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00:00Watch the Monday night football game, because it is an interesting game if you're a football fan.
00:05A Bills fan, not so much.
00:07I guess maybe you want to see how you stack up against the so-called Super Bowl favorite,
00:12the Los Angeles Rams, coming off of a disappointing game in which they scored only seven points against Seattle.
00:19And against a team that looked pretty good last week, by the way, in the Giants.
00:21Yes.
00:22So, yeah, you have that.
00:24And then the Giants, Harbaugh, they're surprisingly strong.
00:28But, I don't know.
00:30There's just something that's kind of dull about the Giants, even though they just had Brian D'Abel.
00:34I don't know.
00:34It's just kind of like they've lost a little bit of their luster.
00:37They're going to have to earn some of that back, big blue, that whole stuff.
00:41But let me ask about what we learned yesterday from Buffalo's first opponent.
00:49Houston did not do much at all.
00:53In fact, C.J. Stroud and that offensive line just looked abysmal.
01:00And they can't generate anything, unable to do anything at all against a team that has not been known for
01:09being formidable in the trenches.
01:11And, of course, they have Dexter Lawrence now.
01:13I'm talking about the Cincinnati Bengals now 2-0.
01:15Just a team that could get pushed around.
01:18It was Joe Burrow and then a bunch of guys.
01:21They looked a little bit more of a complete team against the Texans.
01:24What did we learn about the Bills' first victory based on how the Texans played against the Bengals, Sal?
01:31It's a good, good question because I think the takeaway is I can't believe the Bills gave up 31 points
01:40to that offense that could only score 6 points against a Bengals defense that has been so putrid over the
01:45last few years.
01:46I understand they're better.
01:47But that definitely is concerning.
01:53I'm looking at the box score right now.
01:55They did have five sacks against Joe Burrow.
01:58And the Bills did a much better job against them.
02:00They did sack Joe Burrow five times.
02:02But they couldn't create turnovers.
02:03I think there was no turnovers in the game at all.
02:06And then offensively, boy, this is one of those conundrums.
02:10We've been down this road with quarterbacks in the past with the Bills before Josh Allen got here.
02:14Whoever you want to say.
02:16Did you guys see C.J. Stroud's box score?
02:18Did you see his stat line last night?
02:20He had 55 pass attempts.
02:23He completed 30 of 55.
02:24It's like, you know, just over 50%, basically.
02:2730 for 55.
02:29353 yards, but he did have 55 attempts.
02:31He did not throw a touchdown.
02:33He did not turn the ball over.
02:35I'm really interested in that conversation in Houston about where is this team right now with deciding to pay him
02:43or not?
02:44Because now you understand the conundrum they're in.
02:47I think you still have to, right, Tim?
02:49I think you still have to because he's still good, and if you don't have him, who do you have?
02:53Well, maybe with a defense like this, the thinking might be, well, we'll have to take a look at who
02:58the best veteran on the open market is going to be come March.
03:01Maybe that's the person that you plug and play.
03:05Similar to, say, the Jets a few years ago with Aaron Rodgers.
03:08We like our defense.
03:09Let's just bring in a steady hand to not lose us games.
03:13Darnold in Seattle.
03:14Yeah.
03:15There's all kinds of guys I could see as, okay.
03:19C.J. Stroud yesterday also led the Texans in rushing.
03:22Now you'd be like, well, hang on now.
03:24That's pretty good, right?
03:2529 yards.
03:26The rest of the – Noel had 13 yards on one carry.
03:32Marks had eight attempts for eight yards.
03:35David Montgomery, six carries for 10 yards.
03:38I don't know what was going on there, but David Montgomery could not be stopped by the Buffalo Bills.
03:43And then he averages 1.7 yards a carry.
03:4618 yards from their running backs.
03:48Yes.
03:48On 14 carries.
03:50Yes.
03:51Those rushing numbers plus the sack number on – that is – that makes you think that line for the
03:58Texans is just really in some trouble.
04:01Because Dexter Lawrence blew them up a few times yesterday, and they got to – it was really ugly.
04:08And that's been their issue, has it not?
04:10They have struggled there.
04:12And does that not make the conversation about Stroud that much more difficult?
04:17Because you're like, this guy's running for his life half the time, and he's out there throwing 55 passes because
04:23they can't get more than a yard of carry.
04:25And you're asking a lot of a guy that's trying to prove himself.
04:30This is a team that did start 0-3 last year.
04:32It hurt them to win the division, but they did make the playoffs.
04:34They turned around to make the playoffs.
04:36Demiko Ryan is a smart guy.
04:38He's a good coach.
04:38But I don't know if he's quite figured out the offense in his time there yet.
