Toronto Sun

‘So, can the Ravens afford to blitz Allen as much as a year ago? Probably not. Martindale practically admitted as much this week.’

‘Look, the Colts are a good team, with a plucky defence and the league’s most promising young running back in Jonathan Taylor. The difference between the two sides Saturday might have boiled down to one man: Diggs, Buffalo’s all-pro wide receiver. Take him off the Bills and put him on the Colts, and the Colts maybe — probably — would have won.’

‘Such immaturity is but a dot now in Allen’s rearview mirror. In the 2020 season he has been the epitome of composure; the Bills lead the league in third-down completion percentage.’

‘How Bligh-like were the Patriots in their treatment of the Bills during their dynastic 2001-19 run? The Patriots beat the Bills 34 of 38 times.’

‘Unlike, say, the Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens — who most years this century have annually battled tooth-and-nail atop the AFC North — the Bills and Patriots have been locked in a one-but-not-the-other dynamic since both finally rose to become viable on-field threats in the NFL in the mid to late 1980s.’

‘“Physically,” Miller said in a phone interview this week, “Josh Allen can do things that no other quarterback in the NFL can do.”’

‘Bills fans have to be pinching themselves. Is this really happening?!’

‘New England’s domination has been so embarrassingly complete from a Buffalo perspective that Brady, as a Patriot, won more times this century in Buffalo’s own stadium (16) than any one Bills quarterback has in all games played there.’

‘It’s just that the bazooka-armed Allen must make huge strides in Year 3. There’s no more waiting.’

‘McDermott is the first Buffalo coach to have a winning record after three years since Wade Phillips (1998-2000: 29-19, .604), and appears a lock to become the first Bills head coach to last four full seasons since Pro Football Hall of Famer Marv Levy (1986-97: 112-70, .615), the only NFL head coach to win four consecutive conference championships.’

‘The Bills did not provide a number of season-ticket accounts from across the Niagara River. But because Canadians bought season tickets from the other teams, above, at a rate of 2.75 to 4.1 per purchaser, we can probably safely infer that 2,000-3,000 Canadians own Bills season tickets for 2020. If you throw in the NFL’s other 25 teams, some 4,000 to 5,000 Canadians in all own season tickets for the four-down league.’

‘“They did make the right call, the common-sense call,” Blandino said Wednesday in a phone interview. “Now, the rulebook would differ. The NFL rulebook does not specifically permit (that ruling). We actually tweaked the XFL rulebook to add some language that would cover that situation, when it was obvious that a player was giving himself up and not making any attempt to advance out of the end zone — which is what the player was doing.”‘

‘He started to press too much, attempting too many long, or too many low-percentage passes. His play-caller, Bills offensive coordinator Brian Daboll, didn’t do him any favours at all in the fourth quarter by ordering up so many plays from five-wide — meaning with five receivers split out, and no back or tight end to help the five-man line protect Allen from the growing onslaught of pressure coming from Watt and the Texans forward wall.’

‘But with Buffalo facing third down from the Houston 12-yard line, Watt — playing in his first game since going on injured reserve with a torn pectoral muscle — sacked Buffalo’s plucky quarterback Josh Allen. Texans players afterward called that the game’s turning point.’

‘Added the GM: “It’s going to be very similar to what Sean and I were used to in Carolina. I’m going to deal with the football (talent-evaluating) side, and Sean’s going to deal with the coaches. But there’s not a czar around here. Sean’s not a czar, I’m not a czar. Every decision is going to be collaborative together. I think that’s the only way. Kim and Terry will be involved.”’