Speaker 1: Hey, you're back, Thanks for checking in on Bills by
Speaker 1: the Numbers, where we let the stats tell you where
Speaker 1: the Bills are at. We're presented by FANDU will make
Speaker 1: every moment more on the way the Bills of the
Speaker 1: number one rushing team in football. But have they leaned
Speaker 1: too far into the run game? We'll take a look
Speaker 1: and should the state of the defense's health way into
Speaker 1: the kind of game that's called on offense. Steve is
Speaker 1: quizzed on Bills run versus past history, and we'll have
Speaker 1: our one burning question schools in ring the bell, Thanks
Speaker 1: for attending.
Speaker 2: The latest position of Bills by the Numbers. He's Wall
Speaker 2: of Famer Steve.
Speaker 1: Tasker on Bills play by playman Chris Brown, and we've
Speaker 1: all seen how successful Buffalo can be offensively when their
Speaker 1: run game is humming. Even though there have been a
Speaker 1: couple of down days this season, the Bills are the
Speaker 1: number one rushing team in football. James Cook has been
Speaker 1: in contention for the rushing title this season since the start,
Speaker 1: and that success has convinced the offensive staff to lean
Speaker 1: way in on the run game, particularly on first down.
Speaker 1: After nine games played, the Bills run the ball on
Speaker 1: first down fifty eight and a half percent of the time,
Speaker 1: and they're eighth and yards per carry average on first
Speaker 1: down at four point nine, just a tenth off their
Speaker 1: season average of five yards even, which is tied for
Speaker 1: third best.
Speaker 2: In the league.
Speaker 1: So in these three things, we begin with this question.
Speaker 1: While that is good production, should the Bills be running
Speaker 1: that much on first down?
Speaker 3: Steve? I think it should be more balanced. I wish
Speaker 3: they'd do a little bit more. Now. I get it.
Speaker 3: You get into a game and you snap off a
Speaker 3: six yard run on the first play of the series. Yeah,
Speaker 3: I don't have a problem with that. But the problem
Speaker 3: is if it doesn't work, I think that it's well,
Speaker 3: it's like an incomplete pass right or even so a
Speaker 3: loss of one. Right now, it's second and eleven. You
Speaker 3: got to do what it takes to win that game.
Speaker 3: I get that, And every game is different. So some games, yeah,
Speaker 3: run it every first down, But when you start stepping
Speaker 3: back and looking at the big picture, like we're doing
Speaker 3: on Bills by the numbers, it's like, Man, I don't know,
Speaker 3: I'd like to see John Now. They did that against Miami.
Speaker 3: They came out in that first series and start throwing
Speaker 3: it around and we're unproductive. So I get you know
Speaker 3: how you react like that and say, now we're going
Speaker 3: to start handing it off. But man, I'm telling you,
Speaker 3: I'm I think balance is the best and I get it.
Speaker 3: Sixty forty is not out of whack.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's fifty eight and a half to write forty two,
Speaker 1: so forty one and a half.
Speaker 3: But I think situation, I think it more depends on
Speaker 3: the situational spot of where you are in the game,
Speaker 3: what the game plan is, who the opponent is. So
Speaker 3: I'm you know, the big pictures, Yeah, you'd like to
Speaker 3: see it fifty to fifty, but each game is an
Speaker 3: animal on it onto its own. So I'm I think
Speaker 3: you gotta trust what they see on film and what
Speaker 3: they think they can do. Now, you gotta know our
Speaker 3: offensive line is the big is a dependable asset on
Speaker 3: this offense, lean on and out of the game. I'm
Speaker 3: okay with that. But in the big picture, you want
Speaker 3: to see it fifty to fifty.
Speaker 1: Right, I think it's it's vacillated too far towards running
Speaker 1: the ball on first down. And look, it might be
Speaker 1: a byproduct, Steve of the disjointed nature of the pass game.
Speaker 1: This offensive staff may not trust the passing game enough
Speaker 1: right now to get them consistent yards on first down
Speaker 1: to keep them on schedule.
Speaker 2: They might just.
