Speaker 1: Finding the way, finding away every week, have a fo
Speaker 1: no overthinks. All right, go play football. We'll play some football.
Speaker 1: Exciting time to be a Buffalo building detent of the
Speaker 1: Buffalo Builds. Welcome everybody into our first episode of twenty
Speaker 1: twenty one and the Sean McDermott Show, presented by Connors
Speaker 1: and Farrish, your workers comp attorneys. Sean, it's great to
Speaker 1: see if thanks as always for joining us. With a
Speaker 1: success you guys had last year followed by a great offseason,
Speaker 1: the city's buzzing with football fever, tons of bills, fans
Speaker 1: are excited to be back here on Sunday's tailgating, and
Speaker 1: others can't wait to resume the traditions like watching at
Speaker 1: home with family and friends. What are you most excited
Speaker 1: for this season? Well, I'm excited to see our team play.
Speaker 1: We've worked hard this this camp, the guys have worked
Speaker 1: hard in the offseason. I'm also excited to see the
Speaker 1: fans again in our stadium. It's been a long time
Speaker 1: coming and it feels like forever ago that they were
Speaker 1: in our stadium, and we're just hoping that all the
Speaker 1: work that we've put in, all the work the players
Speaker 1: have put in, and that everyone's really put in, it
Speaker 1: pays off. Starting the Sunday. He made it to the
Speaker 1: AFC Championship Game. Last year, you capped off a fantastic
Speaker 1: season where you matched a franchise best thirteen wins, You
Speaker 1: went six and oz in the division for the first
Speaker 1: time in franchise history, and had the highest scoring offense
Speaker 1: in franchise history. If you had such a prolific year,
Speaker 1: what are your expectations for this year and how do
Speaker 1: you balance those expectations with the expectations all of us
Speaker 1: are putting on you. Well, I think you try and
Speaker 1: keep it simple as simple as you can, and certainly
Speaker 1: appreciate all the expectations, all the support that said that
Speaker 1: we got. We gotta do us. We gotta be the
Speaker 1: Buffalo Bills and do the things that have gotten us
Speaker 1: to this point, and in some ways also start over.
Speaker 1: It's a new season every year. Every year. We got
Speaker 1: to take it one game at a time, and we
Speaker 1: plan to do that this week. Well, you can't talk
Speaker 1: about expectations without talking about your quarterback, Josh. He set
Speaker 1: franchise records in virtually every category last year. Then he
Speaker 1: signed a six year contract extension in the offseason's going
Speaker 1: to keep him in Buffalo through the twenty twenty eighth season.
Speaker 1: Statistically speaking, it's hard to see how much he could improve.
Speaker 1: So what's the next step for Josh Allen. Well, you know,
Speaker 1: we're first and foremost. I think it's great that Terry
Speaker 1: and Kim Pegoula have allowed Brandon and myself to do
Speaker 1: that with Josh. Obviously, you know, those players in particular
Speaker 1: that position are hard to find, and when you've got one,
Speaker 1: you've got to make sure you invest in the right
Speaker 1: way and you have him in the organization for a
Speaker 1: long time. And that's what the Pagoulas allowed us to do.
Speaker 1: And Josh is just a fine young man, a special
Speaker 1: person on and off the field, and a great teammate.
Speaker 1: And I think that's really what he showed us over
Speaker 1: the years. And yet he's so hungry to improve, and
Speaker 1: that goes back to his family, the great support he has,
Speaker 1: and the support he has of his teammates, and I
Speaker 1: think that really the sky's the limit he's got. He's
Speaker 1: just got to continue to be Josh Allen, take it
Speaker 1: one game at a time, do his part, not trying
Speaker 1: to do too much, and he'll be just fine. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and for the first time in your tenure, you've got
Speaker 1: almost every one of your key players returning for the
Speaker 1: twenty twenty one season. You must be thinking you did
Speaker 1: something right, whether it was resigning a guy like Matt
Speaker 1: Milano that you drafted and developed, or bringing back key
Speaker 1: pieces in your offensive line like Feliciano Daryl Williams. He
Speaker 1: also had guys like Isaiah Mackenzie, Levi Wallace who wanted
Speaker 1: to stay here to finish what they started. How much
Speaker 1: do you think your culture that you've built here helped
Speaker 1: you and Brandon and the front office retain all these
Speaker 1: key guys. Yeah, that's you hit a great point, and
Speaker 1: that's been one of the biggest goals since we've came
Speaker 1: here five years ago now, was to build a culture.
