Rochester Democrat and Chronicle

‘This, of course, has been a fear all season. Beasley is a key member of the offense, but he was always going to be in danger of missing playing time due to his refusal to take the shot.’

‘“We’re not hurrying or hitting the quarterback often with our four as we would like,” Frazier said. “There have been some games on occasion where we’re really good at disrupting a quarterback with our four rushers, our four primary rushers, but not on a consistent basis, not as consistent as we would like. We’re still trying to get it to where it’s more consistent. We like being able to rush four. It helps our coverage, it helps everything we’re trying to do on defense. We just need to get a little bit more on a consistent basis than what we’ve been getting.”’

‘And she said Orchard Park sounds like the place the team wants to stay after also considering the potential of a downtown Buffalo stadium.’

‘This was not easy, though. The Panthers defense was good, and they were also aided by the fact that Buffalo trotted out an offensive line minus Dion Dawkins and still minus Jon Feliciano. A line, mind you, that isn’t very good even with those two on the field.’

‘It was exactly the type of performance the Bills needed, particularly after having lost their last two games which plummeted them to the brink of the dreaded “in the hunt” playoff category.’

‘On offense, it was good to see Brian Daboll find some running calls that worked, and he stayed patient with it as the Bills finished with 27 rushing attempts. And credit has to go to offensive line coach Bobby Johnson who had to deal with the last-minute changes of Dawkins and Feliciano going on the COVID list in the last 48 hours.’

‘Sal’s prediction: Buffalo Bills 27, Carolina Panthers 13.’

‘“I’ll start with what the medical team has shared with me and that’s that they’re comfortable with where he’s at and he continues to trend in the right direction,” McDermott said. “And then what I’ve seen through my own eyes at practice, just (Thursday), he seems to be able to execute the job description that goes along with the quarterback position.”’

‘That’s notable because this Buffalo team has several players who do outstanding work in the region, yet Phillips has twice been the choice for the honor which, many players say, is the most meaningful they can achieve.’

‘This has been a somewhat strange season for Davis. Just like last year, after the Bills selected him in the fourth round of the draft, he was a bit of an afterthought, until he wasn’t.’

‘“I want whatever’s the best opportunity for our team to win the football game,” Allen said. “If I can, I’m gonna go.”’

‘“Off of the reps we got in the overtime game, we’ve been through two close games,” McDermott said, not meaning score, but the fact that they played twice within six days. “The load on the players and then the traveled back from Tampa, I believe it’s one, if not the longest trip we’ve had this year, making sure they’re as rested as possible.”‘

‘They have backed themselves into a corner, but they can still fight their way out of it. Carolina is up next, Cam Newton is its quarterback, enough said. Then come the Patriots. Can they beat them, particularly if there isn’t a hurricane blowing in Foxborough? Sure, but I’m not expecting it.’

‘But maybe, just maybe, they can build off what happened in the fourth quarter Sunday night and win three, maybe even all four, of their remaining games. Will that be good enough for a playoff berth? It’s awfully tough to know right now, but make no mistake, the Bills are not in a great spot at 7-6 in the jumbled AFC.’

‘Brady toyed with the Bills in the first half as he was 19 of 26 for 211 yards and a TD, and then after a sluggish second half where he couldn’t get much of anything going, he stepped up in the biggest moment of the game and completed all four of his overtime passes, the last the 58-yard TD strike to Perriman.’