‘McDermott confirmed that defensive tackle Jordan Phillips had surgery on his wrist Sunday night following the Bills win. Phillips is currently week to week at this time and the team will know more about his status at a later date.’
BillsBeat - December 19, 2023
Bills coaching staff earns praise for impressive game plan in win over Cowboys
‘In the four games that Brady has been calling plays, the Bills have run 63 more plays than their opponents (301 vs. 238), an average of nearly 16 more offensive snaps on a per game basis. They’ve possessed the ball for an average of 37 minutes per game during that stretch.’
BillsBeat - December 18, 2023
Observations: James Cook dices up Dallas Cowboys in Buffalo Bills' dominant win
‘Cook finished with 179 rushing yards on 25 carries – a whopping 7.2 yards per carry, which included a 24-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter. His rushing total was the most by a Bills running back since Fred Jackson had 212 yards on the ground in a 30-7 victory over the Indianapolis Colts on Jan. 3, 2010.’
Ryan O'Halloran: Memo to the AFC – don't let the Bills qualify for playoffs ... or else
‘“You’re right!” a Bills veteran told me in the locker room after a 31-10 rout of the Cowboys. “We’re showing our potential of what we can really do. A team better not let us get hot.”’
'I believe that we them dogs': Bills defense smothers high-scoring Cowboys
‘“Yeah, I thought that they had done their job. The defense hadn’t done their job,” McDermott said, then winking.’
Three questions: Odds say Bills still probably need to win out
‘If the Bills win the next two but lose to Miami? The odds they make the playoffs are only 51%. Obviously, the odds fluctuate up or down in that scenario – a loss in Miami — depending on what happens in other games involving the AFC contenders.’
How It Happened: Top plays, standout players in Bills' win over Cowboys
‘The Bills were able to pull quarterback Josh Allen, receiver Stefon Diggs, running back James Cook and three offensive line starters (left tackle Dion Dawkins, center Mitch Morse and left guard Connor McGovern) with 10:37 remaining. Several defensive starters exited with seven minutes remaining.’
Plays that shaped the game: Bills sap Cowboys of their super powers
‘“I think we kept the pressure on the run game and didn’t allow them to get going,” said Bills left guard Connor McGovern. “When they start off and get hot, they start moving around and doing more. They had to keep focusing on the run, so they couldn’t pin their ears back like they like to.”’
Report Card: Running game, coaching get high marks in Bills' win over Cowboys
‘Considering what was at stake, this was the Bills’ best showing of the season. McDermott deserves a ton of credit for getting his defense to utterly dominate an opponent that came into the game averaging 37.3 points per game over their past six games. In fact, this should go down as one of the signature wins of the McDermott era. There is still a ton of work to be done in the playoff race – the Bills got no help on the out-of-town scoreboard earlier in the day – but they took care of their business in resounding fashion. Brady didn’t try to fix what wasn’t broken, leaning on Cook and the run game. The Bills are averaging 29.3 points per game in four games with Brady as the interim offensive coordinator. A legitimate case can be made that move should have been made sooner. The Bills took just one penalty in the game. For a team that has shot itself in the foot far too often in that regard, that was a huge step in the right direction.’
Bills unlock potent offense under Joe Brady: 6 reasons Buffalo obliterated Cowboys
‘Surely, Brady was prepared for a shootout against this Dallas offense, but that never materialized and it was the type of in-game adjustment that the best coordinators excel at. Brady has proven in the month he’s been in charge that he has the chops to do that.’
Bills report card: Buffalo puts AFC on notice by annihilating Cowboys
‘One of the biggest concerns the Bills had coming into the game was whether the offensive line would be able to protect Allen and give him time to throw, but it became an irrelevant point once James Cook got rolling on the ground. But when Allen needed to make a play, he hit Diggs for a big 18-yard gain on the first TD drive, found Diggs who made a brilliant catch for 17 yards on the fourth TD drive, and then he hit Cook on a pretty 18-yard TD pass for the second TD.’
Cook, Bills’ line push around Dallas in rout
‘Or, put it this way: when Josh Allen stayed on the sideline to let backup Kyle Allen take care of the final 11 minutes, the scoring margin (28) nearly doubled Josh’s total passing attempts (15). The total rushing yards (266) nearly tripled Allen’s passing yards (94).’
Bills finally let James Cook: RB has star-making performance in blowout win (5 observations)
‘By the time the first half ended, it was clear that the Bills had found the new centerpiece of their offense in second-year running back James Cook. The 24-year-old finished the game with 221 all-purpose yards, almost doubling the Cowboys’ total for the game as an entire offense.’
Buffalo Bills’ James Cook uses three words to describe his monster performance vs. Cowboys
‘It was certainly a fun day for Cook. In front of a national audience, Cook put on an absolute show. His breakout season now has him third in the league in yards from scrimmage (1,401). He only trails Christian McCaffrey (1,801) and Tyreek Hill (1,557).’
Bills’ Josh Allen did something he hasn’t done since rookie season in win vs Cowboys
‘Allen admitted that the plan going into the game wasn’t to rely heavily on the run game. But once the team started having success on the ground, offensive coordinator Joe Brady remained determined to execute in the run game. Bills coach Sean McDermott credited Brady for recognizing that the run game was working and for staying with it.’