← Buffalo Plus: A Buffalo Bills podcast
Buffalo Plus: A Buffalo Bills podcast
Buffalo Bills and Miami Dolphins week is here
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Bills and Dolphins week is here
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In the time it takes you to actually board a flight from Group 8.
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Now boarding Premier Altitude Elite Club members.
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You could have bought a Hyundai on Amazon. Visit HyundaiUSA.com or call 562-314-4603 for more details. Limited availability pick up through participating Hyundai dealer and select markets.
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Now let's go back. Now, look, I'm not Dan Fates, but I'm going to play him on the podcast for a minute because I'm going to be. How do I do this, Dan? How do I do this? How do I pat myself on the back? Buffalo plus, your interactive look at the week in football, brought to you by Connors and Ferris. Hey everybody, welcome Back to the Buffalo Plus YouTube channel. I'm Mike Catalana, YouTube channel of Buffalo plus, presented by Connors and Ferris. Please make sure to like, comment and subscribe. All right, I'm Mike Catalano with you, Dan Fates and Jenna Cottrell. Going to be busy this week, our entire team, because you know what week it is. It is Bills and Dolphins. So please make sure to like, comment and subscribe and get yourself ready for a massive week of Buffalo Bills football. It's the Bills and the Dolphins. It's what we've been talking about really for a lot of the season, knowing this game was looming, it was sitting out there. It's an opportunity for the Buffalo Bills. They have earned the right to play for the AFC east and it should be some show down there in Miami coming up. So I'll give you a little preview of what we got going on. Dan and Jen are going to be at practice Wednesday. Have a practice report here on the YouTube channel Thursday. We've got our podcast to preview the game. We are heading down to Miami on Saturday. We will be there. We will have a report from Miami for you on this channel on Saturday. Sunday morning if you're in Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse or Albany is Sunday morning at 10:30. On the local affiliates, you can see our Buffalo plus live show. We will be posting another video pregame on Sunday. We'll be at the game and you know we always have the post game podcast. All of us, all of us heading to Miami. It's a big game. We all got to be there. Jenna, Dan and myself down in Miami for what amounts to a playoff game right as it maps out. So let's look at what the Bills are facing. They're Baltimore Raven fans this week. Look, you can say what you want, that the Bills can earn their way in with a victory. We all know that you beat the Dolphins. You're the 2 seed, you win the AFC east, you put yourself in a great spot. Great spot to make a playoff run. But there's always a chance that doesn't happen. If it doesn't, you need a little help to get in that. Help meaning if they lose to the Dolphins, that help comes from either the Baltimore Ravens or the Tennessee Titans. And look, Pittsburgh's played well, right? It's the Mason Rudolph train they got going. Now, Mike Tomlin, we know how to. He knows how to coach. He's always having winning teams. He always gets his team over.500. He's getting them to make a run here in the playoffs, to the playoffs. And they're going in against a Baltimore team that has been spectacular. You saw what they did to the Dolphins last week. I will say this. Ravens hate the Dolphins or the Steelers. They hate them, right? They're rivals. The Steelers hate the Ravens, Ravens hate the Steelers. You know, the way Harbaugh is too. Now, he may be resting players, he may not put Lamar out or maybe just a limited amount of time because they're going to have another week off with the buy. You never know who's going to sit. I'm sure guys that are injured or close to injured, you know, dealing with something may not play. That's a talented Ravens roster. And John Harbaugh is not going to be sitting there wanting to watch Mike Tomlin and the Steelers celebrate a playoff spot in their building. I think that's a tough spot for the Steelers. Look, if they go in there and win, even if it is not against the Ravens at full steam, that's impressive. You know, good for Pittsburgh. I think that's going to be a tough spot. It's 430 on Saturday. I just. You just know the way that Ravens organization operates, they'll consider that. Let's take care of Pittsburgh. We already beaten them. They're already going to knock them out. So we don't know what would happen. But hey, for all I know, they decide it's not worth any of the risk and the Steelers knock them off. Okay, so then you got to look to