Olean Times Herald

‘So Buffalo, which seemingly won’t re-sign Breida or Taiwan Jones, are still in the market for a difference-making back as Devin Singletary, despite an improved second half of last season, and Zack Moss, have failed to enhance Buffalo’s ground game.’

‘That said, starting this past season, the NFL, despite all its tsks-tsks about gambling, partnered up with 11 betting sites certified to take pro football wagers. Indeed, in ESPN.com’s story about Ridley’s suspension, one of the pop-up ads was for a sports book.’

‘But opponents of that decision are championing a location in downtown Buffalo with a dome, an alternative supposedly preferred even in a survey commissioned by the Bills. It would cost about a half-billion dollars more than the Orchard Park site and would be completed two years later. There are also several other arguments against it. One is that some 300 homes would have to be displaced to build it and another is the inevitable inner-city, game-day traffic nightmare.’

‘Clearly, Buffalo would love to bring Boettger back; he forced veteran Jon Feliciano out of his starting left guard spot, but with offensive linemen being at an NFL premium, the question is how much he would fetch as a free agent.’

‘Frazier interviewed with the Giants, Bears and Dolphins, but those three jobs are filled. The only remaining open position – and it won’t be after Sunday – is with the Vikings, for whom he was head coach over four seasons, nine years ago.’

‘“We had given up a first-round pick for Rob Johnson and he and (Doug) Flutie had played back-and-forth some. We wanted to rest Flutie the last game of the year, we were already in the playoffs and were going to play Tennessee no matter what. So we played Rob in the last game and he played great. We were going to play the playoff game (with Flutie) but Ralph (Wilson, team owner) called me and said, ‘Hey, we’re playing Rob Johnson.’ We’d won all these games (with Flutie) but he said, ‘I don’t care, we gave up a first-round pick’ and blah-blah-blah. I will say this, that (loss) wasn’t Rob’s fault … we were ahead with only 15 seconds left in the game. It wasn’t like Rob played so bad we couldn’t win.”’

‘In a stretch of eight games, they went 3-5, losing to playoff-bound Tennessee, New England and Tampa Bay, getting pulverized at home, no less, by Indianapolis and exclamation-pointed in an embarrassing defeat at Jacksonville, the NFL’s worst team, by record.’

‘He added, “At the end of the day, we didn’t get it done. There’s nothing I can say that’s going to fix it. I wish I could, I’ve thought about it a million times. I can promise you that we’re going to learn about it as an organization.”‘

‘”It’s been disappointing, particularly the last part of the game … those last 13 seconds of the game we pride ourselves on being detailed and prepared,” McDermott continued. “That’s an area of situational football that we practice almost daily here and we typically handle very well. I wish our execution was different.”’

‘That Buffalo didn’t get a possession in OT is a flaw the NFL must address … the result is tilted way too far toward the coin-toss winner in a postseason game. But there’s also a lot to unpack about the Bills’ role in one of the most devastating losses in franchise history.’

‘The Bills seemed to have it won twice in that span, and the Chiefs appeared to have won it once.’

‘Buffalo wide receiver Gabriel Davis wrote his name in the NFL playoff record book, becoming the first player ever to score four receiving touchdowns in a game. Davis scored on passes of 18, 75, 27 and 19 yards and finished with eight receptions for 201 yards. Buffalo needed them as the other wideouts didn’t produce much. Stefon Diggs was invisible (3 catches for 7 yards), Cole Beasley had 6-for-60 and Emmanuel Sanders 1-for-10.’

‘Each team is averaging 28 points a game, tied for third-best in the NFL, hence the oddsmakers’ over/under of 53½ points.

‘Allen produced 42 touchdowns (36 passing, 6 rushing) and 5,170 yards (4,407 passing, 763 rushing, second on the team). Mahomes accounted for 39 touchdowns (37 passing, 2 rushing) and 5,220 yards (4,839 passing, 381 rushing).’

‘But that Allen-to-Doyle connection seemed to be a subtle, almost subliminal message from McDermott to Belichick, the Patriots and the AFC East: “There’s a new sheriff in town …”’