Speaker 1: But we're live right now. Hey, we're live. Everybody got
Speaker 1: me not Let's go bury everybody to do their job.
Speaker 1: One eleven wealth caliber defense. Let's go no overthinking, right,
Speaker 1: Go play some ball, Go play some football. It's an
Speaker 1: exciting time to be a Buffalo Bill and a fan
Speaker 1: of the buff Blow Bills. Everybody, Welcome to the Sean
Speaker 1: McDermot Show, brought to you by ECMC and Kalid to Healthy,
Speaker 1: official healthcare providers of the Buffalo Bills. Once again we
Speaker 1: joined Sean McDermot. Sean, we're going to talk about last
Speaker 1: week's Baltimore game. You know, you knew it was going
Speaker 1: to be one of those games. Their defense is good,
Speaker 1: Your defense is good. These offenses you need a derail.
Speaker 1: You've seen good offensive before and had the ability to
Speaker 1: do it. You did it again this week. But in
Speaker 1: games like that, the margin of air is so short,
Speaker 1: and you just came up one or two plays short. Yeah,
Speaker 1: we did. I thought our defense had a good plan
Speaker 1: going in Steve to your point, guys executed. They played
Speaker 1: really hard. We had one play after half where we
Speaker 1: where we didn't execute and it bit us in the butt.
Speaker 1: But overall, I thought the defense gave us a chance
Speaker 1: throughout the game. Yeah, fans tend to like I was
Speaker 1: a good team, you know, kind of like, you know,
Speaker 1: we kind of measured up with those guys. It was
Speaker 1: a message to your team after that game. I'm pretty
Speaker 1: sure it wasn't like E's okay, guys, don't worry about it.
Speaker 1: I'm pretty sure that was not. No, it was it was.
Speaker 1: It was basically, we're not going away, right, but we've
Speaker 1: got to learn from what happened in the game while
Speaker 1: we got the results we did, and then make the
Speaker 1: corrections this week as we moved forward. In a tough
Speaker 1: game against Pittsburgh. Now you mentioned it, your defense really
Speaker 1: showed up in an offense that is unique. It's powered
Speaker 1: by really great players, maybe the MVP of the league
Speaker 1: behind some great skilled players, a great, powerful running game,
Speaker 1: some unique things about at the misdirection. It's executed well,
Speaker 1: well coached. Your defense showed up big. What's that tell
Speaker 1: you about the guys in the mindset you've got where
Speaker 1: you know, two weeks ago in Dallas, you played the
Speaker 1: number one offense, You played the most unique and maybe
Speaker 1: the most powerful offense, and you've played well against both
Speaker 1: of them. Yeah, I think they've established themselves with a
Speaker 1: good foundation of who they are right week to week
Speaker 1: that the defense can travel whether it's been on the
Speaker 1: road or at home, and late in the year, earlier
Speaker 1: in the year, we've had our ups and downs, but
Speaker 1: we've made course corrections, if you will, along the way.
Speaker 1: And I think we've got good leadership led by Leslie Frasier,
Speaker 1: the defensive staff and then and then the player of
Speaker 1: driven leadership has been there as well. So we've got
Speaker 1: to continue to grow on that side of the ball.
Speaker 1: It's not perfect, but we've got a good foundation. League.
Speaker 1: There's an interesting weird thing that happened in this game.
Speaker 1: In weeks past. The one thing that has happened to
Speaker 1: your defense is once in a while they'll get nicked
Speaker 1: in the run game and you totally cut their production
Speaker 1: and have how I know, it's a week to week league,
Speaker 1: but man oh man, that's a difference in what we've
Speaker 1: seen from your defense and to a team when it
Speaker 1: really needed to show up someplace where you haven't been
Speaker 1: as strong, and wow, you really showed a big well.
Speaker 1: And that's where you make corrections. Throughout the season. Things
Speaker 1: come up. It's how you adjust because people are going
Speaker 1: to try and attack in similar ways to the way
Speaker 1: you've been beat before struggled before. So I think that's
Speaker 1: part of coaching, is you make adjustments and you continue
Speaker 1: to drill those adjustments on the field. The players did
Speaker 1: a phenomenal job of executing, and they take a lot
Speaker 1: of pride in that defensive room and how they do things. Well,
Speaker 1: how do you battle that frustration when you put together
Speaker 1: performance like that and you get one play that's the difference.
