Tag: Greg Rousseau

Bills at Saints: 3 keys to a Buffalo win

#Bills at #Saints: 3 keys to a Buffalo win:

The Bills head to New Orleans this week to face the Saints in one of this year’s Thanksgiving Day game matchups.

The team and their fans both want to put recent losses to the Colts and Jaguars behind them, so a bounce-back win could them do just that.

And as we know from their last appearance on Thanksgiving Day, a 26-15 win over Dallas in 2019, Josh Allen and company want to be the ones holding Turkey legs in the winner’s circle.

Both teams are looking to redeem themselves after losing games by similar lopsided scores this past Sunday, and Buffalo is aiming to shake off a few rocky performances overall with a short week victory.

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Here are three keys to the game for the Bills (6-4) against the Saints (5-5):

Sean McDermott on Bills’ run defense: ‘We’ve got to get that fixed’

Sean McDermott on #Bills’ run defense: ‘We’ve got to get that fixed’

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The Bills followed up last week’s 45-17 dismantling of the Jets with a taste of their own medicine.

The team fell 41-15 to the Indianapolis Colts at home and out of the division lead in the AFC East on Sunday.

While the Bills had a record day running the ball a week ago, this time around the Colts made some history of their own.

Buffalo was without leaders on the defensive side of the ball in Tremaine Edmunds and Star Lotulelei, leaving them vulnerable to ground attack. And attack Indy did, as RB Jonathan Taylor went off for a career-high game of 185 yards on 32 carries and a franchise-record five touchdowns.

The teams’ defensive leaders knew this type of loss was a call to action, and safety Micah Hyde was one of them.

“We felt like we have been doing pretty well stopping the run all season and obviously going against a guy like Derrick Henry and Jonathan Taylor, two very good backs. We gotta find a way to limit that” Hyde said while addressing the media.

Head coach Sean McDermott also recognized the run defense is in need of repair.

“We’ve got to get that fixed,” McDermott said during his own press session. “There’s a formula to win and there’s a formula on the other end of it too. And when you’re giving up… when we’re getting beat at the point of attack, obviously, I have to do a better job there.”

Next up is the New Orleans Saints, who also experienced a 40-29 loss, and RB Alvin Kamara, the last RB to log a multi-scoring game of Taylor’s kind (six in 2020.) He will look to make things difficult during Buffalo’s visit to the Big Easy in this Thursday’s Thanksgiving Day game.

With a short turnaround, they’ll shake off the loss and look to show they are a different team than the one fans saw on the field this past weekend.

“That’s a good football team but at the same time, we understand we’re a better football team than what we showed today,” said safety Jordan Poyer as he shared the media session alongside Hyde. “So it’s one of those ‘you gotta take a look in the mirror, we’ve got a game on Thursday’, short turnaround so we’re able to come back tomorrow, and obviously the 24-hour rule and get ready to play on Thursday night.”

Buffalo now enters a pivotal remaining stretch of the regular season with high playoff hopes.

Kansas City has not been as dominant this season as in recent years, and the rebuilt New England squad is no longer the practice-filming dynasty that won six championships.

The road to the Super Bowl in the AFC may be more open than it has been in some time.

The club still has the opportunity to once more sweep the division, with a game against the Jets and two against the Patriots.

One thing’s for sure, Buffalo now finds itself back in familiar territory.

A team with something to prove, who may now be viewed as a division and playoff underdog with their rival Patriots once more ahead of them.

In order to win a championship, the Bills and their coaching staff will need to turn things around and find consistency to make another strong playoff run.

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Bills vs. Colts: 3 keys to a Buffalo win

Bills vs. Colts: 3 keys to a Buffalo win

Buffalo bested Indianapolis and effectively retired Philip Rivers in the playoffs last year.

While the Bills defeated their AFC rivals in Buffalo during the post-season, they ultimately fell to the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship game.

As the Bills square up to face the Colts at home on Sunday, Indy’s last few opponents are familiar to Bills fans- Those being the Titans, the Jets, and the Jaguars.

The Colts have a solid coach and are building a competitive roster, and now have quarterback Carson Wentz.

While landing victories against contenders like the aforementioned Tennessee squad as well as the San Francisco 49ers, they’ve also lost as many games as they’ve won.

With that said, here are three keys to the game for the Bills (6-3) against the Colts (5-5):

5 Bills the Colts must game plan for in Week 11

The Colts must include these Bills players in their game plan for Week 11.

The Indianapolis Colts are sitting at 5-5 with a pivotal AFC matchup against the Buffalo Bills coming up on Sunday.

