Speaker 1: We're live right now. Hey, we're live. Everybody got me
Speaker 1: not Let's go, baby, Everybody do their job. One eleven, Well, Calvert,
Speaker 1: def let's go, no overthinking, right, go play some ball.
Speaker 1: We'll play some football. It's an exciting time to be
Speaker 1: a Buffalo Bill and I'm a fan of the Buffalo Bills. Hey, everybody,
Speaker 1: and welcome to Week thirteen of The Sean McDermott Show,
Speaker 1: presented by Connors and Farrish, your workers comp attorney Sean,
Speaker 1: We've got to do things a little differently this week
Speaker 1: for the show, So thanks for joining us from your house.
Speaker 1: And by the way, how do you like working from home?
Speaker 1: That's a loaded question. I think there's some good to it,
Speaker 1: and there's some challenges, as we both know, and as
Speaker 1: I think most people would agree. I got my kids
Speaker 1: here trying to do remote school, and I'm here and
Speaker 1: we're all on the wife at the same time. So
Speaker 1: that's been a challenge to say the least. But at
Speaker 1: the end of the day, we're gonna find a way
Speaker 1: to get it done. Yeah. Well, your team jumped out
Speaker 1: to eight and three record with a win against the
Speaker 1: Chargers this last week. He improved four and oh as
Speaker 1: a head coach coming off your bye week as a
Speaker 1: head coach, how did you get your team back on
Speaker 1: track after a week off? Well, I think you know
Speaker 1: it starts with them having the right habits in the
Speaker 1: off week. There, you know, they set themselves up for success.
Speaker 1: They came back ready to go and and ready to
Speaker 1: have a good week of practice, and staff did a
Speaker 1: great job shaping game plans that aren't too big. Sometimes
Speaker 1: when you have that extra time as coaches, we find
Speaker 1: a way to lose the game before it's even played
Speaker 1: with with game plans that aren't the right side. So
Speaker 1: I thought they did. They all did a great job.
Speaker 1: But you got peppered with questions over the bye week
Speaker 1: about what you were gonna do, and you said, you know,
Speaker 1: you've admitted that you're gonna look at your heart, at
Speaker 1: your offensive run game and your defense. You're both gonna
Speaker 1: be points of emphasis during your bye week. Let's start
Speaker 1: with your offense. You ran that came out against the Charges,
Speaker 1: ran the bowl thirty times for a buck seventy two.
Speaker 1: You average almost six yards that carry. You know, is
Speaker 1: the running game fixed and what was the key to
Speaker 1: making it come out and have a day like that? Uh? Yeah,
Speaker 1: you know, I think I think it's improved. I don't
Speaker 1: know that it's fixed, and it's it's it's an ongoing deal.
Speaker 1: It's an every week and every play mindset. Right, If
Speaker 1: you want to control the line of scrimmage, you can't
Speaker 1: just do it one game, or you can't just do
Speaker 1: it one place. So that's an ongoing mindset and attitude.
Speaker 1: And we'll see how that plays out moving forward for us. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and on the other side of the ball, you guys
Speaker 1: held the chargers of just seventy six yards on the
Speaker 1: ground the the the average just three point one seven
Speaker 1: yards per carry. It's the lowest your defense is allowed
Speaker 1: all year. What adjustments did you make to your run
Speaker 1: defense and what do you think is the biggest factor
Speaker 1: in its improvement. Well, it always starts up front, you know.
Speaker 1: I know I sell like a broken record, but I
Speaker 1: firmly believe that. And it's hard to play good defense
Speaker 1: if you don't have it up front. And our our
Speaker 1: defensive line played their tails off. They play gap sound
Speaker 1: and play with great hand violence at the point of attack,
Speaker 1: and and that the second and third level. I would
Speaker 1: say the same. It takes all eleven to defend the
Speaker 1: run and outside of two runs in particular that we're
Speaker 1: really just poorly execution on our part. We did a
Speaker 1: good job and we're pretty salty in the run game.
