← Buffalo Plus: A Buffalo Bills podcast
Buffalo Plus: A Buffalo Bills podcast
Josh Allen takes a BEATING in Houston, Bills FAIL TO SHOW UP & where they are now
00:24:33
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- [00:02]
A
That was ugly.
- [00:03]
B
Yeah. Josh Allen got caught on camera during the game saying, what are we doing? I have no idea what they were doing. This is the Buffalo Plus Podcast.
- [00:22]
A
Welcome back to the Buffalo plus podcast. Mike Catalana. I am Jenna Cottrell. Please be sure to, like, comment, comment, subscribe and share. I'm sure there will be a lot of comments. The Bills losing this game in Houston, 23 19. Bills with a final under a minute left drive to score ends in an interception. Josh Allen beaten up in this game. The offensive line did not look good. We'll talk about the defense as well, all of the injuries. The bills are 7 and 4 after this trip to Texas. Where do you want to start?
- [00:53]
B
Well, first of all, this team prides itself on being the more physical team. That went out the window in this one, especially on the offensive side of the ball. Jenna, this O line has been very good for the most part for Josh Allen this year. Not as good. He's taken some hits. But when your superstar quarterback gets hit 12 times 12 and you're down on the field. He got hammered during this game and sacked eight times in the game.
- [01:20]
A
The shit kicked out of him.
- [01:21]
B
It was terrible. It was brutal. And he tried to run his way out of some of them, and that didn't work. It was an overall abysmal performance by the offensive line. There's plenty of blame to go around for the team, but you cannot play this way to help Josh Allen.
- [01:37]
A
No. And it felt like Josh had two seconds. It was just like when you're down in Texas, they'll say, Texans swarm on third down. And they were sporming. It just felt like, whatever.
- [01:49]
B
The Bills with four guys.
- [01:51]
A
With four guys, it was. It's tough to see because Josh had no time. Then he would drop back a lot of times that would compound how bad the sacks were. He was getting beaten up. Like, that was just tough to watch.
- [02:09]
B
Yeah. I joked and said on Twitter, I feel like in this building, Josh Allen has run backwards for about 300 yards.
- [02:17]
A
Yeah, that's fair.
- [02:18]
B
He kept trying to circle around and, you know, he's made plays like that. This didn't work. Let's hear from what they said in the locker room. Josh talked about it. Sean McDermott talked about it. The offensive line talked about it. The quarterback taking a beating in this game.
- [02:32]
C
It'll be a tough night.
- [02:33]
B
All right.
- [02:33]
C
You know, probably won't be able to sleep. Like, when I see the kid get hit and he rolls around all hurt and stuff like that, you know, it's a tough Day for the boys. Like, that's like our little and big brother, you know? And sucks, man. Sucks. I hate losing.
- [02:52]
D
Yeah. It's not fun. I ran into a couple myself. I got to be better with throwing the ball away and living to see another down and letting us play some situational football and pinning them deep. And too many times I was going backwards and I got a bit better on that.
- [03:08]
A
Yeah. Career high 8 sacks taken today for Josh Allen.
- [03:11]
B
Yeah. And look, look. Even when they made plays, it was such a struggle. Look at some of the plays they made. The third down to Shakir ended up being great. The little flip pass and then Shakir went down the line. They would have needed him to score on that one because they didn't get in. And then the insane 4th and 27 play that. Imagine if they'd have won this game, what we'd be saying about that play.
- [03:34]
A
I. This game. I really thought they were going to win this game. I genuinely thought they were going to win this game because I was like, they're only down a touchdown. They are only down a touchdown.
- [03:44]
B
And then they were only down by four.
- [03:46]
A
And then they were only down by four. And I was like, this is so Bills. This is look like crap forever and then figure it out. And it. The Texans were begging the Bills to take them in this game. Like, it was unbelievable. But it just felt like on offense it just. Everything was a. Everything was just, you know, you'd have to rely on making these incredible plays because what do they talk about on first down being on schedule? Like being so. It's. It's third and manageable, second and manageable. And they were always felt like they were just behind the sticks in this one.
