Bills bounce Steelers behind superhero Josh Allen, but how costly are injuries?

Matt Parrino and Ryan Talbot break down Monday’s playoff game between the Bills and the Steelers. They talk about the impressive performances from the Bills, including four touchdowns from Josh Allen. But how costly are the injuries to several starters in the game?

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What is up bills Mafia welcome into the postgame episode playoff edition of shout of Buffalo Bills football podcast I appreciate everybody’s patience Ryan and I have been filing a bunch of stories over at the website syracuse.com New York upstate.com go check out all of those right now I just finished a cool

One on AJ Klein I’m excited for you to all read about uh and we’re going to talk about it right here on shout brought to you as always by Tops Friendly Park markets which has new recipes every single week Ryan who couldn’t use more ideas for great dishes

Check back each week for the latest seasonal recipes that have been featured in The Weekly Ads social media emails and more you could look at all these soups man Fiesta soup Hardy meatball and vegetable soup Fiesta mason jar AO chicken salad to go soup Island herb Rose chicken everything you can think of

And more head over to topsmarkets.com SL weekly recipes the bills Advance survive and advance I don’t think it was really survival I think they beat Pittsburgh pretty convincingly Ryan how are you hey I am doing great I guess a lot better though than the bills based on how many injuries they suffered here

Tonight though despite the win Matt say that again sorry you were breaking up there oh yeah no problem I said you know doing well here and definitely better than some of the bills because of all the injuries that the team suffered tonight in that 31 17 win

We are going to talk about all of the injuries and what that means for the bills looking ahead to next week and the rematch with the Kansas City Chiefs which now shifts places from two years ago when uh they played at Arrowhead Stadium this time it’s going to be right

Here in High Mark Stadium we’ll get much into that over the course of the next couple of G days but we got to start on Josh Allen which coming into this game this was kind of the momentum building towards a potential huge performance for Allen who said last week that

Mechanically he felt the best he had felt in maybe weeks months go dating back to early part of the Season where it just hasn’t felt great for him and you know you think about the fact that today was only the fourth game all season where he didn’t have a single

Turnover in the game he looked in control he looked poised and he did it like he always does in the playoffs Ryan he went into superhero mode that 53 yard run uh 52 yard run which was the longest in Buffalo Bills playoff history was absolutely Sensational I mean I was just

Kind of looking to my left and my right in the Press Box just like is this serious I mean every single game big big Style game big big big game he raises the stakes a little bit always he always raises the stakes you know watching that run

Uh third and eight play he gets the first down pretty easily and then you see three four Steelers Defenders and you think okay he’s going to get down here and um live for another day and all of a sudden he just keeps going and realistically there is really only like

One arm tackle attempt Matt at him and then he was Off to the Races and that 52 yard score was the longest uh rush for a touchdown in in you know Bill’s postseason history so an accomplishment like uh I guess something that we almost come to expect now from Josh Allen if

You’re watching on YouTube thank you so much hit that like button subscribe to the channel as well with Gabe Davis out today Ryan um and I’m sorry if you hit on this already I kind of Lo the internet in here is just brutal like that’s one of the things that that took

Us a little while to get started is I I switched between the media Network and the public network and I’m on the public now so hopefully it’s a little bit uh better I apologize if there’s any audio issues I’ve seen a couple comments about Scott moranto saying oh get out in the

Elements man well it’s below zero out there and it is freezing and I was already up here and maybe the internet would be worse and here’s the other thing Ryan my computer would probably freeze out there so I’m gonna stay right here in this Co little Press Box and

Thank you uh Western New York photos who says You seem good so it seems like we’re back um so Gabe Davis is out khil Shakir steps up in a big way late in this game and it seems like khil Shakir has settled into this role where he finds a

Time in almost every game to make a big play to make a big contribution in today’s it was like whoa like you you watch the play in real time and you’re like okay he evades a a tackle he breaks a tackle he Jukes somebody out he breaks

Another tackle and then he gets into the end zone and it’s like you’re like wow that’s an amazing play Then you watch the replay and you actually see what he just did it was sensation and I’m old enough to remember back at one of our live shows in the summer when

A good buddy of ours Mark was talking about cutting this kid he’s about as that Dynamic of a playmaker pound-for-pound right now as the bills having in their offense yeah I don’t think he’s dropped a ball in a month either uh you know he’s just sure-handed

When the ball comes his way and we we talked about with Gabe Davis being out this might be a Kal shakier game it might be uh Dalton concade and Dawson Knox game and sure enough all three guys have touched downs but Kal Shakir was nothing short of phenomenal catching the

