Rochester Democrat and Chronicle

‘The league wasn’t interested in playing a national game at Buffalo’s decrepit War Memorial Stadium, especially in late November, but it was fine with scheduling the Bills as the road team against New York in 1961, San Diego in 1964 and 1965, and Oakland in 1966 and 1968.’

‘That said, this 2021 season is on the fast track to becoming one of the most disappointing in Bills history because at this point, the one-time national media darlings are a shell of the team most of us thought they would be.’

‘This loss to the Colts felt worse because Indianapolis dominated the Bills in every phase and in doing so, made the Bills look like pretenders in the chase for the Super Bowl championship that has eluded this franchise for the entirely of its existence.’

‘Good to know that Dion’s not too concerned about a game where the Bills offense had three turnovers and 15 points, the defense gave up 264 yards rushing and 41 points, and the special teams contributed a disastrous fumble and two missed field goals.’

‘McDermott blamed himself. Fine, that’s what every coach does. But this was a total staff failure. The Bills needed this game with the Patriots breathing down their necks, and it was a soup to buts debacle, on the heels of that horrendous loss two weeks ago in Jacksonville.’

‘Sal’s prediction: Buffalo Bills 27, Indianapolis Colts 20.’

‘“It felt good,” Davis said. “I was kind of in a slump for the past couple weeks because I wasn’t getting a lot of playing time. But then I had opportunities show up and I was able to execute and do what I do. I was just looking at the ball in the air and I said, ‘You only get so much of an opportunity, you got to make this play.’ I definitely knew it was gonna be contested and I was gonna have to watch the ball the whole time and luckily it bounced the right way and I was able to grab onto it and get two feet in.”‘

‘Henry may still be the best back in the league, but Taylor is in the early stages of building his resume to be included in the conversation for that title along with Henry, Nick Chubb, Ezekiel Elliott and Dalvin Cook.’

‘Indianapolis is two overtime losses away from being on a seven-game winning streak, and those losses came to first-place teams, Baltimore and Tennessee, so there’s no doubt this is a good team coming to town to challenge the AFC East-leading Bills.’

‘“I sensed an intensity and an energy from him,” coach Sean McDermott said when asked what Brown’s return meant. “He’s a young player, let’s not put him in the Hall of Fame yet, OK. Please, help me with that. He’s a young player that has to continue to learn what it takes to play in this league and he knows that and that humble and hungry approach is real and we need to carry that forward next week.”’

‘The Buffalo defense made Jets QB Mike White look like the career practice squad player he had been until a month ago, intercepting him four times, and the offense – after a little stumbling in the second quarter – lit up a terrible New York defense both on the ground and through the air.’

‘“We needed a win,” said safety Micah Hyde. “It doesn’t matter how we get it. We want to win, and our backs were against the wall, I guess, after last week. It was a tough loss, and we wanted to go out there and get a win today. Whether it was a 9-6 game, us winning, or the final outcome of today. We wanted to get a win and help get the ball rolling.”’

‘The Bills needed to regain some mojo. The loss to Jacksonville was simply absurd, and a lesser team would have let it creep into this week, but that was clearly not the case. McDermott was stern during the week in his dealings with the media, and you know the message was even clearer to his players. He demanded performance, and he got it.’

‘Sal’s prediction: Buffalo Bills 27, New York Jets 16.’

‘As we expected given that he has a hamstring injury, LB Tremaine Edmunds won’t play in New York, McDermott confirmed Friday morning.’