- [04:19]
B
I wanted to look at the final numbers. James Cook, 17 for 128. And he had the touchdown. He ran the ball well. He had the long touchdown. His yards per carry on the other carries was well over four. And it was a very strange mix of plays because when you look at that, I don't even care that Josh threw for 253 yards. It was a lot of from crazy plays or the little flip passes and then guys run after the catch. But James Cook did run the ball effectively, which in theory should help you against the pass rush they had. That team had zero respect for the Bills pass catchers. They rushed with four drop seven.
- [05:05]
A
It was. It was evident today. And we. We can mention obviously Keon Coleman being benched yet again today. Sean McDermott was asked about a post game. He made the comment about, look, it's a short week. We obviously thought about it. You can only do so much in a couple days. Keon hasn't done anything to set himself back, but it was just a short week, which we've talked about. I don't think that's that shocking, but you're right. A lack of respect for the Bills in terms of their receivers. What damage could be done. And honestly, it was understandable in this game.
- [05:36]
B
Khalil Shakir made some plays. He got off to a rough start.
- [05:39]
A
Yeah.
- [05:39]
B
New father back with the team. And he fumbled the ball. That was a big. That was one of three turnovers. Obviously. Josh Allen threw an early interception.
- [05:48]
A
Yep. And then a late interception.
- [05:49]
B
And then a late interception when they were driving at the end. And then Shakir had that fumble. He did bounce back with a couple of plays. He took a bit of a beating, too. Took some hits. We'll talk about the injuries, too. But he made some plays. Cook made some plays. They didn't really get a lot out of Gabe Davis. They got nothing. Tyrell Shavers in this one.
- [06:09]
A
Josh Palmer.
- [06:10]
B
Josh Palmer. Dawson Knox had a couple of catches. I think that was about it. That really was. It just felt like. I don't even know. Just hope. When they drop back to pass, the first thought was, can Josh stay upright? I thought he was really hurt when he went down on the ground.
- [06:28]
A
You could hear a pin drop on the Bill sideline. Understandably. So. So Josh goes down. He obviously is holding his right hand. I couldn't tell if it was a wrist, if it was a hand, like, you don't know. And then walking him, seeing him walk to the sidelines. There's the blue medical tent, which we saw a lot of in this game against Houston. But Josh didn't go to the tent. And I'm watching the bench, and I'm like, okay. He. He's. I saw him be like. I'm mouthing, you know, I'm fine. And I was. It was like. Until I saw him go out there. He was throwing some passes, and then I saw Mitch kind of give him the pat on the helmet. Josh run out there, but it's like, okay. He comes back. And then it just. I don't know what to make of this game. I mean, I know it's not good, but it just. It felt so frustrating to watch in.
- [07:19]
B
So many moments because they had no answer for it at all.
- [07:21]
A
They had no answer. And the Bills defense in the second half was giving them the opportunity. First half, understandable. It didn't look good. They made Davis Mills look electric.
- [07:32]
B
Well, they started out running the ball on the Bills. Absolutely missed tackles. Taron Johnson was having a rough, rough night. Taron Johnson's a gamer, though. He hung in there, and then he made a big play late on a third down that forced a punt. The Bills got the ball back. He was having a rough night. And among other people, the defensive line, where was any of them in terms of getting pressure on the quarterback? Josh is running for his life. Davis Mills, who is not good.
- [08:03]
A
He's a backup for a reason, which is okay. Like, he is a backup, but in that.
- [08:07]
B
Late in the second quarter, he's 3, 0 now in the second quarter, he moved the ball. He got him down field. Second half, the Bills defense shut them down. It kind of reminded me in a different way of the Atlanta game.
- [08:17]
A
Okay.
- [08:18]
B
Because the defense was horrendous in the first half. Not they were worse in Atlanta than they were in this one. But they made adjustments, kept him in the game. It was the offense that just stalled and could not come up with plays.
