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00:01That is Dorian Williams' interception from last night.
00:05One of the both Bills linebackers who picked a ball off yesterday.
00:09I would say Williams was a little more impressive.
00:11Bernard kind of got a softball pitch right to his chest.
00:14Almost another one, too.
00:15I know, I know.
00:16It's really quite something.
00:19But good night for those guys.
00:20Good night for the defense.
00:21Good night for the Bills overall as they beat the Vikings by a score of 23-6
00:26on Monday Night Football.
00:28Moved to 7-1.
00:29They are atop the AFC.
00:31We are discussing that and the NFL trade deadline,
00:35which is ticking closer and closer.
00:37We are about four and a half hours away.
00:39Four o'clock is the deadline for Brandon Bean and all NFL GMs
00:44to make their final trades of the year.
00:47It is a big day.
00:49It's a lot of tension.
00:50There's a lot of people that really want to see something, and I'm with you.
00:54We will see what we get.
00:56But before we get back to your calls and just me and you,
00:59I've got one part of this amazing show that we've got going here on WGR 550.
01:05On the Western Hotline, joining me for a quick discussion on this game last night
01:11and the trade deadline, Tim Graham.
01:13Tim, how's it going, my friend?
01:15It's going okay.
01:16I'm in the Twin Cities Airport, but I'm rolling the dice a little bit.
01:20I found a nice quiet spot to do this, and I'm flying out of the F gates.
01:26Now, there's a sign with an arrow that says F gates this way, and I can see a corridor.
01:32So, either around that corner are the actual F gates, or I may have a hike ahead of me.
01:38I don't know.
01:39And you know what?
01:39I don't care.
01:40I'm going to find out.
01:41This is how I'm enjoying my day.
01:43Well, I'm happy to be here enjoying it with you, Tim.
01:47So, let's start with the game last night.
01:49Nate, what did you make of the performance of the offense?
01:53I want to start there because I think this was, that was the matchup to see last night
01:58was the Bills offense versus the Vikings defense.
02:01It was a slow start.
02:02It took them some time, but they found their way to a decent day, and Josh Allen was slow
02:09starting as well, but got himself into a good spot, finished the game very strong.
02:13What were your thoughts on how the Bills offense handled that monster of a defense in Minnesota?
02:20You know, it was, I guess, too easy for me to slip into the boxing metaphors when it
02:25came to writing my story, but there was a lot of blood and guts type quotes coming from
02:30the Bills locker room, too.
02:33But to me, it felt like hovering a big time boxing match.
02:38And, you know, I've covered some of the bigger ones from the 90s on, De La Hoya Chavez,
02:45Pacquiao Mayweather, Tyson Holyfield.
02:49And it just had that feeling whenever those two units were on the field at the same time.
02:55And I'm probably being a prisoner of the moment, so I would like to think about it a little bit
03:02more and maybe go through some of the games that I've seen.
03:05But I feel like that may have been the best offensive performance I've seen out of the
03:09Bills in the Josh Allen era.
03:12Maybe they've had more prolific days, more explosive plays, more fun days, you know,
03:19hooks and laterals and, you know, whatever.
03:23They got one of those in there yesterday.
03:25They did, actually.
03:26Yes, they did.
03:27And on a second down while leading in the second quarter or something ridiculous, usually that's
03:33a desperation play when you're trailing late.
03:35But it's just, it was great to watch the, because that Vikings defense gave up 23 points
03:45eventually.
03:47But they were so good.
03:50And to see the Bills withstand, it was just a different type of victory for that offense.
03:55It wasn't, we're going to run free, you know, around your linebackers.
04:00We're going to stretch the field.
04:02James Cook's going to average six and a half yards of carry.
04:04This was just cutting it out between the tackles.
04:10James Cook pounding it away until he can break one, eroding the Vikings defense by time of
04:16possession.
04:17And of course, Carson Wentz really helped the Bills out in that regard by not being able
04:22to stay on the field.
04:23But to look at the second half and the Bills with it, to start the second half with a 14
04:31play drive, and then they had a four play drive real quick.
04:36But then of course, Wentz can't stay on the field.
04:38So the Bills are right back on the field and put on a 15 play drive.
04:42That's just where you take the will away from even the greatest defense out there.
04:46And that's why, like I say, it may be prisoner of the moment, recency bias, but that, what
04:52I saw last night was probably my favorite performance that I've seen out of that Bills offense.
04:59I'm right there with you, Tim.
05:01I was so impressed in many ways by how they went about it last night.
05:08We talked to Austin Corbett earlier this morning, and he talked about how Joe Brady said in the
05:13locker room, it's okay if we're getting stuff for two yards on our runs early here.
05:17We are going to stick with it, and we're going to do it all night, and eventually we're going
05:21to fall forward for eight instead of two.