Speaker 1: And I know these games are closed and there's always
Speaker 1: one play you can point too, but man, how how
Speaker 1: do you fight that frustration of putting together an effort
Speaker 1: like that and still not being able to get Yeah,
Speaker 1: I try not to. You know, I've committed myself to
Speaker 1: looking forward and not back this week because you read
Speaker 1: across the bottom of the ticker on the TV screen
Speaker 1: it says, you know, pass for three touchdowns and this
Speaker 1: and that and one was a two yard touchdown, the
Speaker 1: other think was a three yard touchdown, and then you
Speaker 1: had that, you know, so you got to be on
Speaker 1: point for all sixty five plays. So really, in a
Speaker 1: game like this and this last chance, last question I
Speaker 1: have about your defense, how do you fight that? Because
Speaker 1: it seems to like a defense pops up out of
Speaker 1: nowhere and also bang, big play. How do you fight that?
Speaker 1: I mean, because it's not a systemic problem, it's not
Speaker 1: a chronic problem. It's not it's just something that all
Speaker 1: of a sudden shows up. How do you what's the
Speaker 1: plan for battling something like that a big place? Well,
Speaker 1: it's disciplined throughout the game, right, it's sideline reminders. Hey,
Speaker 1: how can we keep our players downed in throughout the
Speaker 1: game and continue to make adjustments and give them their
Speaker 1: right reminders at the right time without weighing them down
Speaker 1: and so they can continue to play fast. I was
Speaker 1: going to move ask you about the bright spot offensively
Speaker 1: this week to me had to be Devin Singletary. I mean,
Speaker 1: there's a young kid that the beginning of the year,
Speaker 1: you know, he fought through an even an injury, but
Speaker 1: even before the injury, like flash and like okay, what
Speaker 1: do we got here? Took a few weeks off with
Speaker 1: the hamstring. Now he's back and there's no doubt he's
Speaker 1: your lead guy, and he put on a very nice
Speaker 1: performance against a very tough defensive Land. We were Devin's motivated,
Speaker 1: you know a lot of these young guys come in,
Speaker 1: it's a long season, and some of them hit the wall.
Speaker 1: And I think Devin he continues to get stronger every week,
Speaker 1: and that's a credit to him. It's a credit to
Speaker 1: his routines, to Kelly Skipper, the running bass coach, and
Speaker 1: also our offensive line. They're the ones out there blocking
Speaker 1: for him. The receivers are doing a good job, was
Speaker 1: well on the perimeter, and so it's never just one
Speaker 1: guy in this case, it's it's a whole unit. All right.
Speaker 1: Thanks for those insights, appreciate it. We're gonna be back
Speaker 1: for more or later in the show for your final thoughts.
Speaker 1: Chopping Wood is presented by Saint Bonaventure University, the official
Speaker 1: education provider of the Buffalo Bills. Welcome back to the
Speaker 1: Sean McDermott Show. Steve Tasker once again joined to chop
Speaker 1: some wood with Eric Wood, the analyst for the radio broadcast.
Speaker 1: Eric tough matchup. You knew it was going to be
Speaker 1: a hard fought game. Came down to a single possession
Speaker 1: at the end, but the Baltimore Ravens really showed why
Speaker 1: they may be the best team in the National Football League. Yeah,
Speaker 1: they're now on a nine game winning streak and they're
Speaker 1: playing incredible football, likely the MVP of the NFL playing
Speaker 1: quarterback for them. The encouraging thing is the Bill's defense
Speaker 1: played great. The offense unable to hit some of those
Speaker 1: shots down the field against all those cover zero blitz
Speaker 1: looks by the Ravens. But you gotta like the Bills
Speaker 1: progression this season getting better and better, and you played
Speaker 1: down to the wire likely the best team of the
Speaker 1: National Football right now. Yeah, you talk about that Bill's
Speaker 1: defense putting it together such a great effort. It starts
Speaker 1: really in the middle there with Tremaine Edmonds. He's made
Speaker 1: some plays throughout this season that have really been difference
Speaker 1: makers and another one showed up in the game against Baltimore. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it did. And as we go to the film, Tremaine
Speaker 1: has been great in coverage all year. He's great against
Speaker 1: the run, and here this is a look that Sean
Speaker 1: McDermott and Lason Frasier will often use six guys at
Speaker 1: the line of scrimmage and they utilize this a number
Speaker 1: of times against the empty sets of the Baltimore Ravens.
Speaker 1: And on this play, Tremaine Edmonds is coming on a
Speaker 1: pressure well as he gets blocked, he simply retreats because
Speaker 1: he's not going to get home, but he occupies the blocker.
Speaker 1: He then gets into the passing lane and the ball
Speaker 1: is tipped up, and because he didn't just continue to
Speaker 1: aimlessly rush, he's able to get back and after the
Speaker 1: ball is tipped up in the air, he makes the interception.
