WGR

‘Titans quarterback Marcus Mariota is the only QB in the league who has started four games and yet to give the ball away. In fact, he currently has the league’s longest active streak of passes without a pick (169) and the last time he threw an interception was December 6 of last year, in Jacksonville. The Bills are tied for 2nd in the NFL with five interceptions. They are 6th in the league intercepting the ball at a 3.11% rate per pass attempt. Somethings gotta give.’

‘”Special teams is a big part of playing good football, and complimentary football, where all three phases link up to get the overall result. We feel really good about our special teams units. We feel really good about our kicking game. It’s an area we need to continue to develop, but, it’s an area that this weekend, could come into play, with respect to the type of game that we expect. We expect it to be a physical, field position-type of game. And so, special teams usually plays a big part in those types of games.”‘

‘The Bills are left with just Dion Dawkins, Ty Nsekhe, and rookie Cody Ford at offensive tackle. Although, Ryan Bates is capable of playing all five positions on the offensive line.’

‘“Yeah, it was,” McDermott responded when asked if that was part of the reason the Bills worked in the rain. “We’ve done some work in the spring, as well, to prepare for potential weather. This was another day of it, which was good. We didn’t have to fabricate wet ball drills. We had the elements of it out there today.”’

‘Bills quarterback Josh Allen remained in concussion protocol Wednesday, but was on the practice field doing individual position drills. Allen was hit in the head by Patriots defensive back Jonathan Jones Sunday in the fourth quarter. He left the game and didn’t return. Head coach Sean McDermott didn’t provide any further updates when he met with the media for his weekly Wednesday press conference.’

‘Obviously, it’s the defense. Absolutely incredible play from this unit through four games so far. They are ranked second in the league in yards allowed per game, leading the NFL in three-and-outs against opposing offenses, and have only allowed 45 points through the first four games (not counting TDs scored against the offense or special teams).’

‘”We feel good. It was a hard fought loss. We know what we have here. No one is backing down, we’re 3-1, we’re fine… These are the kind of games everyone gets worked up for. We just gotta bounce back.”‘

‘If there’s one thing we’ve learned over an almost two-decade run of dominance for the Patriots over the Bills, it’s that you need every edge you can find and then maybe even some good luck to go along with it if you intend to beat them. That blocked punt touchdown was that opportunity Sunday and for whatever reason, the Bills were not prepared to take advantage of it.’

‘While that would be it for the scoring, the game still had plenty of drama. Josh Allen’s day would end early in the fourth quarter, as the second year quarterback was placed in the league’s concussion protocol after a helmet-to-helmet hit by Patriots safety Jonathan Jones. Matt Barkley would finish the game under center for the Bills, leading the Bills down to the Patriots’ 3 yard line. However, a pass on fourth and goal to Zay Jones would wind up incomplete and the Bills turned over the football on downs.’

‘There was a time in this game the defense had Brady in four three-and-outs and one 16-play-93 yard drive, but guess what happened on that one? Micah Hyde intercepted Brady in the end zone to stop the drive.’

‘But the Bills still managed to lose the game. While there were a number of reasons for that, the main culprit was Josh Allen. There’s no other way to put it other than the Bills second year quarterback absolutely killed them. Now Allen isn’t the first young quarterback to look bad against a Belichick coached defense and he won’t be the last but his numerous mistakes were the biggest factor in this defeat. Allen again tried to make too many hero throws and it came back to bite him. In the first quarter he attempted a deep throw for John Brown at the right hash but Allen apparently didn’t see the safety in the middle of the field who came over for the pick. In the second quarter Allen threw off his back foot with a pass rusher coming and just lofted a ball up for Zay Jones but it too was intercepted.’

‘”I wanna say thanks to all the guys that helped me get it,” Gore said. “All my offensive lineman, the receivers, coaches, now I just wanna keep playing.”‘

‘It is not clear if the two Patriots staffers were violating any sort of rule or decorum, but McDermott certainly did not like that they were out there.’

‘We saw the bad and good of Allen through three games. Against the Patriots, we certainly saw most of the bad.’

‘We know Patriots’ coach Bill Belichick likes to take away what a team does best. Last season, the Bills best offense was Josh Allen running, so that’s what Belichick did. In the six games Allen played after returning from his elbow injury, he had at least nine carries in every one of them, except for one – at the Patriots. In that game, the then-rookie QB only carried the ball five times, and for only 30 yards. Belichick made him try to win from the pocket. Allen was 20-for-41 for 217 yards, with 1 TD and 2 interceptions. Allen’s off to a much better start this year throwing the football, completing 64.1% of his passes. He’ll have to continue on that path, at the very least, against the Patriots defense, because Belichick will force him to.’