Speaker 1: Simply trust the run game more. Where As we said,
Speaker 1: as a team, they average five yards to carry, so
Speaker 1: they just might say, well, the heck with it. The
Speaker 1: run game works well for us, we try it. Let's
Speaker 1: run it on first down, get our five yards, and
Speaker 1: figure out the rest later. But when another team, an
Speaker 1: opponent is keying on that because your tendencies say you're
Speaker 1: gonna do that, suddenly you're less effective and you've got
Speaker 1: to pivot. And I think they're at a point now
Speaker 1: where they have to pivot. I'm not saying become you know,
Speaker 1: the throw it more than anybody else in the league
Speaker 1: on first down, but I think we've seen the benefits
Speaker 1: of Josh under center play action on first down this season.
Speaker 1: It's worked well for them, and I think there's nothing
Speaker 1: wrong with lining him up in the shotgun on first
Speaker 1: down on occasion with James Cook next to him and
Speaker 1: doing a read option fake and then throwing the football.
Speaker 3: There may be something to the fact that about their
Speaker 3: lack of confidence in their own throwing passing game. Even
Speaker 3: with Josh pulling the trigger. They also may say, listen,
Speaker 3: we're going to keep leaning into it because it forces
Speaker 3: the defense to throw eight in the box and that
Speaker 3: gives us a chance to be more successful it. Certainly,
Speaker 3: certainly the Dolphins did that. They throw it, brought out
Speaker 3: three defensive alignment, three defensive tackles, they packed the line
Speaker 3: of scrimmage, and it worked for them.
Speaker 2: Yeah, they do play fifty front. They do do that.
Speaker 2: They did that in the first meeting.
Speaker 3: And the Bills, I think, I think the Bills are
Speaker 3: fine with that. They're going to run into that once
Speaker 3: in a while. They don't they don't care. They can.
Speaker 3: They feel like they can get it done a little better.
Speaker 3: But what gets in the way of that. The Bills
Speaker 3: are not uncomfortable in close games. But when you puke
Speaker 3: the ball up twice going in in three different times
Speaker 3: and you turn it over and there in that gets
Speaker 3: in the way of a close game and all of
Speaker 3: a sudden, it's not close. And when you're playing your
Speaker 3: recipe is not that doesn't have that big a margin forever,
Speaker 3: and that's the problem. Yeah, when you play that low
Speaker 3: margin for error type style and you cough up the football,
Speaker 3: you're gonna end up on the wrong end of those sometimes,
Speaker 3: so it might require a shift in thinking, especially if
Speaker 3: this team is going to be coughing up the ball
Speaker 3: the way they had, I mean eight turnovers in their
Speaker 3: three losses. This team had eight turnovers all season last year.
Speaker 3: We knew it was going to We knew that was
Speaker 3: not sustainable. You're not gonna go year over year lead
Speaker 3: the league or have the fewest turnovers in the league.
Speaker 3: That's just simply not gonna happen, purely by happenstance and
Speaker 3: the law of averages. And now seeing the way they've
Speaker 3: coughed up the football of late, you may need to
Speaker 3: shift your thinking a little bit and try to widen
Speaker 3: your margin for error.
Speaker 2: And the best way to do that might be to
Speaker 2: throw the football right.
Speaker 3: They're not I mean they're not. They're not like leading
Speaker 3: the league in turnovers, but no stretch. No, But in
Speaker 3: their losses it's a problem, and I think that shows
Speaker 3: you where their margin of error is. As long as
Speaker 3: they mind their p's and q's and don't put the
Speaker 3: ball on the ground, they're still very tough to beat.
Speaker 1: Yes, but in the three games where they have had
Speaker 1: two turnovers or more, all losses, they've averaged fifteen points
Speaker 1: per game. In the other game games this season, they
Speaker 1: are over thirty in terms of points per game average.
Speaker 1: They double their point output when they don't turn the
Speaker 1: ball over. Taking a look at some of the numbers,
Speaker 1: as we do here on Bills, by the numbers of
Speaker 1: the one hundred and fifty two runs on first down,
Speaker 1: they've gained seven hundred and thirty five yards. Of their
Speaker 1: ninety seven pass attempts on first down, they've gained seven
Speaker 1: hundred and seventy three yards. The other eleven pass plays
Speaker 1: wound up being scrambles. Usually the yards gained via the
Speaker 1: pass far out gain the rushing total. Here it's a
Speaker 1: mere thirty eight yard difference. Thing number two. Do these
Speaker 1: numbers on first down indicate why they're leaning into the
Speaker 1: run game so much on the first play of the series.
