Sean McDermott Show, Week 16

and dandy. I don't be one that says a Super Bowl chance. Enjoy this, enjoy the flight. That's move on tomorrow. He live right now. Hey, we're live. Everybody got me not. Let's go bury. Everybody do their job. One eleven, well, calvert defense. Let's go no overthinking, right, Go play some ball, Go play some football. It's an exciting time to be

a Buffalo build a fan of the Buffalo Bills. Welcome back, everybody to Week sixteen of the Sean McDermott Show, presented by Connors and Ferris, your workers comp attorneys shot, thanks as always for being here. You clinch the AFC East title with your winning Denver first division title in a quarter century. What's it mean to you to be able to bring the division to this franchise and this fan base. Yeah,

it means It's a ton, It really does, Steve. I mean, when you look back at kind of the moments for these four years and the way we've been building this thing, and you know the special moments that we we've had, now that one when we got back on Saturday nights Sunday morning will forever be with me the rest of my life. It's just incredible moment, incredible seat in the locker room, just really cool moment for us, for our fans, and for the community as a whole. Yeah, you know

you did. You had an incredible reception at the airport when you landed back in Buffalo was late Saturday night or actually early Sunday morning. And it's not the first time you guys have had a crowd waiting for you at the airport. Now, how does this moment compare to the other streak that you've already broken, the out street where you came back in twenty seventeen. Do you remember back that far this was this looked like a way bigger crowd. Yeah, it was, and I think I compare

everything to to that twenty seventeen playoff berth. Now that was I think that was New Year's Eve Day, right, But I think overall there was more more fans this time. And we have new new players on our team and new staff members as well this year that didn't really know and haven't really experienced the Bills mafia, and so to have them now experienced what I've experienced, now they see why this is why this place is like it is. Yeah, well,

let's talk about this last game for a minute. Your offense got off to a blazing start and he really never slowed down. You guys wound up putting forty eight points up on him. Josh put together another incredible performance. He had three fifty nine yards through the air, two passing touchdowns, a couple more running. He hit four thousand yards on the seasons, the second most in team history. What's it been like? How rewarding has it been for you to watch Josh develop and really take the next

step this last season. It's been very rewarding just to watch Josh, not only this year but the other years and his development, and not just on the field but off the field. He's so he's grown so much, and not that he was in a position before where he wasn't what he is now. He's just young and young in the league, and there's just so much you don't know as a rookie when you're throwing the quarterback position on top of it and all that comes with it,

There's there's just so much you don't know. And he's just grown so much, and very proud of him and the work that he's been able to put in. Coach. Here we are a week after Steph Diggs had a huge game and he puts up another one against Denver. Eleven catches for one hundred and forty seven yards. He set the franchise record for most catches in the season. He's fifty nine yards away from setting the franchise mark for receiving yards. How much is his season a testament

to how far your offense has come since last year? Well, we wanted to go out and be very intentional about improving our offense this offseason with you know, roster moves that that we made, that mostly that Brandon made, and but he and I had great conversations about, hey, where do we need to get better? How can we take

another step. And I think also then the continuity that we had that we've had on the staff as well as health, you know, and and and so I think Brian Davil has done a really good job with that and and uh, you know, I think it's the first season we haven't had, you know, turnover on that side of the ball for one reason or another, and we've

had that consistency. Um. So that's that's works well for us. Yeah. Well, speaking of coming a long way, Jerry Hughes the longest tenured Bill, He's been here since the beginning of your time with the team. He comes out and in Denver he has one of the great fumble returns I've ever seen from a defensive line. How special is it for you to share the success with guys like Jerry who have worked through all the tough times to get to this point. Yeah, I mean it just it was a

surreal moment. Once he scored it, it became surreal for me to watch him, the longest tenured Bill to score, you know, and just to score in the game. Before that, Steve I would tell you that I was not very happy with the way he was carrying the ball necessarily on his way to the end zone. So, you know, he and I were getting ready to have a conversation about taking care of the football until he scored. Then I had to let him off the hook, quite honestly.

