TONY’S TAKE – A PREVIEW OF BILLS-EAGLES
- Tony Fiorello
- Dec 27, 2025
- 22 min read
by Tony Fiorello
Welcome to Week 17 of the 2025 NFL season. Here at Buffalo Sports Page we will attempt to inform and educate our readers about the Buffalo Bills’ upcoming opponent and what each team might do to emerge victorious.
The Bills’ 16th game of 2025 will take place at Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park, New York as they face the Philadelphia Eagles. Here’s what you should know:
EAGLES’ OFFENSE A DUAL THREAT
After Doug Pederson brought a Super Bowl championship to Philadelphia in 2017, things began to sour rather quickly in the City of Brotherly Love. Following a deterioration of talent thanks to age, free agency and the salary cap, general manager Howie Roseman let go of Pederson and hired his replacement in former Indianapolis Colts offensive coordinator Nick Sirianni.
Sirianni, who worked for Pederson’s championship-winning offensive coordinator Frank Reich, has brought a similar system to the Eagles. It’s a West Coast-style unit that’s built off misdirection, quick underneath throws (especially on slant-flat routes), screens, bootlegs, run-pass options and vertical shots borrowed from the Coryell system. Sirianni and offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo also rarely utilize formations from under center – except for their patented “Tush Push” play, their famous (or infamous) version of a quarterback sneak – and have increased their number of “empty” sets and three-by-one alignments to spread the field and create easier reads in the passing game.
Patullo and former play-caller Kellen Moore (now the head coach in New Orleans) have done a good job of using tight splits for their wide receivers to get defenders to commit to soft coverage and defeat them with double moves, and they’ll also go no-huddle from time to time. But overall, Philly’s passing game doesn’t have a lot of concepts in their passing game – there are very few bunch and stack alignments, and motion and combination routes have been kept to a minimum. It’s proven to be effective, however, as evidenced by the team winning Super Bowl LIX.
The Eagles’ top offensive weapon is arguably running back extraordinaire Saquon Barkley. The 6-foot, 233-pound Barkley evokes comparisons to Hall of Famers Marshall Faulk and Barry Sanders for good reason – able to make plays in both the passing and running game, Barkley possesses the strength and quickness to break tackles and slither in and out of gaps. The quote “Give me 18 inches of daylight, that’s all I need” from Gale Sayers certainly applies to Philly’s tailback, as he can make big plays with his burst and excellent vision – as evidenced by nearly breaking Eric Dickerson’s single-season rushing yardage record in 2024.
The Eagles have consistently been a top-10 rushing offense in the NFL over the last five years. They were second last year and were eighth, fifth and first in each of Sirianni’s seasons at the helm of Philadelphia – as of now they’re just 15th, but that’s due to a slow start in part because of injuries and have looked like their old selves in recent weeks.
Helping them in that department has been quarterback Jalen Hurts. Hurts, a product of Oklahoma, has utilized his mobility on several types of read option plays with zone, power and counter concepts built into them and capitalized by rushing for double-digit touchdowns in each of the last four years (he has eight in 2025). He also has a strong arm and his accuracy, ability to identify coverages, manipulate safeties with his eyes and decision-making post-snap has grown by leaps and bounds while executing a passing game with defined primary reads.
But Hurts has developed a habit of looking at the opposing pass rush too much and bailing out of the pocket prematurely, and he needs to get rid of the ball quicker. He also doesn’t like throwing the ball into tight windows over the middle and is more comfortable throwing downfield and outside the numbers.
To accelerate his growth, in 2022 Roseman acquired one of pro football’s most physical wide receivers in A.J. Brown from the Tennessee Titans. Brown, perhaps the Eagles’ best pass-catching threat since Terrell Owens, performs well in high-low concepts and he, deep threat DeVonta Smith, slot receiver Jahan Dotson and tight end Dallas Goedert (a red zone threat) make up one of the NFL’s best receiving corps.
Blocking for Hurts and his cohorts is an elite offensive line made up of Lane Johnson (out for Sunday), Jordan Mailata, Landon Dickerson, Tyler Steen and Cam Jurgens. They’ve become one of the best thanks to the development prowess of position coach Jeff Stoutland and can execute most rushing concepts (gap schemes, duo, inside zone, outside zone etc.).