Speaker 1: Are they not as productive as they feel they should
Speaker 1: be on first down when passing?
Speaker 3: I think it's yeah, it's obvious.
Speaker 2: Yes, the answer is yes.
Speaker 3: Right, yes, yeah, that's the answer is yes. And most
Speaker 3: of their and let's think about it too, we all
Speaker 3: know it, and we get calls on the regular daily
Speaker 3: show all the time. You know, all they do and
Speaker 3: finger quotes. All they do. They throw those quick tunnel
Speaker 3: screens to Shakir or to somebody in the in the
Speaker 3: you know, in the slot, and see what they can
Speaker 3: get with their legs.
Speaker 2: But teams have become wise to that.
Speaker 3: Right, so they are not as efficient on first down
Speaker 3: when they throw it as they as you love them
Speaker 3: to be. That that is an absolute truth, and that's
Speaker 3: one of the reasons, you know why those numbers are
Speaker 3: what they are. They have not been as efficient in
Speaker 3: passing game as they need to be. And I think
Speaker 3: the running game has been their savior to this point
Speaker 3: of the league. And they're and to this point of
Speaker 3: the season and they're leaning on it, and now teams
Speaker 3: are gonna get wise to it. But I don't think
Speaker 3: they've They've hit every gear. And even when teams are
Speaker 3: wise to it, this team is good enough to win
Speaker 3: if they don't turn it over.
Speaker 1: And despite the disjointed look of the passing game, the
Speaker 1: numbers on first down say, when the Bills do throw
Speaker 1: the football, they have been efficient. They rank thirty in
Speaker 1: pass attempts on first down, but they're eighth in passer
Speaker 1: rating at one ten point four, fifth in completion percentage
Speaker 1: at almost seventy two percent, seventh in yards per attempt
Speaker 1: at eight point four, ninth in yards per completion eleven
Speaker 1: point seven, but thirty first in yards after catch per
Speaker 1: completion at three point seven. A strange figure knowing overall
Speaker 1: the Bills are eleventh in the NFL in total yards
Speaker 1: after catch thing number three. Could the low yards after
Speaker 1: catch figure be part of why they lean toward the
Speaker 1: run game so much on first down you're only getting
Speaker 1: three point seven after the catch, you're averaging five yards
Speaker 1: to carry.
Speaker 3: Yeah, there's a lot in this, and not all of
Speaker 3: it's pretty I think their propensity to throw the ball
Speaker 3: behind the line of scrimmage so much on first down,
Speaker 3: you know, is and that also plays into the fact
Speaker 3: that the defense is playing up to stop the run.
Speaker 3: That they're so head up by the line of scrimmage,
Speaker 3: So that's where the defense is, and you know, they
Speaker 3: jump those routes quick. It's hard to make hay against
Speaker 3: a team that's set up to defend it. And yeah,
Speaker 3: they just have not been successfully enough throwing the football
Speaker 3: past the line of scrimmage on first down. Yeah, certainly
Speaker 3: the seventy two Yeah, they're completing all their throws, but
Speaker 3: they're behind the line of scrimmage when there's you know,
Speaker 3: the guy stands up and catches a pass as quick
Speaker 3: as Josh can throw it.
Speaker 1: I am perplexed by the seventh in yards per attempt
Speaker 1: at eight point four. That just seems like an unbelievable
Speaker 1: figure for me in light of how the offense has
Speaker 1: looked when they throw on first down. There might be
Speaker 1: a play action like the first play of the game
Speaker 1: against the Falcons that skews the numbers. The completion of
Speaker 1: Palmer for forty yards, right, that's gonna up that number. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I just don't feel like there's enough of those to
Speaker 1: push that number to eight point four yards per attempt.
Speaker 2: That's a fat number.
Speaker 3: There's not that many.
Speaker 2: I guess it's a small sample.
Speaker 1: You're right, because they're thirtieth in past attempts on first down,
Speaker 1: So it's a small sample skewing the number.
