Full Transcript for OBL 10/19: Recapping Bills Win Over The Raiders, Eric Wood's Analysis, The Maddy Awards

on the ground and a touchdown. He now has 627 rushing yards through the first six games, the third most in Bill's history, with only O.J. Simpson's 1973 and 1975 seasons having more through the first six weeks. He also had a rushing touchdown now in five consecutive games. 00:07:01 Speaker 4: So he's ahead of last year's pace. Yes. Really? Yes. 00:07:07 Speaker 5: Wow. 00:07:08 Speaker 3: You know, and it hasn't looked like spectacular. You know what I mean? 00:07:12 Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah, yeah. 00:07:12 Speaker 3: Where you're noticing him every single week doing stuff. Well, 95 yards yesterday was kind of– I remember these runs that we're seeing here. 00:07:17 Speaker 4: We're watching the highlights. I remember the nine-yard run, the 14-yard run, you know, and the catch and run here to get inside the five-yard line. 00:07:26 Speaker 3: Just– That's what I'm most excited about, by the way. 00:07:29 Speaker 4: Yeah, getting him– throwing him the football. 00:07:30 Speaker 3: He's been incorporated into the passing game a little bit more the last two weeks, and you see– How dynamic he is in open space. Angles. He shakes people out of their shoes. He outruns people. Like, I would keep doing more of that. More of that. Keep incorporating him into the passing game. Get him out in space and let him do his thing. Ty Johnson's very good at it. James Cook might be even better. Yesterday, Kincaid left, get his ribs x-rayed, as did Bradley Chubb. Had some guys nicked up during the game, as you always see. Kincaid did return. 00:08:08 Speaker 4: Kincaid came back. But with Kincaid leaving for a hot minute, if he gets injured again, that might be what I like to go to. Cook and Ty Johnson on the field instead of Kincaid. 00:08:20 Speaker 3: Little pony backfield action. 00:08:21 Speaker 4: Pony backfield back there and let's go. I understand that there's protection problems with that and all that kind of stuff. But, man, those are your guys. Those are your athletes. You need to get the ball. 00:08:32 Speaker 3: And they did utilize them more in the Rams game, too, you know, with some screen plays to the running backs, which proved to be critical plays two weeks ago. You know, Ty Johnson's 40-yard catch and run, which led to a touchdown. Ray Davis' 31-yard catch down to the goal line led to another touchdown the previous week against the Rams. I think incorporating them into the passing game, especially when you don't have DJ Moore. 00:08:58 Speaker 1: Right. 00:08:59 Speaker 3: I think it's done wonders for their passing game. Josh Allen, a magician at times. This 12-yard shovel pass to Keon Coleman in the third quarter. He went 23 for 33 for 255 and two passing touchdowns. He has now tied Jim Kelly for the all-time passing touchdown mark. Speaking of Coleman, he was clutched down the stretch with some key conversions, most notably the final scoring drive to put the Bills up 10-late. He now has receiving touchdowns in three consecutive games. Dalton Kincaid

also more involved in the passing game. He led the team with seven receptions, as it looked like it was a concerted effort to get him involved early. 00:09:42 Speaker 4: Yeah, and, man, he came through. That last catch right there before we popped to us, hard contested catch just ahead of the sticks on a long throw from Josh. That's the kind of catch, man, that's a pro catch. And, you know, to have him do that is really gratifying. I spoke to him just right after the game. You came down to me on the field. I interviewed. He just seemed, he is a guy all the time. That's why all the guys love him. 00:10:16 Speaker 3: Keon, you're talking about. 00:10:17 Speaker 7: Keon. 00:10:18 Speaker 4: He has never changed, but He has gotten better and better in this offense. And he may be a little bit of an old-school guy in that, like Kincaid, like Knox, like some of these other guys, that third year may be kind of a magic elixir that gives him a chance to– he's seen it all, been through it, been through an offseason. Now he's had two offseasons, and he's got his preparation down. He's been in the same offense for three years. And now he's kind of spreading his wings a little bit. But this catch right here that we're watching on that, that was a huge catch. 00:10:54 Speaker 3: That's a hard catch. 00:10:55 Speaker 4: That's a hard catch to make and make it look easy. 00:10:58 Speaker 3: I'm not saying he's Eric Moulds, but the same example applies. Eric Moulds didn't have a breakout year until his third season either. Kincaid would have had a touchdown, too, if it had not been called back on a holding penalty. So, still, seven receptions for him, which was... The defense still has trouble stopping teams, this much we know, but they did get three red zone stops to force field goals, which were critical in a three-point game. And Tyler Bass still perfect on the season, 11 for 11 on the year. And going back to the 24 season when he last kicked for this team, has now hit his last 18 in a row. It's tied for the longest streak by a Bills kicker since Ryan Lindell hit 18 in a row for a two-month stretch. during the 2007 season, almost 20 years ago. Now at 5-1 on the year, Bills still sit a game ahead of the Patriots in the AFC East. They're currently second in the AFC, behind the 5-0 Kansas City Chiefs. Can't kill them. There is also the game disqualification of C.J. Gardner-Johnson with video replay showing him spitting in the direction of Brock Bowers in a pool report after the game. Referee Sean Smith said C.J. Gardner-Johnson was ejected from the game because an umpire witnessed him spitting on an opposing player. The quote is as follows. He saw him spit on an opponent. We don't go into the judgment of where he is spitting and this, that, or the other. He spit on an opponent. Gardner-Johnson did issue a public apology on his Instagram account. It read as follows. I want to take a moment to address my actions and sincerely apologize to my opponent, my teammates,

my organization, and everyone who supports me. My passion and competitive nature have always been a huge part of who I am, but I also understand that there is a line that should never be crossed. The gesture I made toward my opponent was inappropriate, unnecessary, and not a reflection of the respect I have for him or this game. There is no excuse for my actions, and I take full accountability. No matter how emotional or intense the competition gets, I have to hold myself to a higher standard. To my opponent, I sincerely apologize. We compete hard between those lines, but respect should always remain at the forefront. One moment does not define my character, but how I respond to that moment matters. I will learn from this, grow from it, and continue to lead with the integrity, passion, and respect that have carried me throughout my career. I love this game, I respect this game, and I will always protect the integrity of this game. My actions will speak louder than my words moving forward. 00:13:33 Speaker 4: Well, it's well said. 00:13:34 Speaker 3: It's a There's no place in the game for it, though. 00:13:37 Speaker 4: No, there's not. 00:13:37 Speaker 3: End of story. 00:13:38 Speaker 4: There's not. And the officials, you did the right thing. You did the right thing. 00:13:44 Speaker 3: So we wait now because the reports are already out there that the NFL is investigating the incident. And you heard the head referee, Sean Smith, right there, say that his umpire witnessed Gardner Johnson spitting on Bowers. 00:13:59 Speaker 4: That's all irrelevant. 00:14:01 Speaker 3: He confessed to it. He confessed to it and apologized for it. Well, he said, my gesture. He never said that he spit on anybody. It's on video. Like, I don't know what he's going to do. 00:14:09 Speaker 4: Yeah, exactly. It's all over. The investigation's over. 00:14:13 Speaker 3: Well, I guess the NFL has to say that, right? To make sure that, you know, in conjunction with the Players Association, they adjudicated properly. But we remember last year, Jalen Carter, before a game, spit on an opponent. was ejected before the game even started, and then served a one-game suspension. So I would presume we'll see a similar outcome here, unless more is uncovered based on what they investigate there. Did he spit twice? Did he spit once? Because the only one we saw on video was the one where he kind of spit at Bauer's feet as he walked away from him. the umpire claims he saw Gardner Johnson spit on Bowers. So are there two spitting incidents? One, what are we dealing with? 00:15:02 Speaker 4: Well, one of the, if you watch the tape and what struck me was Bowers teammate, the offensive lineman, I couldn't tell you who it was, saw it immediately stepped in because he could, it was obvious. It was the gesture that was meant. 00:15:19 Speaker 7: Yeah. 00:15:20 Speaker 4: Uh, and, and the official saw that as well. So, um, in that guys were right there two feet away, saw what happened, and saw

