Tag: bills

PODCAST: Bills win AFC East vs. Broncos, how far can they go?

Buffalo Bills podcast following Week 15 win vs. Denver Broncos.

Following a decisive second-half performance and victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 14, the Bills were a win away from their first AFC East crown in 25 years.

That is, until Saturday.

In an impressive 48-19 victory against the Denver Broncos, the Bills (11-3) clinched both their first division crown since 1995 as well as a trip to the playoffs.

The with the big day on the scoreboard, the team reached 400 points on the season for the first time since 1998. Buffalo scored early and often, including a touchdown throw from Josh Allen to Jake Kumerow, which tied an NFL record as he was the 13th Bill this season to catch a TD pass. The team added points on both sides of the ball too, when a second-half a sack by Tre’Davious White caused a fumble that was recovered by Jerry Hughes, who then juked defenders for a 21-yard touchdown only 17 seconds after the offense had scored one as well.

The Bills then pulled away in the third quarter, adding 13 more points that included a pair of Tyler Bass field goals and a 51-yard single-play touchdown drive from Devin Singletary to boot. 

With the AFC East locked up and a playoff ticket punched, check out this week’s Wagon Wheel podcast with hosts Matt & David below:

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Josh Allen recalls Broncos passing on him: ‘I’m where I’m supposed to be’

Buffalo Bills QB Josh Allen remembers Denver Broncos passing on him at 2018 NFL Draft.

While an elephant never forgets, apparently the same can be said about Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen.

During Week 15’s Bills vs. Denver Broncos game, NFL Network broadcasters Adam Admin and Mark Schlereth referenced their conversation they had with Allen prior to the game. In it they asked him about playing college football at Wyoming, which is only a two-hour drive north of Denver.

Allen’s response? “The Broncos had a chance to draft me at No. 5.”

The QB is, of course, referring to the fact that the Broncos chose to pass on him at the 2018 NFL Draft, instead opting to draft linebacker Bradley Chubb.

Allen ended up going to the Bills (11-3) two picks later and the rest is history.

While timing is everything, the QB was again asked about it following the Bills win in Denver (5-9).

“Yeah, I’m where I’m supposed to be,” Allen said via video conference.

Bills offensive lineman Jon Feliciano, was asked if this game meant more to Allen because of the Broncos passing on the QB in the draft.

The answer was short and sweet… “yes.”

While Allen can play it cool, it is only human nature to want to prove those who doubt you wrong. Saturday, Allen did just that.

Allen put out another strong performance, throwing for 359-yards and two touchdowns, while adding another two rushing scores. More importantly, the Bills’ win clinched a division title for the first time since 1995, a year before Josh Allen was even born.

“It’s great that we’re able to do it, for the first time in 25 years,” Allen said. “You know to be the team and to be the quarterback who does it, obviously feels really good. At the same time, you know that’s not our main goal. We set out to do this, in order to give us a chance to do what we really want to do… and that’s to win a Super Bow championship.”

By winning the division, the Bills are guaranteed a first round home playoff game, but there is still more that can be accomplished over the next two regular season games before then. At 11-3, the Bills are currently slotted into the third seed in the AFC, but are still very much in play for the second seed, with a long-shot at the first overall seed and a bye week in Round 1.

Saturday, the Bills left Denver with a division title and a franchise QB, something the Broncos organization played a part in with both.

Full circle, indeed.

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Ben Roethlisberger’s contract is dimming the lights on a bright future in Pittsburgh

The Steelers have a big decision to make in the offseason.

The Steelers have a problem on their hands. Ben Roethlisberger’s skillset has clearly declined to the point where he’s not able to perform like an elite quarterback, despite being paid like one.

Roethlisberger looked like a 38-year old quarterback closing the door on a lengthy career during the Steelers’ 26-15 loss at the hands of the Buffalo Bills during Week 14. Roethlisberger was harmed by a few drops, again, but he also doesn’t seem to have it in him to carry the offense on his back.

The Steelers have had to change how they play offense to accommodate the current version of Roethlisberger. They’re still airing it out and living in empty formations, but they’re not taking as many chances down the field as they used to. According to Pro Football Reference, Roethlisberger is averaging just 6.8 intended air yards per attempt, ranking 29th in the league. Roethlisberger is also averaging just 6.3 yards per attempt, ranking 31st among the 35 quarterbacks that have thrown at least 184 pass attempts this season.