Ball uh having Minka Fitzpatrick right there in his face trying to tackle him alluding that having the wherewithal to put your hand down on the turf to keep your balance turning up field juking another player and then getting around three you know three other tackle attempts and getting into the end zone

When the bills really needed a score when they needed to shift the momentum back in their favor and create a little bit of a buffer Shakir came up with that big play for the bills and it was like a huge start for them to in this game they

Came out in two of their first three possessions they score touchdowns they feature the tight ends and they did it in a way that we’ve talked about over the season here Ryan it’s not always going to be out of 12 Personnel I’d have to go back and look at those plays in

Particular but if you look at the totality of those first three drives they were mixing and matching they were getting Dawson Knox in the field on his own they were getting Dalton conade on his fi on the field you know on his own and then you look at that touchdown for

For Dalton Kade that’s what they drafted him to be that that matchup nightmare that uh down the middle of the field in the Red Zone uh hard to match up against the linebacker and they found the mismatch Josh Allen put it on him he

Makes a big play now I will say with can there were a couple plays in this game drops kind of crept into the situation a little bit uh we’ll see if he actually gets credited for t for drops both of them were kind of tougher plays the Dawson Knox drop was just absolutely

Inconceivable he’s got to make that catch you know this is a storyline we’ve talked about with Knox over the years but again you tweeted out the the uh the stat four straight wild card games for the bills Dawson Knox scores a touchdown to open the scoring they have weapons

Now at the tight end position and this is over the last couple of weeks with dton uh Dawson Knox coming on uh since he returned from injury this is the version of this offense that we expected and over the last whatever it is eight or nine quarters now with with or six or

Seven quarters with Gabe Davis out of the mix it feels like guys have settled into their roles a little bit more comfortably and again not saying they’re better without Davis I just wonder if it’s just not cleaner without Davis if that makes sense no I I get what you’re

Saying it almost makes Josh Allen have to look to the tight ends a little bit more or to KH Shakir a little bit more and those guys have been producing at a much higher clip consistently than Gabe Davis you definitely miss Gabe Davis’s blocking tonight he is their best

Blocking wide receiver by far uh but you saw other guys Step Up you mentioned that uh stat with Dawson Knox and I had a lot of uh fans that apparently bet on the game saying well that would have been a good stat to know going into this

One that he had scored the first touchdown for the bills the last three Wild Card matchups and uh comes with the fourth tonight but you know with with the good with Knox was always the bad his drop on the first drive the second half absolutely uh crushed Buffalo’s

Drive itself going uh you know coming out of the half trying to build up a lead trying to come out strong that drop just really put the bills in a tough spot Dalton K there was a throw in the end zone that was more so really good

Coverage uh that he couldn’t haul in there was one early in the game on a third down pass where Allen threw a laser away from his body and I know what alen was trying to do with Minka Fitzpatrick bearing down uh but those two I wouldn’t count as drops I think

There might have been one though that he did that probably will go down and be registered as a drop but he came up with some big plays in this game as well for the bills and obviously Stefon Diggs did a lot with the short passing game as

Well yeah I thought Diggs looked really uh comfortable in this game there was one scary part of the game where he got uh he caught a short pass and looked to go up field and just got absolutely uh labeled by a Defender coming into the

Play he was kind of down for a moment came off the field uh looked like he was kind of back in the to the mix a little bit clapping on the sidelines yelling out to to offensive players looked like maybe he could have gone back in but it

Was at the end of the half he was out there right to start the third quarter uh so obviously avoided a bullet there you know Deontay Hardy’s somebody that you know we’re gonna get to the defense here in a second because it’s really important to get into some of these

Injuries but I thought Deontay Hardy today in a big spot you know first of all was out there more like the most snaps I can remember him having I’ll be interested to see see when the snap counts come out tomorrow just how much more he was out on the field at one

Point I saw Josh Allen actually like pointing Stefon Diggs to get to go off the field to bring Hardy onto the field and I thought that was like an interesting deal so many times we’ve seen Diggs actually call himself out of the play it almost felt like the bills

Were looking to get Hardy into the game maybe trying to exploit a m mismatch that they saw and then later in the game they hit it on that Deontay Hardy uh passing catch from Allen is 30 went for 34 yards you saw the run after the catch from

Deontay Hardy and again I still feel Ryan that we could see more of Hardy in this offense as he’s given opportunities he cashes in on those opportunities build some trust with Josh Allen we also did see uh pops Mafia here in the comments a great observation we saw

