Rochester Democrat and Chronicle

‘Special teams coach Matt Smiley is starting to pop up on social media as the next coach Sean McDermott should fire.’

‘Sal’s prediction: Bills 16, Jets 10.’

‘They’ve already played five night games, gone 2-3, and while the offense played below expectation in all five – three that were downright miserable – there was at least late-game intrigue in the losses to the Jets and Broncos and the wins over the Giants and Buccaneers.’

‘“He’s not on this team, he’s not a part of the Buffalo Bills,” Stefon said. “My brother’s coming from a place of love or however he feels, he’s not a part of the Buffalo Bills. I try to handle things in-house or however you see fit, but I’m saying y’all are going to have to take it up with him and his comments. That’s still my guy 100%. But I can’t speak for him.”’

‘“I love Dorsey as a human being, he’s one of the good ones,” Allen said of the man who was his QB coach from 2019-21 and then his OC since the start of 2022. “He’s been in this room with me for a very long time. I feel like I owe him a lot of the success that I’ve had in my career and he’s been a huge part of that so it’s sad to see him go.”’

‘“I just felt like it was time for a change,” McDermott said Tuesday afternoon during a Zoom call with reporters. “We need to be a confident offensive football team and find consistent production and that’s really what it came down to. More than anything is come out with an energy about our offense and what we’re doing and move the football and score points. I mean, that’s really the offense’s job at the end of the day.”’

‘Of course, it certainly helped Brady that he had Joe Burrow at quarterback throwing an FBS record 60 touchdown passes on his way to winning the Heisman Trophy. And Brady could scheme Burrow’s passes to future NFL star wide receivers Justin Jefferson and Ja’Marr Chase, and he could call running plays for Clyde Edwards-Helaire who piled up 1,400 yards on the ground behind an offensive line that won the Joe Moore Award as the nation’s best offensive line unit.’

‘The Bills are sitting in 10th place in the AFC standings in mid-November, behind teams like the Texans and Colts, and with the same number of losses as the Jets, Raiders and Broncos. If anyone saw that coming, I sure hope you played the lottery, too.’

‘And so rather than walking off the field with a wholly undeserved victory, the Bills swallowed one of their worst losses of the Sean McDermott/Josh Allen era.’

‘On offense, Ken Dorsey is the most unpopular man in Buffalo. His offense is a disaster right now, and he did not have nearly enough answers against a Denver defense that, while not as bad as it was against Miami, certainly isn’t one of the league’s better groups. The four turnovers were not the product of bad play calls, though, those are on the players.’

‘Sal’s prediction: Bills 23, Broncos 16.’

‘Obviously, the Bills need to beat the 3-5 Broncos, who are one of only two teams left on Buffalo’s schedule with a sub-.500 record (the Patriots are the other, and they’ve already beaten the Bills). There cannot be a repeat of that debacle against New England because a loss to Denver – given the difficulty of the games ahead – could be a death knell for Buffalo’s playoff chances.’

‘Ford was supposed to give the Bills a reliable three-technique backup to Ed Oliver in the D-line rotation. Instead, he has been inactive for four games and when he has played, he has registered only four pressures and seven tackles while grading out poorly against the run according to PFF.’

‘“That was pretty awesome, pretty elite,” A.J. Epenesa said of Joseph’s performance. “I found out he was a 14-year vet when he got here and just was able to bounce some questions off him, see him work and it’s understandable why he’s been doing it for so long because he’s just a pro when it comes to every aspect.”’

‘I’m sure Miller was pressuring the Bills to activate him, but there was zero reason to do it. They had a 21-day practice window before they had to activate him after he came off PUP, so what was the rush? At the time the Bills were 3-1, their pass rush was going bonkers, and they didn’t need Miller to get into the lineup at far below 100%.’