- [08:30]
A
The third and one play to James Cook.
- [08:33]
B
Yeah.
- [08:34]
A
Bills shut down. There's the sideline cutaway. A camera catching Josh Allen on the fourth and one. Oh, fourth and one.
- [08:40]
B
Sorry.
- [08:41]
A
Fourth and one of Josh Allen saying, what are we doing?
- [08:44]
B
Yeah. Frustrated. Talking to Mitch. What are we doing?
- [08:48]
A
You don't really see Josh have those. You really don't. We've covered him for a long time. He's very smart. He's very camera aware. I think that was a natural reaction, though, of like, what are we doing?
- [09:00]
B
So he comes in for the post game, and I asked him about that play, and I referenced that he. He was caught on camera or we saw him on camera. It was pretty clear what he said. He didn't dismiss it. He didn't say, I don't know what that is. I just got to do better. He didn't give any of that. In fact, we'll make it quick. Listen to what Josh said about that play.
- [09:21]
D
I mean, just frustration on my part, you know, just. Yeah. In a situation like that, probably should. Just banged a timeout. Just getting.
- [09:31]
A
Getting.
- [09:32]
D
We got to play in late, you know, didn't give ourselves a chance there.
- [09:36]
B
So. Yeah. And then I asked Sean about it, and Sean was like, I usually am listening on the headset. If Joe says, we need a second, we'll call timeout. That's bad communication on a big play.
- [09:48]
A
Yeah.
- [09:49]
B
That should have been Joe Brady or Josh Allen communicating that the play was late getting in and they should have called timeout. It was such an important play and they didn't get it done.
- [09:58]
A
But a part of me throwing on my tinfoil hat is like, really? Like, is that really what happened or is that kind of covering up?
- [10:08]
B
I guess it could be. You're right. It could be something else.
- [10:11]
A
But again, this is speculation.
- [10:12]
B
My only thought was, what are we doing? Because when you are late and it's funny, you know who references this all the time is Tony Romo. I was listening to one of the games and he kept saying it was during a game, he was like, when the play comes in late, you lose your options. It is too difficult to go to the second play call. So if Josh was going to cut out of it.
- [10:32]
A
Yeah.
- [10:33]
B
When it comes in so late, you don't have time to do that.
- [10:36]
A
You're just in it. Yeah.
- [10:36]
B
And you're in it and you stick with it. So. By the way, that play sucked. It was a terrible call. It was slow developing.
- [10:44]
A
I was about to say it just felt like it took forever to get going.
- [10:47]
B
Personnel wise, it's James Cook and you had Reggie blocking for him.
- [10:50]
A
So I just want to. I want Reggie behind Josh, behind James.
- [10:55]
B
Push his butt over the wall.
- [10:56]
A
I would say. I don't care that earlier the. On the first opening drive, right. Fourth, when they went for it. When they went for it, and I. I mean, Josh, he literally.
- [11:04]
B
I said it was a standing hurdle in my head.
- [11:07]
A
I heard like, can you take me higher? Like, he was so high up in the air. But this is why sometimes I feel like, opening drive, we all overreact.
- [11:19]
B
Yeah.
- [11:19]
A
But that open drive, I'm like, huh?
- [11:22]
B
Yeah, they look good.
- [11:23]
A
Track meet the Bills, the fourth down.
- [11:25]
B
They convert, they move down the field.
- [11:26]
A
James Cooks. Oh, my God. Yeah.
- [11:28]
B
Takes it to the house.
- [11:29]
A
Yeah. I was like, oh. And then from there, rest of the.
- [11:31]
B
Game was a car crash. One after the other.
- [11:34]
A
No.
- [11:34]
B
I would tell you this. Bills fans, you are so pissed off at the way this game went. At least be thankful that your quarterback walked in that media room and he's walking to the plane tonight or whenever they were leaving, because he took an absolute beating. He must not want to be within 500 miles of the city of Houston anymore.