Quite a bit of Andy Isabella who got the elevation off the practice squad today yeah and there was one short throw to Isabella that I would have loved to have seen Allen you know throw well it was a poor throw on Allen’s part more than anything else because because it was a

Short pass I want to see what Isabella could do with the ball in his hands in that situation uh obviously not getting the type of attention that a g that a Stefon Diggs or a Dalton concen company get but it was interest to see their wide receiver usage in in Deontay Hardy

That big 33 34 yard reception uh did a good job just catching the ball obviously there was a lot of space between him and the defender but once he caught it you know he he looked like a punt returner out there in terms of alluding tacklers getting to open space

In the field and making some really nice moves and you know that’s part of when you make a big play the previous week mind you on special teams you start to get some more opportunities you start to uh get some chances and and he came up

Big on that one target tonight so uh with Gabe Davis out for the time being it was good to see other players step up you put out a story uh on George Pickins and maybe that’s a good transition Point into uh the bills defense and and the

Job that they did against this Steelers offense um Pickins took issue with the officials I read is that true yeah that is true uh said politically go back and watch the game and and watch the refs and you know he talked about um he had some of the penalties wrong in his

Assessment he talked about a pass inter or I’m sorry he talked about yeah pass interference penalty down the field which wasn’t it was a holding penalty on the throw that Josh alayen threw out of bounds he talked about some plays that didn’t go their way now keep in mind

Though he didn’t say anything about Pat frith’s fumble that should have been Bill’s ball he didn’t say anything about some of the questionable penalties that you know or things that weren’t called against Pittsburgh he kind of looked at it as this uh the referees were against the Steelers tonight and you couldn’t

Beat both the bills and Pittsburgh and as much of a talent as George pickings is and in terms of overall just natural Talent probably a top three top five type wide receiver in this league that’s how special he is in terms of his skill set uh he he’s had some issues this off

This season for Pittsburgh in terms of getting upset when he’s not getting the ball getting upset if he doesn’t get a call you saw him throw his helmet uh into the benches after that fourth down play where no penalty was called on a pass that Mason Rudolph th threw in his

Direction so it definitely emotions getting the best of him post game and not never a good look though to say the refs are the reason you lost this matchup yeah the refs are definitely not the reason they lost the matchup I will say I thought danne Jackson was

Definitely a little bit handsy on that touchdown um where you know the it I don’t know if it was even considered a pass break up but he was in coverage down there and somebody on social media I saw say that Pickins got hit with a snowball at the end of that play which

I’m not ruling out because snowballs were a flying I mean you look around in here Ryan and if you look out in front of like if you see this right here this whole layer that is just literally probably like half a foot of snow just

In front of that entire row of fans that are probably just you could probably see the handprint you can people just picking up snowballs and and shucking them down I saw one gentleman down in like the third or fourth row get hit in the back of the head with a snowball and

I’m like man good thing this was a light snow because this could be super dangerous out here but you listen the the picking point is it seems a little bit crazy when you weren’t able to do what you do best as the as the Steelers

Which is run the football I put it in my postgame story late in the fourth quarter with about six minutes to go Josh Allen had 74 rushing yards in the game Jaylen Warren and Naji Harris combined had 75 so the bills came in here and what the Steelers do best

Completely shut them down now one th Scott says take us closer Matt this is as close as you’re going to get Scotty boy maybe next week after the Chiefs game we’ll see um you know one thing I was surprised that they didn’t do was activate a fifth defensive tackle for

This game in lynval Joseph because which he was active but they deactivated uh Puna Ford I would have kept Puna Ford up figuring out a way to do that I don’t know how the math works but towards the end of the game I thought Ed Oliver looked really exhausted and I think part

Of the reason is because because listen the the percentage of snaps they’ve asked him to play this season we’re getting to the point of the Year where that’s starting to add up now it’s not going to be every single week where they kind of play a team that’s going to be

So heavily predicated on the Run uh dependent on the run but I thought in this matchup to keep everybody fresh they would have leaned that direction they still did a really good job against the run but I thought down the stretch especially that touchdown drive as trell

Bernard went out of the game uh Christian Benford had already been out of the game and then uh Aon Johnson left with a head injury um that was a spot where they just looked a little bit run down and maybe that’s not the case they had an extra interior player that’s a

Fair point and you know looking it back at it though if they would have kept Puna for active maybe those injuries that the bills suffered really would have come back to bite them in terms of who would have been that guy coming down uh Ed Oliver probably was gas though

