← Buffalo Plus: A Buffalo Bills podcast
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- [00:01]
A
Because it's been well documented he was a practice squad player, then worked his way onto the NFL roster. And then he's making, as Josh Allen said Sunday after the game, like, legitimate plays in the league. What do you. How do you follow that up?
- [00:14]
B
My favorite thing said about him was when Sean McDermott said, for a guy like him, no job too small, no job too big.
- [00:29]
A
Welcome Back to the Buffalo Plus YouTube channel. Please be sure to, like, comment, subscribe and share. Mike Catalana, I am Jenna Cottrell. We are here in Houston. We're at Discovery Green. It is cloudy, Mike, but it's pretty dang Nice.
- [00:42]
B
Yeah. 84 degrees.
- [00:44]
A
Yeah.
- [00:44]
B
Sorry back in Western New York, if that's where you're watching, but I know you're rooting us on to deal with this hot weather.
- [00:50]
A
All right, so the Bills here in Houston getting ready for that meeting with the Texans coming up tomorrow night. In this one, the five players to watch. We're going to start out with a guy who, who just won an award. Josh Allen, the 17th time in his career, winning the AFC Offensive Player of the Week, six touchdowns over the Bucks. He's. He's unbelievable. But he talked about this week that he didn't play good enough.
- [01:12]
B
Well, if you'd have been asking at the end of the first quarter who's going to be player of the week, I don't think people would have said Josh Allen. No. He played poorly at the beginning and. And then went and did that whole six touchdown thing. Three on the ground, three in the air. But this has not been a great place for him. You know, this week you mentioned when he talked about he didn't play well in the game in the beginning, then he knows he played a lot better later on. He also talked about the game he played here a year ago, and he said, I got beaten up in that game. Like, he took a beating in the game. They did make a comeback. They got it tied. They ended up losing. Um, this has not been a great place for Josh Allen.
- [01:52]
A
Josh Allen, 0 for 3 here in Houston, including that 2019 playoff game. What you think about how dominant Josh Allen has been in his career? This has kind of been the thorn in his side. You mentioned last season, the game at NRG Stadium. It was an ugly one. What do you want to see out of Allen coming off that six touchdown day a couple days ago? What do you want to see from him coming up for Thursday?
- [02:15]
B
He's not having six touchdowns. This is not a run up and down the field. We're going to Talk a little bit about the Houston defense, but I think it is going to be, do not turn the ball over. I know everybody saw Josh play that way against Tampa and that was fantastic. And he has that. When he. I won't say when he wants to, when he needs to, he can pull that off and make those plays. Superman, caped right, puts it on. But this is the kind of game I really do believe that it's more of that play smart, make plays. You, you can't not try to make plays, but you cannot turn the ball over against this Houston team. They get after it. They're number one against points allowed. They get after the quarterback. They are a really, really tough, physical defense. Maintain the ball, move the ball, score points, maybe 21 wins this game. I think it's a lower scoring game. He's gotta be Josh, but be Josh, maybe 20, 24, Josh more than whatever version of that we saw on Sunday.
- [03:16]
A
We saw the Josh Allen ex full experience on Sunday, but I agree, protecting the football, making those smart decisions. We know we've seen Josh Allen be able to play like that, but against a very good Texans defense, you want to see him be in control and we, we want to see that once again. All right, we're talking about the Bills offense. We'll. We'll go to what the tackles need to do in terms of the O line. But Tyrell Shavers coming off a big game, Gabe Davis coming off a game where he's back in the Bills lineup. What do you want to see from the Bills pass and specifically those two guys? I want to start with Shavers, though, because the, the praise for him has been, what is it? Effusive this week? Yes, because it's been well documented he was a practice squad player, then worked his way onto the NFL roster and then he's making, as Josh Allen said Sunday after the game, like legitimate plays in the league. What do you, how do you follow that up?
- [04:09]
B
My favorite thing said about him was when Sean McDermott said, for a guy like him, no job too small, no job too big, and no job. Oh, I get to keep talking. How about that? No job too small for Tyrell Shavers means he plays on special teams. Like you said, he catches a touchdown pass and then he's running under the kickoffs. Right? That's what he does. No job too big. How about go down the field, catch the ball, touchdown. Big, big play in the game. Josh trusted him. I think Josh won't rank his favorite guys on the team. I think Shavers is top five I think he just loves his story, loves his work ethic, loves that he has elevated himself to a guy who's getting regular snaps in the offense.