Speaker 3: Yeah, so one big play adds a yard to all
Speaker 3: those other attempts, right, So yeah, it's they just have
Speaker 3: not done it. And I think it's I don't know
Speaker 3: that it's a lack of faith rather than just a
Speaker 3: doubling down on what they know they can do and
Speaker 3: they're kind of philosophy of we're gonna score enough points
Speaker 3: that you're gonna have to keep up with us whether
Speaker 3: we run it or not, and you're not gonna have
Speaker 3: enough possessions to do that. And that has been you know,
Speaker 3: they're six and three, and I can't think of a
Speaker 3: way that's more stark of contrast to tell you why
Speaker 3: they're six and three and they should could be eight
Speaker 3: and one than turnovers. I mean, that's it. If they
Speaker 3: don't turn the ball over in the Patriots game or
Speaker 3: this Miami game, that game is a win, not a loss.
Speaker 3: You have a hard time convincing me. Now the Atlanta
Speaker 3: game is a is an outlier maybe, but they did
Speaker 3: turn it over in that game too twice.
Speaker 2: Yep.
Speaker 3: So that's I don't think they're gonna get off of
Speaker 3: that philosophy. Now, Fans clamor for you know, a high flying,
Speaker 3: you know, light show from Josh and the defending MVP
Speaker 3: and all these guys and Keon and Shakir and Kincaid
Speaker 3: and let's go and James Cook in the passing game
Speaker 3: and it's all, you know, let's go, no huddle, the
Speaker 3: whole thing, right, But man, they are tough to beat.
Speaker 3: With this philosophy and no turnovers, they are almost impossible
Speaker 3: to beat.
Speaker 1: Right when the turnovers coming to play, that's when it
Speaker 1: gets a little hairy.
Speaker 2: I think it's just crazy for Bills.
Speaker 1: Fans to accept the fact that this approach, while it
Speaker 1: does win games, seems to put restrict your plates on
Speaker 1: Josh Allen.
Speaker 3: I get it, but I'll say this too, Josh is
Speaker 3: still got that gear.
Speaker 2: Yes, but how often is he allowed to go there?
Speaker 2: You don't want him to Well, you don't want anything.
Speaker 3: You want him to hand it.
Speaker 1: Off fifty five times in a way saying not, well, right.
Speaker 3: Nobody, you don't. You don't want your MVP quarterback to
Speaker 3: have put a cape on and lift the world and
Speaker 3: throw it all into the sun to win the game.
Speaker 3: They just and they don't have to, they don't. They
Speaker 3: want him to pull that out if they if he
Speaker 3: has to, okay, great, But that game against Miami, you
Speaker 3: saw him put that cape on a couple of times,
Speaker 3: and you know the fourth and sixteen or the third,
Speaker 3: you know the third and sixteen that he completed all
Speaker 3: that running around for fifteen seconds doing it. You know
Speaker 3: that's that's that's not sustainable. And you know you've got
Speaker 3: it under the under your hood. You don't want to
Speaker 3: make a game plan around that. You just don't. So
Speaker 3: I get it. It's no fun. I mean, we we
Speaker 3: took they won the game forty to nine, and Bill's
Speaker 3: fans Carolina were ticked. They were unhad fired, they were
Speaker 3: having people they wanted people fired after a forty to
Speaker 3: nine victory. That's how hard you know? That's so you know,
Speaker 3: I don't know. Bills fans may never get on board
Speaker 3: with this recipe they're using to win games. Well, I
Speaker 3: particularly what it looks like it did in Miami and
Speaker 3: against the Patriots, because they turn it over and they lose.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think.
Speaker 1: I think the other thing that's getting in the way
Speaker 1: here is the league and advanced analytics has proven that
Speaker 1: even if you don't have an elite receiving corps, passing
Speaker 1: the ball can be a more efficient way to move
Speaker 1: the ball, and this stat might convince you of it.
Speaker 1: Despite leading the league in rushing yards per game, the
Speaker 1: Bills ranked sixteenth in the league in the number of
Speaker 1: first downs they generate per rushing attempt.
Speaker 2: On first down.
Speaker 1: They get a first down on a first down run
Speaker 1: play thirteen and a half percent of the time, So
Speaker 1: when they run it on first down, thirteen and a
Speaker 1: half percent of the time they get a first down.