04:42They've gone through multiple offensive coordinators.
04:44Bobby Slowick did a really good job with Stroud.
04:46Bobby Slowick moved on.
04:48They've gone through multiple offensive coordinators.
04:50It feels like they can't get their offensive line quite right.
04:53So I just wonder kind of what the conversation is there in Houston organizationally and with Stroud, obviously.
05:00Did you guys see the catch by Jamar Chase in that game?
05:03It was, Sal.
05:05You're into that kind of thing.
05:06I was at the Borderland Festival, and I was covering the shop for my mom.
05:12She was selling all the jewelry in one of the horse stalls, and I had just the game up on
05:15my phone.
05:16And I'm sitting there with my best friend who came with me, Drew.
05:20And I've got the game on.
05:21I've got Red Zone on.
05:23And I'm sort of looking down while I'm talking to a customer.
05:27And Jamar makes that catch.
05:29And I, like, yell, whoa, what just happened?
05:32Whoa!
05:32And this customer is, like, trying to figure out which necklace she likes better.
05:36And I scared the bejesus out of this lady because that catch was so incredible.
05:41Great catch, for sure.
05:43Now, Nico Collins didn't play for the Texans.
05:45Right, that's right.
05:46He had the hamstring injury.
05:48He was ruled out.
05:48But Nico Collins is not the one who gave up seven quarterback hits to the Cincinnati Bengals.
05:56Yeah, that's right.
05:57You know, the Bills next week, just a thought I had driving in, like, next week's a big week for
06:05their defense.
06:07Not in the sense of, oh, my God, you're going against this really high-powered offense like the Lions.
06:13They can be.
06:14We think they can be.
06:15They were supposed to be.
06:16The Chargers, much better on offense than they are.
06:18The reason why next week's a big week for the Bills' defense, I think, is the opposite.
06:23This Chargers offense looks bad right now.
06:26And for the Bills so far through two games, they give up 31 and 31, 62 total points.
06:32You've got to shut this offense down next week.
06:34They've scored 14 against the Cardinals and Raiders in back-to-back weeks.
06:39If they come to Buffalo next week and score 28, 31 points, that's not a good sign.
06:46Like, I need the Bills' defense next week against the Chargers to kind of put their foot down on them
06:53a little bit and not let them get up off the mat.
06:55Yeah, and I remember I asked you, I think it was on Friday when you joined us, about when does
07:02it get to be a point of concern?
07:04And the more I thought about your answer to that, which was it might be schedule-based, I looked at
07:10this game for that same reason.
07:12I will really want to see some sort of uptick, some sort of trend up.
07:19I mean, we've got the exact same amount of points scored against both of the first two weeks.
07:24I'm going to need that number to go down, and I'm going to need them to look better in the
07:29secondary.
07:30We've talked plenty about up front.
07:32They look great there.
07:33There's been good, interesting stuff from Leonard in terms of stunts and finding ways to change up the look up
07:39front.
07:40I mean, I saw Deion Walker on a rep on Penny Sewell on the outside, where he just abused Sewell.
07:46And it's like, that stuff looks great.
07:48And the fact that they're holding on to that and they're able to execute that stuff that Leonard's sort of
07:53putting in is encouraging.
07:55But that's secondary to your conversations with us earlier.
07:58That is where it gets sketchy.
08:00And that's where I need to see, you know, it's not a great pass-catching group for the Chargers.
08:06It's not a super stingy.
08:09You're going to be able to do well if you can get your stuff together.
08:12And I'm going to really want to see that.
08:15Lad McConkie leads them with eight catches, 117 yards.
08:18After that, Njoku, Harris, and Gadsden.
08:21And the high watermark is 73 total yards between two games for that group.
08:26Quinton Johnston's in there as well.
08:28You're right.
08:28This is not a super scary wide receiver group.
08:32Not like the groups that you've played the first two weeks, by the way, including Nico Collins.
08:37Including Amon Ross-St. Brown.
08:39And I think Gadsden, shout out Syracuse, Rhonda Gadsden.
08:42And Joku, they can help you out.
08:44But this is a game where I think you have to be much better than you have been the first
08:51two weeks, considering what you've seen from the Chargers.
08:55And if that doesn't happen, if they have the kind of output that maybe the Lions and or Texans had
09:02throwing the ball, that's going to be a little concerning.
09:04A lot more concerning than what we're talking about now.
09:07The Bills' secondary has to be better, not only in coverage, and this is an offshoot of the coverage.
09:12They do go hand-in-hand.
09:14They need to be better at penalties also, because they keep committing the defensive holds and the pass interference.
09:19And it's because they're getting beat.
09:22And so they're trying to make up for it.