Speaker 1: Steve to your point of that's transformational rather than transactional.
Speaker 1: That that's the nature of the NFL. It's transactional, but
Speaker 1: we're trying to make it as transformational as we can
Speaker 1: and make Buffalo a destination for people whereby they can
Speaker 1: come to Buffalo and become the best version of themselves
Speaker 1: that they've ever been on the field or off the
Speaker 1: field for that matter. And I think you're seeing players
Speaker 1: start to circle Buffalo on their list of places that
Speaker 1: they want to be. And I think the culture speaks
Speaker 1: for itself. You watch our players and how much fun
Speaker 1: they have during the games, how close they are on
Speaker 1: and off the field, and that's just fun to watch,
Speaker 1: fun to be a part of it. Yeah, while in
Speaker 1: the draft you focused on your d line in the
Speaker 1: draft of the top couple of picks, you also added
Speaker 1: pieces to almost every position group on your roster this
Speaker 1: last offseason. Regardless of the success you had last year,
Speaker 1: you always talk about that growth mindset and getting better
Speaker 1: every day. With that in mind, which position group are
Speaker 1: you expecting to make the biggest improvement from last season? Well,
Speaker 1: I would hope we'd improve as an overall team. That said,
Speaker 1: I know Brandon did a phenomenal job of allocating resources
Speaker 1: to the defensive line position group this offseason, in particular
Speaker 1: in the draft. In order to do that, we had
Speaker 1: to make key moves. Brandon had to make key moves
Speaker 1: to solidify other positions prior to the draft, and I think,
Speaker 1: as you mentioned, resigning some of our players and that's
Speaker 1: that's big. It It sends the right message to our
Speaker 1: locker room that we try and resign our own, we
Speaker 1: try and grow our own and that's important for continuity
Speaker 1: as well as consistency. So the defensive line is a
Speaker 1: group that we were very intentional about this offseason and
Speaker 1: we look forward to watching them grow through the course
Speaker 1: of the year. Force here. Thanks, coach. We're gonna catch
Speaker 1: up with you later in the show to get your
Speaker 1: final thoughts on the Steelers game this Sunday. The game
Speaker 1: plan is presented by Energy Marketing, the official energy supplier
Speaker 1: to the Buffalo Bills. Game preview is presented by Independent Health.
Speaker 1: You deserve the red shirt treatment, Mattie glab here this
Speaker 1: week's game preview. The Bills begin their twenty twenty one
Speaker 1: season with the home opener against the Steelers. Buffalo's coming
Speaker 1: off of a season where they made it to the
Speaker 1: AFC Championship Game, whereas the Steelers are off of one
Speaker 1: where they lost their last five out of six games,
Speaker 1: including a playoff game. The Steeler's quarterback Ben Roethlisberger returns
Speaker 1: for his eighteenth season, but this year he has a
Speaker 1: new offensive coordinator in Matt Canada. We will see if
Speaker 1: he can revamp an offense that was ranked twenty fourth
Speaker 1: overall last year, averaging three hundred and thirty four point
Speaker 1: six yards per game and ranked last in terms of rushing,
Speaker 1: averaging only eighty four point four rushing yards per game.
Speaker 1: Pittsburgh addressed the run game in the draft by selecting
Speaker 1: former Alabama running back naj Harris with the twenty fourth
Speaker 1: overall pick. On defense, the Steelers want to return to
Speaker 1: last year's form, where they led the league with fifty
Speaker 1: six sacks and ranked third, allowing an average of only
Speaker 1: three hundred and five point eight yards per game. Buffalo
Speaker 1: returns twenty one of twenty two starters from last year,
Speaker 1: and that continuity is one reason why many believe this
Speaker 1: team could have a special season. Another reason is because
Speaker 1: of quarterback Josh Allen's leap and improvement from twenty nineteen
Speaker 1: to twenty twenty. He quarterbacked an offense that ranked second
Speaker 1: last season. If we're doing thirty one point three points
Speaker 1: per game, Alan also shattered several single season records in
Speaker 1: his third year, and we'll look to put a similar
Speaker 1: season together with his familiar weapons. The Steelers leave the
Speaker 1: series all time against the Bills with sixteen wins and
Speaker 1: eleven losses. That's this week's game. Preview, Steve back to you.
