Two Bills Drive

'The three-way tie atop the AFC East will come to an end on Sunday as New England and New York square off at MetLife Stadium. As bad as the Patriots defense has looked, New England still has the number one offense in football and the number three scoring attack in the NFL.'

'A major key to the defense's success has been the high rate of takeaways. They also cause a disturbance with their pass deflections and sacks. Buffalo ranks at the top of the NFL in most of the major categories.'

'For the rest of the league, it's a simple case of waiting for the inevitable and signing him after he clears waivers.'

'Some tweeters gave serious fine dining suggestions like Mulberry in Lackawanna, The Grange in Hamburg, Ristorante Lombardo in Buffalo. Several others invited him over to their homes for a home-cooked meal.'

'In Cincinnati, Taylor was not only kept in the pocket by the defense more than in any other game this season, he also seemed more willing to read through his progressions from the pocket than usual. That combination led to Buffalo's signal-caller having a significantly difficult time eluding pressure and escaping sacks.'

'Not surprisingly, Nick O'Leary saw a big increase in work after fellow tight end Charles Clay was hurt in the first half. O'Leary played a season-high 59 snaps and was targeted six times. He is expected to have a big role while Clay is out with a knee injury.'

'“This place is rowdy,” he said of New Era Field. “(The fans) are wild and they love their football.”'

'Some have wondered if it’s his age finally catching up to him. To borrow a tried and true phrase from Rubeus Hagrid, that’s a load of hogwash. Codswallop, if you will.'

'Fans have seen the same things week in, and week out from Taylor without much semblance of improvement from where he was in 2015, and definitely not a lot from 2016, either. Taylor has been a constant — a what-you-see-is-what-you-get type of quarterback that can get the ball where you need it to go when he has the players around him to make some plays and to not turn the ball over, either.'

'Left tackle Dion Dawkins has been up and down — as expected — in his rookie season, right guard John Miller proved to be an untrustworthy option at right guard, Jordan Mills has continued to struggle at right tackle, and even Richie Incognito, while still solid, has played below the form we’ve come to expect from him over the last two seasons.'

'“We’ve got to look at everything,” said McDermott. “It’s never just one thing. It’s never just the offensive line. It’s never just the tight ends, the wide receivers and the eight-man box. It’s all of that. It’s everything that we can do better.”'

'“I thought he did a good job,” McDermott said. “The first thing we look at is really the look in his eye and we talked about that. I’ve talked about that with coach [Bob" target="_blank"> Babich, our linebackers coach, and he said he had the right look in his eye on the boundary and I thought he handled himself well. It wasn’t too big for him and now, knowing Matt, he’ll continue to improve. He puts a lot of time into his job and again, another young guy that was out there on the field and did a good job at times for us.”'

'"When you have that bye week, it is a good chance to rest the players and get them refreshed," Levy said. "The players have been going for quite a while now, starting with training camp and the offseason work. The bye week should be a plus to allow you to refresh, to give you more time to prepare and to heal from some bang-ups that guys have."'

'First things first, offensive coordinator Rick Dennison deserves credit for putting his ego aside and not strictly utilizing his patented zone-blocking run plays. He's featured many of the same plays that were extremely effective for the Bills over the past two seasons, which are categorically different from the run-game philosophy he was brought up in as a coach in the NFL under Mike Shanahan and Gary Kubiak.'

'"Anyone that knows me knows that I love my country, I have great admiration for our men and women in the military. I have traveled to Iraq as part of a USO tour to show my love and support for these brave men and women. I have been an honored and humbled guest on an F16 flight that landed on a Aircraft carrier in the Gulf of Mexico and was completely awed by the service men and women who operate these incredible machines. I was lucky enough to have visited Veterans hospitals and meet more true American hero’s. I have beloved friends and family members that have served or are serving in the military.'