Rochester Democrat and Chronicle

‘…Buffalo win AND Baltimore loss…Buffalo win AND Tennessee loss AND Los Angeles Chargers loss.’

‘In both games against the Patriots, the Bills were awful against the run. They yielded 191 in the game at Buffalo, and 193 Sunday as Dion Lewis piled up 129 yards. Lewis, the guy whose name Rex Ryan didn’t know in 2015, has become a new Bills killer, adding to a long list. He had one rushing TD and also caught a screen pass for a TD. Naturally, with Mike Gillislee active for the first time in six weeks, the ex-Bill got his chance to stick it to the Bills and he scored on a 1-yard run. LB Preston Brown played very well with 14 tackles, and CB Shareece Wright was next with nine. The Patriots achieved 13 first downs via the rush, an unusually high total for them.’

‘“I knew Richie prior to the suspension, I knew what he was all about, what type of player he was, what type of person he was,” Wood said the other day after learning that Incognito had been selected to the AFC Pro Bowl squad for the third consecutive year. “Me and Doug Whaley had a conversation about him, and there was some mutual interest. So, we had talked to each other Super Bowl week out in Arizona and I told him, ‘You’re the type of guard I’d like to get into Buffalo.’ ”’

‘Patriots 31, Bills 16.’

‘Imagine that, a relevant Week 17 game. We haven’t seen one of those since 2004, the year the Bills would have earned a playoff berth had they just beaten the Steelers at home, snapping what, at the time, seemed like a lengthy four-year postseason drought.’

‘The Patriots continue to haunt the Bills at every turn as they won the first meeting this year on Dec. 3 in Buffalo, 23-3.’

‘If the Bills lose to the Patriots, their chances dwindle a bit, but they will still be alive in South Florida on New Year’s Eve. At the risk of making your head explode, here’s a breakdown of what Bills fans should be rooting for in Week 16.’

‘“It’s a hard thing offensively to deal with,” Belichick said. “It’s impressive how disciplined, how well-coached, how well-coordinated it is.”’

‘“I want him to be out there; I want to face the best guys,” said the ultra-confident first-round draft pick who is in the running for NFL defensive rookie of the year honors. “He missed the next game, but we want to see him. We want to get them at their best.”’

‘In his first season in Buffalo, safety Micah Hyde has been selected to the Pro Bowl for the first time in his five-year career. He is tied for fifth in the league with five interceptions this season, a career high.’

‘ Tennessee (8-6), Buffalo (8-6), Baltimore (8-6) and the Los Angeles Chargers (7-7) are presently in the wild-card race. Of these teams, the Ravens have the easiest path to a postseason invitation: their final two opponents (Indianapolis and Cincinnati) are a combined 8-20.’

‘I don’t care if he’s going to be 30 years old when training camp opens in July, and I don’t care that he will count $8.95 million against the salary cap. McCoy is the Bills’ best player on offense, maybe on either side of the ball, and Brandon Beane and Sean McDermott would be making a huge mistake to even consider dumping him to save some money.’

‘By beating the Dolphins, Buffalo improved its record to 8-6 and thus maintained its still tenuous position in the AFC wild-card chase, and the additional benefit was that the Bills essentially eliminated the 6-8 Dolphins from contention. That’s a nice payback after Miami ended Buffalo’s 2016 playoff chances in this very venue in the game that turned out to be Rex Ryan’s last as Bills coach.’

‘So, on Sunday, after the Bills beat the Miami Dolphins 24-16 in the home finale, Williams knew exactly what was coming. “I can’t imagine what you’re all gonna ask,” he said as laughter surrounded him in front of his locker, a place where he has offered so much wisdom and insight through the years, too often after mind-numbing losses.’

‘Rick Dennison had quite an up and down day. His play-calling was diverse in the first half and the Bills put together TD drives of 81, 75 and 80 yards. And then in the second half, he reverted to the same stale play-calling we’ve seen for years. The offense went numb, and the Bills were fortunate to hang on thanks to some takeaways from the defense. Defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier dialed up a few more blitzes which hampered the Dolphins, and the Bills forced Cutler into some mistakes. The stupid Adolphus Washington penalty will need to be addressed because that could have really been costly. Sean McDermott again had some timeout issues, but all in all, he had the Bills ready to play in a game they had to win.’