Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Ultimate AFC East Crossover: Buffalo Bills - 7/13/2020

Episode Date: July 14, 2020

It’s Day Two of Ultimate Divisional Crossover Week across the Locked On Podcast Network. Joining host Mike D’Abate is Joe Marino of Locked On Bills, John Butchko of Locked On Jets and Kyle Crabbs of Locked On Dolphins to take a deep dive into the AFC East. Today, the hosts discuss the Buffalo Bills. Topics include the upcoming season, roster questions, and the Bills’ chances of unseating the New England Patriots as AFC East Division Champions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Patriots fans, you are now locked in to the Locked On Patriots Podcast. I'm going to show you how to make a beautiful and beautiful flower. I'm going to use a small flower pot. I'm going to use a small pot Hello to all of you, Foxborough faithful. It is day two of the ultimate divisional crossover week right here on the Locked On Podcast Network. And yet another chance to keep your friends close and your enemies closer right here on the Locked On Patriots podcast. Always your daily home for news notes and analysis infused with the occasional opinion on your six-time Super Bowl champions, the New England Patriots.

What is happening, Patriots Nation? My name is Mike DeBate, your host of the Locked On Patriots podcast, which as always is a proud part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. And folks, because it's your team every day, that means your questions, comments, and feedback always welcomed, greatly appreciated. Feel free to send that feedback to me anytime by reaching out to me and following me on Twitter at MDABATEFPC. And while you're out there traveling through the Twitterverse, please be sure to follow the Locked On Patriots account as well at L-O underscore Patriots. Pats fans, yesterday kicked off yet another ultimate divisional crossover week

right here on the Locked On Podcast Network. And my esteemed colleagues in the AFC East, Joe Marino, host of Locked On Bills, John Buchko, host of Locked On Jets, and Kyle Krabs, host of Locked On Dolphins, join me right here to discuss anything and everything related to your New England Patriots and their potential fate in the division for 2020. Now, for those of you that caught yesterday's pod, you might have a slight anger at me today. I actually predicted that the Patriots were most likely to finish second in the division. All the while, and full well acknowledging that the Patriots have both the talent

and the coaching prowess to win this division, I pointed toward Buffalo's continuity as the primary reason why they might be in the driver's seat when it comes to the AFC East in 2020. That seemed to cause some confusion, and I can definitely understand why. After all, what better example of continuity than the New England Patriots? 11 straight division titles, 20 years of utter dominance throughout the NFL, and by a long shot, folks, the longest tenured head coach in the NFL in Bill Belichick. So the Patriots are no stranger to the word continuity, folks.

But what I was referring to was continuity on the field. The Buffalo Bills are bringing back many of their key pieces on offense, many of their key pieces on defense, and a nearly intact coaching staff. Even though I'm a very big fan of the Patriots bringing in Cam Newton, and I'm excited to see what Cam can do, his ability to succeed in this offense is still very much an unknown. And it's an unknown for a lot of different factors. Cam's health, for one. His ability to mesh with the coaching styles of Josh McDaniels and Bill Belichick.

At the end of the day, I have tremendous faith in Cam Newton. But the fact is, we really won't know for sure how great he can be in this system until we see him on the field. Another point that we really didn't bring up that much yesterday is some tweaks to the coaching staff. The Patriots lost two key coordinators in the offseason, folks. One of them is Joe Judge, their special teams coordinator, and of course, their wide receivers coach. He's the head coach of the New York Giants right now. Joe is always a very instrumental piece in making sure that the Patriots special teams were as strong as they could be. His loss will be felt, but the leadership that the Patriots have in that department with guys like Matthew Slater, Justin Bethel, even bringing in someone

like Adrian Phillips who has a lot of special teams prowess, that should help mitigate that loss just a little bit. But the Patriots just didn't lose Joe Judge in this offseason. They lost a man who you can make the argument is arguably the best offensive line coach in the history of the NFL, and that's Dante Skarnecchia. Now, Cole Popovich and Carmen Brasilla will likely be the tandem that will take over coaching duties on the offensive line. Patriots have a good amount of veteran leadership on that line, namely David Andrews, Joe Tooney, Marcus Cannon, Shaq Mason.

