1 - Cookie Gilchrist joining the Bills Wall of Fame
The late great, Cookie Gilchrist, will be inducted posthumously to the Bills Wall of Fame today. The former American Football League MVP helped the Bills win their first AFL championship in 1964. His three stellar seasons with the Buffalo Bills were good enough to make him the 31st member added to the Wall of Fame.
Gilchrist put up numbers from 1962-1964 that still hold true in the Bills record books today. He has the most rushing touchdowns in a game when he scored five times against the New York Jets in 1963. Gilchrist is also tied for first with seven consecutive games rushing for a touchdown.
Former Bills punter, Paul Maguire, joined The John Murphy Show to discuss Gilchrist's greatness. He will also be leading the charge on Sunday when the Bills come out of the tunnel to take on the Oakland Raiders.
"When Cookie walked on the field, that place lit up," Maguire said. "This guy was six-foot, three and a half [inches], 235-pounds and can run like hell and wasn't afraid of anything."
Gilchrist's stout stature helped him dominate while in Buffalo. He's tied for second with 13 rushing touchdowns in a single season. In his three seasons with the Bills he tallied 31 touchdowns that ranks third in the organization.
Gilchrist also ranks third for the most rushing yards in a game. He exploded for 243 yards against the New York Jets, that was the same game he posted five touchdowns. He's just one of six Bills players to rush for 200 yards in a game.
Over the course of his career in Buffalo he had 10, 100-yard rushing games. He also ran for 3,056 yards with the Bills. Both of those feats rank in the top-ten in team history.
Gilchrist was a one-man wrecking crew during his tenure in Buffalo. Maguire said he was highly respected by the Bills former owner, Ralph Wilson.
"Ralph Wilson said at one time if we ever build another stadium the first guy to go on the wall would be Cookie."* *
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2 - This year's team feels different for McCoy**
Since coming to Buffalo in 2015, running back LeSean McCoy has been a part of teams that have made a habit of having hot starts but cool down as the year progresses. In his first season with the team they started 3-2 but ended up finishing 8-8. Last season the Bills started 4-2 but slipped to 7-9 to close out the year. This season Buffalo's 4-2 again and McCoy has noticed a difference in this group of guys.
"I think we're playing all together; we're playing as a team," he said. "Guys want to win. Guys are sticking it out on the line with no excuses. You can just feel it."
This season the Bills have won games that they would've most likely lost in years past. Last Sunday against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers was a prime example. The Bills trailed 27-20 in the fourth quarter and erupted for 10 points in less than three minutes to secure the win. McCoy had the touchdown late in the fourth that tied the game.
"You know, you have different games where you feel like the moment was there, and then something bad happens. It's like, 'Oh, the moment was gone and I feel like the other teams about to win,' and then it flips again. I mean, last game was a prime example of that," he said. "You know, how do we get the fumble, you know what I'm saying? Those guys practice that all the time, constantly over, over, emphasizing, you know, punch the ball out. They have all kinds of techniques [that] they do. Then we get the fumble and we go down. I fumbled, then we scored, then we get it back, run the clock out, [and] kick the field goal. I mean, just things like that."
There's still a lot of football to be played for the Bills this season. Ten games and five pivotal divisional matchups to be exact. McCoy is confident this year's team is suited well to take on those remaining games.
"The guys are really into every game we've been in. There's some games that we could've probably won if the offense could've played better," he said. "It's the difference, I think, our team now from last year. I feel like the guys are more in it and putting everything in to win games."
3 - Brown's keys to slowing down Oakland's offense
The Bills defense has been exposed the last couple of games. Against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers they allowed a season-high 27 points. Linebacker, Preston Brown, knows what they need to do to limit the Oakland Raiders offense.
Brown joined WGR on Friday to discuss the matchup against the Raiders. He noted that it's important they get to their quarterback, Derek Carr.
"He gets the ball out extremely fast, so we have to get our hands up. Tipped balls will hopefully lead to interceptions and overthrows," he said. "We also have to hit him, legally. We can push him down, make him get back up, anything you can do to make a quarterback get off the ground will help us throughout the game."
The Bills defense has been on an epic run of forcing takeaways this season. Can Brown and company keep up the pace against the Raiders?
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