26CornerBlitz

Bills Today: Lions HC Breaks Down Buffalo's Emerging Offense

Washington had the bigger and more physical team with an offense that was loaded with weapons. They were better.

NFLPickwatch - Every Pick from Every NFL Expert Elliot Harrison - NFL.com: Buffalo Bills 20, Detroit Lions 16 1 p.m. ET (FOX) | New Era Field (Orchard Park, N.Y.) Oh, boy. You want to write this blurb? This looks like a tough watch for anyone who's not a Lions or Billsfan -- I'm not sure even the members of those fan bases want to read the following. Detroit rode its defense to a win last week. Now that's a surprising sentence if you've followed this team through the years. Actually, though, that side of the ball has performed better than the offense overall this season. Offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter is under fire in Detroit, as the Lions have limped to 20.8 points per game, 25th in the league. (Don't forget that part of their scintillating point total of 17 in Arizona was delivered by cornerback Darius Slay on a pick-six.) The Bills' defense has been a strong point for much of the year, often left on the field by an offense that is even worse than Detroit's. Sean McDermott's fellas feast off turnovers and sacks -- though unlike in 2017, Buffalo's defense hasn't manufactured enough to compensate for the sluggish offense. Think the Bills will force two to three giveaways from Matthew Stafford this week and pull to 5-9. NFL Week 15 game picks MMQB Picks: NFL Week 15 Picks NFL Week 15 against the spread gambling picks SI Betting Guide to NFL Week 15 Games CBS Sports Expert Picks: NFL Picks - Against the Spread - Week 15 NFL Picks - Straight Up - Week 15 NFL Picks and Predictions for Week 15 - ESPN Lions (5-8) at Bills (4-9): 1 p.m. ET, Fox Point spread: BUF -2.5 | Matchup quality: 15.3 (of 100) Michael Rothstein's pick: Somehow, the Lions are still in contention for a playoff berth, and winning in Buffalo would keep the franchise's postseason hopes alive for at least one more week. Yes, the offense is incredibly beat up, but the defense has improved over the past month, holding three of their past four opponents under 25 points. It will help that Buffalo has the second-worst offense in the league in yards and points scored. That should be enough for the Lions to win their second straight yawnfest. Lions 20, Bills 10 Mike Rodak's pick: The Bills are 4-0 this season when they have a positive turnover margin and 0-9 with an even or negative turnover margin, so it's no secret the Bills must protect the ball to beat the Lions. That is an attainable goal for Josh Allen, who will face a Detroit defense that is tied for second-fewest interceptions this season. Buffalo is 2-7 against defenses in the top half of the NFL in interceptions and 2-2 against teams, such as the Lions, in the bottom half. Bills 21, Lions 17 What's at stake: This matchup features two teams that FPI projects to capture top-10 picks in the 2019 draft. Proceed accordingly. -- Seifert FPI win projection: BUF, 55.0 percent. In the three games since the Bills' bye week, Allen ranks sixth in the NFL with a 79.7 Total QBR. A large portion of that is due to his rushing ability. Allen has added 18.7 expected points on the ground in the past three weeks, more than three times as many as any other QB in that span. PFT’s Week 15 picks Lions at Bills MDS’s take: The Lions’ offense has struggled to complete anything downfield, and the Bills’ defense is strong. I think Buffalo wins a low-scoring game. MDS’s pick: Bills 14, Lions 13. Florio’s take: Matt Patricia finishes 3-1 against the division he spent years competing in. Florio’s pick: Lions 24, Bills 21. Kryk’s picks for NFL Week 15 DETROIT AT BUFFALO, SUNDAY, 1 P.M. EST (CTV Toronto-Kitchener-Northern Ontario; via FOX) KRYK PICK: Buffalo Lions QB Matthew Stafford hasn’t missed a start since 2010. But his back was especially sore this week and he’s questionable. Detroit lost its only other cold-weather outdoor game, at Chicago.

It's Go Time!

12-14: ESPN's Greg Wyshynski with Bulldog & Sal on WGR (23:11) Get your #Sabres & hockey fix now with @wyshynski who joins Bulldog & Sal! Wyshynski - If you're looking at who might be the next Blackhawks, tank a little, get it going, become a great team, Buffalo is at the top of the list. #Sabres Wyshynski - I would argue Buffalo has always been a critical market for the NHL. When the ratings come in, Buffalo is always at the top of the list even when the #Sabres are horrible. Wyshynski - Not always about the size of the city. The party that occurred in Nashville & Winnipeg in the playoffs became the star of the show. Wyshynski - They're top heavy! Two guys in double digits with goals & they play together. They're further proving that you only really need one great line. Colorado did the same thing last year. #Sabres Wyshynski - One thing I definitely got wrong is I thought Mittelstadt could be what Matt Barzal was for the Isles last year. But, bright future. What it takes to challenge for Cups is two great centers. #Sabres Wyshynski - The math checks out. The #Sabres would have to go into a pretty decent skid or someone would have to get super super hot for them to miss. Wyshynski - All It Takes Is One Good Line to Power the Rest of Your Roster ESPN's Greg Wyshynski Joined Bulldog and Sal on Friday to Talk More on the Resurgent Sabres The Buffalo Sabres have become one of the NHL's more pleasant surprises this season with 42 points and a 19-9-4 record. Center Jack Eichel is tenth in the league with 39 points, while winger Jeff Skinner is second in the league in goals with 22 on the year. ESPN's Greg Wyshynski joined Bulldog and Sal to talk more about the rejuvenated Sabres, their potential for long-term success, the Buffalo market's importance to the NHL and much more around the league. Here are some quotes from Wyshynski with Bulldog and Sal on Friday afternoon:

Okay.

Stafford on His Health Status (2:52) QB Matthew Stafford talks to the media about his health status entering the Lions' week 15 matchup against the Buffalo Bills.

Saquon Barkley validating Giants' decision; Pete Carroll for COY By Bucky Brooks - NFL.com Analyst Former NFL player and scout Bucky Brooks knows the ins and outs of this league, providing keen insight in his notebook. The topics of this edition include: The Blueprint Buffalo Should Replicate to Maximize Josh Allen's Abilities. All aboard the Josh Allen Experience? OK, it's definitely too premature to be comparing the Billsrookie quarterback to Michael Vick in any capacity -- as in, alluding to the former dual-threat playmaker's memorable Nike commercial. That said, it is time to view Allen as a unique talent at the position with an unorthodox game that can produce positive results. Now, I will be the first to admit to being critical of the Wyoming product during the pre-draft process -- his scattershot accuracy was quite concerning -- but I did believe he could be a Cam Newton-like playmaker with a unique game that a team could build an offense around. When Buffalo selected Allen seventh overall, I immediately thought of Bills head coach Sean McDermott and general manager Brandon Beane, and how they'd both been in Carolina for Newton's MVP season that ended in the Super Bowl. Then I saw Allen's second NFL start in Week 3, when he accounted for 235 yards of total offense and three scores in a 27-6 upset win at Minnesota. The shocking performance gave the football world a glimpse at Allen's talent and potential in an offense that's tailor-made for his skills as a mobile playmaker with A-plus arm talent. Studying the All-22 Coaches Film from that stunning win over the Vikings, I noted that the Bills used a variety of designed QB runs and zone-read concepts to showcase Allen's talent as a runner. The 6-foot-5, 237-pound quarterback bedeviled Mike Zimmer's defense with his combination of skills as a run-pass threat at the position. From his quick-rhythm completions on screens to his teardrop-like deep balls to his impromptu scrambles, Allen terrorized the Vikings as a mobile playmaker. Although it wasn't always pretty, it was effective. And the Bills' coaching staff certainly flashed enough creativity to build a dynamic offense that would help the rookie play to his strengths as a runner and deep-ball thrower. That said, it was apparent Allen was still a work in progress as a QB1 and his coaches would need to find a way to minimize his weaknesses to give Buffalo a chance to win games. After watching Allen become the first quarterback to rush for 100-plus yards in back-to-back games while surpassing Vick as the quarterback with the most rushing yards in a three-game span (335 yards from Week 12-14), I had to go back to the tape to check out No. 17's evolution over the course of his first NFL season. Before I really dug in, though, I took a look at Allen's numbers and was shocked by his inefficiencies as a passer. Allen ranks last among qualified quarterbacks in completion percentage (52.4), pass yards per game (169.4), touchdown-to-interception ratio (5:9) and passer rating (63.3). He also ranks 31st in yards per attempt (6.3). Those numbers are not inspiring, to say the least, but Allen was expected to struggle as a rookie starter, especially given Buffalo's suspect receiving corps. The Billsnot only lack a legitimate WR1, but the team doesn't have an established complementary playmaker outside of Charles Clay and maybe Zay Jones. To his credit, Allen has shown glimpses of being an effective passer between the numbers on intermediate routes like curls and digs. He also flashes enough arm strength to make "wow" throws on the move, which makes him a dangerous player.

Murphy is 28 years old and Ford might be a serviceable back. The running game is awful because the talent on the OL is so bad. Putting Ford and Murphy in as the primarty ball carriers won't make it any better and I am much more concerned about the duties in pass protection for Allen since he's by far the most important player on the team. You were wrong about Barkley and you are here as well.

That would be unwise and I doubt it happens if unless McCoy and Ivory are unavailable.

He's most certainly not.

Murphy struggles with pass pro and blitz recognition. I sure as hell wouldn't trust him and Ford to make sure my franchise QB doesn't get blind sided in the pocket. Shouldn't you be thinking of critical facets of the game before talking about who should play with Allen?

In other words you want Allen to get killed on blitzes.

Okay.

It's only been since Monday.