Sunday at 1 o' clock and now you've got the Jags and the Titans. Now it's hard to equate anything to Ravens against Steelers. I mean, that's like Eagles, Cowboys, used to be Chiefs, Raiders, not anymore. You know, it used to be things like Packers, I guess, Packers, Bears. It's not. It's hard to find those. The real hate, you know, the Bills have rivals, but I'm talking about, you know the way it was with the Steelers. But I will tell you this, that the Titans don't like the Jags, Jags don't like the Titans. It's division game. They're not playing for anything everybody says, except knocking the Jags out. And you know, the way Vrabel is, he's a lot like Harbaugh. They got that same mentality. So I'd expect the Titans to play really well. The plus for the Bills is both of those teams, both of them are on the road. Steelers on the road, Titans home against the Jags. So, you know the home teams, fans are showing up, they want to play well, especially for the Titans. It's the end of their season. So there's two shots and if it doesn't happen, oh, why not have it all come out for the Sunday night game against the Dolphins? Now let's go back. Now, look, I'm not Dan Fates, but I'm going to play him on the podcast for a minute because I'm going to be. How do I do this, Dan? How do I do this? How do I pat myself on the back? You know what happened when the Bills went to Philly and the Eagles beat them? I don't know what they did to the Eagles in that game because the Eagles are horrendous. In fact, since that point, they've been terrible. I would say this. I'm going to talk to some people in Philly. If somehow the Bills don't make the playoffs, I think the Eagles should decline their spot and give it to the Bills. I mean, the Bills can go play in the NFC and make the super bowl because the Eagles have been terrible. But from that game where the Bills let them come back and win, my take on that game was, Joe, Josh Allen was back. And if Josh is back, the Bills can be back. And then you saw what happened. So before they went to Kansas City, before all the Von Miller mess, before the Sean McDermott mess that went on, I told you what I thought. I thought they were going to go to Kansas City and win, that Dallas was going to beat Philly and then Dallas was going to come to Buffalo and the Bills were going to win. I said, if that happens, the Bills are going to win out. Now, I will say this. I thought they would win out, have the shot to make the playoffs. It was when the Dolphins lost that game to the Titans that I thought, oh, boy, it's only going to take one more and the Dolphins are going to give them one of those games and the Bills are going to Play for the division title. So it's worked out to this point, and I'm telling you now, I'm not giving it away, but I've loved the Bills in this spot from the beginning. Loved them. They get there, and it means something to them and it means something to the Dolphins. Love the Bills in that spot because I don't know how the Dolphins will respond to the pressure. But that being said, I think it's going to be a great atmosphere. You knew it was going to be the Sunday night game, right? I mean, it's. I heard somebody on the radio talking and they were like, well, what if both teams are in the playoffs? And would they. I mean, come on, can we wake up? Are you kidding me? You're talking about the two seed. You're talking about the difference between the two seed and the six or the seven, or in the Bill's case, not making it. But let's say they're both in the playoffs going to the game. You don't think the Dolphins want to say, hey, we want to be home for two playoff games if you win them both, and who knows what happens to the Ravens and you may be home for another one or you want to be on the road. You say it like it's easy to win three straight road games to get to the super bowl with a team like Baltimore maybe waiting for you. Nonsense. They will play this game like it means everything, because it does mean everything. You're not talking about four or five here. You're talking about two or three. Like I said, in the Bills case six or seven, where I believe Miami would fall to five, right? They would fall to five, I think, in terms of the. If they were to lose the game. So for the Bills, it's going to be massive one way or the other. Now, look, you'll feel a lot better if they've already clinched the playoff spot before they go on the field, because you never know what happens. And then you're like, they're still in it. But in this case, like, stop that nonsense. Like, you would rest players. The only really interesting scenario in this case, both are in the playoffs, is that if you're the Dolphins and you're sitting there, you know, you beat the Bills and the Bills end up as the 7 seed. And correct me if I'm wrong, I think that is if