- [11:56]
A
0 for 4 in Houston, and every.
- [11:59]
B
One of them has been extremely painful. Physically, by far, this is the most painful. This is the most. I think even going back to when he was, like, a rookie, he never took this many hits.
- [12:09]
A
I think that's a little recency bias, if we're being honest. But. But regardless. Regardless of that, he took A lot of hits today, like you mentioned, the eight. That's a career high for him in terms of sacks, 12 quarterback hits. It was a rough day overall. Please comment in what your thoughts are, where you're at, like, because I think for a lot of Bills fans, we see Josh Allen and you know that he is an unbelievable talent. And then you see the. What these games look like and how things this game, they could have won this game. They could have been eight and four. They could have had two wins in five days. And you just see how it fell apart for this team. And they had so many opportunities, it felt like to actually pull through.
- [12:55]
B
So while we're being very critical of the offensive line, that is not normally the way they play.
- [13:00]
A
Yeah.
- [13:00]
B
And if you had guys who win in the pass plays, you would make a team pay for the way they play defense against you. And I know they're dropping seven, but if you had guys winning on quick routes over the middle, you would open things up and they're just not able to do it. And the lack of respect. Atlanta did the same thing. Atlanta did it with blitzes. This Houston team, I will say this.
- [13:27]
A
They'Re very good on defense.
- [13:28]
B
Their D line man, Danelle Hunter and Will Anderson are elite players. Yeah, that's a pass rush. Unlike whatever the Bills are doing out there, that is a pass rush that can just torture a quarterback.
- [13:42]
A
I give a lot of credit to Spencer Brown. He was gritting it out. He was playing one handed, one armed.
- [13:49]
B
I saw him leave the locker room. He didn't really say anything. You know, it's sort of that lean over. It's the shoulder. He tried to keep playing. Vandemark got toasted a couple times. Tough spot for him to come in the game against these guys. Yeah, Deon had a rough night.
- [14:05]
A
Yeah.
- [14:05]
B
Deion took that penalty late. That was a killer. 4th and 1. You go to 4th and 6. That was, you know, where you had a chance. You convert that, you might have three or four shots to the end zone. Instead, you know, the game is over.
- [14:18]
A
That's tough because that's a veteran doing that.
- [14:22]
B
Yep.
- [14:22]
A
You know what I mean? That's not. That's tough to see.
- [14:25]
B
But this is what happens when that team is just torturing you on their D line and he jumps, not making an excuse. I'm saying is that's what they do and that's what they did to them.
- [14:35]
A
Yeah.
- [14:35]
B
Let's talk about the defense. First of all, Cole Bishop's the best player on the defense.
- [14:41]
A
He was playing with some toughness tonight.
- [14:45]
B
It's nice to see his athleticism. He lit somebody up on the sidelines. He ran sideline. The second sideline.
- [14:52]
A
Yeah, yeah. Nice little hit on Nico Collins. I think it was a little. Hey.
- [14:56]
B
Yes, yes. Cuz Collins.
- [14:57]
A
A little revenge for last year when he had touched play.
- [15:02]
B
Terrell Bernard, man cannot catch a break. And I know a lot of you guys are down on him. It's fine. You got to think of the person here a little bit too. Be critical. Fine. He hasn't played as well. He's been dealing with this terrible ankle. Then he was in incredible pain. Literally looks like it's an elbow.
- [15:20]
A
It's hard to see. And him riding on the field. He's from Houston, played at Baylor. This is, I think, a special spot for him. Obviously goes down. He did have a sling on his right arm. He returned to the sidelines, but he's a huge piece of this Bills defense. Thankfully, you did have Shaq Thompson, who was. Who has missed time. Was back.
- [15:40]
B
Shaq goes in for Milano because Milano was struggling. Milano ended up making a couple of plays.
- [15:46]
A
Yeah.
- [15:46]
B
Then it was Shaq. That's what you have, a Shaq. Yeah. Sticking with the old guys. Like, Poyer's out there, Trey's out there.