Because next gen stats credited him Matt with 10 pressures in this game 10 so early on he was just terrorizing that Steelers offensive line I think most of the damage came against Mason Cole if I remember correctly uh was getting in there quickly I think four were quick

Hurry uh quick pressures quick hurries the other six were just standard hurries so he had an unbelievable game but you’re right playing a heavy snap count playing against a team that was trying to run the ball early on early and often uh the bills came up with a really nice

Game plan plan and Oliver starred early on for this team in that match matchup I mean really you look at the landscape of the NFL at his position and Ed Oliver has ascended into Superstar status and I I really agree with his discontent if you will about the allpro process I mean

If you look back at this thing I put out that article from Aaron chatz uh who has a vote uh on the allpro team and obviously gave a nod to Josh Allen and wrote mostly about that but also came back and and put Ed Oliver as his top

One of his top four defensive tackles and this is a guy that watches a lot of ball crunches some of those Advanced Analytical numbers he has obviously created the dvoa stat um but I thought Ed Oliver was an absolute Terror today and this is an an offensive line that I

Think you can have some success against you look at next week and who the bills um are playing and it’s going to be an upgraded offensive line I mean CED Humphrey Trey Smith coming off an absolutely terrific performance performance uh last week against the Dolphins and Christian Wilkins they’re

Going to have their hands full but having Oliver playing at this level is huge let’s get to Terrell Bernard uh because he leaves this game AJ kleene comes into the game I want to get to the story on kleene in a second which is just a wild five weeks for the guy yeah

But Terrell Bernard leaves and so first things first the injury update Ian Rapaport has a had a tweet out before we went live saying that it was uh a sprain ankle which I think you put it in the air cash you card him off the field you’re thinking maybe Achilles something

Torn something broken something really bad you know takes you back to the Matt Milano injury in Jacksonville uh at the beginning of the Season uh if they get out of this with just a sprain and Ankle it’s a it’s a huge sigh of relief now I’m not sitting here and saying that

Doesn’t mean that he’s not going to miss a month I mean if it’s a severely spraying ankle that could put him out for the season but I think just having it be possible that he could maybe make his way back if the bills go on a run

Here uh I think that that’s absolutely huge we we’ll get an update later in the week but your first impressions of of Bernard potentially being out for the rest of this run here yeah significant loss uh he has been a star for the team this season and it came out of nowhere

Because he he misses some key time during training camp he’s given the starting job you didn’t know what to expect and early on with Matt Milano he was playing extremely well he lose Milan and you wonder okay what’s going to become of Bernard and he just stepped up

Into an even bigger role and was always around the football making plays for this team recovering a fumble today uh for that matter just always making plays six and a half sacks three interceptions uh you name it he did a little bit of everything for this team

So it’s a significant blow going into next week and you came into this game without Tyrell Dodson the other starter at linebacker you lose Bal Spectre uh you have to have AJ Klein out there like you said we’ll get to him in a minute so you know their depth is really being

Tested right now at the position and now you’re going into a game against the Chiefs where uh you mentioned upgraded offensive line a obviously a much much better quarterback than what the bills saw tonight as well and now you have to worry about that linebacker play knowing

That you’re not going to have man Milano out there you’re not going to have uh Terrell Bernard out there most likely and you’re L on some backups to play uh some pretty big roles and you know that Mahomes is going to probably Target them early and often uh speaking of injuries

The bills dodged a bullet there uh late in the game when it looked like Conor McGovern uh suffered an injury came out for one play uh he was down for a little while walked off on his own power then came in and finished the game so that’s

A huge update I mean man if you’re Bills fan you’re knocking on wood when it comes to that offensive line because they have been about as durable uh as a unit can be uh and you hope that uh they they get out of any trouble there with

McGovern back to the defensive side so Bernard goes out AJ Klein comes in the the equipment team has to go into h a quick change and get the Green Dot and all the audio equipment placed in AJ Klein’s helmet so he ends up running the

Mic position for the rest of the game uh that was the third quarter right Ryan when uh Bernard went out if I’m remember remembering correctly was it the second quarter no no I’m blanking on this too I want to say it was the third quarter yeah it was the third quarter so AJ

Klein ends up leading the bills and tackles with 11 for the game I mean he really played a really solid game and he comes in and he basically comes in off the couch if you remember the bills had him um I believe on the 53 man roster uh

He was playing a depth role uh when Spectre was on injured reserve but when Dawson Knox was coming back from injury before the Kansas City game which is actually fitting um Brandon Bean called him up said they needed a spot they needed to release him and at the time he

