After ending the longest playoff drought in Buffalo Bills history, Beane has been locked up through a multi-year extension.
The Buffalo Bills announced on Friday that they have signed general manager Brandon Beane to a multi-year extension. Beane has been with the team since 2017.
“Brandon is an outstanding leader, and he has brought a great level of stability throughout our organization. One of the things we appreciate and respect about Brandon is that he is very thorough in his decision-making process,” Bills owners Kim and Terry Pegula said in a statement on the team website penned by Maddy Glab. “No decision he makes comes without a great deal of study and research. We appreciate his strong communication skills, and he works extremely well with us, with Sean, and with all levels of the organization. We are happy to extend his contract and to have Brandon and Sean leading our football team for many years to come.”
In his first season at the helm, Beane helped end the Bills’ franchise-long playoff drought at 17 seasons. The team has now been to the postseason in two of the past three years and is currently on pace to earn its first division title since 1995. Buffalo won 10 games for the first time since 1995 during the last campaign.
Head coach Sean McDermott offered his praises after news of Beane’s extension emerged. The two previously collaborated in Carolina, where Beane served in a variety of front office roles. McDermott served as the Panthers’ defensive coordinator for the final six years of Beane’s watch and was brought over when the latter came to Buffalo.
“I think for most GMs to have that experience on the business side of the football end of things, I really can’t envision myself working with anybody else but Brandon moving forward,” McDermott said in Glab’s statement. “For coaches, as I mentioned earlier, it’s one thing to be a good coach and develop players. But if you’re not being fed good players, it’s almost like drinking from a dry hose. That’s a hard thing to sustain over the course of time. So being fed good players, being fed players that match what we’re looking for, Brandon has done a phenomenal job. I can’t envision myself working with any other GM.”
Among Beane’s most notable Buffalo moves is the selection of quarterback Josh Allen with the seventh overall pick of the 2018 NFL Draft and a trade that brought former Minnesota Viking Stefon Diggs to Buffalo. Allen is on pace for career-highs in his third season and has also garnered MVP consideration. Diggs currently leads the NFL with 90 receptions.
The Bills (9-3) return to action on Sunday night, as they battle the Pittsburgh Steelers at home (8:20 p.m. ET, NBC). In another sign of how far they’ve come under Beane’s watch, Sunday will mark the first time a Sunday night game has been staged in Orchard Park since 2007.
Allen’s latest weekly award stems from a four-touchdown performance in the Buffalo Bills’ win over San Francisco in Glendale.
Josh Allen’s propensity for weekly awards may be bringing a sense of routine into the Buffalo Bills’ unusual season.
The franchise quarterback has earned his third AFC Player of the Week Award of the 2020 season, earned through a stellar performance in the Bills’ Week 13 win over the San Francisco 49ers in Glendale, Arizona on Monday night. Allen took over the displaced proceedings, completing 32-of-40 passes for 375 yards and four touchdown passes in Buffalo’s 34-24 victory.
Other weekly accolades for Allen came in Weeks 2 and 9. He becomes the first Bills player to tally three Player of the Week Awards since kicker Steve Christie in 2000, and the first to earn at least three of the offensive variety since O.J. Simpson won four in 1973.
Allen has already set new career-highs in nearly every major passing category, including yardage (3,403) and touchdowns (26). His breakthrough season has been a major factor behind the Bills’ strong season and why they’re on pace for their first AFC East division title since 1995.
Originally seen as a polarizing pick out of Wyoming upon his NFL arrival in 2018, many have changed their tune on Allen, now seen as the strongest return from the year’s highly publicized quarterback class. Among his new fans is Rainn Wilson, best known for his role as Dwight Schrute on the NBC series The Office. During Monday’s performance, the actor tweeted out that Allen was his “second favorite quarterback”, to which Allen inquired whether he was “Assistant favorite Qb, or assistant to your favorite Qb?”, referencing a recurring gag that victimized Wilson’s breakout role of assistant regional manager/assistant to the regional manager Dwight.
Allen will get a chance to make his own memories on the Peacock Network this Sunday, as the Bills will partake in the prime time night game against the Pittsburgh Steelers (8:20 p.m. ET, NBC).
The Bills’ weren’t the only AFC East representatives on the Player of the Week ledger this week. New England punt returner Gunner Olszewski took home the special teams edition, while Miami’s Kyle Van Noy was named the top defender. Elsewhere in New York, Leonard Williams of the Giants took home that NFC’s Defensive Player of the Week honor for his efforts in an upset win in Seattle.
