Rochester Democrat and Chronicle

‘“It’s rough, man,” he said, hinting that opposing defenses, specifically defensive backs, have done a great job of watching tape, understanding why Diggs had five 100-yard games in the first six weeks, and coming up with game plans to make sure that doesn’t happen against them. Clearly, it has worked because Diggs’ best game in the last nine was 86 yards against the Bengals on Nov. 5, and in the seven games since that loss in Cincinnati, his production has submarined as he has just 30 catches for 262 yards.’

‘That’s because if the Steelers and Jaguars both win, the Bills will be in a win-or-else scenario, something they haven’t faced since that long ago afternoon at Rich Stadium when all Mike Mularkey’s team had to do to earn a playoff berth was beat Pittsburgh in the finale, a Steelers team that was resting several key players including QB Ben Roethlisberger, because it already had its playoff seed secured.’

‘If they win at Miami in what is now the final regular-season game on the NFL schedule – the 8:20 Sunday Night Football window on NBC – they will capture the AFC East division title and will be the No. 2 AFC seed which means potentially two home playoff games.’

‘“Everybody’s gonna have his day and you can’t expect Josh to be Superman every day of the week,” Brown said after Allen played as if he had a lump of kryptonite attached to his hip throughout the Bills grinding, often maddening 27-21 victory over the lowly New England Patriots on a raw, gray, dank day at Highmark Stadium.’

‘It would be hard to conjure up a worst first half for Allen than the one he played in this game.’

‘Sal’s prediction: Bills 23, Patriots 10.’

‘Play-by-play: Kevin Harlan. Analyst: Trent Green. Sideline reporter: Melanie Collins.’

‘“Hopefully over time, all of this stuff will get cleared up. Sometimes life just … be life-ing. You’ve just got to keep pushing and keep moving. The people who know me and the people who have been around me know my character, they know who I am.”’

‘It’s pretty interesting that the Bills’ offense has started to regain some of its mojo over the past four games, yet the No. 1 receiver has contributed very little to the cause.’

‘New England’s offense has been embarrassingly bad all year – except when it somehow beat the Bills back in October – but its defense remains sturdy and ranks second in the NFL against the rush and eighth in total yards against.’

‘First things first, though, and that’s making sure the Bills clinch at least a wild-card playoff berth and the easiest path to do so is this: Beat the Patriots and have two of three of the Steelers, Bengals and Jaguars lose.’

‘But if the Dolphins lose, and assuming the Bills beat the Patriots, then Buffalo will head to Miami for the season finale and a victory at Hard Rock Stadium would make them AFC East champions for the fourth consecutive year. That’s because while both teams’ records would be 11-6, the Bills would own the head-to-head tiebreaker by sweeping the season series.’

‘Look, any game on the road is tough in the NFL, so the Bills finding a way to win on a night when they were certainly not at their best was impressive. But they’re going to need to be better than this, and yes, that includes against the Patriots on New Year’s Eve if they hope to go to Miami with a chance to win the AFC East.’

‘There were some things the Bills needed to overcome in this game, and they answered the call. That was impressive, especially with their season on the line.’

‘Sal’s prediction: Bills 26, Chargers 10.’