Was talking to Shawn mcder when he was leaving going back home to Charlotte that you know maybe this was it maybe he was going to contemplate retirement uh he went home he he spent Christmas with his family the first time in 14 years he got to have a traditional Christmas wake

Up with his kids on Christmas morning do the whole nine which was really cool and probably thought that that was it and you know he said he got the sense when the when the bills released him that that could have been it he he didn’t

Know if he was going to get a call back when doson suffered shoulder injury last week he had a vacation plan to Key West they bought an RV in the off season him and his family had it all packed up ready to go Brandon Bean sends him a

Text and says hey you want to come back want to go on one more playoff run he had to convince his family he flies up to Buffalo he plays he practices Thursday and Friday Dalton concade said that he actually ran the scout team in practice all week and

Gave them the looks that helped them prepare for that play that Dalton con caught for a touchdown pass so he was busy on Thursday and Friday on the scout team Terrell Bernard goes out in the game he gets inserted into the game and and plays an absolutely huge role for

Them I mean talk about just the most chaotic and crazy week uh for AJ Klein yeah Klein was just again all wherever the ball was Klein seemed to be around it tonight and there’s one play in my mind that really stands out and it was a

Pass jayen w and uh good pressure by the bills up front on the play but uh Mason rof just gets it off I want to see it’s a third down play at that and kleene is able to stay with him grab him hold him

Up uh you know until not lose a hold of the jersey and then bring him down to the field and keep him short of the sticks had he not been able to make that play Warren had a lot of room in front of him behind Klein so that was a big

Play for like you said a guy that was was packing up the RV uh about a week ago to come in practice two days and not miss a beat out there on the field now again uh this is a severe drop off from the starting unit the bill started this

Season with there’s no denying that but Klein is extremely smart he knows the this system better than probably almost anyone on this roster going back to how long he’s played here and uh played for McDermot so you’re not not going to miss anything there and that’s going to be at

Least part of what he brings to the table and part of while why he will be an asset whether it’s him starting against the Chiefs or if you get Tyrell Dodson back and Bayon Spectre back maybe he’s the top linebacker Off the Bench either way it’s good to have someone

That knows the system so well Matt it um is good to be a sha Buffalo Bills Insider and you can become one by texting 716 528 6727 gives you a two-e free trial 399 a month after that the shout text line is brought to you by Carrie C buyer

Attorney with the law offices of Francis M lro located at 237 Main Street Buffalo New York if you were someone you know seriously injured give them a call at 716 85212 34 or check out lola.com all right Ryan what do you want to go next real quick uh Lauren in the

Comments says Key West would be better in late February uh yes good call LA and again happy birthday she had a birthday recently one of our friends of the show uh in terms of where to go next I guess we should keep talking about that next

Man up for Buffalo and not just with injured players mat but you know we’ve already talked about wide receiver Ty Johnson tonight two big first down runs late in this game for Buffalo uh coming back from a concussion in this matchup but some of the other players that stepped into bigger roles tonight

Because of injuries I I I thought had some really good games including another linebacker Dorian Williams yeah Dorian Williams I thought looked explosive at times the most it it felt like the game slowed down a little bit for him tonight which I think is a good sign if he’s

Asked to play a larger role balen Spectre left with a back injury in this game uh didn’t return so listen this is something that’s kind of plagued B Bale inspector even going back to Clemson he he’s been injured quite a bit uh avalability is your best ability right

Like uh that’s something the coaches say every single week but I thought Dorian Williams played in a big spot Ty Johnson continues to fit into that backup uh role to James Cook and you know I thought you you might have even wanted him out there a couple times with

Latavius Murray still getting some of that run late in the season uh with Tai Johnson performing the way that he has I don’t think you need to take him off the field and he’s been pretty solid in uh in pass protection but it’s something that for whatever reason they just lean on

Um latavius Murray Moore in those spots I want to talk about KY elim because this was a huge spot for him I mean this has been trending in this direction and I remember going back to the trade deadline when a lot of fans were filling

Up The Insider chat and our live chat uh on the podcast and talking about you know just getting something for him he was very direct today when he talked at his at his uh stool after the game uh kind of poked some fun at some people

Like that you know pretty good for a bust right like you know I thought that was pretty outgoing for a guy that’s been very by the book very uh mild mannered uh it seemed but when he had that interception today he was anything but mild mannered he came off the field

He stood up on the bench down here and kind of roared at the crowd and you could see a lot of pent up frustration for ELO who came into the game and was struggling there trying to figure out a way to get his footing he said his feet

