Tag: bills chargers

Trent Murphy made expendable in Bills lineup by AJ Epenesa

Buffalo Bills’ Leslie Frazier on Trent Murphy, AJ Epenesa.

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It’s a pretty simple reason why defensive end Trent Murphy was a healthy scratch for the Buffalo Bills in their 27-17 win over the Los Angeles Chargers.

The long and short answer: AJ Epenesa, and to a tad lesser extend, Darryl Johnson. On Monday following the win, Bills defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier discussed the lineup decision made by the Bills, saying the youth seemed more promising ahead of this matchup.

“Trent’s been a very productive player for us in Buffalo,” Frazier said. “But just being able to see AJ’s development and how he’s been able to come along did play into Trent not being available.”

Murphy, 29, was viewed by many observers of the Bills as a potential salary cap casualty coming into the 2020 season. Instead, he made the team, as did both Epenesa and Johnson. That left the Bills with a stacked defensive end room.

For most of this season, the Bills have rolled with Murphy. In most cases, he’s in a No. 3 role on the edge behind Jerry Hughes and Mario Addison. But this isn’t the first time the Bills have done move with their defensive front.

Early this year against the Chiefs, Murphy was a surprise healthy scratch along with defensive tackle Harrison Phillips. Following that game, Murphy jumped back into the lineup while Phillips was continued to be a consistent health scratch.

But it appears that now the youth is emerging more than ever considering both Epenesa (31) and Johnson (24) played a season-high total number of snaps, respectively, against the Chargers. The eye test told a similar thing as Epenesa, who had a tackle for loss, did standout.

Any of those observing that about Epenesa through their television also has some backing in that same idea from the Bills coaching staff.

“Eric Washington, our D-line coach, we were talking about this earlier today when we were having our D-line meeting, just the fact that he and Darryl Johnson just both did a really good job and increased our confidence in two young players,” Frazier said via video conference. “AJ made it, convincingly, that we need to get him more snaps and get him out there more.

“(Epenesa) showed splashes of a guy who could be an impact player,” Frazier added.

One early storyline to keep an eye on this week for the Bills ahead of their Monday Night Football meeting against the San Francisco 49ers is whether or not Murphy’s in the lineup or the youthful approach is taken again.

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WATCH: Highlights from Bills’ win over the Chargers

Video highlights from Buffalo Bills’ Week 12 win over Los Angeles Chargers.

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While the final score might not seem it, the Buffalo Bills did a lot right in their 27-17 win against the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 12.

The Bills (8-3) defense certainly stepped up, but the offense pulled off the tricks, too. Heck, even special teams got in on the fun.

Check out the full highlight package from the Bills’ win over the Chargers above in the video player above.

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Bills’ Gabriel Davis on Cole Beasley TD pass: ‘I knew it was going to work’

Buffalo Bills WR Gabriel Davis, Cole Beasley on trick play vs. Los Angeles Chargers.

The Buffalo Bills defeated the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 12, 27-17, thanks to a good performance by the Buffalo defense, run game, and some career firsts.

While big plays are not uncommon for wide receiver Cole Beasley, an unexpected one came in the second quarter. The Bills receiver has had the NFL buzzing with catches on third down and plays in the red zone since signing with Buffalo (8-3), but beyond his clutch grabs he possesses another skill that helped the Bills earn a victory: His quarterback arm. 

Beasley threw his first NFL pass, and first since he was a high school quarterback, on a trick play with about 10 minutes left in the first half vs. the Chargers. Left wide open, rookie Gabriel Davis caught the 20-yard pass for a touchdown: 

The trickery was too much for the Chargers (3-8) defense to handle, and onlookers weren’t sure what was going to happen at first, as Beasley took an odd looking move into the backfield when he was called into motion by quarterback Josh Allen. 

Even with all the complexities going on, the Bills were confident the play was going to connect, especially Davis.

“It was great, I knew it was going to work. We run a lot of those bubble screens,” Davis said via video conference following the game. “Cole was able to put ‘a dart,’ he said he threw it kind of hard to get it in there… but it was a soft ball, an easy catch, glad we could make that connection.” 

Reflecting after the game, Beasley was also able to admit it maybe wasn’t much of a bullet pass. 

“It was really ugly, but it got there, I’ll take it,” Beasley said. 