Set to reach his finest yearly numbers, Beasley posted a career-best in yardage during the Buffalo Bills’ Monday night win in Glendale.
Eight days after earning six points the hard way, Cole Beasley was happy to return to the end zone in more traditional methods during Monday night’s displaced tilt against the San Francisco 49ers.
The Buffalo Bills receiver earned the first scoring pass of his career (and first since high school) last week against the Los Angeles Chargers, but another group of Californian foes saw felt his wrath on the receiving end. His five-yard touchdown from Josh Allen at the onset of the second quarter helped shift momentum back toward the Bills’ side, knotting things up at 7-7. Those five yards were part of a career-best night for Beasley, whose final tally of 130 played a big role in an eventual 34-24 victory at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.
Following that touchdown, offensive lineman Jon Feliciano picked up Beasley and mimicked rocking him to sleep as their dumbfounded, yet celebratory, teammates looked on.
“I told him if I got in the end zone, I’d let him rock me to sleep,” Beasley said of the celebration, per Jourdon LaBarber of BuffaloBills.com. “(Feliciano) did a good job. I was really happy he came and found me when I got in there.”
Though Beasley’s teammates are happy to treat him like a baby, his impact has been anything but infantile. The second-year Bill is on pace to set new career-highs in nearly every major receiving category, his current tallies sitting at 797 on 66 receptions, four of which have gone for touchdowns. All but nine of those yards have come through his role as the slot receiver, an NFL Next Gen Stats category where Beasley leads in yardage from the spot (778).
Beasley’s prior career-best campaign came in 2016 with the Dallas Cowboys, when he picked up 75 catches and 833 yards. His best touchdown earnings came in his Buffalo debut last season (6).
Through Monday’s visit to Glendale, Beasley has earned triple-digit yardage games in three of his last six. The timing couldn’t be better, as he has been asked to step up in the absence of fellow veteran John Brown, who has missed the last two games with a high ankle sprain. Placed on injured reserve, Brown will be eligible to return for the Week 15 Saturday night contest against Denver.
Beasley’s performance in an expanded role has not gone unnoticed.
“His presence is like a superhero,” guard Dion Dawkins said in LaBarber’s report. “He reminds me of The Flash. He’s extremely quick – not a little kid but he’s a go-getter. He has his fun, he says his little comments, and he goes hard at 150 miles per hour. He does it over and over again, and I see The Flash.”
Despite his magic against the Chargers, Beasley admitted he was disappointed with the way he played in the most recent showing at Bills Stadium. Though he had a perfect passer rating via his single pass being a score, he mustered only 25 yards on a pair of receptions otherwise.
Beasley said he was more annoyed that he wasted a decent day from Josh Allen than he was about any lost stats on his end. Monday made for a more successful collaboration between the pair, as 130 of Allen’s 364 yards went to Beasley.
“I was a little disappointed in my play last week. I was excited for another chance to play better for my teammates,” Beasley said of the improvement, per Marcel Louis-Jacques of ESPN. “Any time you’ve got a guy like that throwing to you, you never want to lose a route or let him down because you know he’s looking for you, and he’s going to get it there.”
Beasley and the Bills (9-3) return to action on Sunday night against the Pittsburgh Steelers (8:20 p.m. ET, NBC).
An offensive explosion allowed the Buffalo Bills to exorcise their Glendale demons and come away with a win over the displaced 49ers.
The Buffalo Bills struck prime time, offensive gold against the San Francisco 49ers on Monday night in a most unusual location.
Josh Allen threw for 375 yards and four scores, helping Cole Beasley earned a career-best 130 yards. Micah Hyde and Tre’Davious White also had interceptions as the Bills rolled to a 34-24 victory over the Niners at State Farm Stadium, home of the Arizona Cardinals and one of the most heartbreaking defeats in recent Buffalo memory.
The win on Monday broke several dubious records in Buffalo history. It was good for their first win in a Monday night setting since October 1999, and the team also clinched their first pair of consecutive winning seasons since 1998-99. Stefon Diggs’ 92 yards allowed him to hit the plateau of 1,000 for the season, giving the Bills receivers with four digits in back-to-back years for the first time since 2011-12 (both Steve Johnson with John Brown accomplishing the feat last season). Buffalo (9-3) also maintains a one-game lead on Miami for the modern AFC East division lead.