Speaker 1: Good to see A big part of your running defense
Speaker 1: was Aj Klein. He had another huge game and led
Speaker 1: the team with fourteen tackles and a sack and a half.
Speaker 1: He had three tackles for loss. How big and an
Speaker 1: impact has he been and how big of a relief
Speaker 1: it has been has he been in the absence of
Speaker 1: Matt Malana. Yeah? Huge and and not surprised. I mean
Speaker 1: Aj just took him some time to get his feet
Speaker 1: back underneath him in the new surroundings and into a
Speaker 1: good rhythm. And that's where he is. He's in a
Speaker 1: good rhythm. He's playing good ball, and he puts a
Speaker 1: lot of time in He's extremely smart and I think
Speaker 1: he helps us overall out there in terms of in
Speaker 1: terms of the communication as well. You know, well, in
Speaker 1: the fourth quarter, your offense began to turn the ball over,
Speaker 1: but your defense kept bailing them out. And when it
Speaker 1: was a seven point game, you got a huge interception
Speaker 1: from Trey White And that's really the second time he's
Speaker 1: had an interception in the fourth quarter this season. How
Speaker 1: much confidence you got in Trey your other leaders to
Speaker 1: step up in big moments like that. Yeah, great to see.
Speaker 1: And uh and I think our defense, in particular, to
Speaker 1: your point, is developing that mindset of after Sun changed situations.
Speaker 1: They're just really focused on on getting the stop they
Speaker 1: need to get to do their part in the game.
Speaker 1: And they're mentally tough group and I love how that's
Speaker 1: growing as we've been through the season. Though, Josh had
Speaker 1: a couple of the turnovers you guys suffered, and he
Speaker 1: also had a passing touchdown, He had a rushing touchdown
Speaker 1: um and he also got his leg twisted up had
Speaker 1: to miss the play with an injury. Battled through that
Speaker 1: led you guys to victor what you think of Josh
Speaker 1: and how he's how he's doing coming down the stretch. Yeah,
Speaker 1: he's He continues to impress and do some really good
Speaker 1: things in his third year here, and I've just been
Speaker 1: very happy with him. There's certainly plays he wants back,
Speaker 1: and all of this continues to add to his resume
Speaker 1: in terms of things he can he can do again
Speaker 1: and things that he's done well and things that he
Speaker 1: that he wants to improve on and I think he's
Speaker 1: only going to get better. He's extremely smart, extremely tough,
Speaker 1: works his tail off and and uh, you know, I
Speaker 1: think again, how we continue to play complimentary will be
Speaker 1: a big piece to how we do as an overall
Speaker 1: football team. Coach Cole Beasley had his first touchdown pass
Speaker 1: of his career and he threw it to Gabe Davis.
Speaker 1: And a lot of fans talk about the players in
Speaker 1: this situation, I wanted to talk to you about Brian Dable.
Speaker 1: He's dialed all these plays up, his play selection has
Speaker 1: been great. He's gotten kudos from fans and football people
Speaker 1: alike for how he's handled Josh Allen and this offense.
Speaker 1: Talk about his evolution as an offensive coordinator. Yeah, I mean,
Speaker 1: I don't think there's any any substitute for experience and
Speaker 1: whatever whatever role you're in, if you're if you're worth
Speaker 1: your yours salt, you get better every year because because
Speaker 1: you take it seriously, you're passionate about it, and you
Speaker 1: continue to learn and grow. And that's true for all
Speaker 1: of us, Brian in this case, and so he's added
Speaker 1: to our staff in a lot of ways. I've learned
Speaker 1: some things from him and it's a good kind of
Speaker 1: staff harmony where we can iron can sharp and iron
Speaker 1: as they say. And I think he's off to a
Speaker 1: good start and he's got a good staff that that's
Speaker 1: helping him out there. And so it's it's been fun
Speaker 1: to watch. Well, you've got four primetime games in a
Speaker 1: row coming up. You've got the Niners on this Monday night,
Speaker 1: the Steelers on Sunday night the following week. Then you
Speaker 1: got a Saturday game at four o'clock against Denver. Then
Speaker 1: you've got a Monday night game again against the Patriots.
