Sean McDermott Show, Week 7

and we're pleased to be joining Sean McDermott. Sean, after the bye week, you come back and the chiefs of lofts twice since you took the field in Tennessee. Now you've got the second best record in the AFC. It must feel pretty good to get back into the swing of things sitting there, Yeah, it does. You know, we're able to sit back evaluate some of our team over the bye week, and you know, things we've been good at and things that we need work on and so but at the same time, get some rest and get

some players healthy. At the same time, I was gonna ask you about that you kind of got a rash of injuries there in the Tennessee game. Plus you were you know, Devin Singletary, some guys who were just about to be ready from the start of training camp until this point, and from this point to the end of the regular season eleven weeks on either end. So it kind of hit your right in the middle of each season.

It did. And it's funny you mentioned that because I was kind of doing the math over the bye week there and saying, hey, is there a good time for a buye? It was a good time for the buye. We did have some injuries. We've incurred some injuries really since it started training camp, and so credit to our training staff, credit to the players. They've worked hard this past week to get themselves ready to go. Right. The last time you took the field in Tennessee, you knew

it was going to be a hard fought game. Their defense is a quality defense. It was a one possession game. How great did it feel when your offense went out there with four twenty two left in the game. You handed it to Frank Gore a couple of times and you put it away. They never got the ball back. Yeah, you look for that, right, and we worked on that way back in the spring. Bobby Johnson, our offensive line coach, and our offensive lineman have done a great job, including

coach Dable of really scheming up some runs. And then on top of that technique fundamentals toughness that goes a long way in terms of winning and closing out football games. Let's talk about that offensive line. Mitch Morrise went down, Cody Ford went down. You always give us this next man up mentality. It's easy to say, but man, oh man, the guys who were next man up stepped up and you closed out a football game when they came in off the bench really expecting not to take any snaps. Yeah,

and give credit to those guys. The coaches had them ready, They were prepared. That says a lot about the guys in our room. And to close out a game the way we did in that fashion, I thought was impressive. And then Ryan Bates to have played in his first NFL regular season game and Spencer Long coming in and

doing a really good job says a lot about our guys. Yeah, I want to talk about one of your guys, Dion Dawkins, who's really the only loan survivor from last year's offensive line, and now this year, in twenty eighteen and now twenty nineteen, not only is he a survivor, he's a team captain. What are the differences you've seen in Dion Well, maturity and not that he wasn't mature before, but maturity and focus really with off the field and on the field.

And look, we've brought in a number of guys and sometimes that that's a great wake up call for other guys. And and Deon's done a really nice job since the spring coming back up until now, and so we need him to continue to grow and develop and remain focused and continue to lead the way he's led. Well, let's keep an INTRENCHU. Let's flip it over and talk about your defensive line. You went into Tennessee a team that

was leading the NFL and sacks given up. And I think it says something about the strength or maybe the depth of your team that when you read a team that's struggling in some area, you can use that you're good enough in that area to use it to your advantage and win the football games. So you're pass rushing Tennessee, five sacks on a team that was struggling to do it, and you took advantage, right, Steve. I mean you know

it starts up front. We talk a lot about that on both sides of the ball and our defensive line. We're only going to be as good of a defense as our defensive line allows us to be. And so their mentality, they're attitude, their toughness, their intensity, that's an everyday thing. And those guys bring their lunch pails. And when they do that, we've got a chance. Now you've got some veterans over there, you also got a couple of rookies. Bam Johnson got his first sack. I want

to ask you about Ed Oliver. You know he hasn't gotten a sack yet, but how is he in his development? Is he contributing or is he getting everything you want from it? Well, he's doing his job. Let's just let's just say that he's doing it just playing defensive tack. He's not an edge rusher. Right, Yeah, that's right. Let's let's say in case Ed's watching, let's just kind of

dial it back a little bit. And this is make sure he does his job and he's growing, and that's what you want from a young player, to develop a good solid foundation. He's understanding how he fits into the system in the scheme, and then how he fits amongst his teammates on the left side and the right side. So that'll come and defensive tackle. I've long said it's the most unselfish position on the field and on the defense, and so you have to embrace that mindset if you

want to play well. Well. Talking about your defense, last year, your pass defense was elite. It continues to be elite this year. This year your run defense matches it. What has been the big difference? How have you been able to elevate the run defense to keep in teams four out of these five games named they can't get four

yards to carry? Yeah? Well, awareness, I think it starts from the guy who spent a lot of time in the film room with their coaches, without their coaches in study groups, and then their awareness leads to great practice habits. Leslie Fraser and the staff do a really good job of scripting a good practice where they can work on some of those run fits as we call it, and they know where they are in the fit, and sometimes that's the biggest thing that leads to preventing big runs.