For a quarterback that’s averaging $34 million per year in terms of total money, that production isn’t good enough. Even though the Steelers very much control their destiny at 11-2 and are one of the top teams in the AFC, everyone with a basic level of football knowledge knows they’re going to need more from their offense. That doesn’t just apply to this season, but to seasons beyond this one as they try to maximize their window of having an elite defense.

Luckily for the Steelers, there is a relatively easy way out for them if they’re just looking at Roethlisberger’s contract in a vacuum. If Roethlisberger doesn’t retire after the season, The Steelers can cut him for a $22.3 million dead cap charge and $19 million in cap savings. That would leave them at a net loss of roughly three million dollars for cutting Roethlisberger.

In a normal cap year, cutting Roethlisberger at the end of this season would likely be a fine financial move. However, with the cap likely to be hovering around just $175 million for the 2021 season, teams are working with less money than they usually have. Pittsburgh is projected to be $20 million over the 2021 cap, which means that cutting Roethlisberger wouldn’t do much for them besides leave them with a massive hole at quarterback.

No matter whether they cut, trade, or have Roethlisberger retire, the Steelers will be stuck with the same financial ramifications since 2021 is the final year of Roethlisberger’s contract. $22.3 million in dead cap, $19 million in cap savings. Roethlisberger’s dead cap would have only been $12.5 million if they didn’t restructure his contract in March, but they did.

This leaves the Steelers with a question to ask themselves as they enter the 2021 offseason: what’s next at quarterback? Next year very well could be the final year of Roethlisberger’s career and with the defense stuffed to the brim with talent, they need to continue to find quality quarterback play to maximize their peak years on defense.

Their best plan of action is to find a young quarterback to sit behind Roethlisberger for a year before taking over in 2022. There have been some rumblings about the Steelers being interested in trading for Jets quarterback Sam Darnold, who is clearly on his way out of New York after the season with the Jets crashing towards 0-16. Pittsburgh could also be aggressive in the draft and trade up for a quarterback if someone like Trey Lance or Zach Wilson starts to slip down the board.

Pittsburgh needs to do something to secure a long term quarterback. Roethlisberger’s performance against the Bills, and this season in general, showed that the clock is really ticking.

NFL Take Dump: The Rams might be the only team that can stop the Chiefs

Bills Wire’s Week 14 Player of the Game: CB Levi Wallace

CB Levi Wallace is Buffalo Bills Wire Player of the Game for Week 14.

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An interesting choice for sure, but we decided to give some love to defensive back Levi Wallace this week for his game-sealing interception for the Buffalo Bills to earn Bills Wire’s coveted Player of the Game nod. 

While this was certainly a team win, with solid performances across the board, it’s hard to specify which players to choose as the “Player of the Game.” When you look for that player to choose, you examine moments.

With seven minutes left in the game, and an opportunity for the Steelers to make things interesting, and Pittsburgh driving down field, Levi Wallace made one of the biggest interceptions of his career against Ben Roethlisberger, and a clock killing drive from the Bills offense ensued.

Check out Wallace’s huge play here:

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Chiefs own AFC’s No. 1 seed after Steelers lose to Bills

The Kansas City Chiefs are now in control of their own destiny.

The Kansas City Chiefs had things fall their way on Sunday in Week 14 and now they’re in control of their own playoff destiny.

Kansas City took care of business, defeating the Miami Dolphins on Sunday. But the more pertinent item took place on “Sunday Night Football” between the Buffalo Bills and Pittsburgh Steelers. After a second consecutive loss by the Steelers, the Chiefs now own the top record in the AFC (and the NFL) at 12-1. That also means they hold sole possession over the AFC’s No. 1 seed and the lone bye week available to the conference. They were previously tied with the Steelers for that top record.

There are still three games left to be played this season and it won’t be a walk in the park for either team, but Pittsburgh probably has the more difficult path to redemption. Here are the next three games for both teams:

Kansas City:

  • @ New Orleans Saints (Week 15)
  • vs. Atlanta Falcons (Week 16)
  • vs. Los Angeles Chargers (Week 17)

Pittsburgh:

  • @ Cincinnati Bengals (Week 15)
  • vs. Indianapolis Colts (Week 16)
  • @ Cleveland Browns (Week 17)

It’s now on the Steelers to keep pace and hope that the Chiefs slip up along the way. If Kansas City were to win out, they’ll hold on to the No. 1 seed regardless of what happens to Pittsburgh. If the Chiefs drop a game somewhere along the way and the Steelers were to win out, things would go back to a tiebreaker scenario. We’ll go over those potential tiebreaker scenarios in our weekly playoff picture article.