This will not only show if Frank Reich’s team can contest with one of the league’s strongest teams but also if Indy has what it takes to make it into the postseason.

The Bills have had interesting performances the last two weeks, losing the Jaguars and then lambasting the Jets. This offense has struggled at times this year but has the potential to run away with a game at any time.

There are several Bills players that the Colts must game plan for in order to come away with a win.

Bills at Jets: 3 keys to a Buffalo win

#Bills at #Jets: 3 keys to a Buffalo win:

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The Bills have experienced a wake-up call during the past two weeks courtesy of Florida’s Dolphins and Jaguars teams. Both clubs were underdogs who came to play when facing Buffalo.

While the Bills ultimately defeated their AFC rivals in Buffalo, they didn’t have the same favorable outcome the following Sunday in Jacksonville.

With the Jets next up this weekend in the first of two-division meetings this season, it’s the ideal time to make necessary adjustments in the teams’ mental and game preparations.

Unlike in recent years, this season Buffalo finds itself not as the perpetual NFL underdog out to prove itself, but as an odds-favored Super Bowl contender. They’ll have challenges across the remaining regular-season schedule with opportunities to prove they are just that, and it starts Sunday at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ.

Here are three keys to the game for the Bills (5-3) against the Jets (2-6):

The Bills’ top-five grades from PFF against the Dolphins

The #Bills’ top-five grades from PFF against the #Dolphins:

Considering the way things went down, it’s not a surprise to see where most of the Buffalo Bills’ best grades from Pro Football Focus came from against the Miami Dolphins.

In the 26-11 win for the Bills (5-2), the offense had a very slow start, only putting up three points in the first half.

However, the defense held, also only holding Miami to three of their own in the same time frame. Throughout the whole game, only one touchdown was given up by Buffalo on defense.

With that in mind, PFF’s top-five grades from the Bills’ win included four players on defense. Only offensive lineman Dion Dawkins appeared from the offense:

Safety Jordan Poyer had the biggest play of the game, icing it with an interception. He also had a team-high 10 tackles.

Rookie Greg Rousseau appeared to take a step back in this one. In his first outing vs. Miami, he had two sacks. Still, he was a difference maker for PFF. He had two QB hits.

Meanwhile, Hughes had two QB hits of his own, notching a sack as well.

Finally, White was heard from the least against Miami.

That’s perfect for a defensive back, signaling he was doing his job well. White did have two pass breakups.

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Bills vs. Dolphins: 8 things to watch for during Week 8’s game

#Bills vs. #Dolphins: 8 things to watch for during Week 8’s game:

The Buffalo Bills will look to get their winning ways back in  Week 8. The Bills (4-2) host the Miami Dolphins (1-6) after their bye week.

Once the game gets going, there will a few particular things to keep in mind throughout it.

With that, here are eight things to watch for during Week 8’s Bills-Dolphins matchup:

Buffalo Bills lead NFL in 3 major team statistics

#Bills lead NFL in 3 major team statistics:

The Buffalo Bills (4-1) head to Nashville in Week 6 to face the Tennesee Titans in a primetime Nationally televised matchup for the second straight week.

The first of those primetime matchups on Sunday Night Football featured Buffalo defeating Kansas City on their home turf, a feat they’ll look to repeat against Tennessee this upcoming Monday night on ESPN.

The Bills have a four-game winning streak and are in first place as the division leaders atop the AFC East while earning favorable power ranking poll positions at the top of the NFL as well for their recent play.

What’s more, over those first five games the team has accomplished a significant feat early in the 2021 season. Thanks to continued high offensive production as well as the re-emergence of the team’s defense, the Bills are leading the NFL in several major categories.

Buffalo is first in the NFL in points per game allowed, points per game scored, and in defensive takeaways.

Buffalo’s offense is averaging a league-leading 34.3 points per game, while the defense is only allowing 12.8 points per contest on average. This leads the NFL in offensive and defensive scoring, and the team has scored 35 points or higher in seven of its last eight regular-season games.

Their overall point total (172) is a new franchise scoring record over the first five games of a season. To find the previous mark, one must go all the way back to the club’s first AFL championship-winning season in 1964 (165).

The previous record was 165 in 1964, their first AFL championship season.

The team’s performance goes beyond both sides of the ball to a multi-faceted mentality instilled by HC Sean McDermott and the coaching staff, that winning takes a complimentary-football approach in which the offense, defense, and special teams all do their part to compete for wins.

This season signals a turning point for the Bills, as their defense underperformed last year while their offense overperformed, both for the first time under McDermott’s leadership.

