Olean Times Herald

‘Most of McDermott’s three-year tenure and that of general manager Brandon Beane, who arrived four months later, has been spent trying to divest the Bills of the players Whaley drafted.’

‘“You can’t allow one game to dictate the rest of the season,” he said. “I don’t think that’ll happen to us … I think we’ll make the corrections and be better going forward.” Bills fans can only hope so.’

‘The Eagles (4-4) finished with 218 yards rushing, the most the Bills, now 5-2, have surrendered all season, by nearly 90 yards. Philadelphia’s workhorse back Jordan Howard finished with 96 yards on 23 carries with a touchdown. Miles Sanders, the rookie from Penn State, finished with 74 yards including a 65-yard TD sprint, the longest rush against Buffalo in six seasons.’

‘For the second time in two games, the Bills’ defense surrendered over 370 yards and gave up a staggering 218 yards on the ground en route to a 31-13 thrashing by the injury-ravaged Eagles Sunday afternoon at New Era Field.’

‘It was the longest run against the Bills since Bobby Rainey of Tampa Bay went 80 yards in the 2013 season.’

‘And today, one of the most interesting matchups will be Philly’s run defense against the Bills’ rushing attack. Buffalo averages 137 yards per game on the ground, seventh in the league, while the Eagles’ rushing ‘D’ is surrendering 89 yards per game, sixth-best in the NFL.’

‘“We feel good about what we’ve done but we don’t feel complacent or good enough (as far as) what we want to be and where we want to go. Each week we get to learn and grow and it’s going to be no different this week. We’re trying to take it one game at a time. We’re a team that’s going to play for 60 minutes. We’re tough, we’re gritty, we’re Buffalo.”’

‘“They’re more than capable of scoring a lot of points and moving the football. They have a tight end who’s as good as there is in his league, so we’ll have to be right (defensively) come Sunday.”’

‘“You never can relax,” he said. “It’s the NFL so we have to bring our A game every week … no game is going to be easy. You can’t look at anybody’s record … bring it every week and come ready to work.”’

‘But that score obscures the fact that the Bills were just this close to losing a home game to the NFL’s worst team which merely outgained Buffalo in yardage (381-305) and plays run (66-51).’

‘“It’s a strange feeling every time I’m here … walking into the stadium – there’s so many good memories.”’

‘When Allen ran for the two-point conversion after throwing the touchdown pass to John Brown that let Buffalo retake the lead for good, he fired the ball into the second level of the end zone stands, just a few rows short of the former administration building. “It was one of those moments where there was a lot of stuff going through me,” Allen said. “Those fans were yelling pretty loud so I just wanted to give them a souvenir.”’

‘For the record, Buffalo’s defense, third in yards surrendered (275 a game) and fourth in points given up (14 ppg), has relinquished only seven touchdowns in five games. The Dolphins have scored four in as many starts and its defense has logged only two takeaways. Those stats, of course, raise the possibility of the Bills mailing it in.’

‘“It’s an awesome place to play whether you’re there as a player with the support of the fans or going in there as an opponent in a hostile environment,” Fitzpatrick said. “When you walk in there, there’s not a whole lot of jerseys for your team. It’s all Buffalo jerseys. There will be some 14s but they’re probably Sammy Watkins (jerseys), not Fitzpatrick.”‘

‘They own an 0-5 record, second only to Cincinnati (0-6), but Miami has been much more futile. While Flores has told everyone who will listen that his team isn’t tanking, his team has argued otherwise, losing it first four games by 49, 43, 25 and 20 points … an average of 34 per defeat. Over that span, the Dolphins were outscored 163-26.’