- [15:53]
A
Yeah.
- [15:54]
B
Like, it's so funny. This defense was good in the second half. They got put in some bad situations.
- [16:00]
A
They did.
- [16:00]
B
And they stopped them. Now, I say that after they gave up 20 in the first half to Davis Mills, but they kept the team in the game in the second half. And. And, oh, why we're at it. Congrats to Ray Davis on his birthday. Tremendous.
- [16:14]
A
That was really cool. I'm not kidding you.
- [16:17]
B
I called it.
- [16:18]
A
I. I was tweeting about. I was like, I think Ray Davis gets a touchdown. And as I'm sending to. It didn't send because my Internet sucks in here. But I was like, oh, well, that just.
- [16:29]
B
I believe you because you. I might have made that up. Dan definitely might have made that up. You really felt that way and it was on his birthday.
- [16:39]
A
Yeah. I just thought. I was like, oh, you know what?
- [16:41]
B
But otherwise, the special teams. Penalties. Penalties. Especially the first half.
- [16:46]
A
Every time.
- [16:47]
B
Yeah, the. The. On the kicks, like, fellas, stop holding on. The puns. Stop. It's 10 yards back every time. The one Shakir ran backwards. They lost seven yards on the kick. And then they added the hole to go with it.
- [17:02]
A
Yeah, it was bad. Sorry. My. My body hurts. I can't even imagine.
- [17:06]
B
You. You toughed it out.
- [17:08]
A
Joe Brady.
- [17:11]
D
Yeah.
- [17:12]
A
A lot of stuff On Twitter, you know, Twitter is Twitter or X or whatever you call it. Do you feel like the seat is getting warm?
- [17:22]
B
I would say this. I think no matter how this season goes, this offense is going to look different next year. Now, does that mean Joe Brady gets.
- [17:35]
A
To coach in terms of the offense.
- [17:37]
B
Better players in the pass game, or is somebody else in that job? Like, is that pressure on him?
- [17:48]
A
Yeah.
- [17:49]
B
I don't even know tonight what you do. I guess you could always.
- [17:52]
A
You call Brian Dable.
- [17:54]
B
Not now. For. If you're Brian Dable, you're like, hey, right now I'm, you know, hanging out.
- [18:00]
A
Brian Dable is the ex that got.
- [18:02]
B
Like a glow up and he's sitting back on. Yeah, I ain't touching that until I need to, like, until it's. It's up.
- [18:09]
A
Yeah. I don't know, man. I think you're in a spot. You're seven and four.
- [18:16]
B
Yeah.
- [18:17]
A
This was. Now I will. I do think that this was a Texan team that was trying to cling on to playoff aspirations. So this was a big. And I give this. This crowd was loud in here tonight. You always expect Bill's fans to travel and there was a. There was some. But this was a Houston crowd in here and it was loud and it was constant and it had. It had an impact.
- [18:41]
B
Yeah. I want to shout out to a couple of people before we go. Brandon from Louisiana, thank you for coming up. Talking to me. Awesome to see. I think he's with his family and I believe I have it right. Brynna, his sister.
- [18:54]
A
Nice.
- [18:55]
B
Awesome young Buffalo plus fans. They were here on the sidelines. Was great.
- [19:00]
A
Love it.
- [19:01]
B
And Tony and his son, Tony. Western New Yorkers. Buffalo. And they own a bakery in Buffalo. Then they sell that. Now they own a bakery in Vegas.
- [19:12]
A
Oh, that's cool.
- [19:13]
B
And they were here, so shout out to them.
- [19:15]
A
Okay.
- [19:16]
B
There was a decent amount of Bills fans here.
- [19:18]
A
Yeah.
- [19:20]
B
For a Thursday night. I thought it was not fair. This place is loud.
- [19:23]
A
Okay. They're seven and four.
- [19:27]
B
They're. They're fighting for a wild card. Like we keep saying. It's like you would have needed to win this game. Not that they still couldn't. Right. I mean, whatever. But New England hasn't given you that opportunity yet.