ESM is ready to hand out game balls in the aftermath of a memorable victory…
Knox tied his career-best with four receptions, none more important than a four-yard touchdown reception that gave Buffalo the lead for good. The second-year tight end has now scored touchdowns in back-to-back contests and is turning into a reliable red zone option. It’s perhaps a play that will only gain recognition and accolades in the Bills’ film room this week, but Knox would also come up big on another Buffalo scoring quest. Late in the first half, Knox stepped in front of quarterback hunter Dion Jordan as Allen rolled out to his right. It bought Allen enough time to find Beasley for a 20-yard gain that set the Bills up in San Francisco territory. Two plays later, Tyler Bass booted a 37-yard field goal that created a two-possession lead going into the halftime break.
Jon Feliciano may have rocked Beasley to sleep during first half action on Sunday, but the veteran was anything but sleepy on Sunday. Beasley continues to take on a larger role in the Buffalo offense, enjoying a career-night through mostly early endeavors in the first half. He has been one of the biggest contributors to the Bills’ division title trek, having reached triple digits in four games this season (yet another career-best), including three of the past six. His time couldn’t be much better, as his personal rise has coincided with John Brown being forced to miss some time with an injury.
The Bills’ ongoing national tour…they’ll host their first Sunday night game since 2007 next week against Pittsburgh (8:20 p.m. ET, NBC)…is a chance to prove themselves to the NFL at-large. Their roaster features several parties trying to make their professional cases on a wider scale, perhaps none more prominent than Allen, who, despite nearly every analyst suggesting the contrary, is proving himself as one of the most reliable franchise quarterbacks in the league.
Allen certainly got off to a good start in that endeavor, joining Jim Kelly as the only Buffalo representative to throw four touchdowns in a Monday night game and misfiring on only four of his passes. The journey will get a little more difficult next week against what’s sure to be a furious Steelers defense, but it’s one he seems well-equipped for. His name may not be as attractive as that of Patrick Mahomes, but MVP talk might be part of the holiday conversation in Western New York.
The possibly-ready-for-prime-time Buffalo Bills have a prime opportunity to prove they belong amongst the NFL’s elite.
If one had to guess which NFL fanbase would have the most trouble belting the lyrics to “Waiting All Day For Sunday Night”, there would surely far worse estimates than Bills Mafia.
The rock anthem, inspired by Joan Jett’s “I Hate Myself For Loving You” is routinely performed by Carrie Underwood (taking over for fellow new century music icons Pink and Faith Hill) prior to the opening kick off NBC’s Sunday Night Football coverage. It’s probably ingrained into the minds of Dallas Cowboys fans, who have waited all day for Sunday night on a record 49 occasions.
Buffalo Bills supporters haven’t had to be as patient.
Since NBC took over the Sunday night package from ESPN in 2006, only two Bills games have been broadcast over the peacock-branded airwaves. Buffalo is part of a most unholy trinity, as Cleveland and Jacksonville have likewise “earned” only a mere pair of invites.
But, as the Bills (8-3) start to close in on their first division title since 1995, they’ll finally be able to make up some ground.
The Bills’ December slate features four games that will be available on a nationwide scale. That includes two appearances on ESPN’s Monday Night Football, which sandwich a Sunday night date from NBC. Buffalo’s game against Denver was also recently chosen to fill a Saturday the week before Christmas. Time will tell, but it’s quite possible that the Bills’ Week 17 finale against Miami (8-4) could also get the Sunday night treatment, especially if the AFC East division title is on the line.
This trek to potential glory starts on Monday, as the Bills travel to Glendale, Arizona to battle the displaced San Francisco 49ers (8:15 p.m. ET, ESPN/ABC).
. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports
It’s easy to understand why a majority of Bills games have been staged in the relatively mundane 1 p.m. ET timeslots on CBS and Fox over the course of the new century. Buffalo, while passionate, is one of the smaller media markets in the NFL (ahead of only Green Bay in the Nielsen market size) but the team’s lack of on-field success and marquee talent surely played a bigger factor.
Needless to say, the modern Bills are looking forward to their moment in the spotlight.
“This is what you want. This is how we built the program to be. The better you get, the more prime time games you have. I think it’s an exciting time for our fanbase,” Bills head coach Sean McDermott said of the prime time overload on The Howard and Jeremy Show on WGR 550 SportsRadio. “”When you get to a point where you’re respected by the league and you’ve got a good club, that’s what you work for, and that’s what you get. I think that’s exciting for our organization and our fans.”