it was a confrontation, something that happened, and they stepped in on it. And that's all it took. It was a natural reaction. I think that says everything. 00:15:36 Speaker 3: Kyle Juszczyk, the 49ers fullback, made an accusation on Twitter about Gardner Johnson saying he was spit on by Gardner Johnson a few seasons ago and the refs never saw it. So he accused him of doing it previously. Whether that's true or not is one person's claim over another. It's a he said, he said kind of situation, but he did not waste any time in posting that on Twitter yesterday after seeing what happened in the Raiders game. Buffalo now has the bye week coming up before they are back home on November 1st behind us here in Highmark Stadium to face the Baltimore Ravens. who fell to 4-2. We'll get to that in just a minute as we go around the NFL because there is some breaking news this morning. After the Colts fell to 2-4 in a lost Sunday to the previously winless Titans, Colts owner Carly Ursae Gordon has fired general manager Chris Ballard. The Colts have gone five seasons without a playoff berth. Ursae Gordon in a statement said in part, I am grateful to Chris for his years of service to the Colts and for everything he poured into this organization. As I said at the start of the season, the sense of urgency has never been higher. Our standard is to compete for championships, and I believe a change in leadership is necessary to meet that standard. Irsay Gordon went on to say that the decision does not change their goals for the season. They expect to compete, improve, and win games. 00:17:12 Speaker 7: It was. 00:17:13 Speaker 3: Ballard made waves last year when, you know, the team was, I think, 6-2. 6-1. 6-1 made the trade for Sauce Gardner with the Jets. Gave up two first-round picks to do it. And that has gone over like a lead balloon. Made a couple other moves as well. And Daniel Jones gets hurt out for the season. And the season goes up in smoke. And now they have no first-round pick last year. No first-round pick this coming year. And amazingly, Daniel Jones turned into Daniel Jones. Pumpkin, yeah. No seasonal pun intended. 00:17:45 Speaker 4: I've got to say, you and I were talking about this. I think it's the right move for the Colts at this point for ownership. They expect to compete, to improve and win games. They're going to win a couple games. They'll do all that. That's fine because the team's in place and they've got some veterans there and they've got some talent. But to get a head start on rebuilding them back into a contender, and to win that division. They've got to get started now. They've got to find a GM, somebody to come in, evaluate talent. I don't think this was an emotional decision as much as it was the final straw, the way the team looked. They... In my opinion, they have deteriorated over the last handful of years. And you can't have that. Right. You can say you can lose. 00:18:40 Speaker 3: They've had some bad luck, too. Like, they hand

giant money to Alec Pierce, who is a homegrown talent that was going to be their number one receiver this year after leading the league or second in the league in receiving average last year. Their true deep threat. He has a foot problem. They manage it through training camp. Week two of the season, he's gone on I.R., They traded away Michael Pittman. So they had, like, all of a sudden, they've got a dearth of receiver talent, and their offense is struggling mightily. I mean, so much so that at the beginning of the season, after Pierce went out, they signed the veteran receiver from the Chargers. Who's the slot guy that used to play for the Chargers for the longest time? Come on, help me out, Steve. 00:19:28 Speaker 4: I can't remember. 00:19:29 Speaker 3: Anyway, he gets hurt, too. He goes on IR. It's... All their move, all the buttons that Chris Ballard has tried to push have not worked. Right. 00:19:37 Speaker 5: Well, yeah. 00:19:42 Speaker 3: Keenan Allen. Keenan Allen, that's right. I see the path that they thought they could traverse. to get through all that. I don't think they have the quarterback. I'm just going to say it. 00:19:57 Speaker 4: No, I agree. And if you're the owner, you come out and you do this, and you got to get in the sweepstakes this year. 00:20:09 Speaker 7: Yeah. 00:20:10 Speaker 4: But they don't have a first-round pick. 00:20:12 Speaker 3: And they don't have a first-round pick. 00:20:13 Speaker 4: They've got no way of finding out. If I'm the Colts, I'm looking around thinking, I wonder if Baker Mayfield's going to be available. 00:20:21 Speaker 3: Well, no, they just signed him to an extension. 00:20:23 Speaker 7: Yeah. 00:20:24 Speaker 3: The Bucs just signed him to a three-year extension. I mean, the Bucs might get blown up this year at the end of the season. Todd Bowles is probably going to get fired, maybe before the season's over. They just lost again yesterday, but they're playing with a third-string quarterback who's a rookie in Jalen Daniels. 00:20:38 Speaker 1: I mean. 00:20:38 Speaker 3: How much does that fall on Todd Bowles? I don't know. But they just signed him. They're going to trade him. 00:20:44 Speaker 4: Well, they just signed Daniel Jones, too. I think they. 00:20:48 Speaker 3: Go young and they go in the draft and try to swing something. 00:20:51 Speaker 4: Yeah, maybe. 00:20:52 Speaker 3: But they don't have a lot of draft capital to do that. 00:20:54 Speaker 4: No, they don't. 00:20:54 Speaker 3: There is also some breaking news concerning the health of Jalen Hurts. For those that didn't see this, over the weekend, Hurts was placed on injured reserve by the Eagles due to a blood clot in his leg. His agent, Nicole Lynn, has released a statement in conjunction with the Eagles that said over the last few days, Jalen Hurts has received comprehensive medical evaluations by experts in the interest of transparency. We're providing additional information on the diagnosis and treatment plan related to his condition. He was initially diagnosed by specialists in London with a left calf superficial vein thrombosis. After further testing and monitoring, the current diagnosis indicates is a deep vein thrombosis as well as bilateral pulmonary emboli. He is clinically stable, has no significant functional limitations. His treatment should only involve anticoagulation, basically blood thinners. During this time, he will not be allowed to participate in any contact activities, including football. Jalen's prognosis is very good. We expect a full recovery and anticipate he will have the opportunity to resume contact football activities when off the blood thinners. In the meantime, He will remain active around the team and continue to condition. More importantly, we anticipate that he will have no long-term effects. So that's where things stand with Jalen Hurts right now, but he's going to miss the next three games after missing yesterday's game as well. So that's where it sits right now for Jalen Hurts. Sunday night football saw the Packers win their third straight, 23-13 over the Cowboys to move to 4-2 on the season. Packers offense converted nine of their first ten third downs against the worst third down defense in the league. Jumped out to a 17-0 lead and the Cowboys never really threatened. Dallas now 2-4 on the season. If there are Bills fans that think the Bills defense has things to fix, and they do. The Cowboys are... They are rough on defense. Arizona Cardinals had the upset of the week as Chad Ryland put a 43-yard field goal up and through as time expired at SoFi Stadium for an improbable 18-16 win over the now 2-4 L.A. 00:23:09 Speaker 4: Rams. 00:23:09 Speaker 3: Ryland responsible for all 18 points for the Cardinals, who now have more wins in SoFi Stadium than the Chargers and Rams combined this season. 00:23:21 Speaker 4: Well, the shine is off the Ram win, right? I mean, all of a sudden they stink. 00:23:28 Speaker 3: Yeah, that can happen quickly. 00:23:29 Speaker 4: Yeah, it did. I mean, they were 2-2 going in, or they were 4-0 coming in against the Bills. 00:23:36 Speaker 3: Yep, lost two. Well, no, they're 2-4. Oh, I'm sorry, 2-4. Yeah, they were 2-2. Now they're 2-4. 00:23:45 Speaker 4: Yep. I thought that was a really sweet win in L.A. 00:23:49 Speaker 3: Changes quickly in this league. Turns out it was just, you know, game he should have won. Patriots beat the Jets to improve to 4-2, taking a 26-19 decision. Chiefs remain unbeaten, taking down the still-winless L.A. Chargers, 22-6. Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh mum on offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel's status. After another anemic offensive performance, he would only say they have to examine everything. Cleveland top Baltimore, and backup quarterback Snoop Huntley, 13-10, as Lamar Jackson missed a second straight week of action. Deshaun Watson... now has four fourth quarter comebacks in all four of Cleveland's victories. It's the first time a Cleveland quarterback has done