the Steelers win, somebody's going to correct me. Correct me in here. I think the Steelers win, but the Jags lose. Then I think the Bills losing would drop to seven. That means they go right back there to play against the Dolphins the next week. That's an interesting scenario where you know you're going to try to win, but you may hold some stuff back. Very interesting that way. Doesn't work the other way. I don't the the Dolphins aren't falling to seven if the Bills win the game. But that's an interesting part. But come on, man, you got to win the division. You never know what happens. You could end up with three home playoff games going to the Super Bowl. So nonsense of people who should know better saying stuff like that. They're going to play to win. And I'm going to warn you about something. I think the Bills are a better team than the Dolphins. I think Josh Allen, we've seen it before when he needs a lift, play the Dolphins, you know, Pennsylvania AFC player of the week. Like it's what he's done. What's he beaten them nine of the last 10. Lost that first Charles Clay game in 18, then lost in the you game down in Miami. He threw for 400 yards, but everybody was falling apart because of the heat. He's beating them every other time. He owns them. He just does. It's going to be interesting to see how the Dolphins play, see what they're made of a little bit. They just gave up 56, 56 to the Ravens, like. And the Ravens were coming off a huge win and they just beat them down in that game. And they're banged up right. You know, they've got guys hurt. They lost Bradley Chubb. That's a tough one. You know, I see everybody's killing McDaniel and I think he probably regrets it, having him out on the field late because it was so late in a blowout game. And it's tough. Guys can get hurt at any point. But let's be honest, when they get hurt with three minutes to go in a game, you're down by 100. Doesn't look great. Really hurts them. It hurts them even into next year with it looks the torn acl, but you know, Waddles banged up whether he doesn't play, you know, and they got a lot of issues. That team still got a lot of talent. And last time I looked, Tyreek Hill still running around out there and Tua can be Tua, and they've still got really talented players and a really good coach. So don't think the Bills are just walking down there winning this game. And I don't know if many of you think that you're going to be nervous for the game because it's you know, it's for the division title. But I'm going to tell you that this will show a lot about them. And I thought as a franchise, they showed a lot last year. This is without Tua in that game. When they came up after he had gotten hurt, they came up there and played with Skyler Thompson and really pushed the Bills in that game in the playoffs. So, you know, that showed me about what McDaniel gets out of them when they're going up into the cold and playing and playing hard and, you know, that's what you want to see in a team. And I think they took some of that, that I think they earned at the end of the year. Like, they played tough and they had. They've had a very good year, a frustrating year because when they've lost, you know, and I got pounded, you know, by the. By the. Who was it? The Eagles? The Cowboys. Right. You know, when they. Oh, no, they beat the Cowboys. I'm sorry, what am I saying? When they played the good teams, you know, they got blown out by the. Well, obviously by the Bills, and then they got blown out in the game against the Ravens. So, you know, when it's been tough, it's. They've looked bad, but they can win games. I mean, come on, it's still the Miami Dolphins and there's still a lot of talent. So I think it's going to be interesting to see how they respond. Being in the playoffs is, you know, one thing. They're going to be in it and they're going to be a tough out. I still think home or away, but you know, them. I mean, they're going to want to be in Miami feeling comfortable playing on that track and seeing what they can do to somebody. So when they can get. If they can get a little healthier, too. So I think it's going to be a great game to see. We're going to talk a lot this week about what the Bills bring to that game. At the moment. They're a really good defensive team that can run the ball. And oh, by the way, they have Josh Allen now. I think that's still a temporary thing. I heard somebody talking about three games in a row, let's take the Cowboys game out of the mix there on how that passing game has been. They didn't pass against Cowboys because they didn't need to. They just destroyed them on the ground. It's pounded them the last two weeks. You know, the Chargers game, not great. And Josh did not throw the ball well in the game. On Sunday against the Patriots. And he told us, he said, you know, the