09:24But those costly penalties have been, well, here's where I'm the wordsmith, costly.
09:31Taking a look at the Raiders and what they were doing to the Chargers yesterday, nine quarterback hits for the
09:38Raiders yesterday.
09:39And only one of them came from Max Crosby.
09:42So that ability to get to Justin Herbert, who fumbled a bunch, they forced four fumbles.
09:49Not all of them were.
09:50Herbert, I think, just flat-dropped a couple of them.
09:52But of the six fumbles the Chargers had, four of them were forced, as opposed to...
09:57Six!
09:57They put the ball around six times!
09:59Yeah.
10:00And not great.
10:01No.
10:02And, by the way, Njoku got carted off the field.
10:04So that's another one of those pass catchers.
10:07It's like, sketchy.
10:08So the Bills need to win this game big, I think.
10:10To your point, Sal, I agree.
10:12It needs to be...
10:15It's almost like the offense just needs to score a few points.
10:18That's fine.
10:19If they score 20, okay.
10:20But let's see a single digit on the other side.
10:23Six teams yesterday scored in single digits.
10:26After a week in which everybody's going bonkers with the scoring, and everybody's like, I bet
10:30the over.
10:32And Terry Bradshaw, at halftime of the one o'clock game, says, where is the points?
10:37As only Terry Bradshaw could.
10:40Where is the points?
10:41Well, some teams adjusted defensively.
10:45And let's see the Bills adjust and do that and have something come together.
10:51A semblance of working in the right direction.
10:56I guess maybe I just contradicted myself.
10:59Working in the right direction versus having a totally dominant performance.
11:03All right.
11:03I guess if I could see a breakdown here or there, but mostly they look like they're on
11:10their way for week four against the Patriots and finding some traction, I'll take that.
11:15But if it's just another game like the first two, yeah, that's a concern.
11:21I agree.
11:21And on the offensive side, we will find out a little bit more on Wednesday when Joe Brady
11:26meets the media for the first time and the Bills have practice, what the situation is
11:30with DJ Moore.
11:31Of course, Ty Johnson and Oliver as well.
11:33I'm expecting Ty to be maybe ready to play this week, considering Brady said he was close.
11:37He has been practicing now for a couple of weeks.
11:39But DJ Moore is the one and look, he has played 17 games, all 17 for 17 games for five
11:46straight
11:46years.
11:46I think it's 92, 91 or 92 straight games, including the play.
11:51Well, he only played one playoff, but whatever it is, but he, he, he prides himself on being
11:56available.
11:56He's going to want to play.
11:57And the report from me and Rappaport over the weekend was that he's going to practice.
12:02So we'll see where that goes.
12:04Now, if he does play and the Bills feel he's healthy enough and he can be on the field.
12:08Great.
12:09If not, at least they have 10 days to kind of formulate a plan.
12:12You have Skylar Bell there.
12:13You do have Greg Dortch.
12:14You've been elevating.
12:15You can add him in if you want to be a part of the offense, but at least they have
12:18that.
12:20But I don't need the Bills offense.
12:21It's great.
12:22I think they can.
12:22The Bills at any point against any team, it feels like they can put up 30 to 40 points.
12:28I don't need that to happen this week.
12:30I just need the offense to be efficient and make sure that the defense is better than it
12:34has been.
12:35The other piece of this, you brought up this weekend, all the things that happened.
12:37Did you guys see how many teams were getting stopped on short yardage situations this weekend?
12:41Yes.
12:42A ton of them.
12:43Connor McGovern mentioned that this morning with Jeremy and Joe.
12:45Yes, and I'm glad you brought it up because it's been one of these hot debates online
12:52about Ravens fans saying, oh my God, Josh Allen takes all these touchdowns from the one-yard
12:57line.
12:57Yeah, well, guess what?
12:58He's like the best goal line back in the league, and there's nothing guaranteed about actually
13:02scoring at the goal line.
13:03Right, and I'll echo a point that Sneaky Joe made this morning when talking about this.
13:08Lamar Jackson doesn't get those because he is far too fragile to do it.
13:14He's going to hurt himself in a pile like that, whereas Josh, the unicorn that he is,
13:19in McGovern's own words, he can just get in there and do it and be fine.
13:23He can take that beating, and that matters.
13:27That should be something that people give him credit for, not take it away from him for.
13:33To me, it's one of those things that people will find whatever they can to tear down the
13:40guy that they know might be better.
13:42So Josh Allen is 6'5", 237, and I think, let's say that's what he's listed as, and I think
13:50he may, in some ways he looks bigger than when he was.
13:54John Riggins was 6'2", 230.
13:57That's amazing!