Speaker 1: When passing on first down, they move the sticks thirty
Speaker 1: six percent of the time. That's almost three times more
Speaker 1: successful in moving the ball and rank sixth highest in
Speaker 1: the league. This despite the fact that their receiving corps
Speaker 1: isn't a top talent group across the board when compared
Speaker 1: to other teams. Should they try to throw the ball.
Speaker 2: More on first down in the second half of the.
Speaker 3: Season, Yeah, I think they need to evolve, no question
Speaker 3: about it. Teams are gonna come up with answers to
Speaker 3: their philosophy. If your offensive line is still healthy, James
Speaker 3: Cook is still playing, you go until they have to
Speaker 3: force you to do something you're not good at. And
Speaker 3: I'm not saying they're not good at it, but if
Speaker 3: their bread and butter is running it on first down
Speaker 3: and they're knocking off five yards a clip, there's no
Speaker 3: reason to start throwing it because it's a safer way
Speaker 3: to move the football, and like we've been talking about
Speaker 3: in trumpeting, you're not going to turn it over much.
Speaker 3: So if teams force them out of it, yeah, they
Speaker 3: need to have an arsenal to go to philosophy in
Speaker 3: the throwing game to start throwing it on first down.
Speaker 3: And it seems aimfully obvious that a hard play action
Speaker 3: Josh under center, turn his back to the defense and
Speaker 3: faking a handoff would do that. Teams attack that as well,
Speaker 3: particularly if under center, they'll send extra people into the
Speaker 3: box and up the field. So if they don't bite
Speaker 3: on the playfake, Josh is dead in the pocket.
Speaker 2: Unless they run a boot leg off the play action.
Speaker 1: Right, which we're going to be around as a different store,
Speaker 1: which would be a nice element knowing he likes to
Speaker 1: get out of the pocket anyway.
Speaker 2: But that's that's a wide disparity.
Speaker 1: And again we know throwing on first down is a
Speaker 1: small sample size because they're thirtieth in attempts on throwing
Speaker 1: on first down. But to go from thirteen and a
Speaker 1: half percent success in getting another first down by running
Speaker 1: it on first down and then going to thirty six
Speaker 1: percent success rate throwing the ball, I think it behooves
Speaker 1: the Bills to at least explore more first down throwing opportunities.
Speaker 1: And look, coming out of the Miami game, Joe Brady
Speaker 1: said his one regret was he didn't throw it more
Speaker 1: early in the game based on how their run game
Speaker 1: was operating early on, So almost he got blinded by
Speaker 1: the season long success of the run game to the
Speaker 1: point where.
Speaker 2: He stuck with it.
Speaker 1: Upon review longer than he felt he should have. So
Speaker 1: I'm curious to see what that experience in the Miami
Speaker 1: game does for his play call thinking going forward, particularly
Speaker 1: on first down. Finally, the Bills defense continues to lose
Speaker 1: man games due to injury. Landon Jackson just got in
Speaker 1: the lineup and the last two series and goes on
Speaker 1: injured reserve with a knee injury. Should the player turnover,
Speaker 1: and lack of manpower on defense influence how the offense
Speaker 1: is called. In other words, the defense is shorthanded. Let's
Speaker 1: not have them defend eleven or twelve possessions a game.
Speaker 1: Let's control the clock on offense with our run game,
Speaker 1: dominate time of possession, and give our opponent just nine
Speaker 1: or ten possessions for our defense to defend.
Speaker 2: What do you make of that?
Speaker 3: Absolutely, I mean, that's that's what they've been doing or
Speaker 3: trying to in some cases. I think that's one of
Speaker 3: the things Sean McDermott hangs his hat on as a
Speaker 3: head coach. He knows how to make it easier on
Speaker 3: a defense because he was a coordinator, and he's also
Speaker 3: he also knows too, he's smart enough to know when
Speaker 3: he's get When they're game planning for the Bills offense,
Speaker 3: it's a load and that and the Bills offense has
Speaker 3: a lot of weapons and the ability to stay on
Speaker 3: the field offensively and particularly with a running game. I
Speaker 3: think that's that leans right into the strength of where
Speaker 3: your team's at now and also makes it tough on
Speaker 3: your opponents offense and defense. So your defense is there,
Speaker 3: the opponent's defense is always going to be under stress
Speaker 3: because you got Josh Allen taking snaps and whatever that
Speaker 3: means to you that he can put pressure on a defense,
Speaker 3: seen it his entire career. You add that with a
Speaker 3: running game and an offensive line that's solid and James
Speaker 3: Cook and all of that stuff. Yeah, you got to
Speaker 3: lean on that and this and having the defense going
Speaker 3: through what it's going through on the injury front. I mean,
Speaker 3: that's that is a no brainer to me. That's a
Speaker 3: no brainer. Now, certainly it's exactly what we've seen him
Speaker 3: do even when their defense was healthy, but man, oh Man,
Speaker 3: This offense is the strength of the team. Yeah, and
Speaker 3: they've got to lean into it.