ball wasn't coming out of his hands. Right. Missed some open ones and everybody's talking about getting digs going. And I agree. And let me tell you, he's wide open on that deep ball. Josh puts it in his hands, It's a whatever 50 plus yard touchdown. And everybody's feeling better about Diggs. Diggs sure looked fine on that route. Josh overthrow him? He told everybody. So the result wasn't there. The play call was good. Everybody's execution was good. Josh just threw the ball too far. So he's got to play better. Allen does. Miami brings that out of him. I think they'll be ready. But what, what I'm most. I'm not say secure about, but feel most confident about his way this defense is going to play. I mean, they are playing really well. And you know, interesting last week, R.A. miller doesn't play. I don't think they're planning on playing him this week. I don't see any reason to. But they got pressure. Ed Oliver is playing off the charts. Man, I can't wait till Terrell Bernard plays with Matt Milano for the full year next year, get him back healthy because that's going to be the best linebacker duo in the league because Bernard's a heck of a player. And you saw Benford make a play last week. Hyde made a few plays, getting himself back again. Yeah. Taron Johnson, like, these guys are playing well. So I like the way their defense will get ready and I think they'll play well against the Dolphins. So I can't wait for it. Like I said, we're going down there. I love going down there for games. I've seen the Bills win a lot of football games down there. I was thinking of a playoff game, an AFC championship game that I covered in Miami. And it's, you know, it's funny how there's certain games that are kind of forgotten in Bill's history because that was the year of the comeback game against Houston. So I'm at that game halftime. I call my wife. I'm like, no, I think we're done here. We had been. I'd been to the super bowl two straight years and I'm like, okay, they're getting crushed by Houston. Not looking good. So looks like I'm going to be home in January. And then, you know, the historic second half. And then we go to Pittsburgh the next week. Frank Reich came there, played well. They beat the Steelers in Pittsburgh. And you're like, all right, now they got to go to Miami to play Dan Marino and they hammered him. Kelly came back that game off his injury. He was sharp. There was actually a lot of people who thought Reich should keep playing. They put Jim in because he's Jim and he was great. Now, unfortunately, they went to Pasadena, the Rose Bowl, super bowl, and turned the ball over 45 times and lost 100 to six. But that Miami game was cool because I think Miami felt that time like we've got them at home, we've got them now. They didn't have them. Bills took care of them. So there's a long time ago, a different world. As for me to remember, you guys can look it up on YouTube, but I just remember. I've remembered a lot of games where the Bills went down in Miami and went also remember a playoff game going down there where it was Jimmy Johnson against Doug Flutie and the Dolphins beat him right at the end and Jimmy ran in the locker room, the story is, and ripped open a box of Flutie flakes and they beat the Bills in the playoffs. Knocked about. So I remember that game too as Eric Moles. That was a pretty good Bills team. Flutie and company. They came back the next year and they ended up losing in Music City Miracle. And then they took a couple of decades off from the playoffs. But that's not this Bill's team. They're out there looking for their fourth straight division title, looking to get back into the playoffs. And I'm feeling pretty good about the way they're playing. Offense needs to be better, no question about it. But that defense can keep them going as long as special teams don't do anything stupid again this week like the opening kickoff. Not a fan of the special teams telling you too many big plays, punt fumble the week before and then opening kickoff. Gotta cut that crap out because that's gonna hurt you. So anyhow, I hadn't gotten a chance to talk, so I just popped in the studio here, pontificated for a little bit and now I'm getting set up for a big week again. Here's what we got for you. Wednesday practice report with Dan and Jenna. They're gonna be up there. Thursday podcast on everywhere. You get your podcast audio wise and certainly here on the YouTube channel. And then we'll be heading to Miami for the weekend reports Friday or for Saturday in Miami, Sunday pre game in Miami and certainly after the game, after the Bills Dolphins game on Sunday night on NBC. So that's going to do it for me, for our entire team. Jenna Cottrell and Dan Fates. I'm Mike Catalana. Please make sure to, like, comment and subscribe and we'll see you next time on Buffalo plus.