Speaker 1: Huge play in the game for the Bills. Jremaine Edmonds
Speaker 1: in Virginia Tech, he played with his hand on the
Speaker 1: ground and now he's a stand up middle linebacker here
Speaker 1: in the NFL and really shows up in pass coverage
Speaker 1: as much as anything because of his range and athleticism. Yeah,
Speaker 1: super athletic and super long, and what he's able to
Speaker 1: do this is another six guys at the line of scrimmage,
Speaker 1: a look. We mentioned it before. Again you see the
Speaker 1: same look. And this is a huge crucial play in
Speaker 1: the Titans game earlier in the season, and because of
Speaker 1: his length, because of his athleticism, he's able to get
Speaker 1: into the passing lane and tip the ball away. And
Speaker 1: those past deflections. You know, we talk about how great
Speaker 1: the Bills past defense is and a lot of the
Speaker 1: credit goes to the secondary, but the Bill's defensive line
Speaker 1: and linebackers have been extremely valuable this year getting their
Speaker 1: hands in the passing lane, and once they tip that ball,
Speaker 1: anything can happen because defenders are kind of aware of
Speaker 1: it and receivers are not flipping over to the Bill's
Speaker 1: next opponent, it's Pittsburgh Steelers, and they lead the NFL
Speaker 1: with thirty three takeaways, thanks in part to a guy
Speaker 1: they got midway through the season. Make a Fitzpatrick. Five
Speaker 1: interceptions on the season, two touchdowns, three fumble recoveries, two
Speaker 1: forced fumbles. I mean, that's stat line's ridiculous. Yeah, And
Speaker 1: then here we get a chance to look at a
Speaker 1: long pick six. And this is a kind of play
Speaker 1: when you take points off the board for your opponent
Speaker 1: and put them on for your team. It's hard to
Speaker 1: bounce back if you're the Indianapolis Colts from a play
Speaker 1: like this. Absolutely, And one guy I want to talk about,
Speaker 1: and you don't often see it, but Quentin Nelson one
Speaker 1: of my favorite players watching the NFL for the Colts.
Speaker 1: I know this is the Meca Fitzpatrick highlight, but I
Speaker 1: like my man hustling fifty six. He's got no shot
Speaker 1: to catching them. But you know what I'm gonna lay
Speaker 1: out ninety two and the next time we get on
Speaker 1: the field, he's gonna remember that. I like that. But
Speaker 1: getting back to Meca Fitzpatrick, good players, the ball seems
Speaker 1: to find their hands. And here you see Micka Fitzpatrick
Speaker 1: getting an interception off of tip ball and these are
Speaker 1: huge plays and for a Steelers team that is without
Speaker 1: Ben Roethlisberger, well now they're getting it done with their
Speaker 1: defense again and Mica Fitzpatrick is making a lot of plays.
Speaker 1: Mica Fitzpatrick coming out out of that and some of
Speaker 1: those so many of those guys have the high football
Speaker 1: IQ that you know, they just play to the end
Speaker 1: of the play. And this scoop and score right here
Speaker 1: is an example of that. Mica Fitzpatrick always around the ball,
Speaker 1: ball hawking safety when the ball is losing on the ground,
Speaker 1: he always seems to be in the vicinity. And this
Speaker 1: time it turns into a scoop and score as this
Speaker 1: was rule to fumble and upheld and replay. Yeah. So,
Speaker 1: like we mentioned two touchdowns on the year, and this
Speaker 1: one is a play where he's just out hustling people.
Speaker 1: He's going towards the ball and a lot of people
Speaker 1: stop from this play and he ends up with a touchdown.
Speaker 1: And like we said, when you have so many injuries
Speaker 1: on offense, for them to be leading the league in
Speaker 1: turnover forced turnovers, that is absolutely huge for this team.
Speaker 1: And it sets up this huge Sunday Night football matchup
Speaker 1: that we have coming up this week. You have Sunday
Speaker 1: Night Football the Buffalo Bills in Pittsburgh to play the Steelers.
Speaker 1: It's going to be quite quite a scene primetime in Pittsburgh.
Speaker 1: It's always a difficult matchup. Good luck with that broadcast.
Speaker 1: Is going to be a fun game. Yeah, we'll be
Speaker 1: appreciate it. Thanks for joining us. We'll be right back.
Speaker 1: Game preview is presented by Independent Health from here every day,
Speaker 1: You're unexpected. That's the Red Shared Treatment. Maddie Glaviner. This
Speaker 1: week's game preview. The nine and four Buffalo Bills are
Speaker 1: on the road this week as they take on the
Speaker 1: eight and five Pittsburgh Steelers. It's Buffalo's first Sunday Night
Speaker 1: football appearance since two thousand and seven. The Bills now
Speaker 1: nine and four, and next week the Bills go to
Speaker 1: Hines Field in Pittsburgh for Sunday Night Football eight fifteen
Speaker 1: kick off. The Bills will go up against the Pittsburgh
Speaker 1: team who's won their last three games with Devilin Hodges
Speaker 1: as their starting quarterback. Over the last three games, Hodges
Speaker 1: is fourth in the league averaging nine point five yards
Speaker 1: per pass attempt. He is the first undrafted rookie QB
Speaker 1: to win his first three starts since nineteen eighty seven.
