Welcome back to the Buffalo Bread Podcast. Dan
and JJ here with you. Happy belated Merry Christmas
and happy belated Hanukkah and all the other
kind of holiday time things that have happened
most recently. Hope everyone is healthy, well,
has enjoyed a little bit of, you know, some not
so good for you food and some relaxation. I certainly
have. And I've also not enjoyed watching the
Bills nearly lose to the Cleveland Browns, even
though they came out, what, two? Turnovers ahead
in that game. So where we want to start with
this one Dan. We are in week 17 and we have Two
remaining to play against the Philadelphia Eagles
at home and then against the Jets at home wearing
the red helmets. Yes. I don't want to spend a
lot of time on the Cleveland game. You noted
that we are well past the holidays and anyone
out there listening that's wanted to get some
analysis or going to break down of the Browns
versus Bills. I mean, there's lots of places
you could find it. They're probably going to
give you a lot more detail than we are going
to give here as our focus turns towards the Eagles.
I'll say this, JJ, this Buffalo Bills team. We
talked about it in the pre -show. It is the team
that plays down to their competition. It just
is. And you can say that that is coaching to
blame. You can say that this is a veteran team
that knows exactly what it needs to do to overcome
an inferior opponent, if you will, right? Whichever
way you want to spin it. At the end of the day,
that was a game that was a lot closer than a
lot of people thought it should have been and
would have been. And I also think by the same
token, It is not a hallmark for anything that
we're going to see the Bills roll into the playoffs
having to shake off other than it was another
atrocious performance by the run defense. And
here in week 17, if there is anything we can
say about the Buffalo Bills, there are things
starting to solidify about this team that are
very real. They're going to be tested against
the Eagles this weekend. Yeah, absolutely. I
think that that is, you know, It's so late in
the season that the questions of what kind of
team are they going to bring to the playoffs
have largely been answered. They are a team that
lives and dies by splash plays on defense, mostly
dies by all other offensive plays and hopes beyond
hope that Josh Allen can put his unicorn headband
on and draw them out of the fire of defeat every
week. It's crazy to me, Jay. I shouldn't say
it's crazy, right? But it was on full display
in that Cleveland Browns game. where I actually
had made some comments online that I thought.
Josh had a better game than the, than the box
score would indicate. I thought his ball placement
was good, other than that horrific back to back
where he just sailed one on Cluel Shakir. And
it looked like he was expecting Tyrell Shavers
to run maybe a post route and Shavers just flattened
out and ran more of like a dig route, a six route.
Other than that though, his ball placement was
great. His wide receivers and his pass catchers,
Dawson Knox in the end zone, Brandon Cooks again
on the sideline, just kind of let him down. But
it's interesting in that. I thought this was
a great game plan from Joe Brady. Yes, I'm saying
that. And I thought the play sequencing actually
made a lot of sense against Cleveland to the
fact that they knew where they were going to
be able to exploit this Cleveland Browns defense.
And it just happens to be the ways that Joe Brady
likes to exploit a defense, which is pound the
rock relentlessly with James Cook and then hit
some early down play action to your tight ends,
which has been a nice wrinkle. Where are the
offense to me, JJ? And this is the thing in addition
to the run. defense that may also carry over
into the postseason, depending on our matchups.
When the offense ultimately kind of plateaued
is when James Cook was stifled for a couple of
runs, tight ends were limited by the linebacker
core or the safety core of the Cleveland Browns
and Jit and Josh had to go outside to the wide
receivers. And there was just nothing there time
and time again. I made the prop with you last
week, wide receiver catches over under five and
a half. They had six again. And I think five
of them were Shakir and one of them was Tyrell
Shavers, right? Like at the end of the day, this
team is going to be beat by a squad that can
shut down the run and it's going to be challenged
by a defense that is going to force it to go
to its wide receivers. And the Bills know this.
