The Bills have not ruled anyone out for Sunday’s game against the Patriots, but they do have several players who will be listed as questionable.
Head coach Sean McDermott announced on Friday that safety Damar Hamlin (rib), cornerback Rasul Douglas (knee), linebacker Matt Milano (groin), safety Taylor Rapp (neck), receiver Curtis Samuel (rib), linebacker Dorian Williams (elbow), and linebacker Baylon Spector (calf) are all set to receiver a questionable designation.
All seven players will be limited in Friday’s practice.
While most of the players were initially listed on the injury report, Spector was added after suffering his calf injury at the end of Thursday’s practice.
The Bills will release their full injury report later on Friday.
Last night’s win over the Broncos dramatically increases the Chargers’ chances of making it to the playoffs. It also gives them an important advantage when it comes to sorting out the AFC playoff tree.
By sweeping the Broncos, the Chargers are in position to avoid the No. 7 seed — and a likely trip to Buffalo in the wild-card round.
L.A. still needs to remain at least tied with Denver; they’re both 9-6 with two games to play. And there’s a chance that neither the Broncos nor the Chargers would end up at No. 7, if the second-place team in the AFC North slips behind both of them.
Still, last night’s win, and the critical two-game swing it entailed, might insulate the Chargers from having to play in a Western New York deep freeze or a snowstorm, or both.
The Bills aren’t locked at No. 2. It could still be the Chiefs (who hosted a North Pole simulation game last January) or the Steelers or even the Ravens, who are three games behind the Bills and who hold the head-to-head tiebreaker, thanks to a 35-10 win over the Bills in Week 4.
Regardless of how it plays out, none of the seven seeds in the AFC are determined — even if at least six of the playoff teams are essentially locked in: Chiefs, Bills, Steelers, Ravens, Texans, Chargers. The Broncos hold the inside track to the seventh seat at the table.
And all teams that will make it to the AFC postseason surely hope (even if they’d never say it) that the Broncos hold on and hold the Bengals out. Quarterback Joe Burrow is playing at an MVP level that has gone largely unnoticed because the team has struggled. In the postseason, he transforms into a higher level of badass. (He’d also relish the chance to go back to Buffalo as the seventh seed. Two years ago, Cincinnati won in the snow against the Bills, ending Buffalo’s season and likely creating the wedge that resulted in the eventual exit of Stefon Diggs.)
How and where the seven qualifying teams will do battle in three rounds of the playoffs is still to be determined. Which, given that there’s not much AFC drama as it relates to getting in, gives the last three weekends of the season a little extra kick.
The article in TheAthletic.com that complicates the Jets’ effort to hire a high-end G.M. and coach contains plenty of interesting nuggets.
We posted one earlier — the influence of Madden ratings on personnel decisions.
The item also alleges that owner Woody Johnson, his wife, and his sons have criticized players inside the locker room.
Per the report, quarterback Mike White entered the locker room after a late-season loss to the Seahawks. He threw his helmet onto the floor before heading to the shower.
Jets players reportedly heard Woody say this: “You should throwing your helmet, you fucking suck.”
The Jets, through a spokesperson, confirmed that it happened — and that Johnson apologized to White.
It’s stunning that it happened. It’s stunning that the Jets admit it happened.
It won’t be stunning if this report dramatically impacts the ability of the Jets to hire the coach they want, to hire the G.M. they prefer, and to attract free agents without having to overpay.
The Week 15 schedule had a cluster of significant games at 4:25 p.m. ET. At the heart of the window was a showdown between CBS and Fox.
In one corner, CBS had Bills-Lions. In the other, Fox had Steelers-Eagles.
And the end result was a TKO.
Via SportsMediaWatch.com, 23.3 million watched Bills-Lions and 16.4 million took in Steelers-Eagles. It works out to a combined national audience of 39.6 million for the window.
The two networks compete in the biggest window of the day only twice per year. Before the season expanded from 16 games, it happened in Week 17. After the 17th game was added, a second joint doubleheader weekend arrived.
Initially, it happened in Week 1. It now occurs later in the season.
One of those games could have dominated the 1:00 p.m. ET window, or it could have been moved to prime time. In the end, it made for a strange weekend, with a weak early Sunday window and a pair of Monday night games featuring a playoff contender facing a team that already had been eliminated from postseason contention.
Bills quarterback Josh Allen had X-rays of his throwing shoulder after a “funky fall” in the 48-42 victory over the Lions on Sunday. Both he and coach Sean McDermott said afterward that everything checked out.
The team’s first practice report of the week confirms that.
Allen is not on the report.
