Jerry Hughes felt like there were 20,000 fans at Bills game The Bills welcomed fans for a home game for the first time this season on Saturday and defensive end Jerry Hughes credited them with helping pave the way to their 27-24 victory. Hughes said the “crowd was amazing all game giving us that energy and supplying us with that noise that we need down there to make it harder on the offense to communicate.” There were 6,700 fans in supplying that noise and Hughes said it felt like a lot more voices were involved. “I know that they said it was only supposed to be 6,000 people, but it felt like 15, 20,000,” Hughes said, via Matt Parrino of NewYorkUpstate.com. “I tell the guys they’re still just getting a taste of Bills Mafia. When they’re able to come back in the stadium full fledge, you’ll really be able to feel them.” The Bills will be home again next weekend and the team hasn’t announced plans for having fans in the stands for that game yet. Assuming they do get the green light to open the gates again, Hughes will be happy for anyone that turns out for the divisional round. NBC
Devonta Freeman is getting his second opportunity with an NFL team in the 2020 season. The Bills are signing Freeman to their practice squad following a season-ending injury to rookie runner Zack Moss, NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported, per Freeman's agent Drew Rosenhaus. The team later announced the move, adding Moss to injured reserve, as well. Freeman joined the Giants in a somewhat similar situation early in the 2020 campaign, signing with New York to help replace Saquon Barkley after his season ended due to injury. Freeman rushed 54 times for 172 yards (3.2 yards per carry) and one touchdown in five games with the Giants, who waived him last week in order for Freeman to seek opportunities such as this. The 28-year-old spent his first six seasons with Atlanta, where he twice broke 1,000 rushing yards before appearing in just two games in 2018 and struggling mightily in 2019. He'll be available for promotion if Buffalo decides it needs to elevate him to the active roster ahead of the Bills' Divisional Round meeting with Baltimore this weekend. Devin Singletary remains Buffalo's lead back in an offense that relies more on the arm and legs of Josh Allen than its runners. The Bills finished the 2020 regular season ranked 20th in rushing yards per game. NFL.com
Matt Milano: Bills 'pretty confident' they can 'contain' Lamar Jackson The Bills are in the Divisional Round for the first time since the mid-1990s, and the going isn't getting any easier for red-hot Buffalo. The last time the Bills faced the Ravens (Week 14 of 2019), they wore red, which seems fitting considering how well they've been playing in the last two-plus months of the 2020 season. They'll don their usual blue tops for their meeting with Baltimore this weekend, and they hope to leave their fans anything but blue after Saturday's contest. Good Morning Football took a moment this week to recall one Bills defender's unflattering encounter with Baltimore's game-changing quarterback Lamar Jackson. Linebacker Matt Milano once approached the elusive quarterback in their 2019 game and attempted to tackle him in space, only to be left in the dust by Jackson's premier direction-changing ability, a play GMFB ran repeatedly because of its impressiveness. As is the case with most professional athletes, Milano has exhibited a short memory. He believes the Bills are capable of bottling up Jackson, who has run wild in recent weeks, including last weekend's 136-yard performance in a win over Tennessee. "We're pretty confident in being able to contain him," Milano said Thursday, via NewYorkUpstate.com. The Bills did, in fact, contain Jackson in their 24-17 loss to the Ravens last season, limiting him to 40 rushing yards on 11 carries. Jackson made them pay through the air, though, tossing three touchdowns and finishing with a passer rating over 102. Buffalo will need a better showing against Jackson if it hopes to take down Baltimore and prove it is the hotter of the two teams. "You gotta be ready to rock, you know?" Milano said. "He can make anything happen at any time. Being aware of him at all times is gonna be key for us. We just gotta be sound tacklers. A lot of other quarterbacks could just run it up and they're gonna slide or be one cut. With Lamar, he's a very shifty guy. ... You just gotta make a play. That's what it really comes down to." Buffalo will need to make more than a few plays to stop a Baltimore team that hasn't lost since Week 12, which came in early December, back when most folks were just setting up their Christmas trees. With those trees having been long dragged to the curb or stowed away in boxes for the next 10-plus months, the time has come to move forward. For the Bills, that means taking down a team that beat them a year ago. NFL.com
Good luck, Dan... this is a great match-up. I like Milano's game... he really put on a good showing last week. He and the rest of the D have the talent to give Jackson fits, but Jackson is a tricky sort and can adapt and be dangerous. Hope you catch the game over there... I believe this Bills team is improved over last year and Im picking them myself... no easy task tho.
Hope you catch the game over there... I believe this Bills team is improved over last year and Im picking them myself... no easy task tho. I agree Will.........this is a really tough pick........Ravens are Hotter than a Firecracker on Halloween.....BUT Buffalo is at Home. I'm going with Dan's Bills and I like watching Josh Allen @ the Helm.......boa sorte Dan
Well, there is a homefield advantage. Players know the place, and there will be a small number to make a ruckus. Otherwise, the Bills are a vastly better team than last year. That’s not wishful thinking, but an objective observation. And, Lamar Jackson’s aura of invincibility wore off in last year’s playoffs. The playoffs are supposed to be hard, but Buffalo has too many weapons to expect anything but a Bills win.
The playoffs are supposed to be hard, but Buffalo has too many weapons to expect anything but a Bills win. I agree Dan.........."Get er Done" and play for the AFCC.
Stefon Diggs, Cole Beasley have no injury status for Sunday There’s good news on the injury front in Buffalo, as neither Stefon Diggs nor Cole Beasley have an injury status for Sunday’s AFC Championship Game. Diggs (oblique) was limited in practice on Wednesday and Thursday, but was full on Friday. Beasley (knee) did not appear on the injury report until Thursday when he was limited. But he also practiced in full on Friday. The Bills did not declare anyone out, but defensive tackle Vernon Butler (quad) and wide receiver Gabriel Davis (ankle) are both questionable. Butler and Davis did not practice on Wednesday or Thursday, but were full on Friday. Kicker Tyler Bass (hand), linebacker Tremaine Edmunds (hamstring), defensive tackle Quinton Jefferson (ankle), and defensive end Darryl Johnson (knee) had appeared on the injury report this week but are all expected to play. NBC