The interconference matchup will come up big on both sides. Buffalo is looking to maintain its single-game lead on the Dolphins for the division title, while San Francisco (5-6) is looking to carry one momentum brought upon by a win over the Los Angeles Rams last weekend, one that ended a three-game losing streak. The Niners currently sit a half-game behind Minnesota for the final NFC wild card spot.
This rise in national recognition is perhaps the biggest sign yet that both the NFL and the football-loving public are starting to truly see the football revolution occurring in Western New York. Last season, the Bills were granted one national game when the original schedule was released, bestowed the late afternoon Thanksgiving slot in Dallas. That victorious effort, among others, caused NBC to take notice, booting a matchup between the Minnesota Vikings and Los Angeles Chargers in favor of the Bills’ Week 15 trek to Pittsburgh. The ensuing victory over the Steelers allowed Buffalo to clinch not only a playoff berth but also its first 10-win season since 1999. NBC will have the rematch against the undefeated Steelers next weekend, six days after their Monday doubleheader. Pittsburgh’s delayed kickoff with the Washington Football Team (5 p.m. ET, Fox) comes hours before the Bills do battle in the desert.
Buffalo’s other Sunday night showing came in 2007, when they served as the sacrificial lambs to the gridiron dieties from New England.
Monday Night Football has been slightly kinder to the BIlls, inviting them three times since 2010, though that still puts them in a last-place tie with the aforementioned Browns and Jaguars (though Cleveland will get their moment next week against Baltimore). The Bills have ended several streaks in this fledgling era of prosperity, but their Monday night futility still hovers. Buffalo hasn’t won on Garfield’s least favorite day since October 1999, when a trio of Steve Christie field goals earned them a 23-18 victory over Miami.
The second half of this modern Monday night double feature comes on December 21, when the Bills will possibly seek to put New England (6-6) out their misery.
But the Bills know that this onslaught of primetime coverage comes with a major responsibility. That stems not from the networks unwilling to put them on in years past, but from previously wasted opportunities earlier in the year.
Two of the Bills’ three losses have come with the eyes of the football-loving nation upon them. They previously fell in a one-sided Tuesday night display against the Tennessee Titans, a battle of unbeatens pushed back due to the ongoing health crisis. That defeat also had an effect on Buffalo’s originally scheduled Thursday night contest with Kansas City, which also ended with the Bills on the wrong side of the scoreboard.
Mandatory Credit: Jamie Germano-USA TODAY NETWORK
Receiver Cole Beasley has said that the biggest factor will be avoiding the temptation to look ahead to more dashing competition, particularly those of the postseason variety.
“We have to approach it the way we have all season, we try to go 1-0 each week,” wide receiver Cole Beasley last week, per Sal Maiorana of the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle. “We can’t get too far ahead of ourselves. We’ll deal with the playoffs if and when they get here. We have to take care of everything that’s in font of us before we can look ahead.”
There appeared to some signs of looking ahead, those signs that Beasley warned about, during last week’s visit from the Chargers. Buffalo prevailed in a 27-17 final, albeit in one of the sloppier efforts of the season. The Bills turned the ball over three times and earned 332 yards on offense, their worst output since tallying 206 in the aforementioned loss to Kansas City on October 19.
Monday’s game comes with its own share of distractions. It comes against a 49ers team fresh off a Super Bowl appearance struggling to tread water in the crowded NFC playoff picture and one that will start backup quarterback Nick Mullens in place of the injured Jimmy Garoppollo.
The Bills will also return to the scene of one of their most heartbreaking defeats in recent franchise memory. With San Francisco’s proceedings disrupted by local government orders made in the wake of rising disease cases, Monday’s game will take place at State Farm Stadium. The Bills seemed well on their way toward a major victory against the stadium’s regular tenants, the Arizona Cardinals, but everyone who has followed the NFL for five minutes this season knows how that one ended. The Kyler Murray miracle, a 43-yard desperation heave that landed in the outstretched arms of DeAndre Hopkins, affected the fates of both Monday participants. Buffalo missed out on a major opportunity to expand their lead in the AFC East, while the 49ers remain behind the Cardinals for crucial ground in the both the divisional and wild-card races.
