26CornerBlitz

Clayton: The Bills are "starting to close the gap. Maybe New England's days of lapping the field are done" John Clayton, noted decorated reporter and current host on 710 ESPN Seattle, joined Schopp & the Bulldog for their weekly Thursday conversation. Ahead of Week 16, Clayton and the guys talked the state of the NFL, playoff races coming down to the wire, as well as the New England Patriots and the potential decline of Tom Brady. Buffalo visits New England on Sunday, December 23rd at 1:00 p.m. in Gillette Stadium. Here is some of the best from Clayton's time on WGR Sports Radio 550.

Every Josh Allen to Robert Foster connection | Week 15 (1:44) Every Josh Allen to Robert Foster connection | Week 15

LeSean McCoy: "Finish The Season Strong" (1:13) Running Back LeSean McCoy addressed the media after practice and spoke about this Sunday's game vs New England. Game Preview: Bills vs Patriots (1:21) John Murphy breaks down the week 16 matchup between the Bills and Patriots at Gillette Stadium.

Week 16: Patriots - Bills Injury Report The New England Patriots (9-5) and the Buffalo Bills (5-9) announce the following injuries and practice participation. THURSDAY, DECEMBER 20, 2018 NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS (9-5) DID NOT PARTICIPATE WR Cordarrelle Patterson - Illness LIMITED PARTICIPATION LB Brandon King - Knee TE Rob Gronkowski - Ankle/Back FULL PARTICIPATION No Players Listed. BUFFALO BILLS (5-9) DID NOT PARTICIPATE No Players Listed LIMITED PARTICIPATION CB Ryan Lewis - Concussion DT Kyle Williams - Back FULL PARTICIPATION FB Patrick DiMarco - Ankle K Stephen Hauschka - Right Hip RB Chris Ivory - Shoulder RB LeSean McCoy - Hamstring WR Isaiah McKenzie - Ankle DE Trent Murphy - Chest TE Logan Thomas - Hamstring LB Corey Thompson - Ankle WR Deonte Thompson - Achilles WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2018 NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS (9-5) DID NOT PARTICIPATE No Players Listed. LIMITED PARTICIPATION LB Brandon King - Knee FULL PARTICIPATION No Players Listed. BUFFALO BILLS (5-9) DID NOT PARTICIPATE CB Ryan Lewis - Concussion DT Kyle Williams - Back LIMITED PARTICIPATION FB Patrick DiMarco - Ankle K Stephen Hauschka - Right Hip RB Chris Ivory - Shoulder RB LeSean McCoy - Hamstring WR Isaiah McKenzie - Ankle DE Trent Murphy - Chest TE Logan Thomas - Hamstring LB Corey Thompson - Ankle FULL PARTICIPATION No Players Listed. Bold indicates a change from the previous day's report. PRACTICE PARTICIPATION Did Not Participate in Practice Limited Participation = Less than 100% of a player’s normal repetitions Full Participation = 100% of a player’s normal repetitions GAME STATUS DEFINITIONS: Out = Player will not play Doubtful = Unlikely to play Questionable = Uncertain as to whether the player will play

The football analytics revolution may not be obvious, but it is happening in front of you all the time. There is an NFL team that plans to run more offensive plays to the side of the field farthest from its opponent’s bench. It has figured out, using player-tracking data, that a defensive lineman will sometimes run more throughout the course of a game by shuffling from the bench to the field during a substitution than he will during actual gameplay. Thus, running plays to the far side of the field can help tire out rotating defensive linemen. This strategy is unique but the logic behind it is not. Stories like this are common around the league: A team stumbles upon some shred of data and builds a play, a playbook, a personnel decision, or an entire scheme around it. It changes how a team drafts, calls plays, and evaluates opponents. All of these trends point to one thing: Football’s analytics moment has arrived. We’ve reached this high point for a couple of reasons. The rise of smarter, younger GMs and coaches is part of it. A bigger part of it, though, is the spread of the NFL’s player-tracking data, which is being shared leaguewide for the first time this season. Having access to that data allows teams to build models to analyze plays and players differently, and to simply know more about the game. That’s been a boon to a movement that had already been embraced by a handful of the smartest teams. As other teams try to catch up, they’ve created an arms race to get the best numbers. Essentially, the smartest teams are getting significantly smarter, the average teams are trying to get better, and the dumbest teams are going to be very dumb if they don’t act soon.

Saturday football is here instead.

They'll miss him and also Taron Johnson as the slot corner.

We don't know how he violated the terms and with the Patriots still behind him it doesn't sound like he was "caught".

PFW in Progress 12/20: Josh Gordon Reaction; NFL Week 16 Picks Banks' Week 16 NFL Picks What They're Saying: Buffalo Bills Dunkin' Coffee with the Coach: 'Heck of a battle on our hands on Sunday' (4:17) In this week's edition of Coffee with the Coach, Scott Zolak and Coach Belichick talk about the loss in Pittsburgh before turning their attention towards Sunday's game versus the Bills and their top ranked defense. Watch more of All Access on Friday night at 7pm on WBZ-TV and Patriots.com. Web Wars: New England vs. Buffalo (2:36) Meredith Gorman and Matthew Fairburn of The Athletic Buffalo go head-to-head in this week's edition of Web Wars. WBZ Weather Forecast for Patriots vs. Bills (0:29) WBZ Meteorologist Sarah Wroblewski gives us a detailed weather forecast for Sunday's game between the Patriots and the Buffalo Bills at Gillette Stadium.