Were absolutely freezing coming in off the game out of the game uh cold he said it took took him a couple plays to just feel like he had his feet under him and once he did he felt like he was uh in the game a little bit more and you know it’s sometimes

It’s what’s the saying right it’s it’s better to be lucky than good I don’t think that that’s that necessarily the phrase that I would use but he was in the right place at the right time and he was lucky in the sense that he got his

Body around in time and when he did the ball was just right there on his hands but you got to make the play you gotta feel like you’re in a spot to be able to make a play and I think going back to the Chiefs game last year on the road in

The regular season game when he had that interception in the Red Zone he’s shown over the course of um his career his young career that when it’s in those Red Zone opportunities when he’s one-on-one with a guy in coverage he’s very competitive in those spots and going against the Chiefs next week you’re

Going to need that I’m not saying he’s going to play Maybe rul Douglas gets back maybe Christian Benford gets back if one of them does you figure that guy probably starts with DNE Jackson but if he has to play man I think he’s really competitive and has some juice

Especially in the red zone and and he talked about you know the mental aspect of everything he’s become more mentally tough this year and was dealing with an ankle injury this season he comes into the game though I saw Sheil in the comments saying I was screaming I wanted

Him off the field and David saying the same thing and it was a rough start like you said cold feet uh he gets steamrolled by Pat frith on a third down play where they it was a short pass he comes up and then he again the tight end

Just kind of runs over him for the first down then he gets penalized a few plays later uh for pass interference you like oh boy he’s going to get picked on a lot but then you’re right right place right spot right break on the ball he

Intercepts the the pass and that kind of really did change things for him tonight because then after that I think his confidence was boosted you had George Pickins fall on a play and uh Elum almost came up with a second interception got over to the sidelines

Just couldn’t haul it in uh I think he would have been able to get the feet down but just couldn’t get that catch either way he played with a little bit more confidence and of all the injuries I I do think the bills are in a better

Spot at cornerback than they are at linebacker for instance um Russ Douglas was questionable going into this game but it was obviously out good chance that he’ll be back uh you mentioned Benford leaving this one and you still have danne Jackson who has stepped up very nicely the last two week another

One of those next man up scenarios so I do think they’re in a good spot but he did show that being KY elim that at 22 years old uh he can still be counted on if really need needed by this team and that’s huge because the you look at the

Rest of that draft class Matt and the bills have done a you know did a phenomenal job with that if they can get elim even playing as a top Reserve type of player uh coming off the bench at quarterback then that’s really going to be a home run type of draft for this

Team when they really did need it uh because it gets very tough when you have a lot of big contracts on your roster thank you so much to everybody that’s staying up late with us I know that the Philadelphia Eagles game is uh getting to the end there and looking

Like another uh uh potential upset there with the Eagles on the ropes you know it’s been an interesting weekend in the NFL Ryan I mean you you look at uh the Dallas Cowboys being the Dallas Cowboys that they’ve been for you know it seems like not only dak’s career but like you

Go back to Tony Romo as well potentially the Eagles getting knocked off here uh as well the Cleveland Browns who was were favored against the Texans you know there’s a lot of young teams that are kind of coming uh for the crown if you will uh and I think that the bills are

Uh in a really good spot uh as they look ahead to the Chiefs at home and potentially a trip to Baltimore for the AFC title game but I wouldn’t count out the Texans for being a little bit uh having a little juice on the road against Baltimore depending on how the

Weather is I mean CJ strad slinging it just about as good as anybody in the NFL biggest concern for me in this game is the bills potentially being without Taran Johnson on Sunday against yeah to me he’s just about pound forp pound take Josh Allen out of it he’s

Number one obviously but if you go on either side of the ball it’s a very small group of players you look at Ed Oliver Stefon Diggs Dion Dawkins I’d throw into this mix and then I I put Taran Johnson in there I think Bernard was in there as well and you play

Without him against against the Chiefs and it’s really a scary situation and he had a head injury today I will say that it looked like you know getting looked uh at for the concussion Wednesday G to be a huge g day is he out there in a

Limited capacity is he making his way through a potential concussion protocol it looked like uh somebody told me as we were going down to the Press uh to the postgame press stuff that he looked visibly upset on the sideline that he couldn’t go back I think it was Mark

Gone from the Buffalo news that he couldn’t go back into the game so maybe it was a situation where you know it wasn’t as bad as you know maybe it could have been we will see we’ll have to wait and see for the rest the next couple of