Speaker 1: I mean, how is it with these these primetime games
Speaker 1: in the in the unusual time slow it's different mindset
Speaker 1: for your team or what will you change over the
Speaker 1: next four weeks because you're playing in front of the
Speaker 1: big stage. Yeah, I mean, I think it's two things. Hey,
Speaker 1: I'm going to handle with my staff with the sports
Speaker 1: science and stand in great communication with them, and our
Speaker 1: strength and conditioning coaches and our trainers. I'm going to
Speaker 1: handle that piece of it so our players and staff
Speaker 1: don't have to worry about it. Then it's just hey,
Speaker 1: let's let's just go out and play. You know, we're
Speaker 1: at the point in the season now where we know
Speaker 1: what the schedule is, we know when we're playing. Not
Speaker 1: one week is going to be the same basically as
Speaker 1: we come up here. So we just that's that's what
Speaker 1: we're scheduled to do, that's where we play, that's how
Speaker 1: we do it. And so I know that's how your
Speaker 1: teams did it back in the day, and that's that's
Speaker 1: the same mentality we're trying to embrace. Coach, Thanks for that.
Speaker 1: We'll catch up with you later in the show to
Speaker 1: get your final thoughts on your upcoming matchup with the
Speaker 1: forty nine Ers. Shopping Wood is presented by Saint Bonaventure University,
Speaker 1: the official education provider of the Buffalo Bills. Welcome back
Speaker 1: to the Sean McDermot Show. It's time to break down
Speaker 1: the film and another edition of Chopping Wood with our
Speaker 1: good friend Eric Wood. Eric Seawan McDermott said he wanted
Speaker 1: to fix the run game during the bye week, and
Speaker 1: they came out and ran for one hundred and seventy
Speaker 1: two yards against the Chargers. What adjustments did you see
Speaker 1: from the Bills had led to their success on the ground.
Speaker 1: I really liked the way they mixed up looks throughout
Speaker 1: the game and what they were giving the Chargers. They
Speaker 1: used Zack Moss, they used Devin Singletary, and when they
Speaker 1: needed to, they got back to some Josh Allen runs,
Speaker 1: which may be a sign that he's fully healthy again.
Speaker 1: And I also liked that early on, when the pass
Speaker 1: rush was getting home to Josh Allen, they switched and
Speaker 1: worked in a bunch more screens and draws. Well, let's
Speaker 1: start by looking at how the Bills used Devin Singletary,
Speaker 1: who had over one scrimmage yards. The screen game is
Speaker 1: an extension of the run game, as you know, so
Speaker 1: let's take a look at his fourteen yards screen pass
Speaker 1: from the Bill's second touchdown drive to the game. Screens
Speaker 1: can be a great way to neutralize the pass rush,
Speaker 1: and here the Chargers bring a blitz and the Bills
Speaker 1: have another timely screen called We've seen him a bunch
Speaker 1: this year on third downs to wide receivers. This time
Speaker 1: they get one to Devin Singletary. He does a great
Speaker 1: job getting behind his blockers. These athletic offensive line making
Speaker 1: gets down the field and get blocks, and this one
Speaker 1: is executed perfectly. And then two plays later they ran
Speaker 1: a draw that went for twenty one yards. Yeah. So
Speaker 1: on this play, Deon Dokins does a great job of
Speaker 1: using the defensive end who's in a pass rush mode
Speaker 1: to use his momentum against him. The rest of the
Speaker 1: line does a great job. Devin Singletary is phenomenal in space,
Speaker 1: he always has been, and these draw plays moving forward
Speaker 1: could be a great asset for this offense. And I
Speaker 1: gotta give a shout out to my boy. Deon Dokins
