Rochester Democrat and Chronicle

‘“I’ve got a lot of family in Louisiana and a lot of my family is in Texas so I basically played for free,” Oliver said with a big smile. “My mom was in the (luxury) box so I played for free. But I know they appreciate it.”’

‘What transpired in the second quarter was borderline ridiculous. The offensive line was so bad that Josh Allen could not function. It’s amazing that the Bills were able to get a field goal from Tyler Bass early in that quarter. Of course, they only had to drive 38 yards because Mario Addison came up with a huge fourth-down stop near midfield.’

‘McDermott has had to do this a couple times now, getting his team back on track after an egregious loss, and he’s 2-for-2 following the Jacksonville and Indianapolis games. And this time he had to do it on a short holiday week on the road. That’s impressive. One thing I didn’t like was his wasted timeout in the fourth quarter when all he was doing was trying to draw the Saints offside before punting.’

‘Sal’s prediction: Buffalo Bills 23, New Orleans Saints 21.’

‘If ever there was a good week for a Thursday night game, this is it for the Bills who desperately want to take their focus away from the way they were manhandled last Sunday by the Colts.’

‘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.”’