And we'll talk about this when we get into the
Eagles game, but the Bills understand this and
they have intentionally developed a scheme. I
think to cover up the fact that when it comes
to that, that other level of the pass game, the
wide receivers in the, in the pass game, they
just haven't developed it fully yet. Yeah, absolutely.
I think that it's interesting because this, just
as you said, if this season ends prematurely
for these Buffalo Bills, it ends because they
have met a match of somebody who can control
the run game completely, who can shut down James
Cook, who can completely fill the gaps and stifle
that. that part of their offense and then the
wide receivers let them down as they have all
season long. It's been a almost nonstop, you
know, parade of disappointments, letdowns, cuts,
signings for these bills and their outside receivers.
And nobody looks worse right now than Brandon
Bean after blowing up on the radio show on WGR
about them being, you know, everybody bitching
about us not having whatever when we had the
best offense in franchise history. It just, oh
my, it aged like... Spoiled milk. They clearly
are outmatched every single week I think they
put all of their eggs in the key on Coleman developing
into a wide receiver one basket sure dead and
they're all broken and rotting I Yes, I still
hate him. He sucks. He's he's gone this offseason
if he's not gone. It's a mistake He's he's Kierlem
2 .0. He's terrible I mean, I think you're probably
right and I think there's going to be like a
long discourse Especially if the bills don't
bounce right back and draft another Top end wide
receiver for Josh or go sign one or trade for
one and free agents trade for one in the off
season. I think the key on Coleman discourse
is going to be at a fever pitch this off season,
particularly if they choose to hang onto them,
which. All indications are they have no plan
to do so, but I mean, JJ, this is, you know,
it's interesting. And, and I think we can, I
think we can gloss over the Cleveland post game
because I think the lessons learned here are
again, going to be challenged by the Philadelphia
Eagles as they come into Buffalo this weekend.
The Philadelphia Eagles are, have a great secondary,
some questions with injuries in their safety
room right now, but overall. This is a team with
the likes of Cooper Dejean and Andrew Micuba
who you like some of these outside the numbers
matchups with our wide receiver room. So again,
it's going to be a situation where the Bills
are going to want to run the ball against a Philadelphia
Eagles team that isn't bad at stopping the run.
They're literally middle of the pack in efficiency
at success rate, but they roll out more light
boxes due to the Vic Fangio kind of scheme where
he invites the run. And they're all more like
boxes, even when they play base than any other
team in the league. So the bills and Joe Brady
are going to see that and they're going to want
to pound the rock first. Then with a beat up
linebacker room, the Kobe Dean, I believe has
already been ruled out for this game. And Zach
Bond has also been dealing with a hand injury
though. I think he's going to be a full go. They're
going to lean on our tight ends who right now,
both of our starting tight ends are injured,
but they're going to want to lean into the play
action game. And then after that. they don't
have a whole lot of answers. You know what I
mean? So if the Bills can't hit those two gears
against the Eagles, it could be a harder day
than it should be against what is a elite pass
rush in Philadelphia when it comes to their defense,
but a team that ultimately can be gotten in certain
areas that the Bills should be able to exploit.
I think you're absolutely onto something, and
that is that the Eagles team has looked... like
they can be had in the run, the times that they
were on a three game lose streak and they were
being run all over at that point in time. And
so that has sort of resolved itself. But I think
that, you know, seeing the Kobe Dean is out and
kind of flipping to the offense for the Eagles,
seeing that Leon Johnson is going to miss another
week. They thought they were going to get him
back this week, but it looks like he's out again.
That really helps the Bills. Their right tackle
as a stand in is solid. But like nobody is Lane
Johnson as a right tackle, except for maybe upstart,
you know, plucky upstart Spencer Brown on his
way, right? Like that is the best in the league.