Speaker 1: Yes, And I'm in favor of that as well. And look,
Speaker 1: the defense is starting to get healthier. They'll probably get TJ.
Speaker 1: Sanders off injured reserve, if not this week, certainly next week.
Speaker 1: It looks like Christian Benford will be back in the
Speaker 1: lineup this week. Shaq Thompson looks like he's ready to
Speaker 1: come back from his hamstring injury. Aaron Johnson, Tarren Johnson,
Speaker 1: you know, looks ready to return. So they are getting
Speaker 1: healthier on that side of the ball. If you feel
Speaker 1: they are deficient or incapable of of effectively stopping a
Speaker 1: given opponent on a regular basis, yeah, reduce that team's
Speaker 1: number of possessions by controlling the clock long sustained drives
Speaker 1: on offense. I just don't want them to go to
Speaker 1: the lengths where they're compromising maybe what they feel will
Speaker 1: work best for them against that opposing defense, you know,
Speaker 1: because they're so concerned about their own defense holding up.
Speaker 1: I don't think they've gone that far. I just don't
Speaker 1: want it to get to that point. If that makes sense,
Speaker 1: they still got to do what you do on offense,
Speaker 1: and you know, yeah, you want to support your defense,
Speaker 1: complimentary football and all of that, but not to the
Speaker 1: point where now you're inhibiting your own success offensively just
Speaker 1: for the sake of controlling clock.
Speaker 2: So your defense is not on the field as.
Speaker 3: Right if you've got to. If you're going in against
Speaker 3: a team that you know doesn't have a pass rush,
Speaker 3: you know, and they're secondaries depleted, you feel like, yeah,
Speaker 3: we're gonna go out and I'm gonna sling it around
Speaker 3: little bit on these guys and make them hay no
Speaker 3: question about it. Every game and like we've been talking about,
Speaker 3: every game is different, and I don't think it affects
Speaker 3: their ability to formulate a game plan, but there probably
Speaker 3: are moments in every game where they could, you know,
Speaker 3: where it's a neutral down and distance, and they probably
Speaker 3: lean more towards the running game in those instances because
Speaker 3: of their ability to put their foot on the gas
Speaker 3: on offense.
Speaker 1: And it's hard not to wonder last week, after the
Speaker 1: defense was on the field for almost twenty minutes of
Speaker 1: the first half, that the offensive staff huddled up, maybe
Speaker 1: even with the head coach, and they said, hey, look,
Speaker 1: we're in.
Speaker 2: A heat game.
Speaker 1: Here, we're short bodies on defense. We got three defensive
Speaker 1: ends where we've got a dim back playing nickel, we
Speaker 1: got a bench corner playing dime. Right, we have to
Speaker 1: come out and run the ball in the second half,
Speaker 1: control the clock a little bit and give our defense
Speaker 1: a break here, guys, And maybe that's why they're still
Speaker 1: running the ball to start the second half even though
Speaker 1: they're down sixteen nothing, right, but then they turn the
Speaker 1: ball over and it all goes to hell and a
Speaker 1: and they got they had an eight minute drive and
Speaker 1: got nothing and they turn it over in Miami's end
Speaker 1: when yeah, yeah, that.
Speaker 3: That's the frustrating part about it. You got James Cook
Speaker 3: puking it up, Josh puking it up on a on
Speaker 3: a quarterback sneak, and it's just the weight of the
Speaker 3: turnover margin when the Bills turn it over is just
Speaker 3: crushing for a team that's playing. With the philosophy of
Speaker 3: this one.
Speaker 1: We shift to the Numbers game where Steve will be
Speaker 1: quizzed on Bills run pass history.