- [04:58]
A
And you can love someone's story, but that doesn't mean you trust them. But I think you see that trust because it has been built over seasons together. Josh said this week, even at practice, like, if I want to stay late and do routes, he's there. If I want to come in early, like, he is always around, and that's really important. But I agree, how you follow that up is you be the same person that you have been all along. Now, there's a little bit of pressure, though, that comes with that because you're not just, oh, who's that guy? Number 14, Tyrell Shavertz. It's like, oh, he.
- [05:26]
B
He had a big game and people are picking them up on their fantasy teams. Right at this time of the year. You're like, who's this dude?
- [05:32]
A
He's healthy. Okay.
- [05:33]
B
Yes. And Gabe Davis to go along with him. I mean, we believe Gabe's going to get the regular snaps. I wouldn't see any reason why he would not again be that guy. You talked about trust. Obviously, it's a guy Josh trusts very much.
- [05:45]
A
Yeah, I just want to see what that looks like. You know, I think for his debut back with the Bills, it was a nice game. How do you. How do you move beyond that and be another reliable piece for Josh Allen in this passing offense? All right, talking more about the offense we mentioned, Texans defense is very good. Specifically. It's going to be Deon Dawkins, Spencer Brown, the two tackles. And they're going to get a lot of work in tomorrow night.
- [06:10]
B
Will Anderson, Daniel Hunter, these guys hunt quarterbacks. They are physical. That's the way they play. Like I said, number one against, points, against. In the league. Give up. I think they're fourth against the run. They have Stingley in the secondary. Like, this is legit. Legit. I would say, certainly ranking wise, the best defense in the league. They show up every week. That's why I said it's going to be that type of game. This is where when Josh says, I got beat up in that game in Houston last year. Can't have Josh beaten up in this game. Deion takes it personally. Spencer Brown does. The whole offensive line does protect the man. Open up some holes for the run game. This is why I say, I know people were like, this is the way we got to play every week. That's not what this game is going to be like. But you can still win this game by being tough and being smart.
- [06:57]
A
That nasty attitude, I want to see that and what the Bills offense can bring off of that. All right, let's go to the defense. Terrell Bernard, a guy who's had been kind of a lightning rod for criticism this season. He is from Houston. He went to Baylor. Now being back here in Houston once again, I think he had one of his best games by far of the season on Sunday against the Bucs. How important is this game for him?
- [07:20]
B
It is. It's a tough game for him. The reason I say that is he is dealing with an ankle. Bobby Babbage talked about it. I know, I know. It's funny, an ankle injury.
- [07:32]
A
He's got two ankles.
- [07:33]
B
Yes, it is work for him to get himself healthy to play. And I know nobody wants to hear it, but sometimes I feel like this is the difference, that I think we have a value to fans. When we say we're in the locker room, we're at practice, we see the players, you talk to them. I'm not saying you don't know what's going on, but when you get to talk to a player who's, you know, he's hurting physically and he is doing everything he can to stay on the field, you know, it would be easy to not play, but he doesn't do that. He's a captain. He's out there playing. And I know and he knows he wants to play better. But some of the slander against him, you got to understand, he's. They dressed him the one game and didn't put him on the field. Yeah, he's been hurt, feeling better. But this is a short week. It is going to be tough. I'd like to see a little more Shaq Thompson out there with him.
- [08:22]
A
I agree.
- [08:22]
B
Yeah, we will see how that plays out. I think Matt Milano has not had a great year, so let's see how it plays out. But I'm not saying it's. Reason's not excuse. It is a reason why he is not playing to the level I'm talking about, you know, Bernard. Yeah, but man, that guy wants to be out there.
- [08:41]
A
And I think there's. You could have nuance to this take and say you want Terrell Bernard to play better and you think he's capable of that. And also you're okay with seeing Shaq Thompson also out there. It doesn't have to be like, well, if that means it's Terrell Bernard, it's just him, or if that's Shaq Thompson, Like, I think there's the understanding of Terrell Bernard is very injured, but you can like what you see out of both players. That doesn't. That doesn't mean it has to be one or the other.
- [09:06]
B
Absolutely. And you know what? We're here in Houston. You know who would love to be on the field would be Ed Oliver. Right. This is home. And we saw him at practice. I mean, he's got. He's smiling.
