WGR

‘”I’m happy with the season I had,” Lawson said. “I had a career-year this year and it’s only up from here. Only have to get better.”‘

‘Of the 11 players signed to the reserve/future contracts, 10 of those players were on the practice squad, including players like wide receiver Nick Easley, cornerback Cam Lewis, wide receiver Ray-Ray McCloud III, quarterback Davis Webb and running back Christian Wade. The only player that was not brought back from the practice squad was offensive tackle Brandon Hitner.’

‘Defensive End Shaq Lawson, who is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent in March said he would like to come back to the Bills, but obviously that will be decided between the team and his agent. He said the team not picking up his fifth-year option last offseason gave him motivation to have a great year and he feels he put his best foot forward and played well.’

‘The two teams exchanged punts before Houston would end it. The Bills looked to have Watson in their grasps for another sack, but the Texans quarterback escaped and found former Bill Taiwan Jones for the pivotal play, as Jones took the ball down to the Buffalo 10-yard line. Ka’imi Fairburn would finish it off, as his 28 yard field goal gave the Texans the win and kept Buffalo from claiming their first playoff win in 25 years.’

‘On their lone possession in the overtime the Bills actually got as far as the Houston 43 yard line before that drive died. Dawson Knox whiffed on a block on QB sweep, Allen threw a ball too low for Cole Beasley to catch and then a questionable blindside block penalty on Cody Ford essentially killed the drive. You know what happened after that.’

‘It’s difficult for me to look at this as a failure on the part of the defense. Seven sacks of Deshaun Watson, a forced fumble on their All Pro receiver DeAndre Hopkins after shutting him out the entire first half and several big stops on third down. But, it’s equally as difficult to ignore their failure on 3rd-and-18 in overtime that would have put the ball back in the hands of the offense then the subsequent missed tackle on Watson when they defense had him dead to rights, just to watch him squeak away to find a wide open Taiwan Jones. That play will replay in my nightmares.’

‘The Texans came into the game as the worst red zone defense in the NFL, but the Bills couldn’t capitalize when they were in close. They were only actually inside the Houston 20 twice, and scored the first time, but were also at the 22 twice and the 29 once and came away with a field goal each time after that, finishing with the one TD overall. Just one touchdown on one of those trips would have most likely won the game.’

‘”It would just be great for our entire organization, our fanbase. That’s the first people that I think about and everyone that’s been here for so long and everyone who’s rooted for this team for so long. It’s the most loyal and passionate fanbase I’ve ever been around, and I’ve been around some good ones. To me, for [general manager] Brandon [Beane] and myself, and I don’t want to put words into Brandon’s mouth here, but just joining the situation in the last two-and-a-half years, at this point, I would just feel and think about the people that have been around here for so long and feel good for them more than anything.”‘

‘The Texans defense has been bad this year against the run, but particularly the last two months. Since their bye in week 10, over their final 7 games, the Texans have allowed an average of 168.6 yards rushing and a whopping 5.36 yards per carry.’

‘For the Texans, head coach Bill O’Brien said star defensive end J.J. Watt will play “quite a bit,” but wide receiver Will Fuller will be a game-time decision. Fuller and four others were listed as questionable for the game.’

‘If someone like Allen can handle the pressure in the regular season, producing at the highest level of any quarterback in the fourth quarter (as he has)?’

‘It’s tough to go against a quarterback who accounted for 29 total touchdowns, but Josh Allen’s growth was directly tied to the addition of several pieces, but most notably wide receiver John Brown, who turned in the team’s first 1,000-yard receiving season since Sammy Watkins in 2015, and the second of his six-year career, totaling 1,060 yards and six touchdowns on 72 catches. He also threw a touchdown pass to Devin Singletary on Thanksgiving in Dallas against the Cowboys. Brown showed an ability to get open all over the field and beat one on one coverage consistently.’

‘“It’s just an entirely different atmosphere around the building. The fact that everything shrinks. You’re the big fish in the pond now. When we play this Saturday, we’re going to be the only game that’s going to be shown. That’s not the case during the first 17 weeks of the season. So, it’s unique in that way. All eyes are on you and people that haven’t had a chance to watch you during the course of the year, get a chance to finally see what your team is all about. It’s just completely different and what you’re playing for this time of year is kind of really crystallized now. You’re in the tournament for the world championship, and that means a lot. So, the emotions and all the things you maybe dreamed about as a young kid growing up, to be in this position, and as we all know in this room, there are a lot of guys that play for a long time and never get to this position. So, to get to the playoffs and have this opportunity, it kind of reshapes things in a lot of ways. Really an exciting time for our players.”’

‘Buffalo is dealing with a couple of injuries in this game, as cornerbacks Levi Wallace and Taron Johnson and offensive tackle Ty Nsekhe all left the game with injuries. All three players would not return after their respective injuries, with defensive back hit hard enough that wide receiver Isaiah McKenzie wound up taking two snaps at cornerback at the end of the game. Offensive tackle Cody Ford and defensive back Siran Neal were also injured but returned to the game.’

‘Now we can set our sights on the playoffs and the Houston Texans. If you’re worried about the Bills going into the post season with back to back losses for the first time this season, don’t. This game meant absolutely nothing and it won’t affect the Bills confidence in the least. Don’t forget, the Bills did go 6-2 on the road this season.’