Beyond their rushing accolades, the Eagles were also eighth in total yards and seventh in scoring in 2024 but just 29th in passing. In 2025 it’s been more of the same, as they’re only 23rd in passing, 22nd in total yards and 16th in scoring. But Philly is first in red zone efficiency.
PHILLY DEFENSE IS FANTASTIC
The Eagles’ defensive play-caller from 2022, Jonathan Gannon, is now in Arizona as head coach of the Cardinals. He was replaced by former Chicago Bears coordinator Sean Desai, and both were avid fans of longtime defensive guru Vic Fangio (a consultant for the Eagles in ‘22).
Gannon took Fangio’s approach and got impressive results with them while leading Philly to a Super Bowl berth. Desai, meanwhile, struggled in 2023 which led to an in-season demotion in favor of Matt Patricia and neither were brought back. Instead, Sirianni opted to re-hire Fangio.
Fangio doesn’t like to blitz much. Relying on a four-man pass rush with stunts, twists and slants and two-deep safety looks often, he employs well-disguised hybrid coverages that feature man and zone concepts – especially Cover Four, or “quarters”, with each defensive back dividing the field into fourths and matchup principles to take away vertical concepts (although they’ve incorporated more single-high man coverages such as Cover One as of late, and they also utilized a lot of man against Kansas City in last year’s Super Bowl).
Cover Four has been gaining in popularity in recent years throughout the NFL. According to Smart Football’s Chris B. Brown, “It’s the most important defensive scheme of the past decade…. At first glance, Cover 4 looks like an anti-pass prevent tactic, with four secondary defenders playing deep. But therein lies its magic. The four defenders are actually playing a matchup zone concept, in which the safety reads the tight end or inside receiver. If an offensive player lined up inside releases on a short pass route or doesn’t release into the route, the safety can help double-team the outside receiver. If the inside receiver breaks straight downfield, it becomes more like man coverage. This variance keeps quarterbacks guessing and prevents defenses from being exploited by common pass plays like four verticals, which killed eight-man fronts.
“The real key to Cover 4, however, is that against the run both safeties become rush defenders (remember, the outside cornerbacks play deep). This allows defenses to play nine men in the box against the run – a hat-tip to the 46’s overwhelming force.”
Although the Eagles were just 17th versus the run, they ended 2022 second in total yards given up, first against the pass, eighth in points allowed, tied for fourth in takeaways and were first in sacks with an eye-popping 70 – 15 more than the second-closest team (Kansas City). In fact, Philadelphia became just the fourth team ever to reach 70 sacks in a season – along with the 1984 and ’87 Bears and ’89 Minnesota Vikings – and were just three away from breaking the ’84 Bears’ all-time record.
In 2023 the Eagles’ defense fell off a cliff. While 10th against the run, they were just 19th in sacks, 26th in total yards surrendered, second-last against the pass and tied for 23rd in takeaways. With Fangio now back, Philly’s defense is back as well – they were first in total yards and against the pass (the first team ever to go from 22nd or worse to first), 10th versus the run, second in points allowed, sixth in takeaways and tied for 13th in sacks a year ago, and in 2025 they’re third in scoring, 12th in total yards and seventh versus the pass but just 21st against the run.
To have success this way, you need to get pressure from a defensive line that has depth and talent. Which the Eagles have in spades, allowing them to use a 5-2 base front at the line of scrimmage (a departure from most teams who use a four or three-man unit).
It helps that Philly has rebuilt this unit from one that was veteran-laden into one of the youngest in the NFL. Once boasting names such as Fletcher Cox, Haason Reddick, Linval Joseph, Derek Barnett, Javon Hargrave, Ndamukong Suh, Robert Quinn, Milton Williams, Josh Sweat and Bryce Huff, now the Eagles can roll out names like Brandon Graham, Jordan Davis, Jalen Carter, Nolan Smith, Josh Uche (out for Sunday), Moro Ojomo and trade deadline pickup Jaelan Phillips on every snap and not miss a beat.
More change has come at the second and third levels of their defense. While cornerbacks Darius Slay, James Bradberry and Avonte Maddox have all departed, the Eagles have their replacements after drafting Quinyon Mitchell from Toledo in the first round and Cooper DeJean from Iowa in the second in 2024.