that in 40 seasons. 00:24:35 Speaker 4: It's Brian Seip and the Cardiac kids, right? 00:24:37 Speaker 3: Or Bernie Kosar, one or the other. Cleveland, as we said, top Baltimore. So they're now tied for first place in the division with Baltimore and Pittsburgh because the Steelers overcame an early 13-0 hole against Tampa Bay as kicker Chris Boswell had four field goals. including from 52 and 58 yards to help force overtime before Aaron Rodgers let a touchdown drive an OT and the Bucs couldn't answer in a 26-19 final. Carolina beat Philadelphia and their backup quarterback Tanner McKee 25-14. The return of Caleb Williams proved critical in Chicago's 30-win at Atlanta as he went 30 for 35 passing for 305 yards and a touchdown. Giants quarterback situation became a little more unsettled as J.J. McCarthy almost rallied New York to victory after Jameis Winston was benched. Giants still fell to the Saints 34-27, but head coach John Harbaugh could not give a direct answer after the game when asked who would start next week at quarterback for the Giants. Cam Scadabue also saw his playing time cut sharply in the wake of fumbling problems. Houston top Jacksonville and London 34-31. Kaimi Fairbairn with a 49-yarder as time expired. Monday Night Football features the unbeaten 49ers hosting the Commanders out west. And the Falcons have made a change to their quarterback depth chart, signing veteran Andy Dalton. He replaces Cooper Rush, who has moved off the roster. Dalton turned down an opportunity to return to the Eagles, where he started the season after Philadelphia put starting quarterback Jalen Hurts on IR. Dalton said, thanks but no thanks. 00:26:12 Speaker 8: Yeah. 00:26:14 Speaker 3: Interesting. 00:26:16 Speaker 4: I think that speaks to what's going on in Philly, don't you? I mean, you've got to think that. It's not good. It's not good, right? 00:26:23 Speaker 3: I don't think it's a healthy environment there. 00:26:24 Speaker 4: I mean, Andy Dalton is a stand-up dude. I mean, by all accounts, just a great guy. He's a long-time veteran, doesn't need the money. 00:26:39 Speaker 8: Yeah. 00:26:39 Speaker 4: He's picking a landing spot, and he's picking the Atlanta Falcons over Philly. 00:26:45 Speaker 3: Do you think that Philly's working the phones trying to find another quarterback somewhere? 00:26:54 Speaker 4: Yeah. 00:26:54 Speaker 3: Anybody? 00:26:56 Speaker 4: I think it's absolutely. Dalton was the guy. Dalton would have been starting, no question about it, if he comes back there. And he's like, yeah, I'm good. 00:27:08 Speaker 3: So in Atlanta now, you have Penix, who gets hurt pretty routinely, Tua, and Andy Dalton. 00:27:16 Speaker 8: Yes. 00:27:18 Speaker 4: Tua is expending. 00:27:18 Speaker 3: Do you think Philly trades for Tua? Sorry, I couldn't say it with a straight face. 00:27:28 Speaker 4: I can't do it. Let me just say this. If Philly ends up with Tua... You need to put a camera on that city because it's going to burn down. Oh, you've got to watch that. It's going to come apart. 00:27:44 Speaker 3: It's going to be like Wiley Coyote with the TNT plunger. 00:27:47 Speaker 4: That's right. Boom. There will be a new head coach in Philly within days of them putting Tua on the field. We have to step aside and take a break here. We will take your phone calls eventually here on a– Victory Monday edition of One Bills Live, but we have some business to take care of, namely the Maddie Awards, which are coming your way next with senior team reporter Maddie Glab next here on One Bills Live. 00:28:36 Speaker 3: All right. Back here on one bills, live Chris, Mattie glad senior team reporter joining us as she does after victories on Mondays for what else? The Maddie awards, which are presented by Palmer foods, delivering quality and service at the center of the plate for more than 175 years. Learn more at Palmer foods.com. And, uh, there were some tasty performances in this win over the race in Las Vegas. Um, Let's begin with the unshakable award. 00:29:08 Speaker 9: Yeah, unshakable. I thought Josh Allen was so solid against the Raiders. I found it very interesting what Joe Brady said in his post-game press conference that the Raiders played the Bills way different than the Bills had prepared for. Allen didn't let that affect him. Instead, he read what he saw on the field. He took what the defense gave him And it turned into a very clean game for Josh Allen. He was poised in the pocket, made good decisions, a 70% completion percentage, two touchdowns out of the quarterback. And you also saw Josh Allen turn into a magician. on that third and eight play that turned into a touchdown where Allen gets outside of the pocket, shakes off a defender, makes some magic happen with a sidearm shovel pass that seems like it traveled 30 yards down the field. It ends up being 12 for a touchdown. I liked what I saw out of Josh Allen against the. 00:30:06 Speaker 4: Raiders, Chris. 00:30:07 Speaker 3: Yeah. I thought there were more second reaction plays by Josh in this game. than we've seen in a while. And it's probably partially because of what you said, that the Raiders came with a game plan that had the defense for Las Vegas changing their spots. They didn't really do anything that they had shown on tape the previous five weeks. And let's face it, the Raiders were a desperate team. They're coming off back-to-back losses. They wanted to change it up and hope that a couple of curveballs would throw and slow this Bill's offense down. But Or again, no DJ Moore, Palmer plays 17 snaps, and you look up at the scoreboard at the end of the game, there's still 30 points on the board. Like, I swear to God, this offense can score 30 points in their sleep. 00:31:00 Speaker 6: Yes. 00:31:01 Speaker 3: If they don't, the only game they did not score 30 points this season, they turned it over five times and still came within six points of scoring 30. So, I don't know. I feel like they could do 30 points in their

sleep. 00:31:13 Speaker 7: Right. 00:31:13 Speaker 3: And that's a dangerous thing for most opponents because... There aren't many teams averaging 33 points a game. 00:31:19 Speaker 9: Based on your film study of the Raiders coming into this game, what did you notice about how they played defense differently against the Bills? 00:31:27 Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm going to have to go back and look at this game because it's hard for me to watch scheme when I'm calling a game because I'm just following the ball, so it's kind of hard for me. I would have to look at the tape here from this week's game, and I haven't done that yet. I wondered if they played. 00:31:44 Speaker 9: I know they cage rushed Allen, how defenses have done in the past. I wonder if that was very different than they had played offenses prior to that, knowing that Allen was coming off of a 121 rushing yard game. 00:31:57 Speaker 3: And they had played a fair amount of man coverage through the first five weeks. So I don't know if they zoned it off a lot more. 00:32:06 Speaker 9: Yeah, it'll be interesting to see because I just found that comment really interesting from Joe Brady to mention that and to give kudos to the Raiders to put something out there that was totally different and for the Bills to still score 33 points. I thought that said just a lot about the offense's ability to not go into that game freaked out and think, oh, what is going on? How are we going to play this? And to play so clean. 00:32:32 Speaker 3: Yeah, they adjusted, didn't turn the ball over. That was important. The Bounce Back Award is next. 00:32:37 Speaker 9: James Cook had a bounce back performance against the Raiders. Two fumbles last week against the Rams. Cook did an incredible job of protecting the football when he went into traffic last night. And the best part about Cook's performance is he did not play scared. He still ran tough, still was a strong runner out there. Finishes with 95 rushing yards and a touchdown. 00:33:01 Speaker 3: Through six games. 00:33:02 Speaker 9: The first six games of the season, James Cook has the third most rushing yards in Bills history with 637 rushing yards. He is the number two to Josh Allen in terms of making this offense go. Yes, Allen is the quarterback, but without James Cook, you don't have this explosive offense that the Bills have showed the league that they have. 00:33:23 Speaker 3: And he came within a couple of shoestring tackles of busting a long one. We haven't really seen a 40-plus yard touchdown from Allen. James yet and he's had four in each of the last two seasons and he came tantalizingly close to a couple and the stat that you mentioned you know the fact that he's got the third most rushing yards through the first six games in Bill's history second third to only the two OJ Simpson seasons in 73 that means he's ahead of his pace from last year when he led the league in Russia I think. 00:33:54 Speaker 9: I saw a graphic it was heading into the Raiders game where it had like where the top running backs rank right now and what they're on pace for. And I think James Cook was on pace for over 1,800 rushing. 00:34:06 Speaker 3: Yards ahead of the Raiders game. 00:34:08 Speaker 9: But how cool, too, to see James Cook go into a game where it's like you cannot fumble the football in this matchup, and he doesn't change the demeanor in which he runs with. I know throughout the broadcast, the entire broadcast, they were mentioning Yeah, James Cook is handling the football differently. You can really see with how he's protecting it. But I didn't think that took away from him being a tough and angry. 00:34:31 Speaker 4: Runner out there. 00:34:31 Speaker 3: I think the only thing you saw different was he was more mindful when traffic got around him to get the second hand on the ball. As soon as he saw defenders closing, as soon as they were within arm's reach of him, he was more mindful about covering up. The Mr. Perfect Award. 00:34:47 Speaker 4: Mr. 00:34:48 Speaker 9: Perfect is going to Bills kicker Tyler Bass. Bass goes four of four last night in terms of field goal makes. And man, after missing last season due to a sports hernia, I think Bass is in such a great headspace right now. I love his process and his demeanor. I listened to the interview that you had with him on the pregame radio show. Yeah, I found it so insightful. And Bass is usually pretty close to the vest in terms of how he answers questions. I thought he was really open and honest with you, Brownie. So great interview, and kudos to you for getting a lot out of him. But it seemed like the headspace that he is in right now is the perfect place to be in for. 00:35:31 Speaker 3: The first part of the season. 00:35:32 Speaker 9: 18 straight field goal makes is the most by a Bills kicker since 2007. He is also a big part of this offense and to have him be 100% right now is so great. 00:35:43 Speaker 3: Yeah, I think he's the most settled we've seen him in quite some time just with his whole process, which is saying a lot because as we noted in the interview, it's his third special teams coach in three years and it's his third holder in the last three years in which he has kicked. So this is a guy that had undergone his own changes physically because of the surgery and the rehabilitation he had to go through, and then all the changes that were around him as well, and he's come through it with flying colors. He has been perfect. The Lean On Me Award. 00:36:18 Speaker 4: Lean On Me. 00:36:20 Speaker 9: The Bills have been able to lean on young wide receiver Keon Coleman to start this season. He's been a confident player, a physical wide receiver when he's out on the field. No DJ Moore yesterday due to a shoulder injury, and Coleman steps up again. So dependable through six games. 79% of his catches have gone for first downs this season. That is a great stat. Four catches last night for 59 yards and a touchdown. When the ball is thrown his way,