Speaker 2: Let's do it.
Speaker 1: Question number one in the Sean McDermott era, in what
Speaker 1: season did the Bills have the most run plays, call.
Speaker 2: Most rushes twenty twenty one.
Speaker 3: That is incorrect, nineteen twenty nineteen.
Speaker 2: No, it is more recent seas really, twenty twenty four.
Speaker 1: It's twenty twenty three, when Joe Brady took over mid season.
Speaker 1: Five hundred and twelve carries.
Speaker 3: The whole season was more than any other season.
Speaker 2: In the McDermott era.
Speaker 1: Okay, yeah, Question number two in the Sean McDermott era,
Speaker 1: in what season did the Bills have the most pass
Speaker 1: plays called most passed?
Speaker 3: Twenty twenty You're close, but in correct.
Speaker 1: Twenty twenty one, man, And that was with Brian Dable
Speaker 1: as OC. And that was the year they threw on
Speaker 1: first down more than any other team in football in
Speaker 1: four years. It has completely flit lipped crazy to think
Speaker 1: Question three since seventeen, in what season did the Bills
Speaker 1: have the most run plays called on first down?
Speaker 3: Twenty twenty eight? Three?
Speaker 1: You would think that, but it's incorrect. Twenty twenty four,
Speaker 1: twenty twenty four, two hundred and seventy six. Side note,
Speaker 1: The Bills pace this year will shatter that, yeah, right,
Speaker 1: as they are on pace to have three hundred and
Speaker 1: eight carries on first down alone this season.
Speaker 2: That's the pace there on a question four.
Speaker 1: Since twenty seventeen, in what season did the Bills have
Speaker 1: the most pass plays called on first down?
Speaker 3: Twenty one?
Speaker 2: You would think that, but that is not right.
Speaker 3: The most pass plays seas well, twenty twenty.
Speaker 1: Twenty twenty, Yeah, three hundred and that was in just
Speaker 1: sixteen games played.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it was still sixteen games in twenty twenty, that
Speaker 2: is was it? I think so right now?
Speaker 3: No, that was the demor Hamlin game got canceled.
Speaker 1: Well, no, that's twenty three. Okay, that's the twenty twenty
Speaker 1: two season. When that game got canceled. I thought they
Speaker 1: had gone to the seventeen game schedule un till twenty one.
Speaker 2: I think I'm wrong.
Speaker 3: Really, it's that recent.
Speaker 2: It seems like forever it does, doesn't it.
Speaker 3: Wow?
Speaker 1: There you go, all right, well that's the numbers game.
Speaker 3: I was fair, Yes, right right.
Speaker 1: You quickly rebounded on some of those Bill's fans. Get
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Speaker 1: partner the Buffalo Bills. Time now for our one burning question.
Speaker 1: Do the Bills have to win their next four games
Speaker 1: against Tampa Bay, Houston, Pittsburgh and Cincinnati to have a
Speaker 1: shot at the division title? I will tell you New
Speaker 1: England had the Jets Thursday night, Cincinnati Giants bye week,
Speaker 1: then Bills.
Speaker 3: Yeah. I think the Bills are gonna have to win out,
Speaker 3: win until that week fifteen game against the New England Patriots,
Speaker 3: no question, because Patriots aren't taking their foot off the gas.
Speaker 3: They're not beating themselves, and the teams that they're gonna
Speaker 3: play struggle with that. So they're gonna have to keep
Speaker 3: pace until that game. It's hard to see the Patriots
Speaker 3: stumbling with the risk with the schedule that they've got,
Speaker 3: you know, the fourth place schedule. So yeah, I think
Speaker 3: the Bills got to win it. They got to win
Speaker 3: out now. Certainly in the big picture, you think, ad,
Speaker 3: there's no way the Patriots can go fifteen and two
Speaker 3: on the season, right, But you can't count on that.
Speaker 3: I mean they I don't. They take them pet of time.
Speaker 1: It's hard to sustain, as you say all the time
Speaker 1: that level of play for four months. They've won seven
Speaker 1: in a row, not counting the Thursday night game, which
Speaker 1: hasn't been played at the time of this taping Patriots Jets.
Speaker 1: But yeah, they're not losing it, and we don't assume that.