And so, especially when it comes to the Bills
offense, their opportunity is going to be...
running that wide zone because the invitation
to run is outside. And I think that the one area
that the Bills consistently have shown in a world
where they're inconsistent, they've consistently
shown that the thing they're better at is blocking
DBs and linebackers out in space, whether that's
with their linemen, their guards, their tackles,
or their wide receivers or tight ends. You know,
the fact that Jackson Hawes is maybe the most
well -equipped tight end coming into this matchup
means he's probably going to be on the field
a lot, which means they have their best blocking
tight end. and out. We might see a Jackson Hawes
game because the Bills are not going to stop
throwing it to tight ends. And with Nikobi being
out, I think that that's one vulnerability, even
though the safeties have been iffy for the Eagles,
they have some pretty good coverage and Cooper
Dejean's amazing in the slot. I think Reid Blankenship
is going to get some play in this game for them,
right? That's an opportunity for the Bills potentially
to exploit in that safety room. But yeah, I mean,
it's it's I mean, to your point earlier about
the the Eagles and their offensive situation,
I have. All the confidence in the world, the
bills are going to run the piss out of the ball
against the Eagles. The Eagles on the other hand
have really struggled to get the run game going.
Although the cure for any team with an ailing
rush game is to play the Buffalo Bills in any
form that you may choose to. So, but not having
a guy like Lane Johnson is going to mean that
the bill Buffalo Bills will hopefully be able
to get off the field on some third downs or force
the ball into jail and hurts his hand and hands.
And he has had a. Up and down season, I think
it's fair to say. I mean, they've got two absolute
ball winners on the outside with Demonta Smith
and. AJ Brown. AJ Brown. Yeah. So, and AJ Brown,
despite his tooth issue, looks like he's going
to be a full go this week. So it's going to be
about what it always is. And I feel like we're
at the point where it gets kind of boring because
we say the same thing every week, but it's week
16. It's going to be a ball control game. And
if the Buffalo Bills can get multiple bites at
the apple, their offense, like novocaine, no
pun intended AJ, should be able to wear down
the Philadelphia Eagles to the point where they
should be able to squeak out a win here at home.
And that's going to be the recipe that the Bills
are going to to here in the postseason too. JJ,
the Buffalo Bills run the ball more than any
other team in the league. And because you only
get two options on offense, you either rush it
or you pass it. That means as a byproduct with
Josh Allen reigning NBPSQB, this is a team that
is the least prolific at passing the ball. They
choose openly to pass the ball less than any
other team in the league. They rank 32 in pass
attempts and percentage of pass plays called
this year. So we know what they're going to do.
They're going to want to run the ball and they're
going to want to chew up as much clock as they
can. When it comes to average time on the 42nd
play clock used by a team, the Buffalo Bills
are number one at almost 30 seconds. And we've
talked about it on the pod multiple times, Josh
checking things off at the line with Connor,
ultimately them missing it and a free rusher
coming, coming loose on some play action play.
But that's what the bills are going to do. They're
going to want to stick this game in the mud and
they're going to want to try to flip game script
in their favorite own time of possession and
try to cram it down the throats of the Eagles.
I mean, I wish we had something more sophisticated
to say or a fun stat to pull out, but again,
it's the end of the season and the Buffalo Bills
have shown us. how they want to win and they've
shown us how they're going to lose. And I don't
know that the Eagles are necessarily a team that
can exploit the way that the Bills can lose.