“The biggest thing is just kind of looking back, having that nasty taste in our mouths,” linebacker Tremaine Edmunds said of the venue switch to Glendale in another report from Maiorana. “When we show up to the stadium, we’re going to obviously know what happened last time we were there. We’re motivated to get back there and redeem ourselves. I know it’s a different team, but at the same time it’s in that stadium.”
Buffalo will enter Monday’s game at their healthiest, as not a single player was give any injury designation in the official injury report released over the weekend.
Buffalo Bills QB Josh Allen knows a thing or two about beating the NFC, having gone 3-1 against the division’s quartet last season. He earned another win against the tragic foursome during an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show this weekend.
Speaking with the former NFL punter, Allen was asked about the Bills’ ongoing question to clinch their first AFC East title since 1995. Buffalo sits at 8-3 heading into their Monday night showdown against San Francisco in Glendale, Arizona (8:15 p.m. ET, ESPN/ABC), one game ahead of the Miami Dolphins (7-4).
McAfee discussed the current state of the division, noting that the New England Patriots (5-6), winners of all but three division titles in the new century couldn’t be counted out despite their dismal record and that the dismal New York Jets (0-11) were simply “whatever”. He asked Allen if there was a sense of “why not us” in Buffalo’s journey. That’s when Allen revealed his roast.
“Exactly, why not us?” Allen rhetorically asked. “But again, we’re sitting at 8-3. And eight wins doesn’t win you the division unless you’re…” he paused before somewhat sheepishly adding “in the NFC East” with a smile.
The comment sent McAfee and his off-screen co-hosts into hysterics, one of whom cheers in support. McAfee tells Allen “that was awesome” before Allen gets the interview back to serious matters.
“In all seriousness, coach (Sean) McDermott preaches playoff caliber. Our goal is to get into the playoffs. Once you get into the playoffs, anybody’s got a chance to win it. The easiest way to get into the playoffs is to win your division. So that’s been our goal and mindset ever since we’ve stepped foot back here in August or whatever month that we got back here.”
Allen also further praises McDermott, saying that he has “been doing a great job with us”. The full interview can be found here.
If anyone knows of the former glory of the NFC East, it’s the Bills, whose four consecutive Super Bowl defeats came at the hands of three teams from the division (the New York Giants, Washington Football Team, and the Dallas Cowboys, the latter beating them twice). But the modern NFC East has become a cesspool for disappointing, sloppy football, as every team in the division is at least three games under .500 as December football opens. The Giants are the current leaders with a 4-7 record, owners of a head-to-head tiebreaker with Washington. Behind them, the Philadelphia Eagles sit a 3-7-1, while the Cowboys are 3-8. The winner of the division will likely have the lowest win percentage of any NFL playoff team in the modern era, topping the 2010-11 Seattle Seahawks, who won the NFC West with a 7-9 record.
Despite the division’s ineptitude, its teams routinely appear in high-profile television slots. For example, Dallas will make up a date on Fox and NFL Network’s Thursday Night Football package on Tuesday against the Baltimore Ravens (8:05 p.m. ET, Fox/NFL Network).
Veteran NFL kicker Stephen Hauschka announced his retirement on Friday afternoon through an Instagram post. Hauschka, 35, partook in 13 NFL seasons, spending his final three full campaigns with the Buffalo Bills.
The photographic post includes several photos immortalizing his football career, including cherished memories in the northeast. Several photos from his three-year stint in Western New York appear, as do snapshots from Super Bowl XLVIII at MetLife Stadium.
“I started kicking a soccer ball at 3, switched to footballs at 19 and now at 35 I’m making the decision to hang up the cleats,” Hauschka’s accompanying caption read. “It’s been an amazing journey playing professional football the last 12+ years and when I reflect I feel grateful for all of it, the highs and the lows. It’s shaped me and my family and made us stronger and more resilient, more loving and understanding. Thank you to my family for always supporting my love of kicking.”
The former Division III kicker from Middlebury College chose to spend time as a graduate student at North Carolina State before joining the NFL in 2008. After spending time as a camp leg in Minnesota, Hauschka was chosen to succeed original Baltimore kicker Matt Stover with the Ravens, a job he held for two seasons. He would later spend brief stints with Atlanta, Detroit, Denver, and Las Vegas (with the Locomotives, their short-lived United Football League squad) during the 2009 and 2010 seasons.