Days but man Taran Johnson being out in this Chiefs game has me very very concerned yeah I mean you’re you’re looking at in this match up against the Chiefs you the first team and second Team all pro slot cornerbacks and Taran Johnson has just been huge for this

Bills team in terms of his importance in the secondary and what he means to this roster and it’s really important that he does play in this game and uh you can’t I don’t know how the bills would be able to pull off a v a victory against Chief

Without him that’s how important he’s going to be to this passing defense uh next week against the Chiefs and speaking of worried mat special teams as well uh Sam Martin hurting his hamstring being able to gut it out and punt uh once in the second half but you have to

Worry about that and then Tyler bass uh don’t know what’s going on with him the first kick was very low because of the conditions it gets blocked but then missing a 25 y just kind of kicking it off the side of his foot far to the left

Uh that that’s another thing the bills need to be really sharp on special teams they can’t have a lot of mistakes and yet you know you’re worrying about both your punter and your kicker going to this game as well it’s a year-to-year leag when it comes to Kickers I mean it

It’s such a high pressure position and you know luckily for the bills none of those kicks were you know in a one- score game or well they were in a one score game but in in a situation where you were trying to kick for a lead uh

The bills LED from start to finish in this one but next week could be very much different and you know you look at the punting situation Sam Martin you know get a kick gets blocked he’s running it down looks like he pulls his hamstring stays in the game is still

Punting that’s going to be a storyline to watch because know even sean mcder said it after the after the game like they might have to look at some punters uh this week um if Sam Martin had you know if there’s any setbacks there and I know fans bring this up all the time

About potentially the punt God Matt Arisa being somebody that’s back uh in this situation man would that just be a wild story uh he obviously has gone through the legal process and uh Vindicated apparently um he has gotten he has received workouts through other to with other NFL teams still doesn’t

Have a job uh so I don’t know where things sit with him and whether or not the bills would even consider that um you also have to remember Ryan we’re entering the divisional round of the playoffs Matt Arisa hasn’t punted in NFL football game in almost two full seasons

Yeah when it comes to Arisa it’s an interesting discussion point at least like you said you had to try out with the Jets I’m not sure about what other teams he he’s tried out with and he hasn’t punted in the NFL the one thing working in his favor is when he won the

Job a few years ago the whole offseason was about working on holding for Tyler bass and showing he could hold so he does have some experience holding for Tyler bass specifically um that being said like like you mentioned he has not kicked in this league in some time he might be

More likely to be an offseason addition to a team and get a whole training camp and summer under his belt before he uh you know actually contributes for a team team but it it could be he could be at least on the list of names brought in to

Compete there’s some veteran punters out there with playoff experience the bills uh could look at so they have options they obviously have to find someone they feel confident in holding though for Tyler bass as well uh but and you know Sam Martin was able to gut out this this

Game this performance maybe he’s able to play in this upcoming game against the Chiefs as well all right Ryan where do want to go next my friend yeah you know looking over these uh everything for this team I’m I’m trying to figure out one or two more

Spots to go I guess one spot I wanted to touch upon Matt was Von Miller I thought Von Miller showed some juice late in the game I know he had one play that should have been a sack where uh Mason rudoff literally bounced off of him and went

Backwards and uh for whatever reason Von Miller didn’t bring him down but once again it felt like his snaps were limited but late in the game he showed some juice and that’s big because this defensive line I I thought Min is one really good inside swim move by Greg

Rouso I thought the pass rush just wasn’t there consistently enough and part of it had to do with mason rud trying to get the ball out quickly after some issues early on they did were able to get their hands on passes but really not enough uh consistency so if the

Bills can get Von Miller getting some pass rush is on Patrick Mahomes next week getting home potentially getting a big time sack that will really benefit this team because you know we’ve talked about since he was in active the one week he has to show those flashes and I

Thought once again tonight he did have some nice pass rushes yeah I thought that the job that they did against Mason Rudolph was exactly what I expected I mean they it was more about contain right like getting some hits on the quarterback batting some balls down I

Mean Bernard had two pass defense uh KY elim had one Oliver had one three for DNE Jackson one for AJ osus so they were getting uh hands on the ball they were they were clogging up passing lanes and I felt like that was kind of the plan

And and rouso coming in with a with a sack uh the way that he did he had a tackle for a loss uh four total tackles in the game I thought he played pretty well but to me the Von Miller the the blueprint for Von Miller’s path back to contribution has

Been saving him for late in the games I think they they landed on something uh late in the season kind of putting him on Ice in the second and third quarter and and then unleashing him late in the game when he can maybe just save some of