Yeah. I think that there's, there's part of it
too, that comes in the way of, you know, Josh
Allen has never beaten the Eagles. They're the
only team in the league he has not. scored a
victory against in his career, he's going to
have some sauce at home for that particular statistic,
even though he will never talk about it in the
media, right? Like that's just giving fodder
to the other team to chew on all week. He'll
never bring it up, but I'm sure it means something
to him. And so you're going to see it, but again,
you know, running bet, Ty Johnson, Ray Davis,
James Cook out of the backfield, Jackson Hawes,
and whichever of, you know, Kinkade or Knox is
healthy, if either, is probably going to get
those targets because Khalil Shakir Probably
a little bit too because they've seen we've seen
this this story before as you've said They throw
the least because they don't trust their outside
receivers They don't have any matchup winners
And the eagles are not a team with their outside
corner strength that you really want to test
too much anyway Yeah, and I think flipping it
to the other side of the ball the eagles while
they have struggled to get the run game going
and we already talked about How much missing
Lane Johnson is going to impact this team? This
is a team to JJ on on offense with the eagles
that I mean They can kind of exploit the bills
in the outside pass game. I actually call me
crazy. I actually kind of like Christian Benford,
should he be fully healthy, ready to go and the
platoon of Max Harrison and Trey White, who ever
since they've taken a snap percentage down to
the platoon with Max, I actually kind of like
our ability not to totally bottle up Smith and
Brown, but to at least be competitive at that
point, which means we're putting our linebackers
in a situation where Maybe we are, we're dealing
with their tight ends, right? And Jalen Hurst
has had some success going to guys like Goddard
and lot two and all that kind of stuff this season.
But I actually kind of like the Bill's ability
to be competitive on the outside with these two
big wide receivers. It's all a matter of to me
can Philly get the run game going because. The
Buffalo Bills run the ball the most in the league
and the Philadelphia Eagles, according to FTN,
they're on the ball at the fourth highest clip
in the league. So these are two teams that like
to pound the rock and dislike passing the ball.
This game's going to start at 1 p .m. and be
over at 2 14 p .m. because that's a great prop
over and under on full game time when this is
going to be over. Yeah, they're going to whatever
affiliate is carrying this game. I think it might
be NBC is going to have to like fill time to
get to the four o 'clock window. because it's
just, yeah, I could see the same. This is going
to be a run heavy affair. It's going to be interesting.
The thing that's going to be most interesting
to me is if one of the team, if the Bills or
the Eagles are able to get a consistent stuff
for like two or three series, which team, you
know, which team is going to lose chicken first
and stop running it and try to start airing it
out? Because I think that's going to be the team
that loses the team that, you know, because I
think both of these Both of these teams strengths
is running the ball and both of them struggle
a little bit to have consistent consistent operation
and offense. Yeah, I totally. Yeah, I totally
agree. And listen, I know the Eagles have run
the ball better the past couple of weeks, but
that was against the Raiders and the commanders
to I think defenses we would say that are are
highly suspect. And again, the bill like but
it's not like the bills are any better. They're
there. They're 30 second overall success rate
and efficiency against the run. But. I think
back to the Pittsburgh game, I think back to
a couple of games in recent memory, the Patriots
game, with the exception of the like watching
a kid soccer game on that Henderson run and everybody
shifted his side of the field as he skirts back
the other way. Other than that and against the
Bengals, they've done pretty well against the
run here on the second half of the season, but
Cleveland ran the ball all up and down them.
That's true, but I do also, it's worth noting
that Shaq Thompson missed a lot of that game
and played a very poor game before he was injured
against Cleveland. And he looks to be good to
go this week. But is he hit kind of like that
vet wall do you think at this point in the season?
Yeah, that's a question, right? All the stuff
he's dragging around for the whole season has
caught up with him a little bit. Right. I mean,
this is the most football he's played in like
two years, isn't it? Yeah. So you got to wonder,
right? It'd be a great time to get... Bernard
fully back up to speed. JJ, I want to talk a
little bit about I want to talk a little bit
more about the defense because I don't want to
write off this, this defending Super Bowl champion
Philadelphia Eagles offense. Do you think this
is a game where we see Maxwell Harrison snap
share sneak closer to 70 or 80 % or straight
white playing so good right now that you want
to continue to see the 60 40 55 45 platoon the
bills have been kind of mixing in there. I think
that all depends on how many catches that Devonta
Smith has in the first quarter, right? If Devonta
Smith is cooking Trey White, I could see Maxwell
Hairston almost taking the job over the rest
of the time, just because it's like, if your
vet who's savvy and knows where he needs to be
on the field and all that is just not being competitive
with somebody who is an elite kind of speed specimen.