Keon Coleman makes plays. 00:36:54 Speaker 3: Yeah, and as Steve noted earlier, you know, he's another example because there's so much less practice time now than there used to be, you know, 15, 20 years ago, that more of these young players don't reach critical mass and break out until year three. It used to be the difference between year one and year two, and you'd see somebody emerge in year two. And there are still a couple, Cole Bishop last year, for example. But the vast majority of players are breaking out in year three now, and I think we're seeing that from Coleman, who now has touchdowns in three straight games. So keep it coming. 00:37:30 Speaker 9: One of the best stories to start this season is to see how he has taken this offseason and not let it get the best of him, and instead just let his play do the talking for him. 00:37:39 Speaker 3: The Making Strides Award. 00:37:42 Speaker 9: Buffalo's defense made some strides in the red zone last night against the Raiders. The windows tightened up once the Raiders got into the red zone. And the Bills defense did a better job of matching up. The Raiders go just 2 of 5 in the red zone, which is a 40% success rate. Going into the game, Buffalo's defense was one of the worst teams in the red zone in terms of allowing touchdowns 76% of the time. 00:38:06 Speaker 3: So I thought that was a step forward. 00:38:07 Speaker 9: We're looking for improvements out of this Buffalo defense that has had a tough start to the season at times in terms of consistency. And I think they make a step in the right. 00:38:18 Speaker 3: Direction in the red zone. Three three and outs by the Bills defense in this game on 10 possessions by the Raiders. And they also had a two and out, which ended with an interception by Dorian Williams. So I know people are freaking out about the defense. They're still giving up a ton of points, but there is incremental progress there to your point. And then finally, the Hot Start Award. 00:38:42 Speaker 4: Hot Start. 00:38:43 Speaker 9: Bills head coach Joe Brady has had a hot start. to his coaching career, five and one through the first six games. That is the best record for a first-time head coach to start his career since 2022. So kudos to Brady for coaching and putting his offense really in a successful position. Buffalo's offense, the hottest offense in the NFL right now, averaging around 33 points per game. I think Brady has done a great job of play calling, mixing the run and the pass. You see 29 rushing attempts last night to 33 passing attempts. There was a drive in the middle of the game where I felt like he did such a good job of mixing the run and the pass. The Raiders did not know what to do. They could not stop Buffalo's offense. 00:39:29 Speaker 4: I believe it. 00:39:30 Speaker 9: Ended in a touchdown. Brady has also shown early on that he can win in the tight games. A lot of these games have gone down to the final quarter, to overtime, and the Bills have come out victorious in plenty of these games. And as a head coach, when you decide I'm going to call plays too, that is a lot to manage. 00:39:48 Speaker 5: Yeah. 00:39:48 Speaker 9: Especially on offense, to call an offense and to manage everything else that goes along with being a head coach in the middle of the game. And Brady has done a great job doing so. 00:39:57 Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, 5-1 is 5-1. Some of the games are probably tighter than some Bills fans would have liked, but just win, baby. And they have done that. And I think if there is any side benefit to the close nature of these games is when the Bills get to the playoffs... games are going to be that way. You don't see very often lopsided games in the playoffs because it's the best of the best and it's back and forth. And I wonder if these tight games that have gone back and forth help put this team in a relaxed, maybe not relaxed is the right word, but they maintain their confident mindset in a game that goes back and forth like that because of some of the way in which the games have gone so far this season. It's like, oh, we've been here before. We're fine. No pressure. You know what I mean? So I wonder if that serves them once they get to the postseason. All right, so those are the Maddie Awards presented by Palmer Foods. Thanks very much, Maddie, for bringing us those. We hope to see you post-bye after the Ravens game. 00:40:59 Speaker 9: And welcome back to Buffalo. 00:41:00 Speaker 5: Yes. 00:41:00 Speaker 3: Happy to see you guys back here. It was lonely without y'all. So happy to sleep in my own bed last night. Oh my God, that was glorious. So yes, it's always good to be back and Glad that the weather hasn't completely turned. 00:41:12 Speaker 4: Yeah, it's not freezing. 00:41:13 Speaker 3: Although there's an alarming amount of leaves in my backyard right now that I've got to. 00:41:17 Speaker 4: Take care of. 00:41:17 Speaker 9: I know what Brownie's doing on the bye week. 00:41:18 Speaker 4: Yeah, exactly. 00:41:19 Speaker 3: A lot of raking. Maddie, thanks for that. We hope to catch up with you after the Ravens game the Monday after. Got to take a break here. Steve and I will be back, and we will finally open up the phone lines and take your phone calls, your biggest takeaways from yesterday's 33-30 victory over the Raiders. Results That Matter is presented by Buffalo Law, the official personal injury law firm of the Buffalo Bills. They win. It's just that simple. With his 12-yard touchdown pass to Keon Coleman against the Raiders, Josh Allen now has 258 passing touchdowns, including playoffs. He is now tied with Hall of Famer Jim Kelly for the most in team history. Needs one more to pass Jimbo. Crazy. 00:42:08 Speaker 4: I think he's going to get it. 00:42:11 Speaker 8: Yeah. 00:42:13 Speaker 4: This is, you know, social media, you know, just absolutely crushes people. That Josh Allen threw that ball sidearm underhand, whatever, pitched it further than Bo Nix threw any pass

in the game. That's not exactly true, but it's longer than his average downfield throw. 00:42:36 Speaker 3: Yeah. Well, social media is the king of snarkiness. So there you go. We do got to get to a lot of phone calls. People waiting patiently there at 716-427. Your biggest takeaways from Sunday's win over the Raiders. And to Miron in Richmond we go. What's up, Miron? Hi, John. 00:42:57 Speaker 6: Thanks for taking my call. I just want to take some time to express some frustration about C.J. Gardner-Johnson. I think his statement was very selfish. And, you know, I think his play has left a lot to desire. He's not a pro goalie. He's not an all-pro. I don't know why we can't. 00:43:17 Speaker 7: Keep him on the field anymore. 00:43:18 Speaker 6: I mean, you know, the defense can't go much worse than the secondary. And I believe that Cole Bishop's development is getting stunted by Cedar Garner being there. And the reason I say that is because when Jordan Porter was playing last year, Cole Bishop really took off and had a great year. And I think Cole Bishop can't really do his 111. 00:43:36 Speaker 7: Because they're thinking. 00:43:36 Speaker 6: About what T.J. Johnson may be doing, and maybe he has to in that regard. So I think they need to get younger. I don't know if we can cut T.J. Johnson here or trade him at this point, given his salary cap numbers. But I think we need to move on from him. And one other thing about Jenna Hertz. I'm a physician, and I deal with people with blood clots. He's going to be on anticoagulation for at least six months. So I don't see him being back on the field the rest of the year. Yeah, they actually. 00:44:01 Speaker 4: Thank you, Mehran. 00:44:03 Speaker 3: You're right. 00:44:03 Speaker 4: You're correct. 00:44:04 Speaker 3: They just announced he's out for the year. 00:44:06 Speaker 4: He's out for the year. They just announced it. You're right. It's a good call by you from far away. It was announced by his agent, Adam Schefter. Everybody said because of it's a deeper thrombosis than they thought initially. 00:44:18 Speaker 3: Well, and they've also since found multiple blood clots in his lungs. 00:44:22 Speaker 7: Right. 00:44:24 Speaker 3: You don't mess with that. 00:44:24 Speaker 7: Right. 00:44:25 Speaker 4: So it's a condition. 00:44:26 Speaker 3: That's a very serious condition. So yeah, he is now out for the rest of the season. They just announced that. 00:44:32 Speaker 4: I wonder if that, I mean, everybody's circling Nick Sirianni. Does that save his job for a year? 00:44:38 Speaker 3: I suppose it could. The problems run deeper than just missing your starting quarterback there, in my opinion. But that's for the Eagles to decide, and Miron's opinion is probably a popular one right now in the wake of the spitting incident of C.J. Gardner-Johnson. There are a lot of Bills fans that feel like their time with him as their starting safety has run its course. We can all have our opinions, but it's not our decision to make. That's a decision of the Bills front office and the coaching staff to make, and I imagine they'll review it in full and make an assessment as to what's best for the team going forward. Your opinion on Cole Bishop is interesting as well because that's an opinion that's been shared by Bills fans as well, that they feel that C.J. Gardner-Johnson's freelancing and gambling on the back end has compromised Cole Bishop's play. I don't know how you ascertain that definitively if you don't know what the defense is and what the calls are and what Gardner-Johnson's ability to freelance is. Like, how much rope is he given? by Jim Leonard and his defensive coaches. We don't know the answer to that. So I think that's a hard opinion to have if you don't have concrete evidence as to how one is affecting the other. So I imagine it's going to be reviewed, and it will be talked about during the bye week for sure. 00:46:01 Speaker 4: You have to understand this, and we forget sometimes where they're at. Everybody in that room, the coach's office, all the staff, the support staff, The scouts, the quality control guys, the self-scouters, the analytics people, certainly the coordinators, head coach, the position coaches, everybody there is jumping through hoops mentally and evaluation, watching films, studying, listening to the players, talking to the players, putting game plans in, and the guys they put out there are the ones they believe, beyond a shadow of a doubt, are going to give them the best chance to win on the field. Now, for us out here, it's like Jalen Kilgore gets there one play and he almost picks off a pass. 00:46:49 Speaker 3: It's like, why isn't he playing? We get all these questions for us. There's lots of reasons why that is. He also got beat over the top for a touchdown. 00:46:56 Speaker 4: That's right. And that's part of it, too. The next play, he gives up the touchdown over the top. So all that stuff is in there. The things these coaches do, it's their job. and they are doing as best they can to get themselves in a position to win the game with the right guys on the field. So if somebody's not playing, you can bet there is a solid reason for it. We may not be privy to it, and what we see is like, man, we get impatient. And I get it. I get it, particularly in the wake of a guy getting disqualified. 00:47:29 Speaker 3: Let's go to Mickey in Illinois. What's up, Mickey? 00:47:35 Speaker 5: Hey, good morning and happy Victory Monday, guys, and welcome home. And, you know, thank you for being out there for two weeks and keeping us tuned in to what's going on. And further, thank you for just providing this outlet and community for those of us who are geographically isolated somewhere. The game, we're clearly all watching the same game. As a lot of my points, I'll try not to belabor them, but I just thought the game was very steady throughout and cleaner. 100% ball security. So proud of Cook for changing that narrative very quickly.