Regardless, the biggest takeaway from the play wasn’t the velocity of the ball, it was the execution. Perfect down to a tee. Davis said the Bills had been practicing the play for a couple of weeks in practice and the gun-slinger on the play gave all the credit to offensive coordinator Brian Daboll. 

“The timing in which (Daboll) calls [trick plays.]… Dabs has done a good job of mixing it up. He does a good job of keeping them off-balanced and that was one of those times right there,” Beasley said. 

Buffalo sports a number of players with past experience at the quarterback position, or at least an ability to throw the ball, offering possibilities for the type of “position-less football.” Daboll’s four passing touchdowns by non-quarterbacks since his first year with Buffalo in 2018 is tied with the Miami Dolphins for the most in the NFL.

Beasley joins fellow receiver Isaiah McKenzie, who threw a 12-yard TD pass back to Allen in the Bills’ game against the Cardinals, as only the second pair of non-QBs in franchise history to throw touchdown passes in a season.

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The Morning After: What’s going right at the right time for Bills

The Morning After reaction to the Buffalo Bills’ Week 12 win over the Los Angeles Chargers.

The sexiest win against the Chargers for the Bills? Certainly not. That 27-17 victory might have been a lot closer had it not been for some bizarre coaching from Los Angeles’ Anthony Lynn late.

But it’s hard to argue that things aren’t going according to plan for the Bills as the calendar is set to turn the page to December. The word we’re really referencing here is “peaking.”

That’s exactly what is happening for the Bills (8-3) right now. They’re starting to look like a team that might be peaking at the right time, especially on defense.

Buffalo head coach Sean McDermott has talked about this already. While Buffalo, at least defensively, has had their issues early in 2020, the coach mentioned this exact thing just days into November.

“Most coaches would say they want to hit their stride in November, December, when the leaves are coming off the trees,” McDermott said.

Boom, he nailed it and his team is doing exactly that and the easiest place to see the improvement is on his defense.

The Bills held an opponent to their lowest output of the season, 17 points, against the Chargers in Week 12. That is, excluding any opponent named the Jets. In doing that, rookie quarterback Justin Herbert looked nothing like a first-year pro on a record-setting pace, did he? That guy is going to break the record for most rookie QB touchdowns this year, and he looked bad.

After losing Jordan Phillips and Shaq Lawson via free agency and Star Lotulelei via opt out, the Bills’ front-seven unit didn’t look good throughout the first half of the year. Guys in the middle like Vernon Butler, Quinton Jefferson and Ed Oliver were not consistent and pass rushers weren’t getting in the backfield. AJ Klein, brought in to fit the Lorenzo Alexander mold, left… everything to be desired.

Now even AJ Epenesa is peaking at the right time as the second-round rookie had his best game of the year against the Bolts, much like Klein did. Speaking of linebackers, Tremaine Edmunds is night-and-day different than the guy dealing with a shoulder issue at the start of the 2020 campaign.

In handling the Chargers’ top-five offense on Sunday, the Bills did so without anything more than a decent game for the strength of their defense, too. The secondary? Nothing great out there. Tre’Davious White continued the secondary’s recent turnover surge with a clutch interception, but Chargers wideouts like Keenan Allen and Mike Williams did make contested catches on them through the game. However, looking at the grand scheme of things, the secondary still plays well and can be leaned on.

So the front-seven now coming together to add to that? The Bills could be a serious threat heading toward the playoffs if this keeps up.

Not to mention, the offense, who didn’t play overly well themselves, did still put up 27 points. In a bad game, 27 points? How often in the past would that have been a welcoming sight from this club?

And in that same realm, the Bills’ rushing attack looked pretty good. More often than not, leaning on quarterback Josh Allen is probably going to be the way to go, but even the Kansas City Chiefs have used their rushing attack to win a game or two this season. You might recall one they played in a town named Orchard Park.

Let’s get this straight: The defense and rushing attack, previously clear weaknesses of this team, are hitting their stride as December rolls around? Not to mention that Allen, while playing a little too much “hero ball” against the Chargers wasn’t great, is still stringing solid games together, even if it comes from his legs?

This team is currently trending toward peaking at the right time… Again, especially on defense. And what’s the one saying that’d be good to add here…

Oh yeah, defense wins championships, and while we’re not going to call the Bills a Super Bowl team, a couple of encouraging things are coming together for them right now.