You gotta, you gotta pivot. I would actually
think that they're gonna probably ride Trey White
longer. With Maxwell Hairston specifically, because
he missed so much his training camp, he looks
like an old school McDermott rookie play where
he's like protecting him from being overwhelmed.
Yeah. You know, and it seems to have worked.
He has some good snaps. He has some like up and
down games. They're kind of riding the rookie
roller coaster with him. And I would actually
expect that to continue in this one unless Trey
White is late. If Maxwell Hurston plays 80 %
of the snaps, I feel like Devonta Smith also
has a stat line that's like. nine for 110 and
a Tuddy at least. Without a doubt. Yeah. Do you
think the Bills are going to be able to get some
pressure on Jalen Hurts? I mean, it's interesting
when you look at both opposing teams in the trenches,
the Buffalo Bills, I know, listen, pressure is
not sacks. And I know the Bills don't get sacks,
but their pressure right now is number six and
overall, or I'm sorry, number 12 and overall
defensive efficiency. So slightly above average
for the rest of the league. And the Eagles are
11th, right? flip side of that, the Buffalo Bills
allow the least, sixth least amount of pressure
in the league by percentage of snaps per play.
Um, and the Eagles defense, they're a top 10
unit as far as garnering pressure rate. So this
feels in the trenches, despite some of the injuries
that are at play, kind of a strength on strength
matchup. Do you think JJ two -parter? Do you
think the Buffalo Bills will be able to get pressure
on Jaylen Hertz? And will they be able to make
that pressure count? I E and sacks. And then
do you think the Buffalo Bills are going to be
able to adequately project Josh? Should he need
to gimp the injury and all have to drop back
and put the ball on his cannon of a right arm?
I mean, with no injury designation coming out
from the Bills for either Deion Dawkins or Spencer
Brown, I think that the Bills are going to be
much better. Their offensive line is one of the
healthiest units on the team right now. And so
I think they're going to be much better at protecting
Josh Allen in this one. And I think also what
we saw from Josh Allen, Connor McGovern, and
Joe Brady last week against the Browns was that
they learned a very important lesson when they
played the Texans. and Josh Allen got absolutely
smeared across the field. Don't send five guys
out on routes. Yeah, don't send five guys out
on routes against elite pass rushers. Have some
scheme answers to limit the space or extend the
space between Josh Allen and the biggest threats.
And I think that they're going to continue to
expose that kind of learning in this one as well.
So I think that they're going to be far better
at protecting Josh from pressure than they will
be at generating pressure against Jalen Hertz.
With Daquan Jones out and Jordan Phillips, even
though I don't think he's been super good, with
two of your top, you know, five defensive tackles
off the shelf or on the shelf rather, I can't
imagine that they're going to be able to generate
a lot of pressure because whoever's playing in
the middle, Deion Walker hasn't been super good
at pass rushing in a number of weeks. His flash
plays have kind of disappeared. I think he might
have hit the rookie wall a little bit. Rookie
wall. Hardcore. Yep. Yep. You're exhausted. You've
only ever played 10 games in a season and all
of a sudden it's like week 18. And so I think
that there's some, you know, in the world of
trench play, geared or skilled and under athletic
defensive tackles are the easiest people in the
world to block when you've got three people in
the interior to block them. So it's a matter
of like any of these guards is probably going
to be able to comfortably shift out and help
out on the edges with whomever the bills are
sending and the only capable pass rushers I think
the bills have for this one are Joey Bosa and
Greg Rousseau and Greg Rousseau is like an asterisk
because he has to have something else go right
to get there. Well, he needs to be playing against
backups, no shade. He saved the game against
Cleveland, right? He is the reason why we're
still even in the hunt for the division. So like
no shade at Gregor. So two and a half second
against Cleveland was great, but it was against
a backup offensive line in Cleveland. So if you
can get some of those matchups here against Philly,
like there are points where he just chooses to
use his massive frame and overpower guys. I just
don't know why he doesn't. do it more. I mean,
there's some pass rush reps where I knew you're
better at trench play than I am. I don't know
if it's a lack of like a plan in approaching
the pass rush. I don't know if it's a lack of
tools and the toolkit necessarily. But he's not
doubled at a high percentage or at least a percentage
you would think a $20 million a year as Russia
would be. He gets a lot of one -on -ones and
pass rush opportunities and he kind of gets washed.