And I thought we did good with penalties, but then I looked it up and we had eight for 77. So really not great there. Coming into the season, three questions. Would we have a kicker? Sorry, I talked about T-Bass. He's been awesome. But to expand that point, special teams as a whole has been phenomenal. From the punts to the coverage teams, those hitting yards in that field position, probably a reason we won that game yesterday. Also, would Keyon Coleman be on the team this year? I'm just so proud of him, too, and just to see him from a 20-year-old kid talking about cookies and winter coats when we got him to just his maturity and these very relevant big plays as well. Defense, I actually thought we played pretty well three quarters of the game. Our run defense continues to be very, very solid against very, very good backs this year. But then that fourth quarter, you know, Cousins looked like Tom Brady out there and carving us up, and I don't know how Bowers was getting so wide open, but I'm sure you'll hear a lot about that all week, really. All that said, we won. We're 5-1. I'll take it. I do have two questions I want to leave you guys with. One was with that onside at the end of the game. It was the drop kick. Kind of a weird play. I know on a regular kickoff you can fair catch. 00:49:19 Speaker 6: Could Shakira. 00:49:20 Speaker 5: fair caught that and just ended it that way? And then second question for Brownie, will you please let us know when the Price is Right episode airs? I'd really like to check that out. That said, to my Illinois people, I'll be rooting with the Go Bears this week on Thursday to take on the Patriots and then As always, go Bills. 00:49:41 Speaker 3: Yeah, thanks, Mickey. Yes, you can fair catch an onside kick if it's up in the air. Although, if it's drop kicked, I don't know if you can. Well, his foot was the last thing to hit it up into the air. So, yeah, you could probably fair catch that. Okay, so you can fair catch that. 00:49:54 Speaker 4: I'm with you. I thought the drop kick's a good idea, except you've got to get it on the ground. You can't put it up in the air. It's too easy for guys to catch. That's the problem. 00:50:01 Speaker 3: They failed with that execution. 00:50:03 Speaker 4: Poorly executed or at least wrongly executed, in my opinion. Maybe they told him to do that. 00:50:07 Speaker 3: No, because the way Matt Gay was walking off the field with his head to the sky like this, I would surmise it was not. 00:50:13 Speaker 8: Yeah. 00:50:14 Speaker 4: And you've got to know that's not the first time he's ever tried that. They've rehearsed that time and time again. So he had a plan and he didn't execute it. The ball got up in the air. And Khalil Shakir, a spinning, a tumbling football like that is the easiest thing in the world to catch. 00:50:29 Speaker 3: Yeah, Shakir caught it and it was no problem. 00:50:31 Speaker 4: So, yeah, the game was over at that point. 00:50:32 Speaker 7: So. 00:50:33 Speaker 4: Yeah, and the price is right is coming up. That's right. You're right. Bass has been money. He's perfect on the season. Special teams have been a huge plus, particularly in the last couple of weeks where we've noticed it. Keon has emerged as a guy that we always want consistency. He'd have these big games like one a year or two a year. And he disappeared. 00:50:57 Speaker 3: It seems like he's hanging around this year. He's doing it every week. Touchdowns in three straight games. 00:51:01 Speaker 4: And the defense, you can say what you want. Yeah, they're better against the run. They're pretty good against the run, but there's work to do there. 00:51:06 Speaker 3: They had three three-and-outs yesterday and a two-and-out off an interception. To me, that's progress. And let's not forget this. Bowers was the main concern for three-and-a-half quarters. He did nothing. That's right. He finished with four catches for 70 yards. They had a plan for him, and for three quarters of the game, it worked. 00:51:26 Speaker 4: He did not beat them. What is it, Mike Mayer? 00:51:28 Speaker 3: Mike Mayer. 00:51:29 Speaker 4: Mike Mayer. If Mike Mayer's going to beat you, okay. 00:51:31 Speaker 3: Yeah, but he's not the same athlete. 00:51:33 Speaker 4: He's not the guy. So if they're going to beat you left-handed, then okay. But that's a problem for them, right? 00:51:41 Speaker 5: Yeah. 00:51:41 Speaker 4: But a good plan for their most ardent threat. Yeah, and I hadn't really thought about it like that because it was, you know, that last drive, you know, they get the ball, they're down two scores, and three plays later they're in the end zone. Now there's a pass interference or whatever it was that put them down there. But, you know, that was a crusher. And so it left a bad taste in your mouth defensively, but there was some stuff. 00:52:06 Speaker 3: Some progress. Got to take a break here. When we come back, hour number two begins with Our broadcast partner, Eric Wood on the Bills Radio Network, will get his thoughts on the game yesterday next here on One Bills Live. 00:52:32 Speaker 1: Love y'all boys. 00:52:34 Speaker 3: He is a beast with a capital B. The cook is in the kitchen. Looks down the sideline. 00:52:43 Speaker 2: He's got Kincaid for a 23-yard touchdown. 00:52:47 Speaker 4: And it's intercepted. 00:52:49 Speaker 2: Jumping up in the air is Bedford. 00:52:51 Speaker 3: This is One Pills Live. All right, hour number two gets in. For more analysis of yesterday's win over the Raiders, and here to help us do that is our broadcast partner on the Bills Radio Network, Eric Wood, whose appearance on One Bills Live is presented by Campbell's Chunky. Bills fans, game day hunger calls for something big, and Campbell's Chunky Soup brings bold flavor and big satisfaction to every bowl. Grab Chunky at Wegmans, a proud partner of the Buffalo Bills. Well, Eric, it's a cleaner performance offensively as there were no turnovers, and even though, as Joe Brady

laid out, the Raiders' defense threw something completely different than what was expected at the Buffalo offense. They kept their poise, executed. It wasn't always the scripted play. Josh made a lot of second-reaction plays in this one, but at the end of the day, the result's the same. There's 30-plus points on the board, and they win 33-30. 00:54:03 Speaker 1: Yeah, they did a good job of taking care of the football yesterday. This is a Raiders team that forced 11 fumbles on the season. James Cook was excellent with his ball security. Almost going even a little too overboard at times with the two hands on the football a little early, but you appreciate the willingness to say, look, this is one area where James Cook's hurting the team, and he recognizes that, so he's not going to let that happen, or especially was it yesterday in Las Vegas, and Look, this is Bill's offense. When you have the type of attack they do with what they can do through the air with Josh Allen and the receivers and tight ends and even now the backs getting involved and then what they can do with their ground game, you almost have to expect each week that you're going to get something different from teams. They're going to try to shake things up because most teams aren't going to be able to physically match up against this Bill's offense, and they recognize that. Yeah. 00:55:00 Speaker 4: Does it say anything, DJ Moore not playing in this game, Ed Oliver continues to be out. Now they've got a bye week to get completely healthy. You go back to the first two weeks of the season when they were ringing people up in Houston and then Detroit here at home. If they do stay healthy, man, they've got some problems. You get these teams like the Raiders who, right out of the gate, it turns almost into desperation mode to stop an offense like this. 00:55:26 Speaker 1: Yeah, no doubt. And yeah, you put DJ Moore back in the mix. You add another deep threat down the field, a true number one receiver that can, you know, win at all three levels. Yes, that's going to make a big difference for this offense and just continue to open things up. But then, you know, it's been great. You don't want to have DJ Moore not out there on the field, but to see the way that Keon Coleman has stepped up in his absence has been a huge bright spot. And it just seems like each and every week guys are taking turns making plays on this offense. And, look, I mean, like I said, teams are going to continue to mix up what they're doing against the Bills because especially when Josh Allen's playing in rhythm and taking what the defense is giving him like yesterday, it's going to be an efficient day at the offense and the Bills are going to score over 30 points. there's, you know, they score on seven of their nine drives. They have to settle for field goals too many times in that game for their liking. And so they're going to have plenty to kind of self critique, uh, I guess throughout this week, um, is they, you know, in the bi-week perfect time, especially six weeks in perfect time to analyze, you know, kind of all aspects of the organization, but offensively right now, they are an absolute wagon. 00:56:42 Speaker 3: Let's His performance, Eric, I know fans are going to look at the final score and say, I gave up 30 points again, but I think we saw some incremental progress here. 3-3 and outs. They turn the Raiders away three times in the red zone to force field goals, and they get a takeaway, which amounts to a two-play drive for minus two yards for the Raiders. What did you see that maybe was encouraging going forward defensively? 00:57:12 Speaker 1: Yeah, people are probably going to get honest about being homers and talking about the bright spots in a game where you give up 30 points again. But where they sit right now, defensively, they know they have issues, and they know they need to get better. But this is an extremely young group defensively, which is encouraging. You would assume that this group will continue to get better as the season goes on. I thought that Christian Benford had a great game yesterday. I like their plan against Brock Bowers. He ended up having a couple catches late, but– based upon what I was able to research and figure out, it looked like when Benford was on Brock Bowers, he only gave up 23 yards in the game. And, you know, he drew the assignment of going one-on-one with him a ton throughout that game. And, you know, last year, the Broncos used Pat Sertan on Brock Bowers, and they used a fairly similar game plan yesterday with their approach with Christian Benford. I thought Igmenos made some nice plays yesterday. Max Harrison had a nice play. in the flat on a tackle. And so there's some encouraging things on the outside. I think right now in their zone concepts, the middle of the field is just struggling. Safeties, linebackers, we're giving up too much there. And that's something we'll continue to evaluate. And I'm sure they'll evaluate it this week and how they have to address that. But you got an extremely young secondary. 00:58:32 Speaker 5: C.J. 00:58:33 Speaker 1: Gardner-Johnson goes out of the game yesterday. You have Jalen Kilgore come in and had a couple encouraging plays. And then the top gets on them for the long touchdown to Tucker late, you still get the win, and it's a learning experience. Jalen Kilgore played a lot of mainly nickel last year at South Carolina, and he makes a great play over the middle of the field on the three and out in the third quarter, or sorry, in the fourth quarter, and I'm encouraged by it. And so, you know, right now, yes, the defense is an issue, and they're taking a lot of criticism locally, in Western New York and then around the country. But I truly believe that this group, especially with their youth can come together and you get an Ed Oliver back and you start getting a little bit healthier. I do see some encouraging things. And I mean, again, it's another week where, Deion