- [09:17]
A
Bionic man.
- [09:18]
B
Yeah, the bicep. And he'll be back. But that is very impactful to Terrell Bernard. What's done in front of him. That's impactful to all of them. And it's been a little. It's been a little bit better when the secondary is better. And I think that is coming between Cole Bishop and Max helping to this secondary. Not again. I'm not making excuses, but I'm saying is there are sometimes reasons behind it. He knows he needs to play better, but it would be nice to get help up front. Deion Walker, you know, all those guys, whether it's Daquan Jones, whoever's up front, they need to be doing more to help out the linebackers.
- [09:54]
A
Christian Benford, kind of a quiet season so far. I think he's one of the players to watch in this game. And I think he's a little bit under the radar for people because he's not one of these people that jump out. But assuming Nico Collins is out there in terms of Benford's watching him, that's a big spot for him.
- [10:10]
B
Yeah, I thought he played much better last week. I mean, the Bills pass defense was good and it sets up Dan's line. So I'm not going to say it, but the Bills pass defense was good. Other than that? No, the run defense was terrible. Fortunate thing is, I don't think the Texans are a very good running team. They haven't been. Nico Collins can play Davis. Mills gets him the ball like I think Mills. I don't think it's a step down from CJ Stroud right now. So I think they're going to try to. They'll run. Try to run the ball in the Bills, but they will try to get it to him. So let's see. But I thought Benford looked better this past week against a Tampa team that puts up some points usually. So I think that was encouraging. But Nico Collins is. We saw what happened. Cole Bishop saw what happened, and he's out there as a young player and, you know, they go over top of him and get the touchdown. So Obviously, it's important to him, too, but I think that that corner play really is impactful.
- [11:06]
A
Davis Mills got a little bit of confidence, though. Let's be real. 2 and O is a starter. This is his third straight game. We'll see what that looks like. I do expect for the Bills run defense to hopefully have this as honorable mention. Just in general, I would like to see that look a little bit better. I think for the Bills, they're looking at it as, all right, we lost that battle on Sunday, but we won the war, and that's what matters. But I think that that has been obviously a point of weakness for this Bills team throughout this entire season. So I'm hoping that will be a little bit more cleaned up. But also, it's a short week, and we know that that means. And I know sometimes it's like, oh, it's a short week, but it's like, that is massively impactful for an NFL team.
- [11:43]
B
No doubt. I mean, you know, Jordan Poyer, what 17 tackles he was in on, including special teams. And look, these old guys, you know, sometimes it's tough to. You know, here I am doing a second game in five days. Anybody giving me anything?
- [11:58]
A
Grief, I'm giving you grief.
- [12:01]
B
That's it. It is tough for the players. I mean, physical, but genuinely. Yeah, but I know the Bills had to travel down here, but it's equally tough. They both played Sunday. They're both playing today or tomorrow or whenever you're watching this, I say by the day, Thursday night. So it's tough on everybody. But the fresher team is what Sean said. It's what the players said. It's what Connor McGovern said. The fresher team will be better. They have to work towards being relaxed. Not relaxed, rested to be ready to go Thursday night.
- [12:31]
A
Do you have any Nostra Catalana predictions in this game?
- [12:36]
B
You know, last week I said Greg Rousseau with the strip sack, and it did not happen.
- [12:43]
A
It did not.
- [12:45]
B
I am gonna go. Greg Russo, fumble recovery off a Joey Bosa strip sack. Oh, Mills catches him, balls out. Greg Russo recovers. How's that?
- [13:03]
A
We'll see. I'm trying to think if I have any predictions, it'd be something for Terrell Bernard to get an interception.
- [13:12]
B
Why don't you just pick another Cole Bishop interception?
- [13:14]
A
I. I mean, that seems like too easy, but we'll go with that. Cole Bishop, another game, another interception. All right, that'll do it for us. We'll have plenty of post game coverage here on the Buffalo Plus YouTube channel. Please be sure once again to like comment and subscribe before you go. For my Catalana, I am Jenna Kasha will have plenty, like I said, postgame coverage from here and Houston. Thank you for watching. We will see you tomorrow night on Thursday after the Bills Texans. Thank you all. I'm going to say it again. Thanks for watching. Love you guys. Bye.