13:58That's one of my favorite stats.
14:00He was like this beast running back when I was growing up.
14:03His nickname was Diesel.
14:06Larry Zonka.
14:07I heard...
14:086'3", 237.
14:09Same weight, but a little shorter than Josh Allen.
14:12I mean, these are guys, I mean, that's why Josh Allen plays the way he does, can play the
14:17way he does.
14:18It's not Randall Cunningham who looked like a stick figure, or Lamar Jackson, or even Doug
14:24Flutie, you know, scrambling around, running quarterbacks.
14:28Josh Allen is a fullback who can throw.
14:32Right.
14:32I heard Rich Eisen last week, it must have been on Friday, it was after they won, talk
14:37about, he's two players.
14:40He is a running back.
14:41You look at where he's at on the all-time touchdowns list, and he's among all-time great running
14:46backs, and he's an elite, like, all-world quarterback throwing the football.
14:51And that is invaluable, in the same way that Jackson can be just with a little more durability.
14:58Yeah, 18th on the all-time touchdown list.
15:00I think Marshawn Lynch is just ahead of him now.
15:01He's going to pass him.
15:03Curtis Martin.
15:04A few other really notable names are coming up.
15:06Priest Holmes, I think, is on that list.
15:08It's pretty notable there.
15:10Hey, I want to remind everybody, I am here at Nortown VW today, and 3800 Sheridan Drive,
15:14and they have the Cheesy Chick food truck out, they've had a whole bunch of people from VW
15:21go out there and grab some, what, cheesesteaks and chicken and all that, so come on by, and
15:27we've got the WGR team here with some swag.
15:29And we're going to do this again next Monday, I want you guys to remember a rhyme, you ready?
15:33Okay.
15:33Monday at Hyundai.
15:34Monday at Hyundai.
15:35Monday at Hyundai next week.
15:36All right.
15:36I will be at Nortown Hyundai next week on this show.
15:38Sounds good.
15:38But right now, if you want to catch all this, it's at 3800 Sheridan Drive in Amherst.
15:44That's right.
15:44Check out all the trucks and the donuts and the WGAR.
15:51So, I'm dealing with the flu, and I'm playing Hurt, and I'm on some drugs.
15:55Joe Calle's looking at me like, uh-huh, and how'd you get this job again?
15:59He's looking at me.
16:00You know that he's going to clip what you just said to make it open.
16:03That's fine.
16:03There's an open coming.
16:04I just gave you a WGAR, which is what I grew up listening to in Cleveland.
16:09Wow.
16:10And I had something happen to me a couple of months ago.
16:14I was getting gas, and they asked for my zip code, and I punched in my Nevada zip code
16:22from when I lived there in 1999 was the last year I lived there.
16:28I think I'm probably having some issues.
16:31That's all right.
16:32Well, you're almost to the finish line here, Tim.
16:34We'll make it.
16:35WGAR swag.
16:36If you can find some WGAR swag, or KNR, or WWWE, WMMS, get all those Cleveland stations.
16:46If you've got some swag, collect that for me.
16:49I'd appreciate it.
16:50But Sal out at 3800 Sheridan Drive in Amherst has WGR swag.
16:55I do, with the team.
16:57They were just playing Plinko over here, by the way, for some swag.
16:59Nice.
17:00Got the Plinko going on here.
17:01The Plinko game's fun.
17:01We had that at one of my remotes for Sabre's playoff game, pregame.
17:05The Plinko game's fun.
17:07Speaking of Cleveland, real quick, Tim.
17:09Oh, go ahead.
17:09Sorry.
17:09Speaking of Cleveland, they gave me a little note here to some talking points.
17:12One says, we have the most inventory on the ground from here to Ohio.
17:16So there you go.
17:17Oh, all right.
17:18Very cool.
17:19Oh, cars.
17:20Cars.
17:21Yes.
17:22North Town VW.
17:23Okay.
17:23So I was thinking swag.
17:24I'm like, what?
17:25Erie?
17:26What do they got in here?
17:27What won't they be giving us in Erie?
17:28Got a warehouse somewhere?
17:30Something in Dunkirk, perhaps?
17:33All right.
17:34Well, I'm sorry to torpedo that whole thing, but I eventually got around to it.
17:41Let's try it again in about four minutes when we come back after this break.
17:45What do you think, Sal?
17:45You want to try it again?
17:46I love it.
17:47Let's do it again.
17:47I'm having fun.
17:48All right, you're listening to WGR Middays, driven by Northtown Auto with Brad, Tim, and
17:52Owen, although minus Brad, so it's just Tim and Owen plus Sal.
17:56We'll figure out the math at some point.
17:58This is WGR.
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