Hauschka will likely be best known for his time spent with Seattle (2011-16) and Buffalo (2017-19). His best campaign in Seattle came in 2013, when he converted 33-of-35 field goal tries and all 44 of his extra point attempts. The former soccer player was also perfect on eight triple attempts in the postseason, the last two coming in the Seahawks’ 43-8 win over Denver in East Rutherford’s Super Bowl. Hauschka would depart Seattle as the second-leading scorer in team history, behind only fellow kicker Norm Johnson.
Buffalo signed Hauschka to a three-year deal in 2017. His propensity for line-drive kicks was seen as an advantage in the chilly atmosphere in Orchard Park. Hauschka lived up to the hype, as he would earn a reputation for kicking it from deep. He would make NFL history in a Bills uniform by converting a record 13 straight attempts from at least 50 yards out over the 2017 and 2018 seasons. The Bills reached the playoffs in two of the three seasons Hauschka spent as their kicker. His most famous Buffalo boot was likely his last, as a 47-yard tally in the dying stages of regulation sent their 2020 Wild Card game appearance against Houston into overtime. Overall, Hauschka went 73-of-89 (82 percent) in his time with the Bills. Despite playing only three seasons, he ranks ninth in team history in terms of points (303).
The Bills released Hauschka in August, four months after they took Tyler Bass in the NFL Draft. His final NFL contest came in October through a one-game cameo with the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Hauschka gave a special thank you to Bills fans in his farewell caption.
“To the fans, the 12s and bills mafia [sic], two of the best, I always felt your unwavering passion for your team and city,” Hauschka said, referring to the respective fanbases of Seattle and Buffalo. “The energy and excitement you brought to game day was what made football fun and exciting. The tension, the drama, knowing everyone was watching and that the kick was important.”
Several of Hauschka’s former teammates arrived in the comments to support him, including Buffalo comrades Josh Allen, Dion Dawkins, Micah Hyde, and Reid Ferguson.
The modern Bills (8-3) return to action on Monday night in Glendale, Arizona against the San Francisco 49ers (8:15 p.m. ET, ESPN).
The linebacker becomes the third member of the Buffalo Bills to earn a Player of the Week Award this season.
Buffalo Bills linebacker A.J. Klein had to hold out for a little bit, but a special honor awaited him at the end of Week 12’s NFL action.
The defender earned the AFC’s Defensive Player of the Week for his performance in the Bills’ 27-17 victory over the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday. Klein led all defenders with 14 tackles (3 for a loss), 1.5 sacks, and a pass breakup. His most notable contribution of the afternoon came in the early stages of the fourth quarter, when he forced Chargers running back Joshua Kelly into a three-yard loss on a crucial third-and-one in the Buffalo red zone. The takedown forced Los Angeles into a field goal that kept the lead at a manageable 24-17 margin.
Klein, 29, is in his first year with the Bills, having signed a three-year deal with the team over the offseason after seven years with Carolina and New Orleans. He struggled in the early portions of the season, but has since come up huge with Matt Milano sidelined due to injuries. Klein previously came up big in Buffalo’s statement win over Seattle, when he earned five tackles, two sacks, and a forced fumble.
“I don’t pay attention to any of that stuff. I go out and do what I need to do and try to perform to the best of my ability,” Klein said of outside criticism after the Seattle win, per Mike Sherry of The Post Crescent. “It’s a good feeling when you go out and perform like this. Big plays cover probably some mistakes from earlier in the first half, but I know I can play football.”
“I have all the confidence in myself and I really don’t pay attention to any outward or outside noise. That’s one thing in this league you can’t do. You just have to focus on yourself, focus on the process and get the job done on Sundays.”
In a report from Matt Parrino of Syracuse.com, defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier praised the improvement that Klein has shown in subbing for Milano.
“We didn’t know if A.J. could do some of the things that we ask Matt to do. But as we’ve gotten more comfortable with him and he’s gotten more comfortable in our system, we’ve seen him play some much improved football,” Frazier said. “That’s a credit to A.J. just sticking with it and making himself available and then when his number is called, making those plays that are there for him to make.”
Klein becomes the third Buffalo representative to take home a Player of the Week award, joining QB Josh Allen (Weeks 2, 9) and fellow defender Jerry Hughes (Week 7). Receiver Tyreek Hill of Kansas City took home the week’s offensive honor, while New England kicker Nick Folk earned the top mark for specialists.
The Bills return to action on Monday night against the San Francisco 49ers in Glendale Arizona (8:15 p.m. ET, ESPN/ABC).