Walker's not necessarily going to show up huge on the stat sheet, but, I mean, you've got the highest-paid center in the NFL talking after the game about how he let number 96, he called him, I let number 96 dictate the game to me. And, I mean, he ragdolled him a few times throughout that game. There was times where the Bills ran stunts, and because of Deion Walker's physicality and penetration, no one was able to come off, which also created the free rushers as well. And you talk about this youth movement on defense. You've got a second-year player there. And I thought TJ Sanders had another nice game. And then in his first year, TJ Parker's coming along with Bradley Chubbis and some time yesterday with the Ribs. He's coming along. So, look, I'm not here to say it's all sunshine and rainbows on the defensive side of the football for the Bills right now. But I will say, with the amount of youth that we're playing right now, the hope and the encouragement would be that as the season goes on, it continues to progress. 01:00:27 Speaker 4: Yeah, and you do see flashes from everybody. And you see the rollercoaster of inconsistency. Like Kilgore, he gets in, he almost picks one off when he first gets on the field. And then he gets beat over the top. So you're seeing the whole spectrum in like three plays, right? You see a guy like Terrell Bernard when Brock Bowers is going down the seam, and Bowers runs an absolutely ridiculous route. And this is one of the plays when Christian Benford was not guarding him. And Bernard is following him down. He sends Bernard inside. Bernard turns to see the inside route, and Brock Bowers goes outside, and he's all by himself out there. You see the whole spectrum in this defense. And I keep asking this same question every week. and I guess you're telling us, some of the hallmarks of improvement are what we're seeing along with the inconsistency is what the problem is sometimes, right? You've got athletes out there, you've got youth, you've got some guys making plays, but man, oh man, they're all over the map. 01:01:34 Speaker 1: They are, and that's the frustrating part, and that's, I guess, something that we're just going to have to live with at times with the amount of youth that we have out there, and you just assume that as they take their lessons in their lumps and, you know, the, you know, IGB getting a little too handsy at the top of these routes and picking up these penalties. Okay, well now I got to get better in that instance. And, you know, some of these zone concepts that they're struggling in and, you know, there's a, there's a lot of lessons being learned right now, but there, there are encouraging times, but right now when, when it's bad, it's bad. I mean, there's some of these third and longs, where you're getting guys wide open and it's easy pitching catches for first. It doesn't happen that often in the NFL like that. And so, you know, I know Jim Leonard's frustrated and that staff is frustrated by a lot of this, but as you turn that film on today, there's going to be some bright spots. And I feel like yesterday, especially they had an uptick in the amount of man to man that they're running. And I think as the season goes on, you'll see more man to man from this defense because I felt like they were, at least tighter and able to contest more balls when they were playing man coverage yesterday. 01:02:48 Speaker 4: Just one more before I turn it back over to Chris. Give us your idea. What changed when C.J. Gardner-Johnson came off the field, and what did you think about that situation? 01:02:59 Speaker 1: I'm not a fan of that. I'm not a fan of the spitting. This is a grown man's game, and you respect your opponent. You don't have to like him. You want to beat him up throughout the game. but ultimately, uh, I thought that was really disrespectful. And look, I know part of his game is trying to get under the opposing team skin. He was in Devonta Adams here the entire game last week. And that's part of his game, but he crossed the line and he knows that he put out the apology and we'll see how the bills address. We'll see how the league addresses it. Uh, it's not a good situation. Um, I feel like, you know, this, this organization as a whole, uh, led by the forefront from Josh Allen has been an extremely classy organization and, you know, that doesn't fit with this Bill's culture. And so it'll be addressed. Hopefully he comes out of it in a better situation, learning a lesson. And, you know, we, we see an improvement there, you know, just in his demeanor and in his actions on the field, but you get Kilgore to come in. Damar Hamlin's playing more in those situations. And I mean, it didn't, It wasn't a drastic fall-off. I'll say that when those guys came in. 01:04:16 Speaker 3: Eric, I want to kind of throw some flowers to the special teams phase of the game here a little bit and get your comments on it as well. Last week against the Rams, three of the biggest plays in the game, a 70-yard kick return to start leads to a field goal drive, and then obviously the block by Rousseau. to keep the game alive in overtime. And then Bass with the kick at the end. We know Bass is still perfect on the season. He's tied Ryan Lindell for 18 straight field goals. The longest streak in quite some time. I've got to check to see if it is a record. I think it is. But then even yesterday, 40-yard kick return by Ray Davis sets up another scoring drive. Greg Dortch, 12.3 yards per punt return. That's a great average. And Tommy Dolman flipping the field again. I know he only kicked two times, but he capably flipped the field twice. And very quietly, the Bills are second in the league in net punting average at 46. For people that don't know, that is a gigantic number. Jeff Rogers and the job he has done in his first year as special teams coordinator has been, in my estimation, outstanding so far. 01:05:28 Speaker 1: I agree. 01:05:30 Speaker 6: And. 01:05:31 Speaker 1:

Look, that shows more about the culture of this team, the way they do play special teams, the amount of effort that you see out there. I mean, our kick coverage is violent. Joe Andreessen, Latu had a play yesterday. Michael Hoyt, veteran player, running down there on kickoff, making plays. You got an all-pro returner from last year in Ray Davis. Tyler Bass seems to have his confidence back. And, yeah, you mentioned Tommy Doman yesterday. I believe throughout the game, you had a 45 yarder, no return and a 54 yarder that pins them inside their 10 yard line with no return. And so you look when your defense is giving up as many points as they are right now, 28 and a half a game, I believe. The reason the Bills are five and one is because the offense has played extremely well. You have the highest scoring offense in the league. and special teams has played a major role in this. And so where one phase is struggling, you have to play, you have two phases of your team playing at an extremely high level. And you're sitting at five and one heading into the buy, looking around saying, man, we can get so much better as a team, especially on the defense side of the football, but even, you know, offensively there's stuff to clean up, you know, as far as some of the penalties and play a turnover free game this week, but turnovers have been an issue at times this year as well. And so, Special teams has been excellent this season. We've talked about it before. I always say when we would watch film, just a random PAT, the way a team goes after it defensively, you can always tell what the culture of the team was like, the effort that they played with in those situations. This Bills team on special teams is all-out effort in all four phases. 01:07:15 Speaker 4: The into the bye week and last week notably Jim Leonard said listen if we don't see progress we don't this you know you have to have some big conversations which means personnel I mean that's what he was alluding to changing guys making some changes in the lineup are we going to see that what's your what's your take on what this bye week might bring as we come out of the bye and face Baltimore Ravens. 01:07:38 Speaker 1: Yeah I mean you got the you got the trade deadline coming up November 10th. You could potentially get a Jordan Hancock coming back off of IR at some point soon. You see Kilgore coming off an injury, being able to get out there on the field yesterday. I mean, those would be, you know, two guys that could potentially shake some things up from a personnel standpoint, unless you go out and make a move. You know, I think yesterday we saw more man coverage. So where you could see personnel change, you could also see some schematic changes and, look, Jim Leonard's trying to figure out what this group of guys is going to excel at. And I think yesterday we saw some more man-to-man defense. I would assume as the season goes on, you'll see some more stimulated pressures and some different pressure looks. I thought one of the disappointing things yesterday was, and I know Kirk Cousins has a fast release, but he was only pressured on seven of his 42 dropbacks. And this was a defensive line that early parts of the season was top five consistently in their pressure rate on opposing quarterbacks and so you know you could you could see some maybe more creativity up front but when you look at the personnel unless you go out and make a move besides maybe a couple guys in a Kilgore a Hancock that could be out there you would assume that those would be maybe the personnel changes and then you know linebacker play you know I know I've heard people saying you know elevate Shaq Thompson or what that looks like we'll see there as well. 01:09:14 Speaker 3: Eric thanks for the time we appreciate it enjoy your bye week we'll catch up with you in a couple of weeks I appreciate it. 01:09:19 Speaker 1: You too, guys. 01:09:21 Speaker 3: All right, that's Eric Wood joining us, color commentator on the Bills radio network. Yeah, I mean, I'm curious to see what the decisions will be personnel-wise, to your point, coming out of the bye, because if you feel, and again, I'll say it, maybe most fans aren't seeing this, but I saw incremental progress yesterday. The ability to get off the field improved. Against a veteran quarterback who knows what he's looking at, knows how to make plays. And I thought the way they defended the red zone. Let's not forget, the Raiders had a first and goal at the two. 01:09:59 Speaker 2: Yeah. 01:10:00 Speaker 3: And the Bills got out of that. 01:10:02 Speaker 4: Yeah, with a field goal. 01:10:03 Speaker 3: Forced an incompletion on third down in the end zone with good coverage. Got some stops. Great games with a great play on a tackle for loss. Yeah. 01:10:11 Speaker 1: I mean. 01:10:12 Speaker 3: You turn a team away first and goal at the two, you're making progress somewhere, somehow, and they got three red zone stops out of five red zone possessions yesterday. They stopped that Raiders offense on 60% of their red zone possessions. 01:10:25 Speaker 4: And that's why, you know, you get into these debates about how good quarterbacks are and all that. Having Josh on a first and goal from the two, the Bills don't get denied. Yeah. They quarterback sneak in or give it to Cook and you're in. That is an enormous advantage where– Kirk Cousins is not going to give you that right and that's those well it's the difference in the game I mean but you know it could be anything but if you're going to beat him you got to beat him somehow and that's what it turned out to be this yesterday that red zone defense. 01:10:53 Speaker 3: And I think if you look a little bit closer you're starting to see rookies make a few more plays we noticed TJ Parker more yesterday yes got more time on the field he affected Kirk Cousins didn't sack him Hurried some throws. 01:11:08 Speaker 4: He hit him hard. 01:11:09 Speaker 3: Forced some ill-advised throws. Body