05:23And it's going to kill them, and they win the time of possession battle by almost 30 minutes
05:28in that game.
05:29And it just, it was the kind of performance that proves to me that this offense, Josh
05:34Allen, can win whatever way they feel is necessary.
05:38And that's exciting, I think, to think about.
05:40Yeah, I heard on Minnesota radio this morning, and they didn't cite the stat.
05:45I couldn't find time of possession that goes back until the beginning of time.
05:48But I could, I know that it was the biggest time of possession for the Bills since 1989.
05:56Wow.
05:56And it tied for second in that time.
06:00There was an overtime game in which they tied what they did last night.
06:04But on Minnesota radio this morning, they said it was the lowest time of possession in
06:08Vikings history.
06:10And that's a long, long history.
06:13That's a blue blood organization.
06:15So, yeah, I think it's the grittiness of it that I liked.
06:18It wasn't pretty.
06:19It wasn't that it was highlight reel plays and splashing and, you know, dicing and turning
06:27on the Jets and Josh Allen hurling dudes and all the fun stuff.
06:31There weren't a ton of those offensive plays that you would put on a highlight reel.
06:35I mean, if you were to take a look at the end of the season, how many plays, except Koleki
06:40Latu's first NFL touchdown on a milestone?
06:44Because that was kind of an ordinary play, too.
06:46Yep.
06:47Throwing into the back of the end zone.
06:49Guys get open back.
06:50There are, especially on scramble plays, all the time.
06:53Yeah.
06:55That one, Tim, felt to me like that is the classic Josh Allen touchdown.
07:00Escape the pocket.
07:01Escape a little pressure.
07:02Throw to a guy who's wide open because you just extended a play out.
07:05Right.
07:06Buy time, buy time, buy time, buy time.
07:08And the defense maybe pulls up a little in case he's going to run.
07:12So that buys him that extra half second and just spots a guy.
07:16He had two dudes wide open back there.
07:18I can't remember who the other player was, but he almost had his choice at the end of
07:22the play.
07:23But yeah, there's nothing that you're going.
07:25I mean, maybe something's eluding me right now as I'm thinking of just the gutty style
07:30plays, the two yard.
07:31Oh, well, okay.
07:32Actually, I just thought of one, but it's also gutsiness.
07:35Maybe Austin Corbett brought this up because he brought it up to me.
07:38When I spoke with him last night, he told me his favorite play was the first play of
07:43the second half when Carson Wentz throws the interception to Dorian Williams, the sound
07:48that just brought us in from commercial.
07:51Very next play, James Cook is stuffed for yet another of his one or two yard gains.
07:56And the pile kept going and going.
07:59And then you're wondering where the whistle is.
08:01And Spencer Brown is in the back of the pile shoving.
08:04You can't even see James Cook anymore.
08:06He's just engulfed by so many bills and Vikings.
08:10And it ends up being a gain of nine yards.
08:13And that was, I think, Corbett told me that.
08:17And I overheard another player, it might have been Spencer Brown, say that that's kind of
08:21when they knew they had him.
08:23Yeah.
08:23And finally, that they had broken through and that it took that kind of effort to do it.
08:28I thought it was a really impressive night for them.
08:31I didn't know how much I would take out of that game.
08:34And I thought they showed a lot of guts.
08:36And I thought they showed a lot of commitment to understanding what it was going to take
08:40in that football game.
08:41And that's good to see.
08:42How about the defensive side, Tim?
08:44This is the third week in a row to me.
08:47Third game in a row, not week.
08:48There was a buy in there.
08:49But third game in a row where you say, well, the defense was great, except they played this
08:56quarterback and it was a terrible day.
08:58How much are you taking away from what the defense did last night?
09:03Not a lot other than momentum, traction.
09:06A lot of people don't even believe in momentum.
09:08But here's a stat that I hope Brandon Bean doesn't really lean into or love.
09:14Buffalo Bills PR Twitter account posted this last night after the game.
09:19Last of the two games, the Bills defense has three or more takeaways, multiple sacks, under
09:25200 total yards allowed, under 50% completions allowed, no passing touchdowns allowed.
09:31The last NFL team to do that in back-to-back games was the 1985 Bears, the legendary 85
09:40Bears, who I probably, if you gave me a minute, could rattle off every starting member of that
09:48defense and a couple of backups 41 years later.
09:52From my memory, that defense was so amazing.
09:57And if the Bills are looking at that in the front office and saying, geez, man, we're not
10:01doing stuff since Mike Singletary and Dave Duerson and the Refrigerator Perry were just
10:09clearing out offenses left and right.
10:11Maybe we don't need to do anything at the tree deadline.
10:13I'd be a little scared.
10:14But yeah, it's Joe Fignano played better last week than Carson Wentz did last night.
10:23And that's not an exaggeration.
10:26So it's difficult to look at.
10:28In fact, it was late in the first pass.