Having reached triple digits in three of the last five games, Buffalo Bills rushers are ready to roll into December.
The glory days of the Buffalo Bills have long been defined by the antics of a strong game, more or less emulating the streaking buffalo that has graced their helmets since 1974. Wray Carlton and Cookie Gilchrist led the way during their AFL championship days, famously followed by O.J. Simpson, who sat in second place on the NFL’s all-time rushing upon his retirement. Thurman Thomas and Kenneth Davis then became reliable presciences during the AFC title streak. Even the dark times provided relief through the legs of Joe Cribbs, Fred Jackson, Travis Henry, and Willis McGahee.
As the Bills seek to form a new consistent brand of glory days, the run game is rising to the occasion.
Buffalo (8-3) enters their most hopeful December yet, one where they’re well on pace to earn their first division title since 1995. The team may be new to the AFC penthouse, but they’re well aware that they’ll have to be clicking on all cylinders to make some postseason noise and officially put the league on notice. Head coach Sean McDermott spoke about it in the earlier stages of the fall.
“Most coaches would say they want to hit their stride in November, December, when the leaves are coming off the trees,” McDermott said, per Mary Margaret Johnson of WIVB on November 3. “Overall, at the end of the day, you’re trying to win one game. Rosters change week to week, lineups change week to week, challenges normally come, and with COVID, we’re trying to find one week wins and do the best you can to put the best lineup out there.”
One area where the Bills are starting to peak is the aforementioned run game.
Exciting as the idea of Josh Allen torching opponents with both his arms and feet may be, Buffalo sought to get their run game rolling. The unit appeared to be well set for the future with Devin Singletary set to return after a strong rookie season (775 yards, fourth amongst first-year rushers). Buffalo would also replace the Jets-bound Frank Gore by drafting Utah’s Zack Moss in the third round of the 2020 draft proceedings. Bills general manager Brandon Beane was hopeful was Singletary’s finesse and and Moss’ physicality would be the next step forward for an offense on the rise.
“Devin has that shiftiness. Zack’s going to be more of that banging in there,” Beane said after the draft, per Alex Brasky of The Daily News (Batavia). “He’s going to lower that shoulder and try to, a little bit like Frank did at an older age for us. I see that role.”
But with the blocking names in front of them changing more than those on the North Park Theater’s marquee, the Bills rushing attack had struggled in the early going. The team managed to get off to a strong start, but a challenging stretch, when the Bills lost two of three in October, coincided with the run game working on a streak of earning less than 100 yards.
The display was particularly scary during an October 19 loss to Kansas City, one of the two teams ahead of the Bills for AFC supremacy. As Clyde Edwards-Helaire broke loose for 161 yards, the Bills mustered only 84 on the ground as a team. Singletary struggled to the tune of 32 yards on 10 carries in defeat.
Keeping the pace of a strong rookie season proved to be a challenge for Singletary. He struggled to reach the 300-yard mark over his first seven games, averaging less than four yards a carry. He noted the big plays that came naturally in his debut failed to resurface in modern times.
“Making big plays, creating big plays. We haven’t been able to do that yet,” the struggling sophomore Singletary said after the game, per Jourdon LaBarber & Dante Lasting of BuffaloBills.com. “We’ve got to find a way to get that going.”
Singletary’s words, however, proved prophetic and he found a way to get things rolling again.
Two weeks after the Chiefs’ visit, the Bills battled the New England Patriots, often seen as a weekend for plenty of Western New York fans to skip due to an infamous streak of futility against the AFC East monopoly-holders. Singletary, helping co-author a new narrative in Orchard Park, came up big with a team-best 86 yards on 14 carries, 59 of that tally coming in the second half. Assistance came in the form of Moss, who tallied 81 yards on an equal number of carries, and he also punched in his first NFL touchdowns. They wound up being the difference in the 24-21 Buffalo victory.
“This is probably the most I felt like myself just from everything from top to bottom,” Moss remarked afterwards, per Jenna Callari of WKBW. “I was just happy I was able to come out and be ready to go in a game like this. I was really comfortable today and want to build off that going into the rest of the year.”
As the Buffalo run game continues to surge forward, they continue to fulfill Singletary’s prophecy. With a more balanced offense, the Bills are well positioned to make their first legitimate postseason run. That was on display during their most recent win, a game where three turnovers could’ve threatened to destroy what they were building.