Speaker 1: Pittsburgh has a strong fifth ranked defense that thrives up front.
Speaker 1: The Steelers have also registered at least one sack in
Speaker 1: fifty four straight games, which is the longest active streak
Speaker 1: in the NFL. The Bills will be looking to score
Speaker 1: more than seventeen points in this game because they are
Speaker 1: a perfect eight oh when they put more than seventeen
Speaker 1: on the board. Going into last week's game against the Ravens,
Speaker 1: Baltimore was second in the league converting forty nine percent
Speaker 1: of their third downs, but only converted twenty seven percent
Speaker 1: against the Bills. There is no drop off for the
Speaker 1: d defense when they are on the road. They ranked
Speaker 1: third and limiting opposing passers to a seventy two point
Speaker 1: six QB rating. Opposing quarterbacks have completed only fifty seven
Speaker 1: point eight percent of their passes for six touchdowns and
Speaker 1: six interceptions in six games. The last time the Bills
Speaker 1: beat the Steelers was in nineteen ninety nine. The final
Speaker 1: score was twenty four to twenty one and it was
Speaker 1: a home game for Buffalo. Steve, back to you, thanks
Speaker 1: as always, Maddie appreciated. We're back with Sean McDermott. Sean,
Speaker 1: this Pittsburgh team that you're going to face this weekend
Speaker 1: is built a little bit like your team, stout defense
Speaker 1: and an offense that you know, you just want to
Speaker 1: make enough place to win, you know, kind of condensing
Speaker 1: it down. But what's your message your team about that
Speaker 1: squad and how tough this is going to be in
Speaker 1: Pittsburgh on Sunday. Yeah, Well, we're going on the road.
Speaker 1: We're going to a hostile environment. And it's a good
Speaker 1: football team with good continuity, a long tradition of playing
Speaker 1: good football, and they're well coached, physical football team. They've
Speaker 1: got good lines on both sides that are established veteran
Speaker 1: lines with good personnel. So we're gonna have to play
Speaker 1: our best game of the year, there's no doubt about it, Steve,
Speaker 1: and take care of the football on the offensive side
Speaker 1: and special teams if we expect to win this game. Now,
Speaker 1: I know what you're gonna say, but you know, you
Speaker 1: say take care of the football. As Steelers lead the
Speaker 1: league with thirty three takeaways, it has really powered their
Speaker 1: ability to get passed down to the third or fourth
Speaker 1: string quarterback in the game. What's your message to your
Speaker 1: own team about you know, once it's hard to say,
Speaker 1: be extra careful with the ball, don't you know? You
Speaker 1: don't take any risks with the football. You gotta do
Speaker 1: something offensively. But this is a game where turnovers could
Speaker 1: be the engine that you steal from them. Yeah. No,
Speaker 1: the ball is big, you know, and it's always big.
Speaker 1: But late in the year the football and fundamentals. People
Speaker 1: overlook fundamentals as well, late in the year, in particular,
Speaker 1: thinking it's a magic formula here or there. No, it's
Speaker 1: it's it's it's what wins early in the year, wins
Speaker 1: late in the year, what wins through pop one or
Speaker 1: wins at our level, it's fundamentals and take care of
Speaker 1: the football. Yeah, all right, so you mentioned late in
Speaker 1: the year. Okay, so certain words start creeping in the vocabulary. Playoffs, tiebreakers, seeding,
Speaker 1: If you win and you're in, you're in the driver's seat.
Speaker 1: You control your dad. All this stuff creeps into the vernacular.
Speaker 1: What's your message to your team? What does it mean
Speaker 1: to be playing in significant games in December, which is
Speaker 1: what you've always worked for, but still now that you're here,
Speaker 1: what's your message to the team about keeping on keeping on? Yeah,
Speaker 1: we've got to continue to grow as a football team.
Speaker 1: You're looking and say, hey, listen, what we can control.
Speaker 1: Let's control. We can control whether we win or lose.
Speaker 1: Right in terms of we can't control what happens around
Speaker 1: us in the division, outside of the division where we play,
Speaker 1: the weather. We control what we can control and that's
Speaker 1: what we have to focus on this week in terms
Speaker 1: of our preparation. Thanks Sean for your insights, appreciated. Thank
Speaker 1: you at home for watching. We're going to come back
Speaker 1: next week and recap the Pittsburgh Steelers Sunday night football
Speaker 1: game and look ahead to the New England Patriots in
Speaker 1: week sixteen in Foxborough. Thanks for watching. Everybody, have a
Speaker 1: great weekend. The Sean McDermott Show is sponsored by Independent
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Speaker 1: Red Shared Treatment, and by Yancy's Fancy New York Artisan Cheese.
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