Mitchell has become an elite cover specialist and DeJean has displayed good blitzing ability, patience and physicality at the top of opponents’ routes from both the nickel position and outside (their third corner is veteran Adoree’ Jackson). Safety Marcus Epps has returned to hold down the back end along with Reed Blankenship – C.J. Gardner-Johnson, one of the game’s smartest centerfielders who can also play in the slot, wasn’t brought back after last year’s Super Bowl triumph.
After employing T.J. Edwards and Kyzir White at linebacker in ‘22 and Zach Cunningham and Nick Morrow a year later, Philly has also upgraded this position in the form of Zack Baun, Nakobe Dean (currently injured) and rookie Jihaad Campbell. Baun has made a near-seamless transition from the defensive line due to his excellent awareness, Dean’s a good blitzer and has a knack for keeping backside contain against the run and Campbell is long and athletic with solid coverage skills.
BUFFALO’S DEFENSE USUALLY GOOD, BUT HAS HAD A ROUGH 2024 AND ‘25
For most of head coach Sean McDermott’s time in Buffalo, the Bills’ defense was one of the league’s best. Points allowed (fourth in the NFL in that category in 2023), total yards per game allowed (ninth), passing yards given up (seventh), rushing yards surrendered (15th), takeaways (third), interceptions (tied for fourth) and sacks (fourth, tied for second-most in their history with the 2014 team) have generally been the categories that the Bills have excelled at over the years, with 2023’s sack total being the best of the McDermott era.
2024, however, was a year of transition for the Bills on defense. Due to age and salary cap complications, out the door were longtime veterans such as Jordan Poyer, Tre’Davious White, Dane Jackson, Shaq Lawson, Leonard Floyd, Linval Joseph, Tim Settle, Kaylon “Poona” Ford and Tyrel Dodson.
Especially when one includes names from the past on the defensive line such as Kyle Williams, Marcel Dareus, Jerry Hughes, Mario Addison, Star Lotulelei, Quinton Jefferson, Carlos “Boogie” Basham, Trent Murphy, Vernon Butler, Justin Zimmer, Efe Obada, Harrison Phillips, Dawuane Smoot, Austin Johnson and Casey Toohill – that’s a lot of turnover during the last eight years. The answer, according to McDermott, general manager Brandon Beane and defensive coordinator Bobby Babich, is youth and cheap veterans to provide cost-effective depth (Buffalo made it to the AFC title game last year with the third-most dead money on the salary cap in the NFL and used just 71 percent of the cap).
Some of those younger players – albeit young veterans since they are in their fifth and sixth professional seasons, respectively – who have been asked to take on a greater role include Greg Rousseau and A.J. Epenesa, who can both line up on the edge and go inside in passing situations. Da’Quan Jones (out for Sunday), perhaps their best run-stuffing lineman, is effective on T-T stunts with Ed Oliver (out for the rest of the regular season), an excellent gap penetrator.
They are backed up by familiar faces in Lawson and Jordan Phillips (out for Sunday) and second-year men Javon Solomon and DeWayne Carter (Carter is out for the season with a torn Achilles tendon) while rookies Deone Walker, T.J. Sanders and Landon Jackson (currently injured) learn the ropes of the NFL. Ex-Charger Joey Bosa, a five-time Pro Bowler and 10-year pro, fills the role that future Hall of Famer Von Miller settled into after a torn ACL 11 games into his first season compromised his play on the field. Additionally, veterans Matthew Judon, Larry Ogunjobi and Michael Hoecht provide valuable depth (Hoecht, out for the season after tearing his Achilles tendon, is an intelligent and versatile chess piece who can be deployed in multiple ways).
Over the years Buffalo has been inconsistent in two areas – creating a consistent pass rush and stopping the run. The run issues are mainly caused by poor tackling (their missed and broken tackle percentage has been among the highest in the NFL for years), a lack of gap integrity, subpar eye discipline, inefficient communication and an inability to get off blocks and handle motion and misdirection (which causes issues with leverage, spacing and run fits). Perhaps the infusion of new faces can eventually put those issues to bed once and for all, but they’ve reared their ugly heads yet again in 2025.