Even Isaiah Wynn has showed a maturity beyond his years. But Dante was such a big part of having that unit ready each and every game. Again, folks, I'm not saying they can't do it, but to expect that there might not be some slight regression when it comes to the offensive line is probably a little bit short-sighted. That's why I give the slight nod of continuity to the Buffalo Bills. And it just so happens that today's topic of discussion on Ultimate Divisional Crossover Week is those Buffalo Bills. Is this finally the year that their quarterback, Josh Allen, comes into his own? Does he finally develop a relationship with a receiver that can be a game-changer in Stephon Diggs?

Will running back Devin Singletary be able to carry the load in the Buffalo ground game? And last but certainly not least, that Buffalo defense. Yeah, we all know the Patriots boast one of the best secondaries and one of the best defenses in the league, but so do the Buffalo Bills, folks. With Trey Davias-White and newcomer Josh Norman at the corners, then you take a look at the safety position with Jordan Poyer and Micah Hyde, all of a sudden you're looking at an amazing complement to what is already a very adept linebacking core and a pretty good defensive front.

And while I firmly believe that the Patriots can match up with the Buffalo Bills, they're going to have their hands full. And right now, they might just have the slight edge in this division. But what do my colleagues think? Well, in just a moment, folks. John Buchko of Locked On Jets, Kyle Krabs of Locked On Dolphins, and myself will join host Joe Marino of Locked On Jets, Kyle Krabs of Locked On Dolphins, and myself will

join host Joe Marino of Locked On Bills in the driver's seat today as we continue Ultimate Divisional Crossover Week and put the 2020 Buffalo Bills in the crosshairs of our AFC East Roundtable discussion. This and so much more when the Ultimate Divisional Crossover on the Locked On Podcast Network continues. Welcome back to the Locked On Ultimate Division Crossover Series. We're talking AFC East, and today is all about the Buffalo Bills. I'm Joe Marino, host of Locked On Bills, and I'm joined by Kyle Krabs of Locked On Dolphins, Mike DeBate of Locked On Patriots, Mike DeBate of Lockdown Patriots and John Buchko of Lockdown Jets. And what we want to do today is very similar to what we did yesterday and talking about

the New England Patriots, but in the spotlight is the team in Western New York, the Buffalo Bills. And to kind of get into this discussion, gentlemen, I want to talk a little bit about where this team is and what's happened over this off season. Obviously the Bills coming off of a 10-6 season. It's their first 10-win season since 1999. Went to the playoffs, had an overtime loss to the Houston Texans. And since that loss, there's not been a whole lot that has changed drastically when it comes to Buffalo Bills. And that's kind of one of the key things about this team going into the next season,

coming off of a very good season, is how much returns for this football team, especially around Josh Allen entering into year three of his NFL career with Brian Dable as the offensive coordinator. And literally all of the pieces around him, all nine of his top offensive linemen, the same exact tight end room. The only difference at running back is rookie Zach Moss comes in for Frank Gore, the same receivers except they traded that first-round pick for Stefan Diggs and gave Josh Allen what I think is universally believed to be a number one receiver

to help him take that very important next step for him in his third season in the NFL. On the defensive side of the football, Sean McDermott brings back a lot of the same pieces that has made this a top five defense in each of the last two seasons. Now, they did let Shaq Lawson and Jordan Phillips walk in free agency, but that didn't stop them from bringing in Mario Addison and Vernon Butler and Quentin Jefferson and investing their second-round pick in A.J. Epinesa to create a wonderful depth up front. And this team does lose Lorenzo Alexander at linebacker, which is something of note, but they did bring in A.J. Klein.

And the secondary that has been able to produce one of the best pass defenses in football is all back, of course, with Josh Norman now in the mix to give Levi Wallace competition opposite of Trey White. So a lot of young football players that are entering their next season more mature in the league and a team that has a lot of buzz going into the 2020 season. And so now it's time to get your take on this football team. And for the opening segment, I kind of want to just get your thoughts a little bit on how your team that you cover matches up with the Buffalo Bills.