For now, the important thing to know is that the Chiefs have a very good chance of hanging on to the No. 1 seed after the outcome of the Bills-Steelers game.

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Josh Allen shines on primetime: ‘He loves the big moments’

The Bills got their first win on Monday Night Football since 1999.

The Bills ended another drought on Monday Night Football against the 49ers in Week 13… Thanks in large part to quarterback Josh Allen.

Buffalo (9-3) took a 34-24 win over the Niners (5-7), and in doing so, won on Monday Night Football for the first time this century. That last win came back in 1999. Allen’s abilities easily led the way as he shined in front of the national audience, finishing 32-of-40 passing with 375 passing yards and four touchdowns.

During the lead up to the game, Allen commented that at this point, primetime football is just another game to him. That’s not how some of his teammates see it, such as offensive lineman Dion Dawkins. They’re saying Allen thrives on that spotlight, and that assessment sure looks right.

“I think Josh loves the hype,” Dawkins said following the game. “He loves to show people the truth. He’s one of those people that loves the big moments.”

However, like before the game, Allen still shrugged off the notion that such games mean any different than others. Do the Bills have something to prove on the bright lights of Monday night?

“No,” Allen said via his Zoom call after the game. “We know who we are as a team, that’s all that matters.”

Sean McDermott stated that this was the Bills’ most complete game of the season, but in a way, also downplayed things. You better believe McDermott wants his team to keep improving.

“I’m always looking for more and I love the fact that our players are as well,” McDermott said.

“All wins are good wins,” McDermott added. “I’m happy for our organization and I’m happy for our fans. I’m sure everyone in Buffalo stayed up late to watch it.”

McDermott made mention, in a bit of a behind the scenes look during his post-game speech shared by the team, that there’s still “more meat on the bone” for the team to get better. There’s a good opponent en route, too.

Next up, the Bills will face the 11-1 Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday Night Football, who are fresh off their first loss of the season. Allen knows the Steelers are going to want to get back on the right track.

“We’ve got a really tough challenge with Pittsburgh,” Allen said. “They’re coming off a loss, so they’re going to try to find ways to win this next game… so are we. We gotta put our best foot forward, go out there and have a good week of practice.”

Regardless of what happens on Sunday night in Orchard Park, Bills fans can sleep well knowing their team is back on the right side of the Monday Night Football win column and perhaps even more importantly, have a true franchise QB who helped them get there.

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Bills Wire’s Week 13 Player of the Game: QB Josh Allen

Bills Wire Week 13 Player of the Game Award goes to quarterback Josh Allen.

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He racks up the Bills Wire Player of the Game nods like he puts up passing yards, touchdowns, and wins, but it’s hard not to give our distinguished award to Bills quarterback Josh Allen following Buffalo’s 34-24 win over the San Francisco 49ers on Monday Night Football.

Against the defense of one of the highly-sought after head coach candidates, Robert Saleh, Allen carved up a weary 49ers team for 32 completions, 375 passing yards and four touchdown passes. It was another very dominant victory for the young franchise quarterback, who completed those scores to four different playmakers as well.

Buffalo dominated on all three phases of the game to a convincing victory over the defending NFC Champions. The Bills will hope this momentum carries over to next weekend, again on primetime, as the Bills host the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday Night Football in Week 14.

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PODCAST: Is the Bills defense back after Chargers performance?

Buffalo Bills defense back after Week 12 win vs. Chargers? Podcast.

Another week, and another W for the Buffalo Bills, as they defeated a rebuilding Chargers team on Sunday, 27-17. While it wasn’t the prettiest victory, the game was a lot closer than the score would tell you. It was a gritty win for the fresh Bills (8-3) coming off their bye.

Buffalo has it’s strongest defensive performance of the year, holding the Chargers (3-8) run game to 76 yards, which is significant with all factors considered. The return of running back Austin Ekeler wasn’t enough for the Bolts. The Bills defense hasn’t had too many games as good as this one.

Offensively, the Bills showed that it could move the ball effectively, with or without John Brown. Rookie wideout Gabriel Davis stepped up, hauling in a touchdown reception from Cole Beasley, and leading in receiving yards on the team for the first time this season. Davis’ future appears bright, and it’s another testament to how deep this roster is that Brandon Beane has created.

The Bills play the 49ers (5-6) on the road next week, although the location is uncertain at this point. San Francisco will be the team without a home going forward in 2020, and the Bills can’t underestimate this depleted, yet passionate football team.

Following the Bills’ win, check out this week’s Wagon Wheel podcast with host Matt Johnson and contributor David De Cristofaro below, and be sure to subscribe:

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