Rochester Democrat and Chronicle

‘Ponder this, Bills fans: For the first time since 1993, the Bills are 7-2. And after their two-game slump in the losses to Tennessee and Kansas City, they have now reeled off three straight victories and took yet another step toward their first AFC East title since 1995.’

‘Without Milano, the Bills have been forced to play A.J. Klein for large chunks of the time and he has proven to be a liability no matter what coach Sean McDermott and defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier say. According to Pro Football Focus, Klein is one of the most least productive linebackers in the league, as well as one of the lowest-graded defensive players on the Buffalo roster per their grades.’

‘The only reason there isn’t a plus after that A is because the Bills offensive line got manhandled by the Seahawks blitzes and Allen was sacked seven times for 29 yards in losses. Otherwise, wow, what a show.’

‘But here’s the thing that concerns me. If the Bills defense were playing better, say the way it played in 2019, it would be logical to think it could slow down this exciting Seattle offense to the point where the Buffalo offense – which hasn’t exactly been cooking lately – could score enough against a weak Seahawks defense to win the game. That’s not the case, though, and unless the Bills put forth their best defensive game of the season, I don’t think Allen and company can go toe-to-toe in a shootout with Wilson and his comrades.’

‘On the positive side, Hurtt joked, “I figured I was going to spend a good chunk of change on tickets and dinner and everything else so hey, I keep some money in my pocket.”’

‘But western New York is leading the state in its infection rate, he said, with a rate of 3.1% in Erie County and 2.6% percent in Monroe County, the two largest counties in the region.’

‘“We recognize they’ve got good players, a good scheme,” said coach Sean McDermott. “They’re playing at a high level and they’re tough, man, really tough. We’ve got to play great team defense and everything that goes into that, the fundamentals and everything on down through the line.”’

‘The last play made by the defense in the first half of the season was certainly a positive one, Justin Zimmer’s game-saving forced fumble, which was recovered by Dean Marlowe Sunday against the Patriots. But that’s not enough to erase a season-long slumber by a unit that ranked second in the NFL in fewest points allowed and third in yards allowed in 2019.’

‘Allen has improved his decision-making, though he still has some head-scratching moments and he’s fortunate to have only five picks — it could easily be double that. He has also shown patience and the ability to get through his reads and, for the most part, deliver the ball where it needs to go.’

‘The fact is that for all the excitement Josh Allen and his arsenal of wide receiver weaponry provided in September, the ideal weather (plus an indoor game in Las Vegas) Allen had during the Bills’ 4-0 start is long gone. It’s going to be tough to be that effective through the air, so they have to be able to run the ball.’

‘Yes, 2020 just keeps getting weirder and weirder by the day.’

‘McDermott did allow himself one moment where he veered away from his standard cliché answers and acknowledged what this victory meant to a fan base that was starving for it. He’s only been here for a small portion of New England’s dominance, so while the win was nothing more than checking another box in a long season for him, he knew what it meant to western New York.’

‘My pick: Bills 23, Patriots 19.’

‘Buffalo lost to the Titans and Chiefs, and despite penetrating the Jets 35-yard-line on nine possessions, five of those moving into the red zone, the Bills were fortunate to win as they were unable to score a touchdown against a winless New York team whose defense had been pillaged for 22 TDs through six games.’

‘“They definitely were my guys that kept me going and kept me on the right path,” he said. “When I’m here, those guys always came up to me and always made me still like part of the team because when you’re hurting on IR, and you’re on IR for an extended amount of time, things go on. They still gotta win games, people still got a job to do. So I appreciate those guys making sure that I didn’t get left behind.”’