Olean Times Herald

‘“The biggest thing is we try and give the players as much rest as we can and then make sure we give them clarity on the game plan …making sure our players understand the plan and that we’re clear on what we expect. We’re focused on what we’ve got to get done.”’

‘So far, so (pretty) good for Buffalo as it takes an 8-3 mark and a roughly 81-82 percent chance of making the playoffs into today’s game. Not bad, and certainly higher than it has been entering Week 13 in recent seasons.’

‘Buffalo’s slate, ninth easiest when the season began based on 2018 records, now faces the NFL’s third-toughest schedule over the last five games.’

‘Short term, Buffalo finished the soft part of its schedule at 8-3, its victories over teams that are a collective 18-63. It has solidified its position as the AFC’s No. 1 wild card, two full games ahead of Tennessee, Pittsburgh, Indianapolis and Oakland (all 6-5). The bad news is that in the Bills’ five closing games they will be underdogs in four of them, at Dallas (6-5) Thanksgiving afternoon, home with Baltimore (8-2 heading into tonight’s game against the Rams in L.A.), at Pittsburgh and at New England (10-1).’

‘“My running back coach (Kelly Skipper) came to me and said, “Hey, we’re gonna get it today,’” Gore noted. “I want to thank Skip for just keeping me up these last couple of weeks. He knew I wanted to be out there with my teammates and peers.’

‘In addition, his 65 yards of total offense put him in a tie with Marshall Faulk for fourth on the National Football League’s all-time scrimmage yards list with 19,154.’

‘What’s certain is that the Broncos’ defense is for real.’

‘Buffalo’s closing schedule is home games with Denver (3-7), Baltimore (8-2) and the Jets (3-7) and at Dallas (6-4), Pittsburgh (5-5) and New England (9-1).’

‘Undeniably, though, the Bills, circumstantially, are facing one of the weakest schedules in their history as 10 of their 16 foes this season are in third or fourth place in their respective divisions.’

‘The best news was Allen’s performance.’

‘Buffalo’s 7-3 start is its best since 1999. The Bills are now 4-1 on the road this season marking the first time they’ve won four of the first five away from home since the 1992 campaign.’

‘In other words, there’s more to this game than the two teams’ records, particularly for Buffalo.’

‘“(I’m) giving guys plenty of chances in the passing game getting us into the right play and doing all of those things that a quarterback needs to do; but first and foremost, the energy and the confidence that these guys need to play with, I’m trying to do as best I can in that regard. We’ve really done a nice job the last few weeks in playing off each other and playing with confidence.”’

‘In short, the Dolphins are on a two-game win streak and were highly competitive in the three games preceding it.’

‘To date, they’ve scored 20 touchdowns — 10 each rushing and receiving — or barely two a game.’