Speaker 1: All right, Verry, Hey, help, we're a baby held by
Speaker 1: You were on this thing, man, right, he just happened today.
Speaker 1: You were on the starting Monday. Right. That's the big
Speaker 1: thing we can take out of this week. You're in it.
Speaker 1: We knocked that ball out. What's he don't gonna worry ever?
Speaker 1: Live right now? Hey, we're live. Everybody got me not.
Speaker 1: Let's go bury. Every man do their job on a
Speaker 1: level well, Calivern defense. Let's go no overthinker, right, go
Speaker 1: play some ball, Go play some football. It's an exciting
Speaker 1: time to be a Buffalo Bill and a fan of
Speaker 1: the Buffalo Bills. Welcome into Week nine of the Sean
Speaker 1: McDermott Show, presented by Connors and Ferris, your workers comp attorneys. Sean,
Speaker 1: thanks as always for joining us. You're coming off two
Speaker 1: big division wins and you got your first victory against
Speaker 1: the Patriots. What did it mean to get your first
Speaker 1: win against that organization? Well, it was emotional. I know
Speaker 1: there's been a lot of work put into it, and
Speaker 1: I know also know what it means to our fan base.
Speaker 1: Great to see our players go out there. Our coaches
Speaker 1: executed a high level and to get the win. Again
Speaker 1: I've said it after the game, Stephen, and I'll say
Speaker 1: it again here that I wish our fans were able
Speaker 1: to be in the stadium with us and experience that together.
Speaker 1: I know they were out there watching it, and I
Speaker 1: can only imagine what it was like in the in
Speaker 1: the house and the homes around Buffalo and all the
Speaker 1: all the fans across the world that root for the
Speaker 1: Buffalo Bills. Yeah. And for the second week in a row,
Speaker 1: your defense sealed the deal for you in the second half.
Speaker 1: This time Justin Zimmer forced to fumble with under a
Speaker 1: minute to play that really won the game. You've used
Speaker 1: a number of different defensive linemen this year, but what
Speaker 1: does Justin Zimmer bring to your defensive line. Well, he's
Speaker 1: such a blue collar guy man, very quiet, does his job.
Speaker 1: He plays scout team during the week and all honesty,
Speaker 1: and he plays in his normal role as a defensive tackle.
Speaker 1: So just love his approach. Man. Just a great DNA
Speaker 1: blue Jean type guy man. And that's his style of play,
Speaker 1: which I know the players respect and appreciate as well. Yeah. Well,
Speaker 1: you finally got your running game going against the Patriots.
Speaker 1: Zach Moss had the best day of his young career.
Speaker 1: With eighty one yards on fourteen carries a couple of touchdowns.
Speaker 1: Motor has had he had eighty six yards on fourteen carries.
Speaker 1: Both guys averaged around six yards a carry. What was
Speaker 1: the key to getting that running game going against the
Speaker 1: New England Patriots. Well, our offensive line really began the
Speaker 1: week on Wednesday, as we work here on the field
Speaker 1: and beginning Wednesday, and they had a great I thought,
Speaker 1: a great session of practice and really developing that mindset
Speaker 1: Steve of physical nature of our offense and that starts
Speaker 1: up front. And I thought our backs did a phenomenal
Speaker 1: job as well, running the way that that they did.
Speaker 1: That was a nice compliment of using the two of
Speaker 1: them and good to see on Sunday. Yeah, and years passed.
Speaker 1: What happened on the first play of the game, third
Speaker 1: on third down, really a first third down of the
Speaker 1: game for your offense. You lost Mitch Morse right off
Speaker 1: the bat, and John Feliciano had to move over to
Speaker 1: center and his first came back this season. How impressed
Speaker 1: were you with Feliciano's performance in this season debut. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you know, in all honesty, were we had John on
Speaker 1: a pitch count going into the game, and just thinking
Speaker 1: he was going to play guard and work in a
Speaker 1: platoon fashion there. But that obviously that plan went out
Speaker 1: the window rather early in the game with Mitch going
Speaker 1: down unfortunately, and so we you know, look when I
Speaker 1: came in, stepped in, he was prepared, did a great job,
Speaker 1: and then we were able to move John over, and
Speaker 1: I thought our offensive line coaches did a great job
Speaker 1: and balancing that and handling that, and then the players
Speaker 1: executed again at a very high level. Well in a
Speaker 1: week and against the Jets, you were over for five
Speaker 1: in the red zone. Then week eight, you're three for
Speaker 1: four against the Patriots. How did you improve your red
Speaker 1: zone efficiency? How does that work? Well, we had we
Speaker 1: had been experiencing success up to that Jets game, as
Speaker 1: you mentioned, and then we kind of stalled ourselves in
Speaker 1: the high red zone there. And you know, we're a
Speaker 1: tough team to stop because of different components. We had
Speaker 1: to our offense in the red zone. And it's exciting,
Speaker 1: honestly to watch who's the next person to carry the ball,
Speaker 1: who's the next person to get the ball thrown too,
Speaker 1: whether it's the red zone or in the middle of
Speaker 1: the field. Josh Allen's numbers have cooled off a little
Speaker 1: bit since his hot started. He's averaged three thirty one
Speaker 1: yards passing and three passing touchdowns a game over the
Speaker 1: first four games, but then the last four he's averaged
Speaker 1: just two hundred and twelve yards passing and one touchdown.