- [19:38]
A
In the process, New England has taken care of business.
- [19:40]
B
The Bills lost to the Dolphins and now they lose to the Texans. They were favored in both games.
- [19:45]
A
On the road, they've lost to Tua, Davis Mills, Michael Pennix and.
- [19:53]
B
Well. And Drake May.
- [19:55]
A
And Drake May.
- [19:56]
B
Yeah. Yeah.
- [19:58]
A
It was other three, though. Yeah.
- [20:00]
B
Yeah. Not good.
- [20:00]
A
Yeah, not great. Okay. Anything else?
- [20:03]
B
Now you get to relax on a weekend a week from Sunday down in Pittsburgh. Hey, nothing is a given with this team right now.
- [20:13]
A
Got a little extra time to rest, heal up. Mini by they like to call.
- [20:18]
B
Did we mention Max Hairston out? Concussion protocol is what it appeared to be. So he didn't return. Benford had gone out. He came back. Dion had gone out.
- [20:29]
A
He came back.
- [20:30]
B
Yeah, they got. They just.
- [20:32]
A
It felt like the blue tent was like a turnstile style.
- [20:34]
B
They. They were waiting. I think at one point there was like four guys in there.
- [20:38]
A
It.
- [20:39]
B
There wasn't because you're not supposed to have more than the one, but Brian Dable knows.
- [20:45]
A
Yeah.
- [20:46]
B
Stay out of the Blue 10.
- [20:47]
A
It is tough because injuries have been so prevalent this season. And it's hard when you're in the middle of a game going to depth. But Sean McDermott was asked about it, like, do you ever throw up your hands? And he was like, no, you. You have to fight. You have. There's going to be adversity. But this team has faced a lot, a lot in terms of that.
- [21:06]
B
But in this case, that was the offense out there. The defense.
- [21:10]
A
Yeah.
- [21:10]
B
Fought through all that. And as whatever they are, they stood up in the second half.
- [21:15]
A
They showed some life. They did. Yeah. Anyhow, well, the bills are 7 and 4.
- [21:20]
B
Yep.
- [21:21]
A
Well, we hope everyone enjoys their Thanksgiving. We will have more Bills content coming up the week of Thanksgiving. Bills. We'll be back to practice as I get ready for the Steelers. So you're not. You're not rid of us yet.
- [21:32]
B
No.
- [21:33]
A
But again, comment in what you think. We always read the comments.
- [21:37]
D
Yes.
- [21:38]
A
We sometimes respond, but we always read them and then. Yeah.
- [21:42]
B
And let us know what time of the day and what day you are watching this. I'm always curious about that.
- [21:47]
A
Yeah, that's very fair. Okay.
- [21:50]
D
Yeah.
- [21:51]
B
Might take a few days with this one.
- [21:53]
A
Yeah. Yeah, this one. I. I can't imagine how Josh is gonna feel waking up tomorrow.
- [21:58]
B
We're doing this at.
- [21:59]
A
It's not that one.
- [22:00]
B
15 Eastern time.
- [22:02]
A
Okay. Is it really that late Eastern? Yes, yes, I got that. I caught that.
- [22:06]
B
Yes.
- [22:07]
A
I just meant like in general. Okay. For Mike, I'm Jenna. Dan is back in Rochester. Please be sure to, like, comment, subscribe and share. I'm sure he has plenty of pre game thoughts or post game thoughts.
- [22:18]
B
Oh, I'm sure he does.
- [22:19]
A
I bet you he's gonna do a video.
- [22:20]
B
Oh, he probably will. Will.
- [22:22]
A
He probably will.
- [22:23]
D
Yeah.
- [22:23]
A
Okay. All right. Thank you for watching.
- [22:28]
B
Good night.
- [22:30]
A
We'll catch you next time here on Buffalo Plus.
- [22:42]
B
This is the Buffalo plus podcast.