I mean, is it simply that he needs to be playing
against inferior competition? Is there something
you think he can add or he's going to figure
out? I mean, again, this is a pretty beat up
offensive line for the, the, the Philadelphia
Eagles and they have had issues, not just to
tackle, but also protecting on the interior as
well. Do we see more of a NASCAR package in this
game, particularly with all the DT? injuries
that we have and do we see maybe Rousseau flip
inside for a couple more pass pass rush reps
than usual? I certainly hope so. I think it's
the classic like necessity is the mother of invention
game for that matter because they're not gonna
have enough. They don't have enough bodies to
kind of just stand pat and do the rotation. They're
gonna have to do some different things. Different
people are gonna have to rush from different
positions and that might be the exact answer.
I just don't understand why they haven't used,
I think it's bodies, again, why they haven't
used Greg Russo in the interior more often, because
he looks like an absolute dynamo when he's, you
know, rushing from the inside on long and late
downs. It's mostly because he's the best play
the rush on the way to the pass. player they
have, you know, on the whole field. All right,
JJ, one more question before we get to some prop
bets here. It feels like the Bills are still
figuring out this wide receiver room. In Cleveland,
we saw both Ken Coleman and Gabe Davis's healthy
scratches in favor of McCole Hardman and Brandon
Cooks. JJ, you know, give it to me. What do you
think ultimately the wide receiver room is going
to look like? I think Gabe Davis. has to kind
of see the field in this particular game. Especially
if Dalton Kincaid and or Dawson Knox or apocalyptic
scenario both can't go in this game. Gabe Davis
has played that Dalton Kincaid role before and
we know he's game and the run block and run block
reps. So I think Gabe has to be a must start.
Outside of that, I really don't know what this
room is going to look like. They definitely were
trying to make the Cleveland plays one high middle
of the field closed. You know lean on their corners
cover three type coverage, you know, and and
with that they you know They they are inviting
people to burn them down the field basically
pick the side the safety is gonna start leaking
over towards Throw the other way to the other
guy if he can win his one -on -one They took
some some shots to cook cook on a couple of occasions
and I think Shakir even had a couple too They
let him run some routes past the line of scrimmage.
Yeah, right amazingly. So I actually see You
know, I think Brandon Cooks wasn't on the injury
report, but I feel like he should have been,
because he looked like he was not good when he
got up from that one he dropped. Then again,
I don't know if you noticed this, but having
watched football so much of my whole life, the
classic wide receiver injured on a really bad
drop is like one of those classic moves where
the guy's, oh, my hands are, something's wrong
in my shoulder. That must be why, you know? His
injury status post game was shame. It was just
shame. He was injured by shame. Yeah. So I think
they'll see Brandon Cooks again because he, I
feel like he just has to, he has to finally get
one. Like there've been so many missed connections.
He is winning his routes. He's winning down the
field. He is open. He's open. He's 38 ,000 years
old and he is our best downfield separator. So
JJ, so. Gabe Davis we feel strongly about. Obviously
Shakir is, he's going to be in. Cook's probably
because they're so desperate to get him catching
a ball downfield on film before the postseason.
He might be a fun prop, but for us to do too.