10:31I posted something to the Athletics Live blog about the safety play.
10:35And you hope that Brandon Bean's not reading too much into it.
10:38Dee Alford, late in the second quarter, I think, was the only member of the defensive
10:44backfield that had a tackle.
10:46And that's not a bad stat.
10:47That is, guys weren't getting back there.
10:49They didn't have to make plays.
10:52They were being called on to break up passes.
10:54Carson Wentz couldn't throw the ball beyond the linebackers.
10:58And the runners weren't getting there either.
10:59So Cole Bishop, Damar Hamlin, Geno Stone had no tackles, no pass breakups, because they're
11:05just standing back there waiting for something to happen.
11:08And that's how good the Bills' defensive line is, yes.
11:14Greg Rousseau had a great game, of course.
11:18Deion Walker played well.
11:19You can go along the line.
11:21Bradley Chumper was great, too.
11:23Yeah.
11:23But, I mean, come on.
11:26I mean, the Vikings, the U.S. Bank Stadium was booing that team and waiting for the third
11:34string quarterback to come into the game.
11:36It was one of the loudest cheers of the second half was when Brosmer finally came in.
11:41But the game was out of hand by then.
11:42And then he comes in and starts throwing strikes.
11:46And you had to wonder if the game might have been different if Kevin O'Connell had pulled
11:51the trigger.
11:51But he didn't.
11:52And the Bills racked up some elite defensive stats for a second week in a row.
11:57Yeah, no doubt.
11:58All right.
11:58Well, how about just briefly, Tim, before I let you go, what are you expecting today
12:03ahead of the 4 o'clock trade deadline?
12:05We know Brandon Bean is speaking with the media following the deadline.
12:09There's a lot of clamoring for a move.
12:11What are you thinking today?
12:14Well, I don't know.
12:15In terms of, I don't have any inside info at the moment other than, you know, what has
12:21kind of been out there already regarding leaning defense.
12:23The whole one, if he has one bullet quote that he gave to John Worrow of the Associated
12:29Press last week.
12:30And, but Joe Biscaglia, the athletic, he did not go to the game last night for purposes
12:38of covering today.
12:39I was going to say boots on the ground, but with Joe, it's fancy shoes on the ground to
12:44cover in case I am in the air when something happens.
12:49But part of me, and this would be a reference for Buffalo sports fans of a certain vintage.
12:54Part of me thinks this could be a Bob Porkham trade deadline where Brandon Bean does something
13:00for the sake of doing something.
13:04And we'll see if he can find a trade partner that can make it better than that.
13:09But that's, that'll be my, my over under is a Bob Porkham trade deadline day, which
13:15is a little bit better than nothing.
13:17Yep.
13:18But we'll see if Brandon Bean finally comes through and gets done what the fans have been
13:26anxious or eager to see here for quite some time.
13:30Yeah.
13:30I'm, I'm very curious where things end up today and where they leave the fan base feeling.
13:36Like if it is that what you're describing, which I think is most likely the outcome, I
13:40think there's going to be a lot of really angry people.
13:43And I just don't, I don't know that that's entirely fair, but I definitely don't think
13:47it's unfair.
13:48I think that I've said this uneasy is justified because they are seven and one and the offense
13:56is playing the way it is.
13:58And the defense is showing maybe we're still like, come on, these quarterbacks, we can
14:03rationalize however way we want to look at it.
14:06But I think that if they didn't add to the defense, Owen, that I think there would be
14:11a, a belief from the fans of just maybe, and then we wouldn't know for another couple of
14:16weeks until they face another good offense.
14:18But at least it would, I don't know, I don't, I don't believe, I don't believe in, uh, defenses
14:27finding themselves, uh, against, uh, rubbish opponents, but maybe, you know, maybe they find
14:34something in here that, that flips the switch.
14:36We'll see.
14:37We'll see.
14:37Well, thank you very much for making some time, Tim, on your travels back home.
14:41You're in here tomorrow for all four hours with me.
14:43Is that right?
14:44I would love nothing more.
14:45Well, well then I look forward to it as much as I could anything, my friend.
14:50All right.
14:50Get, get home safe, get home safe.
14:52And, uh, I'll see you in the morning, my friend.
14:55Uh, I will be right back after this break here on WGR middays driven by North town automotive.
15:01And we are going to keep rolling through your calls.
15:04803-0550.
15:05If you've got a thought on the game last night, trade deadline, who you want to see the bills
15:10trade for, who you think the bills will trade for, uh, you know, sneak
15:13a sabers thought in here.
15:14They're at practice right now.
15:16Lukanen's in the starters net.
15:17We've got some weird new lines, uh, but that's, you know, that's, that's a distant thought
15:23right now, especially on the day that it is with the bills winning last night over the
15:28Vikings and the trade deadline today.
15:30So we will be right back here on WGR stick with me.