Rochester Democrat and Chronicle

‘Johnston, who has bounced around from the Eagles to the Texans to the Steelers since entering the NFL in 2018, punted in just one game for Pittsburgh in 2024 before suffering a knee injury that cost him the rest of the season.’

‘The Buffalo Bills had only allowed 18 sacks in 20 regular season games since the beginning of the 2024 season. They gave up three more without offensive tackle Spencer Brown on Sunday.’

‘Four weeks into the season, one where the Patriots probably should be 4-0 instead of 2-2, it certainly looks like New England is primed to return to the postseason for the first time since 2021, the year the Bills played the near perfect 47-17 game in the wildcard round and blew out an aging team led by fading coach Bill Belichick.’

‘If I had to pick my two favorite seasons of Buffalo Bills football since the stadium was opened in 1973, I think I would settle on 1980 and 1990, in no particular order.’

‘We didn’t know it at the time because on opening day in 2003, Patriots quarterback Tom Brady had only started four games against the Bills. True, he’d won all four, but no one had any indication of the misery to come over the next nearly two decades.’

‘A limited-edition “Bring the Storm” ice cream is available now in Wegmans stores in Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, New York’s Southern Tier and Erie, Pennsylvania while supplies last.’

‘In many ways, this felt like an early-round game in the NCAA basketball tournament where the higher seed isn’t at its best but does just enough to survive and advance against an overmatched opponent. To take that analogy a little further, this felt like a No. 4 seed (Buffalo) playing a No. 13 seed, one where you felt pretty good all along about the final outcome, but there were going to be a few moments of doubt.’

‘All that said, the Bills have some things to clean up and they know it. This was a game that very nearly got away from them in the fourth quarter, but they leaned on their MVP quarterback to make two huge plays – one with his legs, one with his arm – to deliver the touchdown that helped put the victory away.’

‘Sal’s prediction: Bills 34, Saints 14.’

‘Play-by-play: Andrew Catalon. Analysts: Charles Davis, Jason McCourty. Sideline reporter: A.J. Ross.’

‘New Highmark Stadium: Will hold about 62,000, making it one of the league’s smallest. The move will drop capacity by nearly 10,000, with the team prioritizing premium seating and sightlines over total size.’

‘However, three games into 2025, Rousseau is the only one who hasn’t quite lived up to his new deal. The 24-year-old edge rusher was guaranteed $38.8 million at signing and that currently ranks as the eighth-most at his position in the NFL, but his performance has lagged behind many of those players both ahead and behind him on the pay scale.’

‘Friday morning coach Sean McDermott ruled out both tackle Ed Oliver (ankle) and linebacker Matt Milano (pectoral muscle) for Sunday’s game against the New Orleans Saints at Highmark Stadium.’

‘The lack of downfield throwing has been glaring, but the 3-0 Bills have not needed Allen to air it out because he has been so effective getting the ball into the hands of his targets and then letting them do their thing.’

‘Against the Ravens and Dolphins combined, the Bills’ defense allowed a 61.5% success rate which would rank as the worst in the league by a huge amount, but then you mix in the Jets’ game and that improves the season rate to 43.2%, though that still ranks a not-so-great 23rd.’