1. GMFB's Peter Schrager thinks the Bills are playing better than any team
NFL Network’s Good Morning football aired a segment on Tuesday where the group discussed who is playing their best football right now, and Peter Shrager believes it's Buffalo. Schrager likes the Bills because of quarterback Josh Allen's play and their ability to improve even more in the weeks to come.
"In the entire league the Buffalo Bills look like they're playing and peaking at the right time," Schrager said on Good Morning Football. "Every night they're on primetime it feels like whether it be a Monday night or Sunday night, in this last week's case a Saturday night. Guess where they play on Week 16? They play in Foxborough on a Monday night, and I don't know if we're seeing Cam Newton or Jarrett Stidham or what.
"But I'll tell you one thing, I like the Bills and I like the Bills big. They are rolling right now. They have been ascending and I feel like they haven't even hit their apex. I'm saying Buffalo in the entire NFL right now with that quarterback, he might insert himself in that MVP conversation. Move over Mahomes and Rodgers, we might have a late entry into the convo. I think Josh Allen and the Bills are playing better football right now than any team in the league."
2. Marv Levy's congratulatory email to Sean McDermott
Former Bills coach and Pro Football Hall of Famer Marv Levy joined One Bills Live this week to share his thoughts on the Bills winning the AFC East for the first time since 1995. Levy, who coached for Buffalo from 1986 to 1997, said he respects what Bills head coach Sean McDermott has done since coming to Buffalo.
"I have a high regard for Sean," Levy said. "I have gotten to know him a little bit, I don't overburden. On a rare occasion he might contact me to ask a question. I've been impressed with his approach and how he's doing it with his total organization idea. With his William & Mary background, I've always had great respect for those William & Mary guys. I coached there for five years and they were really wonderful overachievers."
Before McDermott, Levy was the most recent coach to earn an AFC East title and took the Bills to four-straight Super Bowls. The Hall of Famer sent an email to McDermott after their win over the Broncos to congratulate him on the achievement.
"My message to answer your question was just to congratulate him," Levy explained. "To wish him well down the line, to tell him that I realize it's a whole organization that wins and to pass that along and then I told him okay, that's it, get back to work on the next game plan."
3. The difference between the Bills 2019 and 2020 defense
This year's Bills defense has drawn many comparisons to last season's group due to their play. Many of the faces are the same, but some of the statistics from 2019 haven't matched up. In 2019, Buffalo ranked second allowing only 16.2 points per game and third overall allowing only 298.3 yards per game.
The group has turned it around since Week 7 and has been on a tear since Week 12. In the last four games, the Bills are posting numbers similar to last season. After the Week 11 bye, the defense ranks fifth allowing only 18.8 points per game and has the eighth-best defense allowing just 312 yards per game.
Defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier explained given the pandemic and other reasons, it's too tough to compare the two. Frazier added the group this year has gotten to know each other on a different level.
"To compare the 2019 unit to the 2020 unit, there's too many variables involved," Frazier said. "But what I can say about 2020 as the season has gone on and we've all become more familiar with one another, you can see the guys really trusting and jelling together as a group. And that's really encouraging. One of the things that we tried to emphasize to our players early on, back in August and September, with so many unknowns, the goal was to just keep improving as the year went on.
"The guys listened to that even though at times there were some bumps in the road for sure. We just kept emphasizing that the goal was to improve and find some areas we can pinpoint. And say this is where we got to get better at, this is how we're going to get better and now let's work toward that. Fortunately we've got some high character guys, and they bought into that and we've seen that improve over time."