Speaker 1: Do the lower passing numbers concern you at all or
Speaker 1: have they been more of a product or the matchups.
Speaker 1: I think more than anything, it's about winning games, and
Speaker 1: whether we do it on the ground or through the air,
Speaker 1: the number one thing we've got to do is win games.
Speaker 1: And then the biggest thing, honestly that leads to that
Speaker 1: is is taking care of the football, whether we do
Speaker 1: it again on the ground or in the air. I
Speaker 1: think Josh would would tell you that all he wants
Speaker 1: to do is win games. And listens are certainly important,
Speaker 1: but at the end of the day, that w is
Speaker 1: what counts, and we just have to use those stats
Speaker 1: to continue to evolve our football team. Overall is you
Speaker 1: look at them as indicators more than anything on what
Speaker 1: we're doing well versus where we need to improve. All overall,
Speaker 1: your defense has improved quite a bit over the last
Speaker 1: two weeks. You had two sacks against the Patriots, one
Speaker 1: from Hughes and the other from Jefferson. You also had
Speaker 1: four tackles for a loss and five quarterback hits. Are
Speaker 1: you happy where your defense is halfway through the season. Well,
Speaker 1: I think we're rounding out a little bit here. We're
Speaker 1: getting a better field for who we are. We're starting
Speaker 1: to do some things in a more coordinated fashion upfront
Speaker 1: and gaining a little bit of an identity in that regard.
Speaker 1: And I really appreciate those guys and the effort more
Speaker 1: than anything. They play hard and physical, which is important.
Speaker 1: I think overall as a team, we're learning how to
Speaker 1: play fundamentally sound football and the you know, the elements
Speaker 1: of throwing and catching and running and blocking and tackling
Speaker 1: and getting off blocks. All of that will be necessary
Speaker 1: as we continue to move down the stretch. Well, thanks, coach,
Speaker 1: We'll catch up with you later in the show to
Speaker 1: get your final thoughts. Chopping Wood is presented by Saint
Speaker 1: Bonaventure University, the official education provider of the Buffalo Bills.
Speaker 1: Welcome back to the Sean McDermott Show, and it is
Speaker 1: now time for another edition of Chopping Wood with our
Speaker 1: good friend Eric Wood. It's been a tough season for
Speaker 1: the running backs, but they finally got a rolling against
Speaker 1: the Patriots in Week eight. How did the Bills get
Speaker 1: their running attack going. Well, the run game came on
Speaker 1: just when they needed it to tough conditions because of
Speaker 1: the weather in Buffalo on Sunday, and they needed to
Speaker 1: get the run game going. So what did they do.
Speaker 1: They went back to a lot of what they did
Speaker 1: in twenty eighteen and twenty nineteen with the ground game,
Speaker 1: and that was going back under center, and that seemed
Speaker 1: to keep the running backs on great tracks throughout the
Speaker 1: game and really got the run game going. Well, let's
Speaker 1: start by looking at Zach Boss. He had his longest
Speaker 1: carry of the day in the first quarter. What happened
Speaker 1: on this play? Yeah, so this is an outside zone
Speaker 1: concept to the left side of the field, and all
Speaker 1: the blocks up front were excellent. And you know the
Speaker 1: first thing that sticks out to me is Ryan Bates
Speaker 1: playing center on this drive. Mitch Morse was out with
Speaker 1: an injury. It's tough being a backup and coming right
Speaker 1: into the game you're not warm. And I thought he
Speaker 1: had two really good blocks on the drive that he
Speaker 1: was in there. But Zach Moss has proven right now
Speaker 1: coming off the injury that he looks to be worth
Speaker 1: the investment that the Bills made for him, drafting him
Speaker 1: in this year's draft. Yeah, they came back to that
Speaker 1: zone blocking on the next play for Moss's first rushing
Speaker 1: touchdown of the year. Yeah. Pre snap, the Bills will
Speaker 1: bring Gave Davis back across the formation. Then on the
Speaker 1: snap they bring him back the other way in a
Speaker 1: slice motion. This brings the defender that has him man away.