The consistent like juice that he has uh for a shortened important part of the game um I think that’s the best path forward for him and next week they’re probably going to be in a similar situation where you know they they need them maybe potentially even more uh late

In the game uh I think Leonard Floyd is dealing with something I don’t know what it is it feels like every game he’s coming off the field and pointing at something whether it be his arm his ribs something in that area he was having a

Trainer kind of work him out uh at one point when he came off the field in this one uh so you know nobody’s 100% at this point of the Year guys are playing hurt guys are playing banged up uh I think you get dayquon Jones back and now this

Is his third game back you’re hoping that the best version of him uh you get next week against uh Kansas City but this isn’t the same Kansas City team it’s a it’s a really good Kansas City defense um it’s an offense that found some answers last week but it was

Against the defense that was completely depleted uh in in the Miami Dolphins without their two top Edge rushers uh they were without um uh their their second Corner in zaven Howard and Javon Holland didn’t play in that game so it was basically like a second unit for the

Most part and Andrew van gingle I I think uh if if it wasn’t available or he left her in the game um I don’t think it’s the same Chase team and I think that’s where we we kind of finish here give our first look ahead at this Chiefs

Team that’s coming in here I think just at the start of this thing it’s really nice for the bills to get to experience what it’s going to be like for and uh Patrick Mahomes to play his first road playoff game yeah it does put a little

Bit of pressure on the Chiefs and it’s it’s just something that’s the unknown for them obviously Super Bowls are at a neutral sight but in terms of True Road playoff games this will be his first experience away from Arrowhead and you know we we know what the bills Mafia is

Like we know that they will bring the noise you hope that the bills will get a little bit Health uh healthier defensively to make this a a really good matchup but for me you mentioned this is not the same Chiefs team they have a really good defense uh they found some

Answers last week I think Isaiah Pacho is uh an xact for this team and he’s always he’s been a very good player for them but I thought he looked really good against Miami and he’s someone that you want dcoin Jones you know you just mentioned being back for a few games to

Be able to step up and limit him in on the inside and at Oliver having another big game because you know if they start to hurt you with the Run game that’ll open up the Play action that’ll open a open up a lot of the middle of the field

And it’s really going to be important for the bills to be at their best both against the run and against the pass against a very dangerous Patrick Mahomes the bills did do a great job of keeping in check in their first match up in terms of him letting him use his legs

Yeah they’re catching a Chiefs team that’s that’s got a young rookie player in Rashid rice really just entering that next like Stratosphere in terms of his confidence level his ability to make plays he’s such a blur and it’s at all three levels um they also have a guy on

The other side of the ball and Jus uh Sneed that is oh my gosh man he is just about as physical and as competitive a cornerback as you’ll face the league and listen Spagnola always finds one of these guys I mean a couple years ago uh I can’t remember who uh charvarius Ward

I think it was who was just super physical with Stefon Diggs that matchup Sneed versus digs is gonna be musty TV and you know if they’re able to take him out of the game a bit it’ll really emphasize the matchups elsewhere dton concade Dawson Knox khil Shakir

Potentially Deontay Hardy um so much to get into over the next couple of days they play at 6:30 p.m. right here uh on Sunday six days bills have a short turnaround uh it’s not the 24-hour rule this time around it’s the uh you know probably the 12-h hour rule because they

Gotta get right on to Kansas City tomorrow morning yeah it’s it’s a huge matchup and you know you mentioned Sneed Tyreek Hill giving him some props today saying he jammed my a to Cancun on on a crucial play near the line uh so it’s GNA be a big match up against Sneed and

Stefon Diggs they got to into it a little bit in their first matchup in terms of the physicality a little bit of pushing and shoving uh you know that Diggs is gonna want to come out though and and get some wins against a one a really underrated cornerback that

Probably much like some of these bills players didn’t get the accolades that he deserved this year in terms of allp pro recognition speaking of All Pro recognition how about Tops Friendly Markets with some foodball play offers score big on flavor and savings enhance your playoff weekend by creating recipes

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Your bonus Plus card for fantastic savings on ingredients from the recipes find e coupons next to each recipe over at topsmarkets.com foodball all right Ryan that’ll do it for this episode I’m G to give you the final word my friend Yeah final word Bill’s Mafia buckle up Matt and I will

Have you covered all week in terms of the injury updates for this team uh shout insiders you’ll get a lot from us over this next week if you’re not a member yet join now and bills Mafia we’ll see you soon all right everybody from high Mar Stadium signing off we’ll

See you soon enjoy this one be right