Josh Palmer. Mm -hmm was supposed to be our downfield
threat here our downfield separator separation
God and he has been a non -factor since coming
back from his Injury that he suffered against
Atlanta. I think he's in the room. They're paying
he's gonna be get a jersey on game day Like they're
paying him too much money for him not to but
he's been a non -factor this year Yeah, no as
for the wide receiver room. I think it is Brandon
Cook's Khalil Shakir Gabe Davis, Josh Palmer,
and - Cole Hardman again. Yeah, McColl Hardman
or Keon Coleman. Keon Coleman might be asked,
he might be brought up for this one just for
blocking. He's been a better run blocker than
a lot of the other wide receivers when he wants
to, when he tries. Like that's the biggest, that's
the reason he's been inactive too, is because
when he turns it on and tries, he looks good
as a, you know, contributing in the, in the run
blocking game, but he has a lot of tape of, you
know, kind of soft blocks or taking, taking plays
off. Sean McDermott is so effusive in his praise
of McCole Hardman. He just, and none of it is
showing up on game film at this point. I wonder.
I wonder if they ride McCall Hardman one more
game and then we see Kian Coleman activated again
against the Jets in a game that may not mean
anything, right? So I wonder if that, I wonder
if Kian gets to wear the red, red helmets and
week 18 and sits out this game. It just feels
gross. I know, I know. I'm sorry. I don't even
think the top four really matter. I think the
Buffalo Bills just need to find three or four
guys. They feel comfortable having out in the
field and stop with all these crazy in and out
rotations. Like the fact that Khalil Shakir can't
get three consecutive snaps in this offense is
nuts to me because he is, while flawed, by far
their best wide receiver in the pass catcher
room. Yeah, absolutely. I don't know, man. It
feels like saying he's their by far best pass
catcher in the wide receiver room is like he's
the most buoyant deck chair on the on the top
of the Titanic because it just doesn't It doesn't
move the needle like it's somebody who consistently
miss his long balls and can't seem to catch them
when they hit him right in his hands. Being the
best route winning receiver is it's pretty abysmal.
I'm very worried about these Buffalo Bills in
this you know the end of the season and going
forward especially in the playoffs. Just the
fact that if a team can figure out a way to stop
them on the ground and stop their middle of the
field tight end running back, you know, routes.
It's, it's basically game over. Yeah. Again,
I will say the thing that gives me a little bit
of hope is in that Cleveland Browns game. And
maybe we listen, those are good outside corners
that they roll out there in Cleveland. It's a
well coached secondary. This is going to be a
well coached secondary in Philly. What gives
me hope is that maybe we see some of Brady's
play calling variants that we saw against Cleveland.
Again, the issue was not his sequencing or his
game plan. The issue was execution by the guys
on the field. Listen, the Bills are going to
run the ball 60 % of the time in this game, but
those 40 % Pass passes that pass plays that they
get. I'd like to see a few more than eight targets
to the wide receivers in this game just because
right. You're going to need them. Yeah, they
got it. They got to figure out some way to propagate
the ball down the field with wide receivers.
They just need to know it's just I don't think
Joe Brady should have a job after the season.
Even if James Cook wins the rushing title, because
I feel like more of that. is the line coach.
Yeah, it's Cromer run game coordinator. It's
it's the line coach. Yeah, I just don't I mean,
he's proven time and again that yeah, he doesn't
have the elite talent. He doesn't have a Jamar
chase to work with. But he can't do anything.
There are plenty of teams with B and C graded
wide receivers who find ways to get those guys
1000 yards. Look at New England. I mean, you
don't gotta look in the division, you know what
I mean? But I'm ready to talk about some prediction
sure to go wrong. Are you? Let's do it. All right.
Let's roll this out here. So this line's fluctuated.
Ever so slightly since it opened, it was, um,
bills favored by one and a half at home. The
line shrunk to one earlier in the week and it
was back up to one and a half per draft Kings.