Speaker 1: It also makes it really tough for the Patriots defenders,
Speaker 1: especially the second level defenders to fit this properly. And
Speaker 1: this is a walk in touchdown in the red zone
Speaker 1: for Zach Moss. Those don't come too often in the NFL.
Speaker 1: This is a great play designed by Brian Dave All hell,
Speaker 1: Zack Moss wasn't the only one who've got it rolling.
Speaker 1: How did the Bills get Devin's single Arry involved as well?
Speaker 1: So on this play for the Bills, it's another outside
Speaker 1: zone to the left side of the formation. This is
Speaker 1: becoming a theme. But what the center and the guard
Speaker 1: do on the left hand side is they block down
Speaker 1: with Ike Butcher and they pull Feliciano around. What that
Speaker 1: can do is it pins the defense right there at
Speaker 1: the nose guard. If everybody just simply zones off the ball,
Speaker 1: then everyone can run laterally. So you'll use at times
Speaker 1: this pin and pool scheme versus a play side nose guard,
Speaker 1: and John Feliciano does a great job covering up the
Speaker 1: Patriots defender actually a defensive back playing at linebacker level.
Speaker 1: Pretty easy block for Big John there. On that same drive,
Speaker 1: they came back to Moss in the red zone with
Speaker 1: a different look, and this time it was in a
Speaker 1: pistol formation. So again the Bills attack the Patriots defense
Speaker 1: with wide zone. And when the Patriots played with such
Speaker 1: big defenders on the field, especially across the line, oftentimes
Speaker 1: you'll go to this wide zone. You want to get
Speaker 1: them moving laterally and really take advantage of maybe just
Speaker 1: one of them misfitting the gap. And here you do it.
Speaker 1: And this is just great strength by the rookie running
Speaker 1: back and everybody pushing with him to get him in
Speaker 1: the end zide. This is just Gray will in a
Speaker 1: great cap off to a drive. They came back to
Speaker 1: the under center running game a little bit with Singletary
Speaker 1: later in the third quarter. Tell us about what you
Speaker 1: see here. This is an excellent check by Josh Allen
Speaker 1: at the line of scrimmage. On the TV copy, you
Speaker 1: could hear him saying alert, Alert. He points to his helmet,
Speaker 1: so he's switching the play. He sees that there's going
Speaker 1: to be pressure off the right side of the defense,
Speaker 1: so he checks to a run play to the left.
Speaker 1: Without a fullback, they're going to be outnumbered on the
Speaker 1: week side of the formation. On the right side, Darry
Speaker 1: Williams just gets enough at the backslide blocker, which is
Speaker 1: a tough block for him considering all the defense is
Speaker 1: going to be slanting away from the pressure coming off
Speaker 1: the Bill's right hand side. This is a great cut
Speaker 1: by Singletary put his foot in the ground and getting
Speaker 1: straight up field, and that's what being under center can do.
Speaker 1: It allows for him to put his foot in the
Speaker 1: ground and really get up field quicker than it would
Speaker 1: be out of the gun, where you're moving more laterally
Speaker 1: across the formation. The Bills came back to Zach Moss
Speaker 1: on another outside zone to set up Josh Allen's touchdown run.
Speaker 1: Watching this play live, I was a little confused at
Speaker 1: what Cole Beasley was doing, and this was right at
Speaker 1: the end of the quarter, and I think Josh Allen
Speaker 1: saw that the Patriots were exposed on the edge of
Speaker 1: the defense they get into condensed formation here the Bills do,
Speaker 1: and it allows Tyler Croft to wrap around and get
Speaker 1: a block on the outside there. And I think Josh
Speaker 1: Allen simply just didn't send Cole Beasley across because he
Speaker 1: knew they had such a good look and he wanted
Speaker 1: to get it in before the quarter. And this was
Speaker 1: another great run by the rookie running back out running
Speaker 1: the unblocked defender there in the hole and getting up field.
Speaker 1: And I just thought the Bills running backs all day
Speaker 1: finished their runs extremely well. Well. Zach Moss had a
Speaker 1: career day. And here's another big game that he had
Speaker 1: on another zone read run. Yeah, this is just outside
Speaker 1: zone again, and this seems to be a theme for us.
Speaker 1: But when you have something going in the run game
Speaker 1: him and you're doing it over and over, gives the
Speaker 1: offensive line and the backs time to get in a rhythm.
Speaker 1: And here the defensive tackle goes under Ichbucker. He does
Speaker 1: a great job and just staying on his track up
Speaker 1: to the linebacker covers him up through the entire play.