So right, well, he's a former running back, so some habits die hard, right, Yeah, Hey, I've heard those. I've heard those that story too about him being a former running back. Yeah, Coach, your four os since your bye week, your defense has improved immenseally. You forced turnovers in the last nine straight games. You've had multiple takeaways in four out of the last six. Obviously you've gotten some guys back from injury. But how has Leslie Fraser turned your

defense around in the second half of this season. Yeah, you know, much like Brian Dave on the offensive side, Leslie does a great job leading our defense. Really, he's really been a steady hand for us in a consistent presence.

You know, he's got NFL experience and wisdom beyond his years, just in terms of how he handles things, you know, and our defensive staff as a whole, I think, combined with Leslie, the very collaborative in terms of how they approach each game plan and then the adjustments they make during the during the game. So I think Leslie has done a great job spearheading that movement of improving our defense to where it is and the players and it's

been fun to watch. The players have taken a very ownership approach to it as well as a very aggressive approach to how we're playing. Well. Thanks coach. We're gonna catch up with you later in the show to get your final thoughts on your upcoming matchup with the Patriots on Monday night. Football. Shopping Wood is presented by Saint Bonaventure University, the official education provider of the Buffalo Bills.

Welcome back to the Sean McDermott Show, and it's now time to break down the film with our good buddy Eric Wood. In another edition of Chopping Wood eight, the Bills hung forty eight points on the Broncos and they scored six touchdowns. It was maybe the most complete game they played all year on both sides of the ball. What didn't you see from the Bills in their division

clinching win. Lately, the Bills have been playing complimentary football offense and defense both playing dominant as of late, and in this game, we saw the Bills scored in a variety of ways Josh ran it in. They threw for touchdowns, there was a singletary long run for a touchdown, and for back to back weeks the Bills defense adds a score. Well, Eric, let's look at all the touchdowns. We start by the ones that we won't go into, the ones they didn't score,

they got called back. It seemed like there was thirty eight touchdowns scored in this game by the Bills, but six of them count. And we'll start with Josh Allen's

first passing touchdown to Dawson Knox. We've said it throughout this season, but Josh Allen is so effective rolling to his right and on this play early in the game, they run play action actually a play action faked a digs which draws a lot of the defender's eyes and Dawson Knox stays alive in this play, is able to get separation at the end, and Josh Allen throws a

great accurate ball in the red zone. And these windows are tight and as you roll out, those windows change for the defense and Josh does a great job of finding Knox here. Yeah, and then on the next drive, we saw Josh dowit once again with his legs twenty four yards for rushing touchdown. What did you see, Heary? This is a classic example of what Josh Allen can do to dictate what defense is a defensive coordinator can

even dial up. They run man free here and as Singletary gets out of the backfield, he actually gets two blocks down the field. But as Josh Allen escapes a line of scrimmage, there's a five man rush and they run a twist up front, which blushes him out of the pocket. But when he breaks a line of scrimmage, if you're running man defense and there's no eyes on him, he's going to make you pay. And he does it here for a twenty four yard touchdown run. Yeah, he got a chance to show it off with his legs,

but he also showed off his arm. Just before the half, the Bill's got a new receiver involved, Jake Kumaro. Break this down. They moved Jake Kumarro here, and the fact that they have a linebacker lined up over him signals of Josh that it's going to be zone defense. The safeties are split in the middle of the field and Josh throws an absolute rifle of a throw to Kumaro. Hits him perfectly in stride to split the safeties for Jake's first touchdown of the season. Yeah, we've been talking

also about the Bill's goal line offense all year. Here's another look with two eligible offensive linemen. How about this set for Brian day Ball. Tiansecki is an eligible receiver on the back side of the play at the bottom of the screen here and Ryan Bates was actually a bunch formation to the right, and it looked like they were trying to sneak Tie and Secki out on the backside the play. The Broncos defense did a great job

of ving discipline and staying with him. But as Josh decides that he can't throw it back to Tie and Secky, he just does it with his legs, makes a defender miss in the backfield and goes in for the touchdown. And then right after the kickoff after that touchdown, the defense adds to the scoring. This time Trey White forces the fumble. Jerry Hughes has one of the great returns I've ever seen. Eric brad this down, so at the top of the screen you see a tight split by

