1. Sean McDermott's review of his team at the midseason point
Through the first eight weeks, the Bills have a 6-2 record for the second straight season. The team also holds first place in the AFC East and the last time Buffalo had sole possession of first place this late in a season was in Week 13 of the 1996 season. Sean McDermott explained what he has seen from his team in the first half of the season and points out that there is still a lot to work on.
"Well there's certainly things we've done well," McDermott stated. "Winning six games doesn't come easy so you're doing a lot of things well, and there are some things, certainly we can improve on. I think overall, I like how we developed in terms of offensively with the passing game early, now the run game and I think that bodes well moving forward. Then defensively, I like how our defensive line is doing some things up front as of late with the quarterback and the rush element. Our special teams overall, I think they've continued to play fast and physical and fundamentally sound. There's certainly a lot to work on and I know as a staff today we tried to outline those key points so that we can go to work on those for the next couple of days here."
*2. Assessing Zack Moss's fantasy value heading into Week 9 *
Sports Illustrated fantasy writer Bill Enright came out with his fantasy football waiver wire pickups for Week 9 and Zack Moss was on that list. Moss is starting to show why the Bills drafted him in the third round and said after the game that it was the most comfortable he's felt so far. He finished the game Sunday with career-high numbers in rushes (14), rushing yards (81), and touchdowns (2).
_Zack Moss, Buffalo Bills: _
For the second week in a row, Moss outproduced Devin Singletary in PPR formats. Both rushers saw 14 attempts, with Singletary finishing with 86 yards and Moss gaining 81 yards. But it was the Buffalo rookie that found the end zone twice. Running backs come at a premium in fantasy, and despite the uptick in production, Moss is still available in 48% of Yahoo leagues.
3. Leslie Frazier on Harrison Phillips
Harrison Phillips has had his ups and downs this season after coming off a torn ACL which he suffered last season. After being inactive for weeks 6-7, Phillips bounced back and played against the Patriots on Sunday. Leslie Frazier spoke highly of him on Monday and was impressed with his Week 8 performance.
"It doesn't show up statistically in yesterday's game, but I really thought that Harrison Phillips, coming in, gave us something inside," Frazier explained. "There were a few plays where he did a really good job on some of those double teams. Even when the ball was going away from him, he was chasing the football down and making some plays. It's something we have to continue to work with the guys on our roster to be factors for us. When people want to try to run the ball as much as a team like the Patriots, which it's their forte to run the ball on offense, you need your interior to really be stout. I think at times we got that yesterday, even though the numbers might not necessarily say it."