Speaker 1: And that's just great blocking up front. It's a great
Speaker 1: job by the Bills offensive line the entire day. Also,
Speaker 1: like the hustle by Brian Winners on the backside cuts,
Speaker 1: the linebacker gets just enough of Brinkley to spring Zach
Speaker 1: Moss so that he can get up the field so
Speaker 1: far untouched. It certainly what's gratifying to see the Bills
Speaker 1: get their running game rolling against the Patriots. Eric, thanks
Speaker 1: for this. We're gonna talk to you next week. Sounds good,
Speaker 1: Thanks Steve. Mattie glab here with this week's game preview.
Speaker 1: The FC East leaders, better known as the Buffalo Bills,
Speaker 1: are home for the second straight week to take on
Speaker 1: the NFC West leaders in the Seattle Seahawks. Seattle is
Speaker 1: six and one and leads the lead averaging thirty four
Speaker 1: point three points per game. With Russell Wilson at the helm,
Speaker 1: the Seahawks have the most passing touchdowns with twenty six.
Speaker 1: Wilson leads the NFL with passer Rating and ranks third,
Speaker 1: completing seventy one point five percent of his passes for
Speaker 1: two thousand, one hundred and fifty one passing yards. The
Speaker 1: Seahawks defense has struggled in different ways, allowing the most
Speaker 1: yards per game at four hundred sixty point nine. They
Speaker 1: are also tied for first with fourteen total takeaways. The
Speaker 1: Bills are four and oh in the AFC East for
Speaker 1: the first time since nineteen ninety one. With a win
Speaker 1: against the Seahawks, they have the chance to go seven
Speaker 1: and two for the first time since nineteen ninety three.
Speaker 1: Buffal has been successful at extending drives, converting third downs
Speaker 1: at the highest percentage in the NFL, doing it fifty
Speaker 1: one point six percent of the time through eight games.
Speaker 1: Josh Allen is completing sixty seven point one percent of
Speaker 1: his passes for two thousand, one hundred and seventy two yards,
Speaker 1: which ranks fifth. The Bills defense is allowing twenty four
Speaker 1: point nine points per game and three hundred and fifty
Speaker 1: eight point one total yards per game, good for sixteenth.
Speaker 1: The Seahawks lead the series against the Bills with eight
Speaker 1: wins and five losses. That's this week's game preview, Steve
Speaker 1: back to you. Thanks as always, Maddie. Coach, you've won
Speaker 1: two in a row after losing two in a row.
Speaker 1: How did you get your team back on track and
Speaker 1: how will you build off that little streak of success? Here?
Speaker 1: In the second half of the season. Well, it's a
Speaker 1: it's a sixteen weeks of one week seasons, right, So
Speaker 1: you know we've got to embrace that mentality, get back
Speaker 1: to our process this week and earn the right to
Speaker 1: win like we try and do every week, and do
Speaker 1: what it takes to win a football game. It's a
Speaker 1: great football team coming in here in the Seahawks. I'll
Speaker 1: respect for what they do, and you know, we've got
Speaker 1: to improve on our end, you know, going forward for
Speaker 1: us to continue to improve as an overall football team,
Speaker 1: and you know it'll be a big challenge for us,
Speaker 1: but we're excited about the opportunity. Well, Russell Wilson comes
Speaker 1: to town. He leads the National Football League with twenty
Speaker 1: six passing touchdowns only seven games, and he has a
Speaker 1: league best one hundred and twenty point eight passer rating.
Speaker 1: He's on record breaking pace and the early leader for MVP.
Speaker 1: How does he compare with other quarterbacks you faced this year?
Speaker 1: Obviously he's playing at a high level. Yeah, I believe
Speaker 1: he's playing at an all time high. I mean, he's
Speaker 1: playing at an MVP level. And you know he's a
Speaker 1: big part of what they do. And you know, just
Speaker 1: because of that, you've got to play sixty minutes or
Speaker 1: forever how long it takes. And and so we've got
Speaker 1: a lot of respect for him, you know, coached against
Speaker 1: him before, and there's a reason why they've they've been
Speaker 1: able to win a super Bowl in a world championship. Well,
Speaker 1: thanks coach, good luck this weekend against Seattle. We're gonna
Speaker 1: be back next week to break down the game with
Speaker 1: the Seahawks and preview the week ten match up with
Speaker 1: the Cardinals. Thanks for watching The Sean McDermott Show presented
Speaker 1: by Connors and Ferris, and we'll see you next week.
Speaker 1: Go Bills, Final Thoughts. It's presented by your local tell
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