Schematically the Bills’ defense mostly relies on basic zones after the snap (they’re typically among the top units in the NFL in usage of coverages with two high safeties such as Cover Two, Two-Man, Four and Six, although they’ve used more single-high coverages -recently so they could put more bodies in the box to stop the run and to limit communication) but before the snap it is complex. Safety rotations to disguise their intentions keep opposing quarterbacks guessing and selective pressure looks at the line of scrimmage and coverage exchanges are the team’s calling cards, although they’ve incorporated more fire zones as of late.
Those blitz looks usually happen in the A-gaps with the smaller, but smart, speedy and athletic Matt Milano and Terrell Bernard to confuse opposing offensive lines and quarterbacks, but Buffalo rarely sends five or more pass rushers – their favorite blitz tactic besides A-gappers are four-man zone exchanges. In 2024’s regular season they were 27th in blitz rate but Buffalo blitzed Lamar Jackson on 15 out of 31 drop-backs (48.4%) in the playoffs, their fifth-highest blitz rate in a game under McDermott and their highest in a game since Week 15 of 2021, according to Next Gen Stats.
Bernard has become a good blitzer and coverage ‘backer – his 6.5 sacks in 2023 were the most by an off-the-ball linebacker in Bills annals and he became the first NFL player since Seth Joyner in 1991 with six sacks, three picks and three fumble recoveries in a season. He and Milano are also adept at being used to spy quarterbacks – they spied Jackson on every third down in last year’s postseason – but Bernard, like most of his teammates, has dealt with injuries and hasn’t quite looked like himself.
For the third straight year, Milano suffered another major injury – this time a pectoral problem (although he’s healthy for now). When he misses time, Dorian Williams usually picks up the slack. Williams has displayed flashes of quickness and burst but is sometimes slow to key and diagnose at the line of scrimmage. He also takes many false steps and needs to process better while in coverage, but is athletic, long and fluid and has improved with more experience game by game. He had increased playing time in the playoffs to stop Baltimore’s running game, as evidenced by being on the field for a third of Buffalo’s snaps.
Additional depth comes from former Carolina Panther Shaq Thompson and Joe Andreessen. Andreessen, a University at Buffalo product who hails from nearby Lancaster, showed excellent diagnostic skills at the line of scrimmage in the preseason while also displaying strong hands, a quick downhill trigger that allows him to shoot gaps well and some speed and range. It helps that he played in a similar role as Milano while in college. Thompson, meanwhile, has turned back the clock with some strong performances in both pass coverage and run support.
The Bills have mainly utilized nickel personnel over the last several years (90.8 percent in ’21, 94.8 in ’22, 79.7 in ’23, 78.3 last year and around 60 so far this year) but their percentage of 4-3 base personnel has gone up this year to combat the run (around 20 percent in ’25 and they’ve added in some 3-3-5 looks down the stretch). When Milano is out with injury, they’ve also increased their usage of dime personnel with three safeties to help offset his loss in pass coverage (17.2 percent in ’23, 15.9 in ’24 and around 20 so far this year) and in the past, that setup featured Poyer near the line of scrimmage, Micah Hyde and ex-Ram Taylor Rapp on the back end.
The Bills’ safety position is currently manned by the aging but still capable Poyer (out for Sunday) and Cole Bishop (an underrated and cerebral athlete who can also drop down in the box). Rapp, who is better playing near the line of scrimmage and the rangy and physical but inconsistent Damar Hamlin are both on injured reserve – filling their absence is veteran Darnell Savage.
At the boundary cornerback spots are White (who, like Poyer, is back after a year away to replace Rasul Douglas) and Christian Benford, and they are backed up by Jackson (another experienced face back on the practice squad) and speedy rookies Max Hairston and Dorian Strong (also on injured reserve). Slot corner Taron Johnson remains strong in the quickness and tackling departments and he’s backed up by Cam Lewis and rookie Jordan Hancock, who can both fill in at safety too. Hancock has shown to be effective as a single-high post defender.
