1. CBS analyst Bill Cowher calls this Buffalo's secret to success
Super Bowl winning head coach and current CBS Sports analyst Bill Cowher praised the Bills on CBS Sports Network this Sunday and called this their secret to success in 2019 so far.
"What you see in this Sean McDermott team is they are a disciplined team. You don't see them beat themselves. They don't turn the football over. You talk about Josh Allen and what he's done in the last six weeks has been amazing. … Defensively, you have a hard time naming some of their defensive starters – Tre'Davious White – but yet they are so coordinated with what they do in the back end."
The Bills are currently on a three-game winning streak and at 9-3 with four games to go have a chance to clinch their second playoff appearance in Sean McDermott's third NFL season in the coming weeks. McDermott has 24 wins in his career in Buffalo – the third-highest total by a Buffalo within his first three seasons with the team.
"They're going to come after you. They're not going to beat themselves. They're going to kind of pressure you into playing patient football until you break," Cowher said. "It's an impressive team to watch and probably one of the most well-coached teams to watch in the National Football League."
2. DC Leslie Frazier compares Lamar Jackson to this former dynamic NFL quarterback
Leslie Frazier has spent a long time in and around the NFL. This week he'll be preparing for a quarterback who is pretty similar to one he prepared against a decade ago.
"There are a lot of similarities," Frazier said. "Michael Vick really was so special at what he did with the football and once he got out in the open field there was really no catching Michael. And it's similar when you're watching Lamar, some of the things he does. There are a lot of similarities and he's a hard guy to tackle, a hard guy to pin down, his ability to make people miss but run away from you as well. Then he has a good enough arm, he can make some plays with his arm also. So, yeah, there are a lot of similarities to what Michael did during his time as well."
Jackson remains the odds-on favorite for the most valuable player award this season. He's putting up numbers that haven't been seen since Vick and a gigantic reason why Baltimore leads the NFL's most lethal rushing attack.
Last week in a 20-17 win over the San Francisco 49ers, Jackson passed for 105 tards and ran for 101. Two weeks ago, he had 169 yards throwing with five touchdowns and 95 yards on the ground during a 45-6 beatdown of the Los Angeles Rams.
"Man, he does so many things so well. He seems to be a really bright young quarterback who understands, obviously, the run game but has a good feel for the pass game as well," Frazier said. "You really don't want to sleep on what he does in the passing game, his ability to be able to find people in zones and find the mismatches in man. But his ability to run around with the football and scramble and make plays, and then the design runs for the quarterback puts a lot of pressure on your defense. So, he does a lot of things well and you really can't pinpoint and say if you can take this away, you really have him down. But he does a lot of things well so it'll be a challenge."
3. Brian Daboll preparing offense for a "dauting task"
It's going to be a dauting task for the Bills offense this weekend, says offensive coordinator Brian Daboll. Bills coaches already began prepping for the Baltimore matchup last Friday. The Bills offense has seen a noticeable uptick in production since playing the Cleveland Browns three weeks ago, but Sunday's game will be a challenge.
"We have a long way to go, a lot of things to work on, starting this week against a team that in the last six weeks has given up 13 points per game, first in the league," Daboll said. "Best quarterback rating, somewhere around 70 percent, best in the red zone, 184 point differential in the last six games, against some pretty good football teams. Daunting task, challenging defense, coach [Don] Martindale does a phenomenal job of giving you a multiplicity of looks. It'll be a challenging week for preparation."
The Bills are playing meaningful games this December and will remain consistent with preparation, practice habits, and game planning said Daboll.