He injured his right shoulder during the 2023 season but didn’t miss any playing time. The MVP favorite was on the injury report for 10 weeks this season after banging his left hand on the turf in Week 1, and the Bills also listed him with an ankle injury one of those weeks. But he has not missed practice time for injury this season.
The Bills had every player participate in Wednesday’s walk-through.
Cornerback Rasul Douglas (knee), safety Damar Hamlin (rib), linebacker Matt Milano (biceps/groin), safety Taylor Rapp (neck), wide receiver Curtis Samuel (rib) and linebacker Dorian Williams (elbow) were limited.
Wide receiver Amari Cooper (wrist) was among the full participants.
Bills quarterback Josh Allen is getting recognized for his tremendous performance on Sunday against the Lions.
Allen has been named the AFC Offensive Player of the Week after he had for 362 passing yards and two touchdowns, plus 68 rushing yards and two touchdowns.
This is Allen’s third Offensive Player of the Week award this season, and the 14th of his career.
Coming up for Allen is a much bigger award: His first career MVP, which he has just about locked up.
It wasn’t the happiest of endings for wide receiver Stefon Diggs in Buffalo, but there aren’t any hard feelings when it comes to his former teammate Josh Allen’s bid for the MVP award.
Diggs was traded to the Texans in the offseason and his season came to an end when he tore his ACL eight games into the year, so he’s had a chance to keep tabs on what Allen has been doing on the field in recent weeks. Allen’s work has made him a heavy betting favorite for MVP and Diggs offered his endorsement of Allen during an appearance on NFL Network.
“Obviously, it’s no secret that Josh Allen is amazing,” Diggs said. “As far as seeing him game in and game out. He’s making those plays. It’s not new to me at all, It’s not new to nobody in the league. I feel like it’s just his respect kind of coming full circle, finally getting that credit that he deserves. He’s playing at a very high level. I feel like he deserves it.”
Diggs’s endorsement might not sway any voters, but Allen’s done a fine job of that on his own.
The Bills have an opportunity to do something on Sunday against the Patriots that no NFL team has done, ever.
If the Bills score at least 30 points, it will be their ninth consecutive game doing so, and they will be the first team in NFL history to score 30 points in nine straight games in one season.
Four previous teams have had streaks of nine or more games with 30 or more points, but those teams all needed to do it over two seasons: The Rams scored 30 points in 14 straight games in 1999-2000, the Patriots scored 30 points in 13 straight games in 2010-2011, the Broncos scored 30 points in 11 straight games in 2012-2013, and the Patriots scored 30 points in nine consecutive games in 2006-2007.
With Josh Allen having an MVP season, the Bills’ offense is something special, and it may be something Super.
The Bills activated offensive lineman Tylan Grable from injured reserve Tuesday, the team announced.
Grable, 25, had an abdominal injury in Buffalo’s 47-10 victory over the Jaguars on Sept 23. He appeared in the team’s first three games after the Bills selected him in the sixth round of the 2024 draft.
Grable had his 21-day practice window opened on Nov. 27 and was a full participant in practice last week.
The Bills waived defensive end Casey Toohill, who played 202 defensive snaps and 114 on special teams in 13 games. He has 14 tackles, one sack, one quarterback hit and one pass defensed.
The Bills also announced they signed wide receiver Jalen Virgil and offensive lineman Will Clapp to the practice squad. They waived defensive end Kameron Cline and defensive tackle Branson Deen from the practice squad.
The number of available spots in the NFL’s postseason tournament are disappearing quickly and we could be down to two by the time Week 16 is over.
The NFL released this week’s playoff scenarios on Tuesday and five teams are in position to sew up their spots this weekend. The Packers will be the third NFC North team to assure themselves a berth by beating the Saints on Monday night. If the Falcons lose to the Giants on Sunday, the Packers can also get in with losses by either the Rams or Seahawks.
Washington is the other NFC team that can clinch this weekend. They need to beat the Eagles and get one of the same combinations that would help out the Packers.
If the Commanders lose to the Eagles, the Eagles will be the NFC East champs.
As noted earlier on Tuesday, the entire AFC field could be set by the end of this week’s games. The Ravens and Broncos are in with wins and the Broncos can also clinch if they lose to the Chargers. They would need the Dolphins, Colts, and Bengals to lose or tie and that scenario would also assure the Chargers a spot in the tournament.
The Chiefs will wrap up the top seed in the conference if they beat the Texans on Saturday and the Bills lose to or tie with the Patriots on Sunday.
The Steelers will clinch the AFC North by beating the Ravens in Saturday’s other game. Should that happen, Baltimore would still nab a playoff berth if the Dolphins and Colts lose on Sunday.
