Rochester Democrat and Chronicle

‘A win is a win, as they say, but starting this week, the third-seeded Bills are going to have to pick it up because there are no more layups on what has been an easy season-long schedule.’

‘Matt Haack finally did what he’s primarily paid to do: Punt the ball. If that’s what you want to call what he was trying to do. He hadn’t attempted one since the Panthers game, a span of 151 minutes, 44 seconds, but he was finally called on midway through the second quarter. He hit a line drive into the wind and it was downed at the Jets 19, and it never got better for him. He finished with a 30.3 net average on seven kicks.’

‘The home schedule is as follows: Cleveland Browns, Pittsburgh Steelers, Tennessee Titans, Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings, Miami Dolphins, New England Patriots, and New York Jets.’

‘Sal’s prediction: Buffalo Bills 28, New York Jets 13.’

‘He is about to complete the best season he’s had since joining the Bills as undrafted rookie free agent in 2018, and unless the Bills pony up a whole lot more than $1.75 million, Wallace could very well bolt when 2022 free agency begins in a few months.’

‘“I think there is a rookie wall for most rookies, especially ones that play right from the start, like Greg has,” McDermott said. “I don’t think many of them believe that – ‘Hey, it won’t affect me early in the year.’ But eventually they go through it and sometimes then you can work yourself through that wall and get back out on the other end while still in the same season. So I think he’s experiencing some of that now and you saw some of that in (Sunday’s) game.”’

‘Wilson threw 11 picks in his first eight games, but has none in the last four. For the season he’s completing only 56.7% of his passes for an average of 187.3 yards per game with eight TDs, 11 interceptions, but it’s clear that he’s starting to show signs of why the Jets believe he’s their future franchise QB.’

‘The Bills are out of the race for the No. 1 overall seed and first-round bye, but they can still climb as high as No. 2, though they would need some help. In addition to beating the Jets, they would need the Chiefs to lose at Denver and the Bengals to lose at Cleveland. They could also slot in at No. 3 with a win, and either a Chiefs or Bengals loss.’

‘The offensive line seems to have found a groove now that Ryan Bates is starting at left guard. Jon Feliciano was active for the game, but he remained on the bench.’

‘“If this was his first year then I would have had to say something just to follow up on it. But he already knows (that he can’t play that way). We talk about it a lot, how important the ball is. The biggest thing is, can you reset? Through the course of a game, can you reset and get back on your ‘A’ game and learn from it?”’

‘The Bills have been a little more stout up front the past few weeks, and in this game they did most of it without Star Lotulelei who allegedly played but did not show up on the stat sheet. Phillips has really emerged on the inside, and Oliver is playing the best he’s played since coming to the Bills in 2019.’

‘Sal’s prediction: Buffalo Bills 30, Atlanta Falcons 10.’

‘“It’s clear he’s raised his game and he’s raised his level of play to a standard we’ve been looking for,” coach Sean McDermott said. “At the same time, I think he’s challenged everybody on the offense with his level of play and his consistency. He played bigger. He’s not a real big guy, but he plays bigger and he gives tremendous effort and I think he inspires people by that.”’

‘Unfortunately for Bates, his versatility is actually the reason why he hasn’t played that much for the Bills. He has been active for 39 of a possible 47 regular-season games including every one since Week 12 of 2019 but has played only 223 snaps on offense before last week. Why? Because the 6-foot-4, 302-pounder can line up at every position on the offensive line and coach Sean McDermott has been reluctant to give him chances to start essentially because he is trying to keep him out of harm’s way.’

‘In the case of Feliciano, his 10-day quarantine period was already up, but the other three were all still inside that window and it appears the Tuesday decision by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to reduce the quarantine period for asymptomatic people who tested positive from 10 days to five enabled them to get back on the field.’