Rochester Democrat and Chronicle

‘I’ve been pretty consistent in my thoughts on the third-year defensive tackle. He hasn’t played at a level commensurate with being the No. 9 overall draft pick in 2019. But in this game Oliver was outstanding, and with a little luck, and a little bit of awareness, it could have been AFC defensive player of the week worthy.’

‘What a mess that was most of Sunday afternoon for the Buffalo offense. Rare has been the day when Josh Allen and company have looked so out of sync and, let’s be honest, downright lousy.’

‘Back in the preseason, Mickelson spoke to the team via Zoom and imparted some of his wisdom – accrued across three decades as one of golf’s all-time greats – relating to playing with patience, and inner peace, especially when things aren’t going well, and Allen tapped into that in a big way Sunday.’

‘Against a clearly inferior Miami Dolphins team, one that is now 1-7 after a 26-11 loss to the Bills, Beasley, Josh Allen and the rest of the offense was downright putrid during the first 30 minutes.’

‘Sal’s prediction: Buffalo Bills 30, Miami Dolphins 17.’

‘“He’s worked hard to get back to where he is and contribute,” coach Sean McDermott said. “It’s a good story and we’re happy for him, albeit seeing a guy go down in Dawson is not what we want. But next man up. Tommy’s a very resilient young man and I think that his teammates have seen that over the course of a year.”’

‘“I think he just continues to find ways to explore different types of plays, he’s constantly watching film from college, other NFL games and even sometimes high school games,” Allen said. “He’s got a knack for it, of just finding good play calls and switching things up where teams maybe lose focus on one guy and then bring them in or focus too much on the other guy. He’s very open-minded for different plays from everybody on the team, doesn’t matter what position you play, he’s willing to take a look at it.”’

‘“Generally, I think things are progressing in a positive way,” Goodell said of the multi-layered negotiations that are taking place between the Bills, New York State, and Erie County. “I think the parties are all working well together. I think there’s a recognition in the need for a new stadium in Buffalo for the Bills. And I think everyone’s working with that objective in mind.”’

‘The Bills have not blocked particularly well in the run game and that has been an ongoing problem because this simply isn’t a mauling, physical front. They do things with finesse, and that doesn’t usually work against a stout front seven. Among the starters, PFF has Brown graded as the best run blocker and Dawkins by far as the worst.’

‘So, it was the right decision to go for it. But here’s where I disagree with offensive coordinator Brian Daboll, and by extension McDermott who, as head coach, would sign off on a critical play call like this: It was the wrong play call for the situation.’

‘For the season, both guards, Williams and Jon Feliciano, as well as Brown have poor pass blocking grades per Pro Football Focus and Ford was off the charts bad which is why he’s no longer playing. In run blocking, PFF has LT Dion Dawkins as the weak link, and that certainly showed up on the final play against Tennessee.’

‘Bad loss. A really bad loss to a Tennessee team that was terrible banged up on defense.’

‘Like I always say with the running game, though, it’s usually not the fault of the backs. The running game is all about winning at the line of scrimmage and the Bills did not do that. It looked like rookie RT Spencer Brown had a rough night, I know LG Jon Feliciano did, and I’ll have to see what else went wrong when I re-watch the game. I’m going to guess that not a lot will look good as the Titans’ talented front won the night.’

‘Sal’s prediction: Buffalo Bills 31, Tennessee Titans 21.’

‘According to Pro Football Focus, in the first five games last year Johnson allowed 27 pass completions on 34 attempts into his coverage responsibility, a 79.4 completion percentage, and those plays totaled 306 yards.’