All right, Sean, thanks for these insights. So we're going to continue our conversation just a little bit later in the show. Game preview is presented by Independent Health from your every Day You're Unexpected. That's the Red Share Treatment. Mattie Glive here with this week's game preview and their third divisional matchup of the season. The Bills take on the Dolphins and seven times to come back in the founder five. Miami is currently fourth in the AFC East

and has yet to win a game this season. The Dolphins average a league worst eight point four points per game. They haven't had a rusher or receiver hit the one hundred yard mark yet. On defense, Miami gives up an average of thirty six points per game, last in the NFL. They are thirty first enforcing three and outs, which is only twenty three point two percent of the time. Fris You're coming, They got up. They gotta trap back. Gary is set back at the four yard line. It is

Georgia game. The Bills are looking for their fifth win of the season, which would be the first time Buffalo was five and one since two thousand and eight. The Bill's defense has held their opponents to under seventeen points in the last six games, which is the fifth time in franchise history that unit is second in the NFL and three, forcing a team off the field forty three point three percent of the time. Buffalo's defense ranks third league wide, allowing an average of just two hundred and

seventy five yards per game. The Bills are tied for first when it comes to red zone touchdowns, scoring seventy one point four percent of the time in the red zone. Ten of the bills eleven touchdowns this season have all come on drives of seventy or more yards. If Buffalo can defend their dirt on Sunday, it will mark their seventh home wins against the Dolphins in the last eight years. Steve back to you, thanks a lot, Mattie. We're back here with coach Sean McDermot. We're gonna get your final

thoughts coach. Facing a Miami Dolphins team struggling to get anything going offensively, it starts really at their quarterback position. Josh Rosen started the game last week, didn't finish it. They made the change really because of poor play and put Fitzpatrick back in. Does that add a degree of difficulty for you guys? And preparing for the Dolphins well, it does. Fitz has done a lot of good things

in this league. Very experienced, very savvy. It's thrown a lot of a lot of touchdown passes and over the course of his careers. We've got to be prepared, which I feel like we will be after a good week of practice, and we've got to earn the right to win. The fourth quarter. Margin of victory is when you turn the tape on as not indicative of how this team plays. If you look at the halftime scores other than the first game of the season, they were within give or

take seven points other than the New England game. So this team has played hard, they've played well, they've played discipline, and we expected touch challenge. Well, it kind of focus on the Bills. Quarterback Josh Allen the last out against Tennessee kind of took a step forward. We've seen him go up, take a step back, a couple of steps forward, and go up and down. But he had seventy percent plus completion percentage, he cut down on his turnovers and

something a little bit better from him. Well it was and it was a step in the right direction for Josh and for our offense, quite honestly, and Josh is continuing to learn how to play, and his development is a big part of our success as a football team, and so his his consistency now moving forward is a big part of his development. And that's what we're looking for this week. I know every game is important, but you're coming up on three straight home games. Anything about that? Yeah,

I love it. I love We take them one at a time, but to be home in front of our fans for three straight home games means a lot. What it means to play in front of our fans, to play in Western New York and for our players to be able to run out on our field and makes a lot to the players, especially Sean. Thanks for being here, and we're gonna be back after the Miami game to recap the Dolphins and also look ahead to the Philadelphia Eagles game. So I have a great weekend, everybody. We'll

see you next week. The Sean McDermott Show is sponsored by Independent Health from Her every Day to Your Unexpected That's the Red Shared Treatment, and by Yancey's Fancy New York's Artists and Cheese, the official cheese of the Buffalo Bills. It was just a quick question on coverage. But this member I could tell she was dealing with a lot, so I help list name. She was crying. She said she knew I had to go, but I said no,

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