Sunday’s 27-17 win over the Los Angeles Chargers to wrap up the November slate could’ve been the type of trap game that caused Buffalo to fly off the rails, a game that might’ve left them uncomfortably sharing the top spot in the AFC East with Miami. But a strong attack from the run game helped them finish things off. There were no antics from Allen or Stefon Diggs necessary to close out the win. Even if Allen tallied a score on the ground, it was the running that kept things rolling, with Singletary and Moss uniting for 141 yards. Their magnum opus came on the final drive, when Moss opened things up with a 31-yard gain, followed by a 24-yard tally from Singletary that set Tyler Bass for a de facto game-winning field goal from 43 yards way.
Things weren’t fully perfect just yet. A lost Singletary fumble led to a Los Angeles field goal. Moss was penalized 15 yards for taunting. But the Bills made sure that their offensive fate goes far beyond Allen. The quarterback (18-of-24, 157 yards, 2 total touchdowns, 1 INT) expressed his gratitude and hope for more after the game in Heather Prusak’s report for WIVB.
“Our guys did a great job, Zack and (Moss) carried the ball extremely well, they ran hard,” Allen said. “When my number’s called I gotta make some plays too but our guys did a good job blocking up front and you put the ball in your backs’ hands and let them do things and they were great today.”
Singletary explained that the success against the Chargers partially stemmed from an increased emphasis on the rushing attack in practice that week, mentioning that the team ran “an extra drill” leading into LA week.
“It wasn’t even full speed, it was kind of like half speed but just seeing the guys get to their landmark,” Singletary said in Prusak’s report, mentioning how it helped the Bills prevaild in a physical game. “It helps us get to our landmark it just kind of helps the offensive line and the running backs get a feel for each other and it showed today.”
Singletary and Moss will look to carry on momentum in their next game on Monday night, as they battle the San Francisco 49ers in Glendale, Arizona (8:15 p.m. ET, ESPN/ABC).
The Buffalo Bills are once again affected by the NFL’s continuing efforts to schedule games in the wake of the ongoing health crisis.
The Buffalo Bills are returning to the scene of the crime…robbery, to precise.
Buffalo’s Week 13 contest will take them back to Arizona’s State Farm Stadium in Glendale, as restrictions caused by the ongoing health crisis have forced several adjustments to the NFL schedule. The regular home of the Arizona Cardinals will now serve as a temporary base for the San Francisco 49ers, the Bills’ upcoming opponent on Monday. This interconference matchup will keep its Monday spot, with kickoff still scheduled for 8:15 p.m. ET on ESPN and ABC.
San Francisco’s movement from Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara was forced by Santa Clara County’s shutdown of contact sports over the next three weeks. Such restrictions have also affected the football and basketball programs. The 49ers will take on Buffalo next Monday before welcoming in the Washington Football Team six days later.
For Buffalo, this means a return to Glendale, the site of the more heartbreaking losses in recent franchise history. The Bills nearly stole a win from the hosting Cardinals on November 15 but were done in by Kyler’s Murray’s 43-yard miracle toss to DeAndre Hopkins that gave the home team a 32-30 victory.
The Bills (8-3) are no strangers to scheduling changes enforced by COVID-19. Their Week 5 matchup against the Tennessee Titans was moved from Sunday to Tuesday after an outbreak in the latter organization. It was the first NFL game played on a Tuesday since December 2010, when the threat of inclement winter weather forced a game between Philadelphia and Minnesota to be moved. Buffalo’s next game, originally scheduled for the ensuing Thursday night in Orchard Park against Kansas City, was likewise adjusted, moved to the following Monday night. The Bills lost both games.
This will mark Buffalo’s first appearance on Monday night since October 2018, when they hosted New England.
Further adjustments to the NFL schedule involved moving games away from certain days. The long-delayed matchup between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens was moved for a third time, as the game originally scheduled for Thanksgiving night was first pushed to Sunday afternoon and later this Tuesday night. But a new shift, announced on Monday, will stage the NFL’s first Wednesday game since 2012 (3:40 p.m. ET, NBC), when the Democratic National Convention forced the season opener between the New York Giants and Dallas Cowboys to be played a day before its traditional Thursday spot.
As a result of those delays, both Pittsburgh and Baltimore’s Week 13 games have already been moved. The Steelers will now play Washington next Monday at 5 p.m. ET, while the Ravens will play a day later (8:05 p.m. ET, Fox/NFL Network) in what was originally a Thursday night tilt against the Dallas Cowboys.
