1. Brandon Beane receives this top honor
With the regular season over, several national media outlets will be handing out their end-of-the-season awards for players, coaches and general managers. Bills general manager Brandon Beane was named Executive of the Year by PFT. They think Beane is deserving of this because of the work he has done to put the Bills in a place to succeed.
The Diggs trade was the jewel in Beane's crown, but he made other moves that paid dividends. He has gained a reputation for looking to his former employers in Carolina for players and three former Panthers made sizable contributions after signing as free agents. Daryl Williams started at right tackle, defensive end Mario Addison had five sacks, and linebacker A.J. Klein played an integral role on defense.
Fourth-round wideout Gabriel Davis scored seven touchdowns, sixth-round pick Tyler Bass won the kicking job, and third-rounder Zack Moss was a productive complement to Devin Singletary in the backfield. The Bills also signed cornerback Tre'Davious White and left tackle Dion Dawkins to long-term deals that will keep them in Buffalo.
NFL Network's Good Morning Football also named Beane as the Executive of the Year.
2. What Josh Allen carries with him from playoff loss to Houston
It has been about one year since the Bills suffered a heartbreaking loss to the Houston Texans in the first round of the playoffs. Bills quarterback Josh Allen said that loss still lingers a little bit. Many players on the team wish the 2019 season didn't end that way, but looking back on it several are proud of the way they have grown from it.
"I think the main lesson was not to press, understand the situation that we were in," Allen explained. "Obviously if I can go back and change things I would, but I'm glad that they went down the way that they went down. I was able to learn a lot from it and hopefully will carry that playoff experience into Saturday's game. Indianapolis is a very well coached team. They've got a Hall of Fame quarterback on their side, so we've got to do everything in our power to hold on to the ball, score when we can score and execute the game plan to the best of our ability."
3. How the Bills Week 17 win helped John Brown's confidence
After missing five straight games, Bills wide receiver John Brown returned to the field for the final game of the regular season. Brown finished the game with four catches for 72 yards and scored one touchdown. The receiver said the first catch of the game restored some much needed confidence.
"That was something I needed to be able to test the waters," Brown explained. "And to get a good feeling and get my own confidence back up. It was just something hard to deal with just to watch the offense and the whole team play outstanding ball and have to sit back and watch. So it came to me as like I'd have to get on beat with them. They already had a rhythm going so I had to be able to join."
Brown quickly found his place back in the offense after his performance against the Dolphins. The seven-year veteran said it wasn't easy watching his team average 38.2 points per game while he was rehabbing back from injury.
"It was real stressful," Brown said. "After healing up from one injury and then coming back to another. Just the training staff and the coaches doing a great job and the players having my back, pushing me through it all. Just watching the guys have fun, that was the most stressful thing. In a way I was relieved because we had guys making plays left and right. So it was like I can rest up and come back fully healthy how I want to instead of things going bad and then rushing myself to get back out there."