of the receiver. We've seen this a couple of times this year where Leslie Fraze will dial up Tredavious White actually coming onto Blitz. It's very tough for an offense who ever expect that one of the best cover corners in the league's gonna come on the blitz. He gets the sack fumble. Jerry Hughes, the former high school running back, which he reminded me of after the game when I sent him to the congratulatory text, makes one of the best runs of the season for the Buffalo Bills. And

that's the Bill's defensive end. They're star pass rusher who's always hustling, always making place for this defense. Makes an incredible run back for the touchdown. In the fourth quarter, the Bills are just trying to run out the clock. Devin Singletary breaks one. What happened on this run. The Bill's four minuted offense running the ball out at the

end of games has been really effective. Matt Barkley comes in for one snap and on the first play of the series, Devin Singletary runs outside zone to the left. He's able to make one guy miss at the line of scrimmers, then he's off to the races. Devin Singletary doesn't necessarily have complete breakaway speed, but his ability that makes defenders miss has been on display all season long, and he takes this one into the touchdown to really

just hammer home the Broncos at the end of the game. Yeah, it was great to see the Bills lock up the division title with such a strong performance in Denver. Eric, thanks so much for being with us. Appreciate it absolutely my pleasure. Steve Mattie glab here with this week's game preview, the afcast champs are heading the Fox Roads take on the New England Patriots. Buffalo is one win away from sweeping New England for the first time since nineteen ninety nine.

The six and eight Patriots are on a two game losing streak, averaging just seven and a half points per game over that span, while the eleven and three Buffalo Bills have won the last four games. New England ranks

twenty seventh, averaging just over twenty points a game. They've struggled in the air, averaging only one hundred and eighty five passing yards a game, which is good for thirtieth, but have found success on the ground, ranking sixth averaging one hundred and forty five point four rushing yards per game. The Patriots defense ranks eleventh, allowing three hundred and forty five yards per game and only allows twenty one and

a half points per game. The Bills offense ranks fifth, scoring twenty nine point one points per game, and second, averaging two hundred and seventy eight passing yards a game. They have the best third down conversion rate in the NFL, converting fifty point nine percent of the time. Josh Allen is the first Bill in franchise history to have more than four thousand passing yards and at least thirty passing touchdowns in a single season. The Bills defense has turned

a corner since they're week eleven. By Since Week twelve, they tiper bit, allowing only eighteen point eight points per game and have the third most interceptions during that time with five. They have also been allowing only eighty seven point three rushing yards per game, which is the second least in the league over that span. The Patriots lead the series against the Bills seventy six forty four and one. That's this week's game preview. Steve back to you. Thanks

as always, Mattie, coach, You've clinched a division title. And a home playoff game. But you still have two games left in the regular season. How important are these next two games? Well, they're very important. You know, we're facing a team that has won the division for multiple multiple years and it's at their place, and then after that it's another good opponent that's playing very well this year

in the Miami Dolphins. So we'll take them one at a time, respect both teams and make sure we're focused on ourselves and improving what we do and continue with that growth mindset. Yeah, coach, you've had a number of firsts this year. What would it mean for you to get your first win in Foxborough's head coach of the Bills. Yeah, I would mean a tremendous amount to get number to get number twelve. We just have so much respect for those guys and what they've been able to accomplish for

so long. But it's going to take a lot of hard work this week and for us to play our best football. We go up there over there Monday night. Thanks coaching, good luck this week against New England Patriots. We're gonna be back next week to recap your game against the Patriots and preview your week seventeen matchup against the Dolphins and for everybody at home, thanks for watching The Sean McDermott Show, presented by Connors and Ferris and

as always go bills final thoughts. It's presented by your local Toyota dealers. The Sean McDermott Show is presented by Connors and Ferris. You're a Workers' comp attorneys, by Independent Health you deserve the Red Share treatment, and by your local Toyota dealers.