WGR

‘Buffalo and Pittsburgh are scheduled to face-off Week 15 which will be crucial in the race for a Wild Card spot. Having the head to head tie-breaker is important but the Steelers dropping another game helps the chances that it won’t need to come down to that.’

‘“Coach sat us all down today and said, ‘play fearless,’ Allen said. “So to have that green light, and that confidence from him still, that means a lot. Not saying I’m going go out there and be reckless, those are two different terms for a reason. Just being very aware of what’s going on but not trying to be gun-shy about anything.”’

‘Although many parts of Allen’s play has raised serious doubts about him as the Bills face of the franchise, this week’s matchup is still a reminder that between Allen and the fan-preferred Rosen, Buffalo made the right call.’

‘The offense can’t sleepwalk through four quarters for a second straight game.’

‘This is the first time the Bills will play on a Saturday, that isn’t Christmas Eve, since falling to the Broncos on December 17th, 2005. Since then, the Bills have played three times on on Christmas Eve Saturday, most recently in 2016 against Miami.’

‘“We were in a two-minute play, we wanted to get it to our best ‘gotta have it’ type of play that we have,” Daboll said of huddling. “We ran it earlier in the game. We threw it to Dawson [Knox] on a little under route, where he picked it up on third-and-two. And you know, on this play, they played blitz zero and failed to connect.”’

‘Much of the conversation surrounding the game was the Bills mismanagement of the clock on the final drive. Bills safety Micah Hyde didn’t back away from questions about the sequence. Here’s what Hyde had to say on the last drive.’

‘The third quarter has not been kind for the Bills this season, and this game was no different for the offense as it, once again, failed to score in the third quarter.’

‘The coach is 1-of-12 in two-and-a-half years throwing the challenge flag, the offense has been consistently bad regardless of the quarterback or scheme, and the quarterback can’t hit a throw further than 20 yards down field.’

‘The Bills have decided to lean on their passing game and it is spotty, at best. They passed 41 times in this game, and the top-two running backs combined for just 14 carries in a game against the 30th-ranked run defense. Even though it’s clear the Bills are more pass based, the lack of carries for Devin Singletary is puzzling. He was productive in a limited role with 42 yards on eight carries. That’s eight carries out of 62 offensive plays.’

‘On third down, how do you not continue to run your offense and try for the win? Stephen Hauschka had already missed a 34-yard field goal at that end of the first half, and hasn’t made one over 50 yards since last season.’

‘As there was with the 2011 Broncos, there is a cap on how far this blue print can take a team.’

‘The Browns came into this game as the 29th ranked defense against the run, and 30th in yards perplex allowed. Even though Cleveland was doing a nice job stopping the run, the Bills could – and should – have stuck with pounding the ball at them, remaining patient. The game was always close. There was no need to get away from doing that at any point. Devin Singletary did start popping a few runs and finished the game averaging 5.3 yards per carry. But that was only only on eight runs. Singletary and Frank Gore combined for only 13 carries. As a team, the Bills ran the ball only 20 times compared to 41 passes.’

‘imply put, the Bills have been poor against the run the last two games, allowing 345 total yards and averages of 5.3 and 5.5 yards per carry, respectively.’

‘“Everyone practiced, everyone was full,” head coach Sean McDermott said after practice on Friday, adding he expects everyone to be available for Sunday’s game.’