1 – Finale lineup to be largely the sameRex Ryan made it clear on Monday afternoon that he has no intentions of making any substantial changes to his lineup this week.
Ryan admitted that while he would like to evaluate some other players on the roster, he still wants to pick the best 46 guys that will give him a chance to win come Sunday.
That holds particularly true on offense with the recent uptick in production on that side of the ball. The success of Charles Clay especially over the past three games has Ryan not looking to make any major changes.
Clay had one of the best games of his career on Sunday, hauling in eight catches for 85 yards and two touchdowns—including a seven-yard grab that put the Bills ahead in the fourth quarter.
In addition, Ryan confirmed that Tyrod Taylor would start for the team in Week 17.
"I don't think it is in the best interest of our team to not play Tyrod," Ryan said. "The way I look at it is this if I sit Tyrod Taylor down okay, and I don't sit Kyle Williams down it is because Kyle, you are not as important as Tyrod or this player is not as important as this guy or whatever. I think we just you know I want to win the game that is how I look at it."
Taylor threw for 731 yards and six touchdowns over the team's three-game home stand.
Despite both the Bills and the Jets being eliminated from the playoffs, Ryan is still hungry to beat the team he coached for six seasons.
"I'm going to try and win this game," Ryan said. "It doesn't matter that it doesn't mean anything. To me, it means a lot. I want to win the game and that's just who I am."
The Jets have been outscored 133-49 over their last four games.
2 – The timeout that never wasRyan spent a good deal of time on Monday explaining his failed attempt at calling a timeout in the dwindling seconds of regulation on Sunday.
He said that he wanted one called not to ice Miami kicker Andrew Franks, but rather to bring out his field goal block team.
Although TV cameras appeared to show Ryan signaling for the timeout after the ball had already been snapped, he said there is more to the story.
"I don't need to see the TV copy because I know what happened," Ryan said.
"A lot of times you don't want to take a timeout there because they are going to have to speed everything up when they put the mayday (rushed field goal attempt) out there," Ryan said. "But the reason I wanted the timeout at that point is because we didn't have our field goal block team out there and obviously you see us playing safe, and it was not like they were going to fake a kick there. It is time to go for it, and that is why I was trying to get the timeout."
Ryan also said that he saw both Corey White and another Bills player trying to call for a timeout, but neither were recognized by the referee.
Of course, Franks nailed the 55-yard kick to send the game into overtime. It was his first make over 50 yards all season, and only the second kick he's made longer than 40 yards, as well.
3 – Running for more recordsAlthough the final score may not mean much in the grand scheme of things for the Bills on Sunday, the team has the opportunity to shatter some more franchise records on the ground.
The rushing attack has carried Buffalo's offense this season, and has seemingly gotten better with each passing week.
The Bills have the 14th-most rushing touchdowns by a team in NFL history with 28. Those 28 touchdowns are the most in team history and the most a team has had since the Carolina Panthers had 30 in 2008. Four teams in NFL history have 29 touchdowns, and another four had 30 in a season.
Mike Gillislee's 91 yards on Sunday put him over 500 for the season, which gave the Bills three 500-yard rushers for the second straight season, and for only the third time in franchise history. As a whole, the Bills have 2,562 rushing yards as a team—fourth-most in franchise history. They need just four yards this week to move past the 1976 team for third place.
"That's how we the built the team," Ryan said. "We want to build it with our offensive line and we were fortunate to be able to get a Pro Bowl running back. So, I think the talents of our players really fits to run the football. We have a quarterback that can do some special things running the football as well and that has helped to give us a balance."
McCoy needs two touchdowns on Sunday to move past Cookie Gilchrist for second-most touchdowns by a Bill in a single season. O.J. Simpson sits in first with 23 touchdowns from the 1975 season.
