🏈1 – Keep it rolling
The Bills are in the midst of a seven-game winning streak, after dispatching of the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday Night Football, 35-10 to clinch their fifth straight division title. With the AFC East locked up, the next logical goal is the top seed in the AFC to earn another bye heading into the Divisional round of the playoffs, but that's not how head coach Sean McDermott has presented things to his team.
"Coach McDermott did a really good job about six weeks ago talking to the guys, and he was saying, 'Let's not be tied to results. Let's go out there and play free and let's go out there and play our style of football. Let's, be the most prepared football team in the league. And let's go out there and play our game no matter what happens,'" said Von Miller.
For a veteran like Miller, it was a sharp contrast from his typical mindset preparing for games every week.
"A guy like me, I've got two Super Bowls," Miller said. "It was kind of hard for me at first, like, we're not tied to results. What do you mean? But what that does is that just drives down the anxiety. It's not about me and the high feeling or high level of play, it's about the whole team. And once you drive down the anxiety, and you start preaching preparation and comfort and rest, you get the response that we have from our team. So even though we've clinched the playoffs, I think we still push that narrative. It's a strange phenomenon, but it's been working for us."
Coach McDermott laid out how that thought process and approach to each game, each week has to continue to keep them focused on what's important when they step onto the field.
"We have to continue to think differently, and these guys have done that all season long," McDermott said. "And whether it's winning the division, opponents we've played in the past that people perceive to be a certain game or a certain size of game, or playing on a short week. Our guys have done a great job of orientating their minds in a different way this season. And I know that's what we have to continue to do. And I know they're up for that challenge."
"It's no different this week than it was last week," said Josh Allen. "We're having fun doing what we do, and we're very intentional about what we're doing, and it's the same mindset that we've had throughout the season. It's our commitment to preparing the best that we can and putting our best foot forward every time we step on the field."
😤2 – Rams already in playoff mode
Meanwhile Los Angeles finds themselves in a situation similar to the one the Bills were facing at this time last year. After 12 games, the Rams sit at 6-6, just like the Bills did in 2023, and they likely need to win at least four of their last five games to reach the postseason.
Fortunately for them, their division race is much closer than the one Buffalo was in last season at
6-6 when they were three games back of then-division leading Miami. The Rams currently sit in third place in the NFC West behind division-leading Seattle (7-5), and Arizona, which has a head-to-head tiebreaker over them, but is also 6-6.
A rash of injuries early in the season that included the Rams' two top receivers, Puka Nacua and Cooper Kupp, and a host of starting offensive linemen helped sink the team into a 1-4 hole to start the season. But the Rams have rallied winning five of their last seven to climb back into contention. And they'll be pushing hard to get a win at home on Sunday.
"I think they've done really well to rally from three games below .500 to get back to 6-6," said Rams radio play-by-play broadcaster, JB Long in an appearance on ‘One Bills Live’ this week. "But a few times here in the middle of this season, they've had the chance to break through and become a winning football team, and each time they've fallen flat. So, I think this last stretch, and especially Sunday, is very much about, 'Okay, are they just a playoff bubble team? Or are they a true contender? Can they go from good to great before it's too late?'
"Thankfully for them, the West (division) has stayed flat enough that that window of opportunity is still very much there, especially because they play each one of their division opponents one more time before the season is through."
After facing the Bills, Los Angeles travels to San Francisco in Week 15, and then finishes their schedule with matchups with Arizona and Seattle in Week 17 and 18 at home.
🚂3 – Takeaway train
The philosophical shift of Buffalo's defense from one that limited yards and third down conversions under former defensive coordinator, Leslie Frazier, to one under Sean McDermott and now Bobby Babich that focuses on splash plays and red zone stops has been transformational. And the results this season have been even more impressive.
Buffalo currently stands second in the NFL in total takeaways with 24, behind only Pittsburgh (25) and the Bills have at least one takeaway in every game this season, good for the longest streak in the league. In eight of their 12 games they have multiple takeaways, and they have never had a negative turnover differential in any game this season. It helps explain why they lead the league in turnover differential at an eye-popping plus-17.
Defensive coordinator, Bobby Babich, said their approach to forcing turnovers is an unwavering standard that everyone on his side of the ball has embraced.