slammed him to the ground on a quarterback hit. And then you mentioned Jalen Kilgore on the field sparingly. Yes, he gave up one over the top, but he also made a play that got the defense off the field on third down. So you've got to take the good with some of the growing pains here. And I'm encouraged... I thought Igbenosin made more plays. He still got called for a defensive holding, but I think he only got called for one. No, he got called for a pass interference, too. So he's still got to get that part out of his game, but he's also made some more plays on the ball. I really believe that some of these rookies are growing into some roles. They're making some more plays, and I believe that will continue. And if it does, I think you've got to go with that upside. You know, when you're seeing incremental improvement, but it's not improving on the whole enough, more often than not, coaches go with the upside player. And I hope that continues with Jim Leonard and his defensive staff. 01:12:12 Speaker 6: T.J. 01:12:12 Speaker 4: Parker showed up big yesterday. 01:12:14 Speaker 3: He's not going to show up on the stat sheet. 01:12:17 Speaker 4: He made the right tackle absolutely whiff on him, got a straight run at Cousins, and Cousins felt it. 01:12:23 Speaker 3: I was encouraged. 01:12:24 Speaker 4: And that's why it's part of what it looked like. And give the Raiders credit. I walked away impressed with their team and how they played against the Bills yesterday. This is not your dad's Raiders team where they're picking at the top of the draft. Right. They've been struggling over a decade or so. That's a team that's well put together. And any time you get a veteran, Bills fans know, you get a veteran quarterback in there like Kirk Cousins, they make it hard to beat them because they don't give you that. bad play. You know, they don't give you much and the bills had to earn it. And the Raiders made them earn it. Uh, no question about it. It was, uh, uh, it was, uh, it was a really good football game yesterday. And like, we've seen a lot, one of the traits about this iteration of the bills with Josh, we've seen it every year, man, this, this, these games slow start, but man, the last quarter, there's like four touchdowns scored two by them, two by the bills. Um, It's a barn burner at the end when the Bills finally get on top of it offensively and they start scoring points. Teams are forced to take the fetters off and answer, and sometimes they can get it done. 01:13:29 Speaker 3: Break time for us here. We will finally get to your phone calls when we get back. 716-427-0989, your biggest takeaways from the Bills' 33-30 win over the Raiders next. 01:13:49 Speaker 1: Handoff goes to Cook, lowers the shoulder. 01:13:51 Speaker 3: The surge is pushing. Can they get him to the goal line? 01:13:55 Speaker 2: He is in for the touchdown. 01:13:58 Speaker 3: A three-yard touchdown run by James Cook. The Cook is in the kitchen. This week's Player of the Game is

presented by... Bank the official bank of the Buffalo Bills, James Cook, 22 carries, 95 yards and a touchdown, three receptions for 58 yards, goes for 153 in total scrimmage yards, and now has a touchdown run in five consecutive games and is on his best rushing pace of his career, 627 rushing yards in the first six games. 01:14:37 Speaker 4: He's getting it done. 01:14:38 Speaker 3: Outpacing his total from last year through the first six. Think about if he had not, you know, had the ball security issues he's had to this point. 01:14:49 Speaker 4: People would be pumping his tires. 01:14:51 Speaker 3: Well, if he wasn't playing with Josh Allen, he'd be getting a lot more shine, too. 01:14:55 Speaker 4: That's true, too. But he's a big reason. 01:14:59 Speaker 7: Yeah. 01:14:59 Speaker 4: He's one of the big reasons they're 5-1. 01:15:01 Speaker 6: Yeah. 01:15:03 Speaker 3: Let's get to the phones finally. We've got a full bank of calls, so try to be as brief as possible so we can get to everybody. We go to Butch on the east side next. What's up, Butch? 01:15:14 Speaker 7: My brother's from another beautiful mother. 01:15:16 Speaker 8: Thanks so much for taking my call. 01:15:18 Speaker 2: I love MSG. 01:15:19 Speaker 7: Love 98.9. 01:15:20 Speaker 8: 1120 AM on ESPN. 01:15:22 Speaker 1: All the fans, I love you. 01:15:23 Speaker 8: Thanks for taking this call. I'm going to get right to it. I know you've got a lot of people waiting. Offensively, I was going to get right to this. 01:15:31 Speaker 7: I spoke to you guys yesterday. 01:15:33 Speaker 8: Early in the year, I've been pounding that table with it by using the backs more. I applaud Joe Brady for using the backs. I think moving forward, like you said earlier, I was listening to you at 10 o'clock when you stated that the backs, implement the backs. Now the other defense is always looking for wide receivers and tight ends. Now, we can get Ray Davis along with Johnson, along with Cook, maybe a three-backfield type situation. Maybe not in the same backfield, but split out and use our backs more based off what we have in the receiving end. I think it's going to be an easy attack, more clean game for Josh Allen, and I think Josh Allen can just put more points on the board. Now, defensively, and I appreciate this call, I'm dead serious about this. We have to, in this break we have right now, I want Joe Brady, along with Brandon Bean, to sit down with Jim Leonard and say, listen, Jim, I know you have an expert, you know, want to be a head coach. You know that. They call us a one-and-done season when you first got here. But I need you for this. We played six games with you on the sideline. I need you to go up in the box now, and I want you to see the game and call it from there, like Joe had to do when he was office coordinator before he became a head coach. And I really believe, just like Eric just said, with Gilmore, I'm like, T.J. Parker, you can bring him in on passing downs, and then he'll be the blitz. You can keep Chubb out there, too. But you've got to play T.J. T.J. 's young got fast, but you've got Gilmore, like you said, you've got Hancock coming back. Use the guys that you drafted, and use the young guys that we had last year. and implement from upstairs and call it from up there, and I think we'll be solid. But I appreciate your call. I love you, man. Send my regards to your family and to all the fans out there. I love each and every one of you. 01:17:23 Speaker 3: All right. Thanks, Butch. Yeah, I mean, a fresh perspective. I wouldn't completely rule it out. Jim has said he is more comfortable downstairs. He tried both in the preseason. I don't know that Joe Brady is going to force his hand and make him go. He has the power to do that. but I think they're going to keep Jim where he feels comfortable. And I know Butch mentioned it. We mentioned it in the last segment. I'm seeing progress from some of the younger players. It's far from perfect. We all know that. But when you're trying to move a defense forward, you usually go with the players that give you the most upside because by giving them more time, if you believe in them, they will eventually reward you. 01:18:10 Speaker 4: Yeah, and I'm having a hard time seeing how Leonard being upstairs would change what happens on the field when they call the defense. 01:18:17 Speaker 3: Right, because it's been executed to a great degree, right? 01:18:21 Speaker 4: Yeah, and I don't know if maybe you're telling me that it's going to change Jim Leonard and somehow Jim Leonard being up there is going to be calling different plays and stuff because he'll see it differently. I don't know. That's a big leap for me. And I'm with Brownie. give these guys a chance to play and they'll get better faster. T.J. Parker played really well yesterday when Bradley Chubb left with his ribs. Kilgore came in and made an awesome play, and then he got smoked. This is where we're at right now. It's hard to say it like this because we tend to talk about offense and defense and evaluate them and say the same things about them when they're good and when they're bad. Defense is a completely different animal. It's a completely different animal. You can have a defense that people love if you just get three tipped interceptions. Like all of a sudden your defense just lights out. And they could be in the wrong coverage, filling the wrong gaps, all of that stuff going on. But if you're getting tipped interceptions, all of a sudden your defense is money. It's a completely different evaluation process. And most of us don't have the wherewithal to go back and pull it apart know what the responsibilities are, and know who's doing what and who's doing it right. It's a completely different animal. So for us, a lot of us are just, you've got to look at the product and say, what are we looking at? How do we evaluate it? And that's up to the defensive staff. To me, that red zone defense yesterday was the first sign that's

