Tag: bills colts

Former Bills Shaq Lawson, Jordan Phillips were rooting for Buffalo vs. Colts

Former Buffalo Bills players Shaq Lawson, Jordan Phillips on Wild Card win vs. Indianapolis Colts.

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The NFL is a business. That’s why former Bills defensive linemen Shaq Lawson and Jordan Phillips departed for the Dolphins and Cardinals, respectively, last offseason.

At the time of leaving, both guys indicated they’d like to be back at the team’s 2019 locker cleanout day. The good feelings toward the Bills appeared to still be alive and well this past weekend.

Cracking the postseason for the third time in four seasons under current head coach Sean McDermott, the Bills finally got their first win there. Buffalo topped the Indianapolis Colts, 27-24.

Shortly after the game, both Lawson and Phillips took to their social media accounts via Twitter expressed they were happy for the Bills.

Lawson, a former first-round pick of the Bills, told his former team to “go win it all” in his message:

Phillips sent a personal congrats to the fan base:

While perhaps just a small thing to note, this does display the positive reviews the Bills currently have around the NFL.

People talk, and no one more so than former employees. Lawson and Phillips are two of the most-prominent former players to recently play for the Bills under McDermott’s watch and that’s a great sign that they have no grudges or ill-feelings toward Buffalo after their departures.

We’re not that long removed from Buffalo being a place that free agents and other players would never consider playing for and wished to not be drafted by. That seems like ages ago now.

And hey, you never know, maybe they’ll be back one day?

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More ‘tough as nails’ praise came for Bills WR Cole Beasley

Buffalo Bills coach Sean McDermott, QB Josh Allen on WR Cole Beasley during Indianapolis Colts Wild Card win.

Cole Beasley gave an 11 word answer when asked to update his health following the Buffalo Bills’ win over the Indianapolis Colts on Saturday.

Beasley, who caught all seven of his targets in the 27-24 win for 57 yards, simply said he’ll be “all right.”

Mild-mannered when typically behind the microphone (in a press conference setting, at least) like he was on Saturday, everyone else had a lot more to say about his efforts. Beasley, playing through a knee injury, let his toughness do the talking.

Buffalo quarterback Josh Allen said Beasley was “tough as nails” for suiting up.

“To come out and play the way he did was awesome for us,” Allen said.

A day later on Monday, Bills head coach Sean McDermott agreed with Allen’s take so much… he repeated them.

“He’s a stud, just like Josh said, he’s tough as nails,” McDermott said via video conference.

“I can go on and on about how I feel about Cole Beasley. He’s a tough, smart competitor for us,” added offensive coordinator Brian Daboll on Monday as well.

But McDermott did add a bit of a further positive note. Beasley will play once again in Buffalo’s upcoming divisional round meeting on Saturday against the Baltimore Ravens. No setbacks for the slot receiver.

” He loves to compete and he did a great job along with our training staff in getting ready last week,” McDermott said. “He’ll be ready to go.”

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Bills RB Zack Moss now confirmed out for remainder of playoffs

RB Zack Moss is out for remainder of Buffalo Bills playoffs due to an ankle injury.

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The Buffalo Bills have officially lost running back Zack Moss for the rest of their playoff run.

According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport on Monday, Moss’ season is over after he suffered an ankle injury at the start of the fourth quarter on Saturday during Buffalo’s 27-24 Wild Card win over the Indianapolis Colts.

The update goes along with a previous report from Sunday that said the Bills “fear” Moss will have his season come to an end. Evidently, that report held true.

On the play that Moss was injured on, a defender fell awkwardly on his leg, causing an ankle injury.

Moss only had 21 yards on seven carries in the win vs. the Colts. He had four catches for 26 yards as well.

Since the middle point of the 2020 season, Moss has gradually started to take over as Buffalo’s No. 1 rusher, slightly edging out Devin Singletary in terms of snaps played most weeks. Without Moss, Singletary will lead a backfield that could include T.J. Yeldon and Antonio Williams, who is on the Bills’ practice squad.

Singletary had three carries for 21 yards against Indy himself.

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Bills RB Zack Moss now confirmed out for remainder of playoffs

RB Zack Moss is out for remainder of Buffalo Bills playoffs due to an ankle injury.

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The Buffalo Bills have officially lost running back Zack Moss for the rest of their playoff run.

According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport on Monday, Moss’ season is over after he suffered an ankle injury at the start of the fourth quarter on Saturday during Buffalo’s 27-24 Wild Card win over the Indianapolis Colts.

The update goes along with a previous report from Sunday that said the Bills “fear” Moss will have his season come to an end. Evidently, that report held true.

On the play that Moss was injured on, a defender fell awkwardly on his leg, causing an ankle injury.