"It's an expectation," said Babich. "If we're not winning the turnover margin in the game, and we're not taking the ball away, it's not good enough. And in the end, you can look at yards, you can look at all kinds of different things. But if you are taking the ball away from the offense and taking possessions from them, it is the ultimate factor. The ball is the most important thing in the game of football. It's the ball. It's not the yards they get. You obviously you want to limit the yards, but when it comes down to it, it's about the football. That little ball we say all the time is worth billions, and we need to take it away."
All of those takeaways are a big reason the Bills are tied for the league lead in drive starts in opponent territory with 20. And those short fields are why the Bills also lead the league in points off turnovers with 91 so far this season.
Will Buffalo's takeaway streak continue?
The Rams have been relatively responsible with the football with just 12 giveaways in 12 games and have a plus-three turnover margin.
The Bills are on pace to have 34 takeaways this season, which would be the most in the McDermott era. The current high-water mark under McDermott for takeaways is 30, which the Bills accomplished in 2021 and 2023.
🛑4 – Stay out of third-and-long
The Rams might only be a middle of the pack team when it comes to sacks, but if your offense spends any amount of time in third-and-long when facing this young, athletic front, you're asking for trouble. Los Angeles assembled a turbo-charged pass rush unit in the span of two draft classes with OLB Byron Young and DT Kobie Turner in 2023, and OLB Jared Verse and DE Braden Fiske in 2024. In 3rd-and-7 or more this season, opposing offenses have converted just eight of their 57
opportunities for a success rate of just 14 percent.
"The main thing is you cannot let this group rush the passer. You can't," said ESPN NFL analyst, Dan Orlovsky in his weekly appearance on ‘One Bills Live’ this week. "It's the best young defensive line in football. It's deep. They've got a lot of athleticism. What you've seen from a couple of teams is a lot of their run scheme is designed away from Jared Verse, their first-round draft pick. He's a star, an absolute problem. So, a lot of teams are running away from him to make sure they don't let him just blow up the point of attack."
Since Week 9, Verse leads all rookies in quarterback pressures with 25, quarterback hits with 17, and tackles for loss with 11.
His draft classmate, DE Braden Fiske, leads all rookies in sacks (6) and tackles for loss (11). He also has a pair of forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries. In fact, his six sacks gave him one more than future Hall of Famer, Aaron Donald had in his first 11 career games.
Verse (55) and Fiske (35) rank first and third in the league for quarterback pressures by rookies, with only Miami's Chop Robinson (37) in between them.
"It's a much more diverse pass rush than what they had with Aaron Donald," said Rams play-by-play man, JB Long. "They can get at you from all four positions up front. They really don't have to blitz and send extras, which I think has played to their advantage, because at best, they're average in coverage. But the way they've been able to puncture pockets with those four, each of whom has been drafted in the last two years, is really super impressive."
Fiske (6), Byron Young (6), Kobie Turner (5) and Verse (4.5) have accounted for 21.5 of the team's 28 sacks on the season.
👢5 – Who gives a boot?
The Bills defense will have a good deal of their focus on the rushing exploits of the Rams' tandem of Kyren Williams and Blake Corum. The duo has combined for almost 1,100 rushing yards, and Williams has 12 total touchdowns. They each excel in Los Angeles' wide zone run scheme.
Buffalo will also have to keep tabs on Matthew Stafford rolling out of the pocket, as it is a staple of what they do offensively in the passing game.
"They always make use of the play-action pass, no doubt, but something that's paramount is the bootleg keeper game for the Rams," said Orlovsky. "It will be huge for Buffalo to handle and stop. They run it in a ton of different ways. They'll fake one way, Stafford comes going out to his right or left. He can do it both ways.
"And it's so difficult to handle because there are four different areas where he could throw the football at any point. He could take a shot downfield. He could take a quick little flat route. He could take the over route, and then they'll have this thing called late leak. It's almost a late check down. So as a defense, guys have to pay attention to that run fake. So, you've got to send your flow, your bodies, your gap responsibilities, one way, but then you become very vulnerable to being out leveraged on that back side of it. It's a challenge."
Cam Lewis and the rest of the coverage players on defense recognize the multitude of options those plays give Stafford and his receiving corps, but he believes the Bills can keep tabs on it.
"They run a lot of boot, play action. Then when they get in the gun, a lot more drop back. So, we've got to have good eyes, be on our keys, stop the run early," Lewis said. "Good eyes and keys and stop the boot game, because they boot both ways to the boundary, to the field. And then just strap up when it's time to play, man-to-man coverage. We do that I feel like we'll be okay."