And I'll start with Mike DeBate of Lockdown Patriots. And Mike, I think after yesterday's podcast, you already have a statue that's been erected in the tailgating lots at New Era Field based on your your prediction of the bills dethroning the new England Patriots. Now, one thing that I, I cannot get over when I think about this new England Patriots team is the defensive success that it had last year in the year 2020, where it's never been easier to play offense.

The new England Patriots held opponents to 275 yards per game and 14 points per game. That's number one in both categories in the NFL. Now they lost some pieces on this defense, but that is still a formidable unit. They have young players that are waiting to take into some of those spots. Bill Belichick is still calling the shots in Foxborough. So I would like to hear your thoughts, Mike, on your belief that this Patriots defense can continue to be an elite unit and obviously give the Buffalo Bills challenges. And well, I thank you for the compliment, by the way.

And I love my Buffalo brethren up there. But be careful. I still bleed Patriot red, white and blue, folks. But look, we'll get into that, I'm sure, in the next segment or so. Have a lot of respect for what the Bills did. and I really love the offseason that they had this year. But from a Patriots perspective, I absolutely believe this can still be an elite defense. And it begins and ends with the secondary. Look, the Patriots are employing almost exactly the same secondary that they did last year,

and they've made an addition, a rookie named Kyle Duggar. Who in my opinion. I think is really a guy that can come in. And make some very big contributions to this team. Right away. Look. Duggar brings an excellent blend of speed. Length. And size to Foxborough.

He can cover a lot of ground. He has the tools to match up with tight ends in coverage. That's something the Patriots did not have last year. Patrick Chung was banged up a little bit. I look for him to be better this year and I look for him to come back a little bit stronger. But I think Duggar comes right in and is able to provide that third type of safety that's going to be on the field at all times. A role that was vacated by Daron Harmon, who left via trade to the Detroit Lions. Duggar can come in and take that role right away. I know a lot of people weren't happy with that draft pick in New England, but I think when you see what this kid can do on the field, you'll see this is an even stronger unit than it was last year.

Obviously, they employ the 2019 Defensive Player of the Year, and I know he's still not too popular in Buffalo, folks, but Stephon Gilmore is beloved in New England now for good reason. He's simply one of the best corners in the league. There's no question about it. He, along with, in my opinion, he, along with Tredavious White, are two of the best that you'll find anywhere in the NFL. So as long as you have Gilmore on your defense, you're going to be a big time contributor. There's, it doesn't end there though. You have JC Jackson, who I think is poised to take another step and could be a star in the

making in this league as being a solid cornerback to Jonathan Jones in the slot can definitely play at a strong level. He's one of the better players at his position when it comes to what the Patriots can do. And you still have Devin McCourty, who is essentially the old wise sage back in the in the secondary directing traffic where the Patriots might take a little bit of a regression this year, and I kind of hinted at this yesterday on Locked On Patriots, is in the defensive front and maybe even in the linebacker core a little bit. They still have two of the best interior wings, in my opinion, in this division. And I believe that guys like Adam Butler and Lawrence Guy can really be a complement to a nose tackle in Bo Allen, who's going to face a little bit of a learning curve this year.

Danny Shelton was very good in that role last year. I think the Patriots will miss him, but I do think Bo Allen can come in and be able to provide at least a little bit of continuity on that level. Look for Chase Winovich, who's a hybrid defensive end slash linebacker. Last year was a rookie out of Michigan, was very promising. But Bill Belichick used him in definite key situations and selective situations, I guess is the best way for me to put it, to highlight what this kid can do. I think he's going to have a much larger role this year, and I think he's going to come out swinging, and I think he'll be a much better addition for the team this year.