2024 saw the Bills end the regular season 11th in points allowed, 12th against the run, 17th in total yards, tied for 18th in sacks and 24th versus the pass. They were also 29th in third down percentage, gave up the most completions, yards and touchdowns in the NFL on screen plays and allowed nine touchdowns on plays of four seconds or longer – the most in the league according to Cover 1’s Eric Turner. However, they were third in takeaways and were fifth-best in allowing plays of 20 yards or more.
Yet this unit’s 2025 season has been quite uneven. Although they’re second versus the pass, they’re 11th in total yards given up, 15th in points allowed and third-worst versus the run (their number of takeaways has gone up – Buffalo had just five in their first six games and now have had 15 in their last nine to be tied for eighth). Clearly McDermott – who has had a bigger say in play-calling on gameday lately – and Babich have their work cut out for them on this side of the ball.
BILLS’ OFFENSE IS UPPER-ECHELON, BUT QUESTIONS PERSIST ABOUT PASSING GAME
For six consecutive seasons, the Bills have boasted one of the NFL’s elite offenses for the first time since the K-Gun was running roughshod over the league more than 30 years ago. Led by quarterback Josh Allen’s improved processing skills both pre and post-snap, ball placement, patience within the pocket and touch on passes and a cadre of gifted pass-catchers, those factors have allowed Buffalo to become one of the most feared attacks in pro football.
Last year the strong-armed and mobile Allen was ninth in passer rating and rushing touchdowns and tied for seventh in passing scores. That allowed him to be named the NFL’s Most Valuable Player by the Associated Press, an honor previously bestowed upon just two other Bills (Thurman Thomas in 1991 and O.J. Simpson in ‘73).
In 2023 Buffalo was sixth in scoring, fourth in total yards, seventh in rushing and eighth in passing. They were also fifth in red zone efficiency, yet their offense performed poorly over a six-game stretch where they averaged just 20.5 points per game. It resulted in then-offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey getting the boot in favor of quarterbacks coach and former Carolina Panthers play-caller Joe Brady.
Like their defensive counterparts, the Bills went through changes on this side of the ball because of age, the salary cap and a new coordinator. With Brady taking over the role full-time, the biggest philosophical question on offense for Buffalo was how to retain elements of what made them so good in the first place while adding new and fresh concepts.
Between 2018 and ‘23, Buffalo’s offense was an Erhardt-Perkins system brought in from New England by then-coordinator Brian Daboll. It was built upon concepts involving option and crossing routes from the slot, downfield routes from the outside, run-pass options (especially in the red zone), designed quarterback runs to take advantage of Allen’s mobility and alignments that created favorable matchups and some trick plays with jet/orbit motion and sweeps. It was mostly out of “11” personnel groupings (one back, one tight end and three wide receivers) and “10” personnel (one back, no tight ends, four receivers) – and they would also go no-huddle from time to time to limit the opposition’s defensive calls.
The Bills’ multi-receiver sets were traditionally their offensive calling card. In 2020 they used four wide receivers or more 155 times – the second-most in the NFL at the time – and they utilized someone in motion on 43 percent of their offensive snaps, a huge increase from their 25 percent rate in 2019. Daboll, the ex-head coach of the New York Giants, also called for a passing play on 64 percent of their first downs, according to ESPN Stats and Information – no team with a winning record in the prior 20 years did it more than Buffalo. Heading into Week 17 the Bills are now the opposite as they pass on first down at one of the lowest rates in the NFL.
Daboll’s successor, Ken Dorsey, got away from some of those concepts and tried to rely on the talent at his disposal winning one-on-one matchups instead of having the scheme get them open. Once Brady was promoted, the Bills returned to them. He also included more under-center formations and play-action (which can still stand to increase after being a top-four team in run-fakes in 2020 and ’21), pre-snap shifts, motions and designed passes to running backs and route combinations with defined reads for Allen so he can play within timing and structure, but he does need to be better at creating spacing in his route concepts – especially at the intermediate levels.
Brady got his start in the NFL working for the New Orleans Saints and then-coach Sean Payton. Payton himself came from a melting pot of a background including stints running the Erhardt-Perkins scheme for Bill Parcells in Dallas and learning the West Coast offense from Jim Fassel with the New York Giants and from Jon Gruden during their one-year stint together in Philadelphia in 1997, so Brady will bring a similar approach to the table while likely keeping some things the same in Buffalo.
