Rochester Democrat and Chronicle

‘Johnson was hurt on the seventh play of the game and that created some issues for the Bills’ defense. They had to go with Cam Lewis as his replacement, and then cornerback JaMarcus Ingram was thrust into the role of the third safety when Buffalo decided to play six defensive backs.’

‘Obviously, the Bills will have to handle the horrible heat at this time in Miami. The forecast is calling for daytime temperatures right around 90 with the usual stifling humidity, and rain is possible late in the day. Yes, the game is at night so that will help, but it’s still going to be hot – probably in the 80s – and we saw in 2022 how the Bills struggled in the heat in a Week 3 loss to the Dolphins. Last year, the game down there was at night and it was a beautiful 71 degrees, but that was Jan. 7.’

‘Of course, it can never be easy and the Bills had to survive DeeJay Dallas returning the kickoff after Allen’s second rushing TD 96 yards for a touchdown and the Cardinals’ ensuing two-point conversion to cut the margin to 31-28, but the defense – which endured an awful first half – came up with two huge stops in the final five minutes and the Bills survived.’

‘“We got Josh Allen, man, so we always have a chance in games,” said Von Miller. “It didn’t matter how much we were down. It didn’t matter what it looked like. We just got so much trust in Josh Allen and that offense.’

‘The Cardinals finished with 124 rushing yards and averaged five yards per carry, but that was mostly Murray. Conner averaged just 3.1 yards per attempt and 20 of his 50 yards came on one play. Terrel Bernard led the Bills with 11 tackles and Lewis had nine, several coming in the run game. Dorian Williams also played well with eight tackles and a fumble recovery.’

‘Sal’s prediction: Bills 27, Cardinals 17.’

‘Play-by-play: Tom McCarthy. Analyst: Ross Tucker, Jay Feely. Sideline reporter: Tiffany Blackmon.’

‘Jeff Mazurek, the Bills director of equipment operations, said he starts checking the forecast from Buffalo’s NBC affiliate, WGRZ, at least 10 days out. Meteorologists Patrick Hammer and Kevin O’Neill will give him a heads up for the gameday weather.’

‘The Bills hosted the Indianapolis Colts in another December snow game which also started with no pregame precipitation. Once the snow started, it was falling heavily with inches accumulating all over the field. In those conditions, the equipment staff had to try different things and see what would work, Mazurek said.’

‘“Truly a blessing, you know what I mean?” Hamlin said after practice Wednesday. “I reflect back on the whole process and not knowing if I would even be able to play again. Sitting in that uncertainty was like eating at me because football is truly my passion, it’s the thing that I’ve always been obsessed with my entire life. It just all goes to the power of being process oriented and taking things one day at a time and accepting where you are at each moment of the process truly allows you to conquer anything you’re facing.”’

‘First, the Bills need to ween Allen out of the running game. This doesn’t mean that Brady puts a governor on him because he’s such a threat with his legs and you can’t take all of that away from the attack, but the bulk of his attempts should come on improvised scrambles instead of designed runs.’

‘However, while Rousseau has 17 career sacks, the time has come for him to be the primary pass rusher who the opposing offense has to identify on each play. He sure looked the part in the preseason game against the Steelers when he was in on three sacks, and that should manifest itself once the games start to count this week.’

‘Absolutely this is a game the Bills should win, and quite frankly, it’s a game the Bills need to win because their next five will all be massive tests with three coming on the road.’

‘For 24-year-old Buffalo Bills rookie running back Ray Davis, he’s already had a lifetime worth of monumental days that span every emotion and have shaped his implausible journey from being homeless on the streets of San Francisco as a child, through earning a college degree from prestigious Vanderbilt University, to hearing his name called in the fourth round of the NFL Draft, to learning this week that he had made the Bills’ final 53-man roster.’

‘“I’m excited that we were able to get Mike,” Beane said. “You never know how it’s gonna turn out, where guys are gonna land, and we recruited him hard to get him on this P-squad. Mitch is still working his way back … truly unknown yet whether Mitch will be ready to play Week 1 so it’s great we get Mike in here now, get him up to speed and we feel really good that we’ll have a good option or two to back up Josh come Week 1.”’