Speaker 1: actually made two blocks on that play, that's right. So
Speaker 1: they got Devin Singletary going, and they also got some
Speaker 1: designed runs with Josh Allen. So here's an eleven yard
Speaker 1: run on a draw from the field goal drive right
Speaker 1: before the half. We saw these a bunch early in
Speaker 1: the season. Josh heard his shoulder and we didn't see
Speaker 1: them for a while, and now we're seeing more of
Speaker 1: these designed quarterback runs for Josh Allen, especially in the
Speaker 1: red zone when the safeties can play down lower because
Speaker 1: the back of the field obviously didn't that far. You
Speaker 1: add another blocker with the running back in these QB
Speaker 1: draws can be extremely effective. And then the Bills come
Speaker 1: out in the second half, march down the field and
Speaker 1: get into a second and goal situation. From the three
Speaker 1: and decide to run read option here. So Bills have
Speaker 1: shown so many different looks in so many different ways
Speaker 1: to score in the red zone this year, which is
Speaker 1: a great sign from their offensive coordinator Brian day Ball,
Speaker 1: and here they run a simple read option. These plays
Speaker 1: can be extremely effective. Quarterbacks often like to keep these
Speaker 1: in these situations and get the ball in the ends
Speaker 1: on themselves. But on the outside you have a great
Speaker 1: block at receiver Bostefon Diggs who comes in and gets
Speaker 1: just enough. And then Josh Allen uses athleticism to beat
Speaker 1: the Chargers defense of the pile on jumping ahead here
Speaker 1: to the fourth quarter, the Bills get the ball back
Speaker 1: after the Tray White pick and they hand it off
Speaker 1: to Zack Moss who rips off a thirty one yarder. Yeah,
Speaker 1: the Bills go with a tight condense formation here just
Speaker 1: so that there's gonna be no free hitters. There's gonna
Speaker 1: be no one that can get penetration. They use two
Speaker 1: double teams at the point of attack to move guys
Speaker 1: off the line of scrimmage, and Zach Moss does a
Speaker 1: great job of finding the hole and then exploding once
Speaker 1: he does, making a playoff the field and just a
Speaker 1: shame that this little ticky tack penalty got caught at
Speaker 1: the end. Yeah, I did not like that either. They
Speaker 1: got a penalty on that one for a celebration, and
Speaker 1: on the next play, Singletary broke off another long one
Speaker 1: to set up the game clinching field goal. This one
Speaker 1: goes for twenty four yards. Yeah. So this is a
Speaker 1: pin and pool scheme. So what that means is the
Speaker 1: front side blockers Dion Dawkins and Lee Smith are going
Speaker 1: to try and pin their guys and then Feliciano and
Speaker 1: Morse are gonna pull around and get out in front.
Speaker 1: We saw these plays a bunch last year and the
Speaker 1: Bills were extremely effective using it. Here, Mitch Morris and
Speaker 1: John Feliciano show off their athleticism. Feliciano has a great
Speaker 1: block on Joey Bisa. Mitch Morse help secure it gets
Speaker 1: to the second level, gets a block. That's excellent execution
Speaker 1: in a situation one of the chargers assume you're running
Speaker 1: the football. Anyways, it was great to see the Bills
Speaker 1: get that run game going their best rushing performance of
Speaker 1: the season. They're going to need it for the playoff push.
Speaker 1: Here in December. Thanks for all the inside Eric Absolutely
Speaker 1: thanks Chris Maddie glab Here was this week's game preview.
Speaker 1: The eight and three Buffalo Bills are heading west to
Speaker 1: take on the five and six San Francisco forty nine Ers.