This year, for the first time, Buffalo’s offense and defense are playing at a high competitive level, yielding these favorable stat category standings among the leagues’ 31 other teams.

As recently as Week 3, Buffalo ranked 4th in scoring (31.3 ppg) and 5th in points allowed (12.7 ppg) while co-leading the league in point differential.

Now, their point differential has improved to +108 which makes them only the fifth team since 2000 with a +100 point differential through the first five games of a season, per Buffalo Bills PR.

The team will look to continue to win and progress at a high level against a Titans team that leads the NFL in sacks allowed this Monday, October 18th at 8:15 PM EST.

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Bills’ Greg Rousseau wins AFC Defensive Player of the Week

#Bills’ Greg Rousseau wins AFC Defensive Player of the Week, the team’s third in a row landing an individual honor:

The Buffalo Bills had another player win individual accolades in Week 5.

For his efforts against the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday Night Football, rookie Greg Roussseau was named the AFC Defensive Player of the Week Award:

In the game, his efforts were highlighted by a sack and interception of Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes. Rousseau’s award is the third-straight week a Bills player has earned hardware.

Last week, linebacker Tremaine Edmunds earned his first weekly honor like Rousseau. The contest was against the Houston Texans.

The week prior after Buffalo’s third game against the Washington Football Team, quarterback Josh Allen was named the AFC Offensive Player of the Week. That was Allen’s seventh time honored.

Rousseau and Edmunds teaming up for back-to-back DPOTW honors marks the first time since 2016 that Bills players earned that award in back-to-back games (Zach Brown, Nickell Robey).

Additionally, Rousseau is the fifth Buffalo rookie to win an individual weekly honor and only the second defender to (Cornelius Bennett – 1987).

The most recent rookie, in general, to earn an individual honor was Allen in 2018.

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Report: Bills could get teams calling them about pass rushers at trade deadline

Report: #Bills could get teams calling them about pass rushers at the upcoming trade deadline:

The NFL is slowly inching toward the trade deadline. While the Buffalo Bills have started the 2021 season at 4-1 and are currently on fire, could they actually be sellers at the deadline instead?

According to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, there’s a chance that might hold true.

On Tuesday, Fowler reported on current trade buzz with the deadline on the horizon. One specific position group that was mentioned for the Bills was edge defender.

Following an offseason where the Bills added multiple pieces to their pass rush in an effort to improve it, the report calls the area a “surplus” for Buffalo. Because of that, teams might come calling and a few veterans were mentioned as potential trade pieces.

Here’s Fowler’s buzz on the Bills:

The Bills are expected to get calls on their deep defensive line. The team has used draft capital on promising edge players Greg Rousseau, AJ Epenesa and Boogie Basham in recent years, which could make their veterans attractive at the deadline.

Jerry Hughes is an interesting case because of his salary ($6.1 million), age (33) and production (0.5 sacks). Those aren’t very enticing numbers. But he has been solid, and Buffalo plays him a lot (54 snaps in the Week 5 win over Kansas City). Perhaps the Bills hold on to the experienced rusher for the late-season stretch.

Mario Addison, meanwhile, is owed $4.075 million this year. He has one sack and two quarterback hits through the season’s first month. Efe Obada is a cheaper rotational guy at $1 million.

If the Bills do end up being a seller, of sorts, at the deadline, the defensive line is a position to watch. It’s also an unsurprising one.

In the past, Buffalo general manager Brandon Beane has took a similar approach to improving the team’s offensive line. Add numerous pieces and may the best man win.

In such cases, those who lose in positions battles have been traded. In terms of O-linemen that were dealt, think Wyatt Teller and Russell Bodine.

Looking at Buffalo’s current defensive line and the report, Hughes seems like a very unlikely player that would be moved. Hughes is a team leader and still drums up QB pressures with the best of them.

If the Bills are truly looking toward the Super Bowl, why trade Hughes?

Addison could be a more likely option. In recent weeks, his snap totals have started to drop and against the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 5, he played the fewest snaps amongst all defensive ends.

Even Basham, who previously was inactive on game days to start the season, played more than Addison against KC.

The latest report does not mention that the Bills could be interested in trading defensive tackles. However, that’s another area to consider.

In recent weeks including against the Chiefs, Harrison Phillips and Vernon Butler were healthy scratches.

Finally in the report, there is an update on Philadelphia Eagles tight end Zach Ertz. It says if he’s traded, he probably won’t take a pay cut, and there is a brief mention:

As for where Ertz could go, league execs have long pegged Buffalo and Indianapolis as potential landing spots.

Considering the way Dawson Knox has played so far in 2021, this seems like a bit of a recycled take.

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