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Report card: Bills top Chargers, 27-17

Buffalo Bills report card following Week 12 win over Los Angeles Chargers.

The game is in the books and now the grades are as well. In Week 12, the Buffalo Bills (8-3) topped the Los Angeles Chargers (3-8), 27-17, in a strong outing… in a way we’re not used to.

Here’s how the Bills graded out in our weekly report card following their win over the Chargers:

Bills Wire’s Week 12 Player of the Game: LB AJ Klein

Buffalo Bills player of the game for Week 12, linebacker AJ Klein.

There weren’t many style points earned during the Buffalo Bills’ latest game… but what was gained was the most important thing: A win.

The Bills (8-3) topped the Los Angeles Chargers, 27-17, in Week 12. Coming out of the bye week, the Bills had awhile to think about their last-second loss tot he Cardinals, but that now seems to be a thing of the past.

The Chargers (3-8), a high-flying offense, had their worst game of 2020. Leading the way for Buffalo’s efforts defensive in this one is a guy that’s had a resurgence as of late in linebacker AJ Klein. Because of that hitting a fever pitch vs. the Chargers, Klein has earned Bills Wire’s Player of the Game Award for Week 12.

Since being unleashed as a weapon to try and track down opposing quarterbacks, Klein’s thrived for the Bills. He had 1.5 sacks with two quarterback hits and made his presence felt in the backfield against Chargers QB Justin Herbert. In addition, Klein had a team-high 14 total tackles, including three for loss.

After being nothing short of a liability early in 2020, Klein’s quickly turned into a strength for Buffalo… and he’s now an award-winning linebacker…

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WATCH: Cole Beasley throws TD pass vs. Chargers

Buffalo Bills’ Cole Beasley throws a touchdown pass vs. Chargers in Week 12.

It’s turning into a bit of a mandate if you want to be a playmaker for the Buffalo Bills: You have to be able to throw the ball.

In Week 12 against the Los Angeles Chargers, it was Cole Beasley’s turn. Putting the Bills up 14-6 in the second quarter, Beasley threw a touchdown pass on a trick play to rookie wideout Gabriel Davis.

Check out the trickery again from the Bills here:

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WATCH: Bills’ Dawson Knox snags first TD of year, opens score vs. Chargers

Buffalo Bills TE Dawson Knox touchdown vs. Chargers in Week 12, 2020.

Buffalo Bills tight end Dawson Knox didn’t have much of a challenge on this one, but they all look the same on the score sheet. Knox officially has his first touchdown of the 2020 season and he was wide open on the play.

The Bills offense drove to the goal line thanks to a 47-yard  pass interference call on wideout Stefon Diggs. From there, quarterback Josh Allen found the tight end with no one around him to put Buffalo up 7-0 on the Chargers in the first quarter.

Check out the score here:

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Bills vs. Chargers: Game day inactives

Buffalo Bills, Los Angeles Chargers game day inactives for Week 12.

Here are the full game day inactive lists for both the Buffalo Bills and Los Angeles Chargers ahead of their Week 12 meeting at Bills Stadium:

Los Angeles Chargers (3-7)

  • RB Kalen Ballage (ankle/ calf)
  • CB Casey Hayward (groin)
  • DE Melvin Ingram (knee)
  • DE Uchenna Nwosu (chest/ shoulder)
  • QB Easton Stick
  • OL Storm Norton
  • OL Tyree St. Louis
  • DL Cortez Broughton

 

Buffalo Bills (7-3)

  • QB Jake Fromm 
  • DE Trent Murphy
  • TE Tyler Kroft
  • RB TJ Yeldon

Game previews:

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Chargers activate RB Austin Ekeler ahead of Bills meeting

Austin Ekeler activated.

The Bills will be facing a starting running back in Week 12.

Ahead of their visit to Bills Stadium, the Los Angeles Chargers (3-7) have activated running back Austin Ekeler off of their injured reserve list on Saturday.

Ekeler has been out since Week 4 with a hamstring injury. Earlier this season, Ekeler averaged 5.1 yards per carry. He has yet to score a rushing touchdown this season.

Ekeler has 17 catches for 144 receiving yards this season as well.

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