Their biggest transaction on offense last year was trading the aging Stefon Diggs to Houston. Diggs (now in New England), while never a burner on the outside, was an exceptional route runner who specialized in making contested catches and operated well out of bunch and stack formations – leading him to re-write many of the Bills’ single season receiving records.
In addition to Diggs, Buffalo has let veterans like John Brown, Emmanuel Sanders, Cole Beasley, Isaiah McKenzie, Jamison Crowder, Trent Sherfield, Deonte Harty and Amari Cooper walk over the years. Many of them were productive, but nothing can last forever – hence the overhaul of the Bills’ wide receiver room.
The Payton offense is built through having big, physical targets who can get open over the middle of the field, especially on deep in-cuts, or “dig” routes (although Buffalo hasn’t utilized them much). Payton has employed such players in those roles before like Marques Colston, Jimmy Graham, Michael Thomas and Courtland Sutton, and the drafting of Keon Coleman from Florida State last year fits the bill for Brady.
Coleman, whose game evoked comparisons to Colston, Brandon Marshall and Anquan Boldin coming out of college, brings size and physicality to the boundary ‘X’ position (and possibly the slot) with good body control and strong hands to make contested catches and has some run after the catch ability. He does need to work on his speed, quickness and ability to beat press coverage – along with learning how to be a pro athlete – but in time he may improve in those areas.
Along with Coleman is Curtis Samuel (out for Sunday), who can line up both in the slot and outside the numbers and take handoffs, free agent pickup Joshua Palmer and the speedy pair of Brandin Cooks and Mecole Hardman. Shifty pass-catcher Khalil Shakir mans the slot with his quickness, sure hands and savviness to get open versus zone coverage, Gabriel Davis has returned to supply depth and Tyrell Shavers, a good blocker, has proven to be a new weapon after making the team’s active roster out of training camp. Overall, this group doesn’t possess a ton of speed beyond Cooks and Hardman – which makes the ability to manufacture intermediate and vertical plays harder.
Tight end Dawson Knox is joined by Dalton Kincaid and their diverse skillsets have allowed the Bills to throw curveballs at opponents with multiple tight end sets. Kincaid, who can line up as the boundary ‘X’ receiver in three-by-one alignments, lived up to the hype with 73 receptions as a rookie two years ago, the most of any first-year Bill and surpassed Pete Metzelaars for the most catches by a Bills tight end in one season. He also became the fourth rookie tight end since 1960 with 70 or more catches in a year.
The Bills’ offensive line is composed of Dion Dawkins, David Edwards, Connor McGovern (taking over at center for the departed Mitch Morse), O’Cyrus Torrence and Spencer Brown. This crew, along with fullback Reggie Gilliam has mainly executed outside zone runs along with zone-reads, pin-and-pull concepts, traps (especially with Dawkins as the puller), counters, sweeps, split inside zone/duo and sprint draw plays sprinkled in for running back James Cook.
Cook, who has rushed for over 1,000 yards in three straight seasons – the first back to accomplish that feat for Buffalo since Thurman Thomas did it eight years in a row from 1989-96 – boasts great vision, patience, burst and cutback ability (he also has six fumbles, the most in the NFL) and is backed up by physical second-year man Ray Davis, who is also excelling as a kick returner. Ex-Jet Ty Johnson brings solid receiving skills to the table.
The starting front five used to be iffy in providing push in the running game and in pass protection but has become a strength in recent years. In the past, most of the team’s rushing production came from Allen’s legs and few came from their backs – the Bills’ rushing attempts per game in 2022, 18.2, was last in the NFL but that number has jumped to the highest in the NFL since Brady was promoted.
In 2023 Allen was taken down just 24 times overall in 17 regular season outings, the best mark in pro football, and the team again led the league with just 14 sacks allowed last year (tied for the sixth-least since 2000). But the Bills’ pass protection has regressed back to the norm this season by allowing 35 sacks through 15 games – although Allen and the offensive line have struggled to identify blitzes on the road and giving up free rushers too often, it’s also on the team’s wide receivers failing to consistently create separation in the passing game (in turn causing Allen to hold on to the ball longer).
