1 - Frazier hasn't had a rookie quite like WhiteBills defensive coordinator, Leslie Frazier, has coached in the NFL for 19 years. He also was a member of the historic 1985 Super Bowl Championship team. Despite his extensive experience in the league, he's never seen a rookie like Tre'Davious White.[
"I can't recall a rookie being asked to do some of the things we asked him to do this season," said Frazier. "As you know, we've had to match him up on some top receivers during the course of the season. You don't usually ask a rookie to do that. Maybe towards the end of the year, but we were doing this early in the season. He's responded quite well."
Just 11 games into his rookie year, White's lined up against some of the most prolific receivers in the league. For example, Julio Jones, A.J. Green, Amari Cooper, and most recently Tyreek Hill. Against the Chiefs, White only allowed one reception for six yards on three passes into his coverage.
"I think he's playing at a high level. I really do. He's a young man that continues to develop. Both on and off the field," said head coach Sean McDermott. "As a corner in this league, it's one play at a time. Like it is for most positions. But in particular the corner position. I'm anxious to see him in here this week and prepare the way we're going to need to as a football team when we go against the defending world champs."
Although White's faced some top-notch receivers, he's a top candidate for Rookie of the Year. His 14 passes defended lead all rookies and ranks third in the league. He also secured his second-career interception on Sunday to seal the 16-10 win over the Chiefs.
"He's had a terrific rookie year, although there's a lot of football to be played," Frazier said. "But, I can't recall a rookie coming in and having that impact at cornerback."
2 - McDermott named Coach of the Week
Bills head coach, Sean McDermott, was able to rally his team to a 16-10 win over the Chiefs on Sunday after a three-week slide. With the turnaround in Week 12, McDermott was named Coach of the Week.
Peter King of MMQB gave McDermott the weekly honor. Here's King's input after the team's victory to improve to 6-5.
*He got grilled, with justification, for starting Nathan Peterman in his five-pick meltdown at the Chargers last week. But McDermott realized he had to go back to Tyrod Taylor as his starter… Against his coaching mentor, Andy Reid, on the road in a game the Bills needed to win to have any semblance of playoff hopes, McDermott and the Bills played a mostly mistake-free game in one of the toughest places in the league to win. *
*Time will tell if McDermott's "Trust the process" slogan will end up meaning the players actually trust what this new administration is selling. But after the jarring benching of Tyrod Taylor and then Taylor's reanimation, it says something that the players came out and played nobly on Sunday. *
In the NFL, a win's a win. Sunday's showing wasn't perfect, but it was good enough to get to 6-5 and set up a pivotal date with the New England Patriots in Week 13.
"Well, I mean, look - we did enough to win the game. That said, in all three phases, we have to continue to improve. Not just offensively, but defensively [and] special teams," said McDermott. "We have to be looking at the film. We have to be honest with ourselves and making sure we're firm on what was and what wasn't up to the standard that we set early on here. That's true of all of our football team."
3 - Consistent play continues for Hyde
In his first year with the Bills, safety Micah Hyde is on pace to finish the season with career-high numbers. The five-year veteran has performed at a high level ever since coming to Buffalo. That trend continued in Week 12 against the Kansas City Chiefs.
According to Pro Football Focus, Hyde was graded the second-highest player for the Bills on Sunday. He even earned the PFF game ball with his 85.6 game grade and 89.0 run defense grade.
Hyde was only targeted twice and did not yield a reception thrown into his coverage. Hyde also added a run stop in defense and had another as well. Nothing will pop out on the stat sheet for Hyde but his consistency is notable.
*So far through 11 games, Hyde has 47 tackles, nine passes defended, and five interceptions. His quintuple of INTs this year is already a season-high. His most passes defended in a season came in 2016 when he had nine. He just needs one more to surpass that total. In 2014, Hyde tallied a career-best 59 tackles. If he gets 13 more tackles in the next five games that'll be his most in a season. *
Prior to Sunday's win, the Bills sported a three-game losing streak. Despite the midseason mishap, Hyde remained confident.
"We knew what we had to do. Our confidence was always there. We weren't down," he said. "We gave up a lot of points in the previous three games. We knew that coming in. But, in our preparation, we stuck to the same stuff. We knew what we had to do. We kept it basic and came out with the win."
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