Moss only had 21 yards on seven carries in the win vs. the Colts. He had four catches for 26 yards as well.

Since the middle point of the 2020 season, Moss has gradually started to take over as Buffalo’s No. 1 rusher, slightly edging out Devin Singletary in terms of snaps played most weeks. Without Moss, Singletary will lead a backfield that could include T.J. Yeldon and Antonio Williams, who is on the Bills’ practice squad.

Singletary had three carries for 21 yards against Indy himself.

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6 studs, 5 duds in Bills’ 27-24 win over Colts

Buffalo Bills studs and duds following their Wild Card win over the Indianapolis Colts.

The Buffalo Bills won by fine margins against the Indianapolis Colts in the Wild Card round of the playoffs, 27-24. Buffalo had another slow start, but did enough in the end to hang on, including stopping their first Hail Mary attempt in 2020.

While not always perfect, there were some strong moments and standouts for the Bills.

Let’s get to that now as Bills Wire has six studs and five duds from the Bills’ win over the Ravens:

Studs

Buffalo Bills’ Stefon Diggs (14). (AP Photo/Adrian Kraus)

QB Josh Allen

After a slow start, the Bills stopped messing around and told Josh Allen to lead them to victory. The quarterback did just that with both his arm and legs. Allen was 26-for-35 passing for 324 passing yards and two touchdowns. Via the rushing attack, Allen had 54 more yards and another touchdown.

WR Gabriel Davis

Toe-tapping never looked so good. Not only did Gabriel Davis catch all four of his targets for 85 yards, they were pretty much all impressive grabs along the sideline. They also came at a time when Buffalo’s offense was stinking. Davis helped get the Bills offense out of their early hole.

And a cherry on top: Stefon Diggs had a 19-yard catch-and-run on a screen play. What a block by Davis there.

WR Stefon Diggs

Diggs, of course. (That’s all we really need to write).

Buffalo’s No. 1 wide receiver did only have one catch in the first half, but then turned it on. Diggs finished with six catches for 128 yards and a touchdown. Rinse and repeat for Diggs, another big game.

K Tyler Bass

Tyler Bass is quickly approaching elite status, seriously. His 54-yarder got a lot of attention. It was the difference-maker on the scoreboard and the longest kick ever made by a rookie in the playoffs. But his other kick was just as clutch.

Out of halftime, the Bills got out to midfield and lost five yards on third down, making the kicker’s job just a bit harder. Still handled it, though.

Penalties

The Bills were flagged for 125 penalties, third-most in the NFL in 2020. Against the Colts, the Bills were only flagged twice for seven yards.

S Micah Hyde

The number that stands out for Micah Hyde is his three pass breakups, including that one on the game’s final play: A Hail Mary. Hyde left no doubt on that pass.

But Hyde also had seven total tackles. Both safeties, Jordan Poyer included, have assisted along the line of scrimmage in an excellent manner throughout 2020. Against the Colts was no different.

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Dion Dawkins says MVP is ‘rigged’ if Josh Allen doesn’t win it

Buffalo Bills offensive linemen Dion Dawkins, Jon Feliciano on QB Josh Allen vs. the Indianapolis Colts in Wild Card round.

It’s always good to have the guys protecting you on your side.

That’s certainly the case for Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen.

Following his team’s 27-24 win over the Indianapolis Colts over Wild Card weekend, a couple of the guys in front of the QB didn’t mince words when breaking down the quarterback’s effort in the contest.

“Same old Josh,” guard Jon Feliciano said.

That really was the case, too.

Allen surpassed 300 yards passing against the Colts with 324 yards on 26-for-35 passing. Allen also had two touchdown passes as well. This time it wasn’t just all arm work. Allen had another 54 yards on the ground and a rushing score.

That kind of play is the work of a MVP, and that’s exactly what tackle Dion Dawkins thinks his quarterback is. In fact, Dawkins said he’ll question the system if Allen isn’t named MVP at the end of the season.

“If Josh Allen does not win the MVP, this thing is rigged,” Dawkins said.

Often creative with his words, Dawkins wasn’t done there. His MVP deserves to be in the 99 club in Madden as well.

“The first touchdown to Knox, I believe? Come on now, kid is special,” Dawkins said. “Josh is almost like a create-a-character on Madden with a 99 overall. He just keeps doing it week in and week out.”

But as usual, while others such as his offensive line praised his play, Allen did the opposite. The QB was keeping himself grounded and focused on the process.

“I’m still kicking myself for a couple of plays,” Allen said via video conference. “This is playoff football. You’ve got to forget about this one and focus on next week, it doesn’t matter what we did.”

For what it’s worth, Allen is pretty close to being the favorite to win the MVP Award, too. As of last week, Allen surpassed Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes in terms of odds to win the trophy. Allen has the second-best of those now, but the heavy favorite is still Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers.