Buffalo also carried over their trend of using an extra offensive lineman to help in the running game. Now that Edwards has moved into the starting lineup, the sixth guy is currently Alec Anderson and the Bills had the highest rate of offensive snaps with six linemen on the field in ’24 – with most of them being called runs, and were near the top of the NFL in yards per carry and yards per play with six linemen on the field (rookie tight end Jackson Hawes, an excellent blocker and the replacement for Quintin Morris, is being used more in this regard with “13” personnel looks which diversifies what they can throw at opponents).
Another area the Bills needed to clean up was protecting the ball. They used to be one the league’s sloppiest teams – Allen had 14 interceptions and 13 fumbles in 2022 and he led the NFL with 18 interceptions in ’23. Last year Allen cut down on his interception total significantly with just six – a sign of progress in this regard (Allen became the third signal caller in NFL history to start a season with 10 touchdowns and no picks through his team’s first seven games).
In fact, the Bills tied the league record for fewest turnovers in a season with just eight (with the 2019 Saints). They also became the first team ever with less than 15 sacks allowed and fewer than 15 turnovers in the same season.
Buffalo ended the 2024 regular season second in points scored (the highest scoring team in franchise history) and red zone efficiency, 10th in total yards and ninth in rushing and passing and became the first team to ever have 30 passing and 30 rushing touchdowns in one season. They, along with the Chiefs, Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Commanders, were also the top four teams in the NFL on fourth down conversion rate.
So far they’re first in the NFL in rushing, fourth in total yards and scoring, 18th in passing and near the top of the league in explosive offensive plays (rushes of 10 yards and passes of 20 yards), under-center run rate (especially on “duo” calls) and red zone efficiency. The Bills also have the most second half runs in the NFL and one of the best second half point differentials, yet they’ve outscored their opponents by barely over three points-per-game since Week 10.
Ex-49er Mitch Wishnowsky is the team’s third punter this year (he didn’t punt once against the Bengals – the first time the Bills have done that in three years) and kicker Tyler Bass is out for the season due to a groin injury – with 41-year-old former All-Pro Matt Prater replacing him. Prater, who holds the NFL record for most 50-plus yards field goals in a career, also owned the league mark for longest career field goal after he connected on a 64-yarder in 2013 but he’s out for Sunday and will be replaced by former Charger and Colt Michael Badgley.
12 FACTS TO MUSE OVER
· Buffalo has forced a turnover in 19 straight home games – their longest streak since a 31-game outing from 1988-92.
· Bosa is one forced fumble away from breaking the franchise record for the most in one season – he’s tied with Bruce Smith in 1990, Nate Clements in 2004 and Aaron Schobel in 2007.
· Buffalo is 26-4 in December and January regular season games since 2020 – tops in the NFL (and they haven’t lost a game in those two months at home since 2021). Their record against teams who are .500 or better is 6-2 (their mark against divisional opponents is 27-8 since 2020, best in the league).
· The Bills have clinched a playoff berth for the seventh straight season – a new franchise record (they’re also the fifth team ever to reach 11 wins in six straight seasons). Previously it was six from 1988-93.
· Buffalo’s record against rookie quarterbacks since 2019 is now 10-3.
· Cook is on pace to become the first Bill to lead the NFL in rushing since O.J. Simpson in 1976, and he has the third-most rushing yardage in a season ever by a Buffalo Bill.
· Cook also needs one more game of 100 or more scrimmage yards to tie Thurman Thomas (13) for the most such games in a season in team annals.
· Against NFC teams all-time, Allen has a won-loss record of 27-8 and the Bills are 13-1 against the NFC since 2020. But the one team they haven’t defeated in the Allen-McDermott-Beane era is Philadelphia – they’re 0-2 against the Eagles since 2019 (0-3 versus them since 2015) and Buffalo hasn’t beaten the Eagles since 2011.
· In fact, the Eagles are the only NFC team to have won in Buffalo since 2019.
· If Allen defeats Philadelphia, he’ll join Tom Brady as the only quarterbacks to beat all 31 teams in their first eight seasons.
· McDermott has 97 career wins, which is the second-most by an NFL head coach through his first nine seasons.
· Allen needs one score to become the fastest player ever to reach 300 total touchdowns in NFL history (127 games).
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