Niagara Gazette

‘But that doesn’t mean critics have to apologize for wondering if the Bills are more than an average team. We needn’t apologize for sitting through another desultory performance against an NFL bottom-feeder and asking if they’re as good as their record, or if they’re more than an average team.’

‘I imagine the Eagles coaches, who got the better of their Buffalo counterparts, watched the film of that Dolphins game, and maybe some of the other games in Sean McDermott’s three-year tenure when his run defense was dominated at the point of attack.’

‘But it was yet another game in which the Bills turned in a slovenly performance against an inferior team and needed to find themselves in the late going to avoid a colossal embarrassment.’

‘The Bills are still a work in progress. Keep in mind, they were trailing with under five minutes to play against the Jets and Bengals, two teams that as of Sunday had yet to win a game. But they’re in far better shape than anyone could have imagined back in August.’

‘The Bills are still a work in progress, as coach Sean McDermott and the players will be quick to tell you. They’re an imperfect team in an imperfect league with no truly great teams and what seems like two dozen franchises that are struggling with poor offensive lines. But they’re now 4-1, still third in the AFC. They’re a flawed team, but a probable playoff team.’

‘Allen’s first half was as bad as I can remember. With a national audience checking out a battle of 3-0 teams, Allen looked exactly like the overmatched gunslinger much of the national media know him to be.’

‘Simply scoring before halftime will be an achievement. It will be a good test for Allen and an improving offense, against a team that shut down Patrick Mahomes, Jared Goff and Ben Roethlisberger in the first half during their current run. I imagine offensive coordinator Brian Daboll has been saving a few things for his old boss and mentor, Bill Belichick.’

‘“They are a new team,” she added, noting that this year’s Bills are off to a good start at 3-0. “They’ve got to learn to play better as a team. Sometimes I feel like (quarterback Josh) Allen is the whole team and they’d be better off if he brought the whole team together.”’

‘They had played shabbily with the lead against the Giants in Week 2. For the second straight week, they showed their age, looking like an immature team that wasn’t used to playing with a big lead, one that felt it could put things on cruise control against an inferior opponent.’

‘For the first time in many years, the Bills appear to have a legitimate NFL passing game, one that can rise up in difficult circumstances and win games that seem lost — as well as games they’re expected to win.’

‘Look, it’s only one football game. Years of harsh circumstance have taught us not to overreact, one way or the other. But Sunday’s remarkable, season-opening 17-16 win at the Jets is the kind you point back to, one that can help forge a young team’s winning culture.’

‘But some preseasons are more meaningful than others. This one feels different. The Bills have the sense of a team whose time has finally come, one that has a good chance to be one of the five NFL teams, on average, that improve by four games from one season to the next.’

‘Morse had three concussions, core muscle surgery and a lingering foot sprain that kept him out of games in KC. He played only seven games in 2017 and missed five games last season. He didn’t play the Chiefs’ two playoff games in his rookie year with a concussion.’

‘Twenty years later, the Bills appear to be on the rise again. We’ll never see a collection of talent like the Super Bowl team, which came together before free agency. But it has similar elements — a young franchise quarterback in Josh Allen, solid free agent acquisitions, a top defense with rising young stars in Tremaine Edmunds, Tre’Davious White, Matt Milano and a talented rookie lineman in Ed Oliver.’

‘There will be a temptation to rationalize Allen’s performance if he falters in Year Two. But how high should expectations be set for the Bills’ gifted young quarterback? The evidence suggests that if he’s going to succeed, the bar this season should be set high.’