills won by defeating the Lions at their own game, as Detroit gave up a season-high 197 yards rushing.’

‘So now the Bills hold wins over the two teams with the best records in the league in the last month and an offense that went from being average early in the season to a machine, with Allen surgically carving apart defenses.’

‘Johnson caught five passes for 114 yards — the most by a Bills running back since Joe Cribbs in 1981 — and four of them went for at least 19 yards in the Bills’ 48-42 win over the Detroit Lions. It was a game Buffalo’s running backs knew they would have some opportunities against Detroit’s man-to-man coverage preferences and the trio of Johnson, James Cook and Ray Davis combined for eight catches for 156 yards and a touchdown.’

‘“They know the vision and we have to make sure that vision is communicated throughout everyone on the defense,” McDermott said. “It’s all about building alignment. Sometimes you don’t get the results you want so you make a correction, say, ‘Hey, this is where it needs to be corrected.’ … It doesn’t mean it’s all going to happen right away but you keep moving toward that goal.”’

‘The Bills have expended a lot of capital — financially and in the draft — on their defensive line, and in return, the scheme asks them to produce an awful lot. The defensive line has moments of being impenetrable and others when they are undesirable.’

‘Ingram played 87 snaps over the first four games in Buffalo’s dime package while Taron Johnson recovered from a broken forearm. Since Johnson returned in Week 6, though, Ingram played 11 total defensive snaps over eight weeks.’