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Bills players raved about 6,700 fans in attendance for Colts win

Buffalo Bills QB Josh Allen, WR Stefon Diggs, S Jordan Poyer among players happy to see Bills Mafia vs. the Indianapolis Colts.

The Buffalo Bills had a couple familiar faces in Orchard Park on Saturday. A lucky 6,700 folks were allowed through the door at Bills Stadium for what went down as Buffalo’s 27-24 playoff win against the Indianapolis Colts.

Regardless of player, everyone raved about the way Bills Mafia showed up for their team following the game.

Wide receiver Cole Beasley, playing a little banged up with a knee injury, said that it helped get him out on the field.

“Definitely gave me a boost,” Beasley said via video conference. “I needed a little extra.”

“I don’t know if I’ve ever had this much adrenaline for a game,” Beasley added.

Safety Jordan Poyer might’ve been the Bills’ defensive MVP in the opening round of the postseason. He should have had a forced fumble which was questionably overturned, but Poyer was still happy about the show he put on in front of the fans on his post-game call.

“It was wild, it was a cool experience to see them again. I know they had a blast,” Poyer said.

Like Poyer, the Bills’ top performer on the opposite side of the ball, quarterback Josh Allen, felt the fan presence. He got that actual chant of “MVP’ yelled his way upon taking the field for the first time.

“It was crazy,” Allen said via video conference. “I’m super excited for the fan base here. I don’t think guys really understand the impact of winning a game for this franchise, but I think we’re not in tune with that because we wanna win more.”

Finally, plenty of guys on the Bills were also getting their first taste of the Buffalo faithful in person. Among those was wide receiver Stefon Diggs and he was making the most of it.

Not only did Diggs score and lead his team with six catches and 128 yards, he paced the Bills in fan engagement, too. Prior to the game, Diggs was tossing a ball to fans in the crowd, playing a game of catch.

“It was fun I had a lot of fun out there,” Diggs said.

And thanks to the Bills’ win, they’ll be able to do it all over again next weekend.

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Report card: Bills top Colts, 27-24 in Wild Card

Report card for Buffalo Bills in Wild Card win vs. Indianapolis Colts.

The Buffalo Bills knew they were going to get some tougher competition come playoff time. That’s exactly what happened with the Indianapolis Colts on Wild Card weekend.

The Bills did take home the 27-24 win, but the Colts certainly made them work for it.

Following the Bills’ first playoff win in 25 years, here’s how Bills Wire graded Buffalo out in this week’s report card:

Report: ‘Fear’ that Bills could have lost Zack Moss for playoffs

Update to injury suffered by the Buffalo Bills’ Zack Moss.

The Buffalo Bills win against the Indianapolis Colts didn’t cone without some injury issues. In that 27-24 victory against the Colts, Buffalo running back Zack Moss suffered an ankle injury

Early in the fourth quarter, bodies landed on top of Moss. The running back was carted off the field leading one to believe it was a tough injury he suffered. Per NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo, that might just be the case as he reports there’s “fear” the rusher’s postseason could be over:

Moss only had 21 carries on seven carries in the win vs. the Colts. He had four catches for 26 yards as well.

Since the middle point of the 2020 season, Moss has gradually started to take over as Buffalo’s No. 1 rusher, slightly edging out Devin Singletary in terms of snaps played most weeks. Without Moss, Singletary will lead a backfield that could include TJ Yeldon and Antonio Williams.

Singletary had three carries for 21 yards against Indy.

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National media reactions to Bills’ first playoff win in 25 years vs. Colts

National media reactions to Buffalo Bills first playoff win in 25 year vs. Indianapolis Colts.

The Buffalo Bills opened Wild Card weekend in the NFL with the team’s first win in the postseason in 25 years. Buffalo topped the Indianapolis Colts, 27-24.

With such a rare occurrence taking place, attention nationwide was caught.

With that, here are some of the national media reactions to what went down in Orchard Park during the Bills’ win over the Colts:

Ian Rapoport, NFL Network

Adam Schein, CBS Sports

Mike Giardi, NFL Network

Damon Amendolara, CBS Sports

Liz Gonzales, Barstool Sports

The Checkdown

PFT, Barstool Sports

Jeff Kerr, CBS Sports

Ross Tucker, CBS Sports

Sigmund Bloom, Football guys

The MMQB

Sam Acho, Former NFL LB

Dan Orlovsky, ESPN

Kyle Brandt, Good Morning Football

Chris Harris, Chargers CB

Matt Bowen, ESPN

Field Yates, ESPN

Trey Wingo

Nick Wright, FS1

Spotrac

Dan Graziano, ESPN

Mike Wells, ESPN

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