Speaker 1: We don't assume they will. And then Cincinnati still won't
Speaker 1: have Burrow next week. And then the Giants, I mean,
Speaker 1: they just fired their coach. Jamis Winston is playing for
Speaker 1: them this week, so be nice. If Jamis goes up
Speaker 1: to New England and throws five touchdowns and two picks
Speaker 1: and wins forty eight or something, that would be nice.
Speaker 1: So I think the Bills, James, So, I think the
Speaker 1: Bills have to get on a run here. They have
Speaker 1: to win this week, and then the big challenge. I
Speaker 1: think the biggest challenge in this stretch is short week
Speaker 1: and then on the road to Houston, where their defense
Speaker 1: is a mother to play against, and they got to
Speaker 1: do it in Energy Stadium down in Houston on a
Speaker 1: short week.
Speaker 2: I think that's the toughest.
Speaker 1: One on this stretch here over the next four weeks.
Speaker 1: And then of course New England has the benefit of
Speaker 1: coming off the before they play the Bills at home.
Speaker 1: It's gonna be an interesting four weeks here coming up
Speaker 1: before that big game. And look, the Bills have to
Speaker 1: win four in a row here, I think to make
Speaker 1: that a big game.
Speaker 2: Yeah, if they stumble here.
Speaker 3: If they're two games behind them, it's not gonna make them.
Speaker 3: And you know, coming down the stretch, the Bills have
Speaker 3: got Philly coming down the stretch, and the Patriots don't.
Speaker 2: They do have Baltimore.
Speaker 3: They do, So.
Speaker 1: That's not nothing, That is not much, something to keep
Speaker 1: in mind, and Baltimore will probably need that game, knowing
Speaker 1: they're still trying to make up ground here to some extent,
Speaker 1: Our closing figure deals with the Bills Week eleven matchup
Speaker 1: with the Bucks. The Bills are six and oh at
Speaker 1: home versus NFC opponents since twenty twenty three, one of
Speaker 1: two NFL clubs without a home interconference loss over the
Speaker 1: last two years, with the other being green Bay. Buffalo
Speaker 1: has scored thirty plus points in four straight home games
Speaker 1: against NFC teams, and when it comes to Bill's Bucks specifically,
Speaker 1: the home team has won each of the last seven matchups.
Speaker 1: The last time the road team won in a Bill's
Speaker 1: Bucks meeting week four of nineteen ninety one when Buffalo
Speaker 1: beat Tampa Bay seventeen to ten at the Old Sombrero,
Speaker 1: with Jim Kelly going for three hundred and twenty two
Speaker 1: yards passing in the victory.
Speaker 2: I can't remember that in that game you did.
Speaker 3: I did little out route and turned it up the
Speaker 3: field for nineteen first down very well, just like Ford downs. Yeah,
Speaker 3: like one catch.
Speaker 2: I think that's a little pat on the back.
Speaker 3: I literally think that was my only catch of the.
Speaker 2: Year that season.
Speaker 1: Yeah, hey man, factory, I think so factored into the
Speaker 1: number one offensive football.
Speaker 3: I think Keith mckeller caught a tight end ran it
Speaker 3: in for the go ahead touchdown. Seventeen tough, hard fought game.
Speaker 3: I remember the Old Sombrero. They were wearing creamsickle colors
Speaker 3: at the time. They weren't. They weren't the pewter color
Speaker 3: that they are now. And on the sides of the
Speaker 3: sombrero there was the season ticket blocked of Creamsickle buck fans,
Speaker 3: and all the way around both sides was all blue
Speaker 3: and red.
Speaker 2: Oh wow, that was the first one of the first
Speaker 2: real star takeovers.
Speaker 3: It was really stark. The contract. You could see the
Speaker 3: season ticket blocks right in the middle of the forties
Speaker 3: on both sides, and every place else was red and white.
Speaker 3: It was it was pretty cool.
Speaker 2: That is pretty cool. That'll do it for this episode.
Speaker 1: Be sure to subscribe on whatever podcast platform you use,
Speaker 1: or watch us on the Bills YouTube channel, because when
Speaker 1: you need to know about the bills, you ate the
Speaker 1: check bills by the numbers. For Steve Tasker on Chris Brown,
Speaker 1: thanks for listening.
Speaker 3: We'll catch you next time. Everybody,