Speaker 1: Thanks as always, Mattie, Coach, we talked about expectations surrounding
Speaker 1: your team this season. I was hammering you with that
Speaker 1: word early in the show. The fans are excited. I'm
Speaker 1: sure your players are too. So what has been your
Speaker 1: message to your team to start this season? Get them
Speaker 1: off on the right foot. Yeah, we're going to be excited.
Speaker 1: I know the players are excited. They're listen, they're out
Speaker 1: in the community like I am, and you can just
Speaker 1: feel the electricity in the air. The support that we
Speaker 1: have is second to none around the NFL. That being said,
Speaker 1: we've got to put a great week of practice in place,
Speaker 1: and we've got to focus one day at a time,
Speaker 1: get into our process, kind of our internal focus, and
Speaker 1: make sure that we're ready to go. This is going
Speaker 1: to be a tough football game with a good opponent,
Speaker 1: well coached, and an AFC contender. We've got to prepare
Speaker 1: that way and respect every piece of our preparation so
Speaker 1: that we're ready to go. You said it, Coach. You've
Speaker 1: got the Steelers rolling into Buffalo for the second time
Speaker 1: in two seasons. Last year you knocked him off on
Speaker 1: a Sunday night football in a game that really had
Speaker 1: some say in what the playoff race was going to
Speaker 1: look like. How can you learn from the success or
Speaker 1: can you learn from the success you had against them
Speaker 1: last year and build on it for this year's matchup. Well,
Speaker 1: they have continuity on their side as well, So some
Speaker 1: of that, you know, leads to awareness of them knowing us,
Speaker 1: us knowing them a little bit, and we're gonna have
Speaker 1: to do our best to have ourselves ready to go
Speaker 1: and really focus on our fundamentals and usually what wins
Speaker 1: games and taking care of the football. So it'll be
Speaker 1: a good game. It's going to be a tough, hard
Speaker 1: nosed game in a game that's going to come down
Speaker 1: to who takes care of the football. You said it, coach.
Speaker 1: There's some continuity on both sides, but there's also some faces,
Speaker 1: some new faces in this game. Big Ban is going
Speaker 1: to be there, All the return receivers are going to
Speaker 1: be back this year, but the Steaters have added a
Speaker 1: new offensive weapon with their first round pick, running back
Speaker 1: Naja Harris. How do you prepare to face a rookie
Speaker 1: who you know is going to be a prominent player
Speaker 1: in their offense, but you really haven't seen him playing
Speaker 1: in a regular season game yet well. In addition to Naja,
Speaker 1: they also added Fairmouth at tight end from Penn State,
Speaker 1: who's an elite player at a young age, and so
Speaker 1: they already had weapons. You mentioned Ben in the receiving
Speaker 1: corps in addition to Ibrawn the other tight end they have.
Speaker 1: They're well stocked on offense and across the board on defense.
Speaker 1: They've been a good defense for years in Pittsburgh, and
Speaker 1: I think they're special teams unit. They do a great
Speaker 1: job of keeping enough linebackers on their roster through the
Speaker 1: three four defense. Again, a good football team and a
Speaker 1: well balanced football team and a well coached team. Thanks coach,
Speaker 1: good luck this week against Pittsburg. We're gonna be back
Speaker 1: next week to recap your game against the Steelers and
Speaker 1: preview the week two matchup against the Dolphins. Thanks everybody
Speaker 1: at home for watching. The Sean McDermott Show presented by
Speaker 1: Connors and Ferris. We'll see you next week. Can until then,
Speaker 1: Go Bills. Final Thoughts is presented by Toyota, the official
Speaker 1: vehicle of the Buffalo Bills. Let's Go Places. The Sean
Speaker 1: McDermott Show is presented by Connors and Farris, your workers'
Speaker 1: comp attorneys. By Independent Health You deserve the rich sher
Speaker 1: treatment by Toyota, the official vehicle of the Buffalo Bills,
Speaker 1: Let's Go Places, by Kalida, official healthcare system of the
Speaker 1: Buffalo Bills, and by ECMC. ECMC bringing hope and healing
Speaker 1: to Western New York