like, well, somebody's getting something. Somebody's getting something. It started up front, Gaines. Dion Walker down there, the play before the Gaines play, they stoned the guy at the one. He was going to get in, and he didn't get in. Then the next time Gaines comes through, bang, it's a four-yard loss. Now it's third and five on the five. 01:20:17 Speaker 3: And they get the pass break up. And they get the pass break up. Now it's three points. And they did that three times out of the five. If you give up touchdowns there, it's 12 extra points. And just in case you didn't know, you only won by three. 01:20:28 Speaker 7: Yeah. 01:20:29 Speaker 3: It was instrumental in the outcome. 01:20:31 Speaker 4: It was big. 01:20:32 Speaker 3: Let's go to John on the west side. What's up, John? 01:20:36 Speaker 7: Oh, it's my turn now, guys? 01:20:39 Speaker 4: Go ahead. 01:20:42 Speaker 7: Yeah, no, I just real quick, like you said, I have a lot of things to unpack, but I just want to say I want to give a shout-out to three players, starting with our cornerback. When he was on the tight end of Bowers, he didn't get nothing. I don't know why we took him off because that's where he started getting it out. You know, give a shout out to him. And my man, Keon Coleman. Oh, every time he catches the ball, I clap because I always wanted to see because he got a real, real good hand. He got strong hands. You know, he got to use his height and his strength to overpower corners because that's what he could do. But my question is for you, Chris, or Steve, if you can answer it too. Because our pass was good in the beginning of the season. I would like to know the percentages of Who's getting more run on their defensive line? I think our defensive line is getting tired during the course of a game. You know, I don't know if they're getting equal reps, you know, like 40% of the snaps here. 01:21:45 Speaker 8: You know what I mean? 01:21:46 Speaker 7: I'm going to leave it there. I have more things to say, but I'm going to leave it there and listen to your answer to that. Thank you, guys. And I'm proud of the boys. Go Bills. 01:21:55 Speaker 3: All right. 01:21:55 Speaker 4: Thanks, John. 01:21:55 Speaker 3: Appreciate that. I will say this. In the game against the Patriots, Drake May had way too much time. The protection was outstanding by them, and the Bills had no answer for that, whether they blitzed or they didn't. That was a problem. To your point, John, that the pass rush has not looked as effective against a veteran quarterback like Matthew Stafford. They used rollouts to avoid pressure, which they've used in the past. It worked very effectively for them, and the pass rush was rendered less effective, although I thought it was effective at times against the Rams. And then yesterday against Kirk Cousins, The stats are there to bear this out. He was, if not first, he was the second in terms of quick release. You know, time to throw, the TTT stat, he was under 2.3 seconds. One of the fastest releases in the league because he's a 15-year veteran and he doesn't want to get hit anymore. 01:22:51 Speaker 4: Right. 01:22:51 Speaker 3: So he gets the ball out fast. Now there were times where there were long developing plays and he still got the ball out end of the game. 44-yard touchdown pass to Trey Tucker, for example. So I think there were some things working against the Bills' pass rush the last couple of weeks with two veteran quarterbacks. But against Drake May, it was not good enough. It's going to have to be better in the rematch against him. So there's work to do there. But again, I think there are encouraging signs with TJ Parker at the forefront of that coming on in this game last week. I thought that was the best game he's played. And that's the guy that did get pressure on Drake May because he had the half sack and the forced fumble in that game that they lost a few weeks ago. So I think it's been a mixed bag the last three weeks. I don't think it's dire straits for the pass rush, but there are some things they've got to tweak and fix. 01:23:37 Speaker 4: One thing I noticed, right after halftime, both the Bills' offense and their defense got a big lift, a big juice infusion. The pass rush. Yeah, three and a half to start the third quarter. They got the pass rush going real early right after halftime, so they did some things right at halftime, made some adjustments, got a chance to look their guys in the eye and make some adjustments, and you could see it. And on offense as well. They came out and played much better offensively because they started handing the ball to Cook, and he got them going. And so I think coaching staff-wise, when they get a chance to sit down and make some adjustments, they really did a nice job at halftime. Now, certainly the Raiders countered later in the game, and when the gloves had to come off, they're down 10 with a minute 42 to go. You saw what the Raiders are capable of. I mean, they lit them up. three-play, 65-yard drive for the touchdown to get them to three. So the Raiders came back and readjusted as well during that second half. But some of the things that happened in that game, I was really encouraged by. When they had a chance to sit down and make some adjustments, they did it. And the guys were up to it. And I'll say it again, the young guys on the team, even the defensive front with, I'll say, T.J. Parker, got on and did some stuff yesterday. Uh, I'd love to see him play more. I'd love to see Ed Oliver get on the field again at some point. Um, yeah, it, and Greg, Greg Rousseau. And I thought Greg Rousseau and, uh, Dion in their pass rush. One of the things I noticed as well from the sidelines is they're trying to get to the quarterback so much. They forget to bat the balls down. They got to get it. They got to get back to getting their hands. 01:25:22 Speaker 3: I had one of those. Yeah, he did. 01:25:24 Speaker 4: Um, There's many times, and you'll see it in

the replays, where the ball goes right past their ear or right over the top of their head. If they just time it upright, they could bat those down pretty easily. 01:25:34 Speaker 3: Break time for us here. We'll squeeze a phone call or two in when we come back here on a Buffalo Victory Monday on One Bills Live. Back here on One Bills Live on a Buffalo Victory Monday. Here we go because we're tight on time. And to Mark in Jersey City, what do you got for us, Mark? 01:26:04 Speaker 5: Good afternoon, gentlemen. Thanks for taking my call. Glad you guys are back in Buffalo. Yeah, CB, the Palmer drop really, really pained me. And the Bills are playing with two wide receivers right now. Bell's not up for it. Palmer is a one-catch and disappearing act. And Thorch is a special teams guy. the defense played, I felt into that point, really good. They come out of half, they get a three and out bills, go get hosed and kick a field goal on bogus, uh, uh, Osiris Torrance holding. And then I did not have a Dorian Williams INC on the bingo board. I did not have that, that he, and he played that amazing. And, and then Kilgore had his, uh, had his, um, His Bishop moment against the Texans where he didn't get enough depth and got beat over the top the same way Bishop did against Nico Collins. He'll learn from that. But I'm ready to move on from C.J. Gardner-Johnson. It's just too much. And you can see he's guessing. I don't need Jim Leonard to tell me his assignment to see that he's guessing. Why? Because he's the first one staring at everybody when there's acres of space for guys to run into. And he lifts on too many tackles. I'm not being harsh. There's a reason this guy has been moved around. It's a bad look. It's an ugly look. You don't do it. He's got a history of this type of crap. No, no, no, no, no, no. It just can't be. Thanks for taking my call, guys. 01:27:36 Speaker 3: All right. Thanks, Mark. He did miss two tackles yesterday as well before the incident that got him ejected. But, look, again, it's not our decision to make. That's for people way above our pay grade to assess the situation, decide what's best for the organization, and go from there. That's just kind of where it sits. 01:27:56 Speaker 4: Yeah, I've got to say I was impressed with the apology he wrote. He owned it. And it has been talked about. I mean, let's face it. And it's in the light of Jim Linderson. Listen, we've got to have some big conversations. And you're right, he did just. He had a couple of tough plays right before he got ejected. So it was a bad look and a bad thing. But I don't want to overreact to it either. The guy's been here for months. He's stacked up some days and some games. But if there's a better option, I mean, they should have gone to it earlier. Uh, maybe now's the time maybe with two weeks in the buy, but I, I don't want to react to something that's going to give you less of a chance to win games. 01:28:42 Speaker 8: Yeah. 01:28:42 Speaker 3: Uh, that'll do it for us here on a Monday. I know Mickey asked about the price is right. Air date. It's March 2nd. So put it on your calendar, set your DVR. Um, But that'll do it here for us for a Buffalo victory Monday. Steve and I will obviously be back again tomorrow, so sorry for the phone calls we could not get to. You can ring us up tomorrow at 716-427-0989 to catch up with us and give us your thoughts because we'll still be talking about this victory over the Raiders on Tuesday's show when we have the Hall of Famer Thurman Thomas and Mitch Morris from the Bills pre- and post-game shows. We'll see you tomorrow at 10. 01:29:20 Speaker 6: Bye.