Speaker 1: The game won't be played at Levi's Stadium due to
Speaker 1: Santa Clair County COVID restrictions, so the Bills will head
Speaker 1: back to State Farm Stadium for their second straight road trip,
Speaker 1: making it the second year in a row they have
Speaker 1: played multiple away games in the same stadium. The forty
Speaker 1: nine Ers have been hit hard with the injury bug,
Speaker 1: but that hasn't completely shut them down. Their offense ranks
Speaker 1: fourteenth overall, averaging about three hundred and sixty three yards
Speaker 1: per game. Receivers Deebo Samuel and rookie Brandon Aiyuk have
Speaker 1: combined for sixty two receptions and seven hundred and sixty
Speaker 1: four receiving yards. Buffalo Bills are searching for their first
Speaker 1: Monday Night football win in this century. The last time
Speaker 1: the Bills won a Monday night football game was in
Speaker 1: nineteen ninety nine. The Bills offense ranks tenth, averaging twenty
Speaker 1: seven point two points per game. They have the second
Speaker 1: best third down conversion rate at forty nine point six percent.
Speaker 1: Quarterback Josh Allen is averaging two hundred and seventy five
Speaker 1: passing yards a game, good for eighth in the NFL.
Speaker 1: The Bills defense ranks twenty first, allowing three hundred and
Speaker 1: seventy three yards per game. Since Week seven, the Bills
Speaker 1: defense has combined for twenty nine sacks and takeaways, which
Speaker 1: is second most in the NFL. The Bills split even
Speaker 1: with the forty nine ers at six. That's this week's
Speaker 1: game preview, Steve, back to you. Thanks as always, Maddie coach.
Speaker 1: The NFL took preventative measures during the early parts of
Speaker 1: the week that closed down all the facilities Monday and
Speaker 1: Tuesday except for the teams that we're playing on Monday
Speaker 1: and Tuesday. Now they move your game to Arizona. How
Speaker 1: does that impact your preparation process? Does having the game
Speaker 1: in Arizona giving any chance to maybe erase those memories
Speaker 1: from the hail murray that doomed you last time you
Speaker 1: were in that stadium. You're funny, Steve. Now listen, We're
Speaker 1: going to play a game at the end of the day.
Speaker 1: It's a home game. For San Francisco. It's an away
Speaker 1: game for the Buffalo Bills, and we're gonna go play
Speaker 1: a game, and we're excited about it and looking forward
Speaker 1: to all we could practice. Yeah, you've got the forty
Speaker 1: nine ers. They've battled injuries all year, but still they
Speaker 1: managed to beat the Rams with Nick Mullins at quarterback.
Speaker 1: What do you see from the forty nine ers and
Speaker 1: how they've overcome their obstacles and their injuries. Yeah, you know,
Speaker 1: similar to a lot of the teams out there. You know,
Speaker 1: they've had a number of injuries. We've had a number
Speaker 1: of injuries, and you play the guys that are available.
Speaker 1: And I think Kyle Shanahan does as good a job
Speaker 1: as anyone in the NFL. He's a great coach. This
Speaker 1: team is fresh off of the Super Bowl appearance last year,
Speaker 1: and we're within a whisker of winning the game and
Speaker 1: being world champions. So he's done a phenomenal job. Yeah,
Speaker 1: this is going to be your second game as head
Speaker 1: coach on Monday Night football? Does that hold any special
Speaker 1: meaning for you? You know, I'm always honored anytime I
Speaker 1: can go out there, and you know, coaching this league
Speaker 1: in particular as a head coach and lead a group
Speaker 1: of men and women out on the field. But outside
Speaker 1: of that, I really want to be focused on our
Speaker 1: quality of play and my quality of coaching, and you know,
Speaker 1: us improving as we continue to go here. Thanks for
Speaker 1: all this, coach, and good luck this week against San Francisco.
Speaker 1: We're gonna be back next week to recap your game
Speaker 1: against the forty nine Ers and preview your Week fourteen
Speaker 1: matchup against the Steelers. Thanks for spending some time with us,
Speaker 1: and thank you everybody at home for watching. And this
Speaker 1: has been the Sean McDermott Show, presented by Connors and
Speaker 1: Ferris and has always go Bills. Final Thoughts is presented
Speaker 1: by your local Toyota Dealers. The Sean McDermot Show is
Speaker 1: presented by Connors and Ferris, your workers' comp attorneys, by
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