The overrunner on this game is 43 and a half
JJ. The Eagles have clinched the division. They
don't have a ton to play for right now. These
are two teams that have been very, very good
in close games and they tend to play a lot of
close games. The bills are five and two in close
games and the Eagles are a whopping seven and
three and games to. to buy one score, very similar
margins of victory here as well. JJ, what's your
score prediction? I don't think it's going to
be a big one. I think it's going to be, you know,
like a, I like the bills like 24, 21, something
that's going to give everybody, you know, a cardiac
arrest. It's that kind of game. Like I think,
I think probably a kick wins this game in the
last two minutes. Yeah. This feels like a sweaty
one. I'm going to go, um, I'm going to go Bill's
24 and Eagles 17. Okay. I just, I, I, I like,
and I know this is stupid and this is Hopium.
But I like the bills a little bit better than
most people do against this Philadelphia Eagles
run game. And I like their chances should the
Eagles have to air it out on the pass game. Although
one thing I want to see the bills do stop stop
deferring the decision if you win the toss, take
the ball, put seven on the board, you're the
number one team in the league and first drive
efficiency and scoring metrics, put seven on
the board and make the Philadelphia Eagles play
your game script, play to your dictation of how
the game flow should go. But I like the, I like
the bills here and I like the defense to have
a surprising showing. And I am totally going
to be wrong about this. I know. I know. All right.
Prop bets. We can hope we can hope. So I'll start
with a, with one TJ Sanders registers a sack
over under half sack TJ Sanders under he's been
around a lot of stuff. I'd love to see him get
one. They They've kind of just like thrown out
this year from a development standpoint. So if,
if it's not coming from the outside, which I
don't think you and I think it will come from
the outside. I don't know. I don't think he gets
it. Yeah. That's fair. Yep. What about you over?
Yeah, I'm going to go over. I want to see him
get one. I feel like he might be able to build
on that into the playoffs. Yeah. But again, the
Ricky wall, right? That's real. Yeah. I mean,
you know, he hopefully hits his a lot. a lot
later than Deion Walker did because of the injury
that he had earlier in the season. He missed
some time, but I just, I think what is compounding
right now, TJ Sanders overall performance is
the fact he's playing out of position. So, all
right, JJ, I got a wild prop out for you. We,
we talked about how the Buffalo Bills and the
Philadelphia Eagles love to run the ball almost
more than anybody else in the league except the
Baltimore Ravens, right? These are two teams.
One is the reigning MVP. The other is fresh off
a Superbowl. And neither team seems to want their
quarterback to have to pass the ball at all.
For under 39 and a half combined pass attempts
between Josh Allen and Jalen Hertz. So this,
this would mean someone's like, if you're taking
the under, it's like 20 to 19. And pass attempts
in this game. Well, I mean, Josh Allen had 19
pass attempts last week. So that's what I'm saying.
It's not crazy. It's not. I'm going to say over
because I do think that the sweaty nature of
this somebody like there's going to be somebody
with quick passing driving, trying to drive the
ball to score at the end of the game. And that
alone could be like seven or eight attempts.
Right. Like one series near the end of the game
could really push you up into the 20s. So I'm
going to say over over the thirty nine and a
half. I'm going to say it's going to be at least
40. I'm a sicko, man. I'm going under. I'm going
under on this game. I'm going to, I'm even, I'm
even going to give you a number to go off of.
I'm going to say Josh Allen has 20 pass attempts.
I'm going to say Jalen Hertz has 17. Yeah. Okay.
Yeah. Wow. I, both of these, neither of these
teams are good against the run. And I think both
of these offensive coordinators are going to
want to run the hell out of the ball, right?
So yeah, it's going to be over so fast to this
kid going to be a fat, which is great because
this is a four 25 PM kick. Oh, it's four 25.
Yep. It's a four 25 PM kick, I believe. So like
I'll have plenty of time to watch the game and
then get my kids to bed, which will be awesome.
There you go. Yeah, there it is. There it is.
All right, JJ. Well, I'm glad you had a great
holiday. Hopefully all of you listening at home
had a great holiday as well. And for all of you
listening at home, as always, like, share and
subscribe wherever get your pods. We're on YouTube,
Apple and Spotify. And as always, go Bills. Go
Bills.