They did miss some linebacker departures, and we talked a little bit about this yesterday. Kyle Van Nooy is now in Miami, along with Alandon Roberts. Those are two of their better linebackers, and they're going to struggle. There's no question about it without those guys in the lineup. But bringing in edge rushers and hybrid slash linebackers, guys that can play that role, especially Josh Uche out of Michigan and Anthony Jennings out of Alabama. Now, if healthy, Anthony, I think can be a steal in this draft. Josh Uche is one of my favorite draftees out of the Patriots class this year. I think the most underrated passer in

the 2020 NFL draft. He's undersized. He's not the typical Bill Belichick lumbering linebacker that he likes to employ, but this kid has long arms, got the skill set to make an immediate impact rushing the passer. I love his initial quickness. I love his closing speed. And I think he can be a guy that can come in and help lessen the impact of some of the losses they've had on the linebacking core. I don't look for them to be as elite as they were last year because simply guys like Van Noy and Collins were just over-the-top. Collins meaning Jamie Collins. Over-the-top type of guys that knew this system so well

and were simply in the right place at the right time. But the young explosive players they have can make this team formidable. And if they round into shape a little quicker than usual, then the Patriots are going to be right there in terms of where they were last year. So I look for them to regress a little bit with the potential of being right where they were last year. Mike, I want to sneak in a follow-up here real quick, because I brought up some things yesterday in our discussion about the Patriots and some of the big buzzy talking points when it comes to the Bills fans and their reaction to Cam Newton being side to the New England Patriots. And that slip there of the Carolina Panthers is somewhat where I was heading

because there are so many ties on this Buffalo Bills football team to the Carolina Panthers and the time spent there with Cam Newton. Obviously, Brandon being part of the front office that drafted Cam Newton, you have Sean McDermott, Eric Washington, Ken Dorsey's Josh Allen's quarterback's coach, who was Cam Newton's quarterback's coach for so long. And so when you think about those things, in addition to a very famous, popular thing that you'll hear Bills Mafia say is, you know, Cam Newton was the Panthers quarterback for nine seasons, only three times did they have a winning record.

How do you reconcile all that information in terms of your perspective on the signing and, of course, tying that back to matching up with the Buffalo Bills? It's going to be interesting without any question. Look, familiarity can be a blessing and a curse at the same time. And if you want to talk about a defense, like you said, or you want to talk about a team that knows cam's tendencies there's a lot of guys on that roster the buffalo bills roster that know what he's good at and they know his weaknesses as well so i definitely will keep a sharp eye on that i think cam is coming in with a little bit of a chip on his shoulder look i do not think that a former 2015 mvp is happy to have to have signed the contract that he signed and essentially come in and sort of sing for his supper, folks. And again, I don't expect him to lose the quarterback competition to Jared Stidham,

but people that I talk to close to the team are saying this is going to be a legitimate quarterback competition in New England this year. So if you get a little bit of fire under Cam Newton, that can inspire him to be the type of quarterback that they need him to be in this system. Granted, Buffalo has one of the better defenses. You can make the argument that they may be among the best defenses in the league. They've got great linebackers. They've got a great defensive front.

They've got a formidable secondary that can challenge, I think, the Patriots for supremacy in the NFL. So when you look at that and you look at what Cam Newton has to do in order to challenge a defense like that, I think it's going to be very interesting. The wild card in all this is Bill Belichick. Bill Belichick is one of the best in football history folks at being able to pick apart what a defense can do, what an offense can do, and be able to use your strengths and weaknesses against you. And he does it equally as well. If he can inspire that or instill that into Cam Newton, then I like his ability to be able to make plays on this defense. But look, it's going to be difficult. You talk about a team that can stop the run.

It's very formidable to be able to do that. They've got guys that can do that in the defensive front and in the linebacking court that are very good at being able to stop those RPOs. That's something the Patriots couldn't do last year. And the teams that had success against them were able to stop that. If the Patriots are smart, they'll look at the way some of those teams defended them last year and they'll be able to use that again. So I think that's an excellent follow-up question. And again, I really don't think we're going to be able to know until we see Cam on the

field how healthy he is and how much field rust is still there from missing the majority of the last two seasons due to injury. But again, I think the Buffalo Bills do have a leg up on the competition when it comes to that because of the familiarity that a lot of the players have with Cam Newton. Sean McDermott's first time coaching against Cam Newton came in his first season as the head coach of the Buffalo Bills in 2017. His third game as coach, and they traveled to Bank of America Stadium. Cam Newton in that game was 20 of 32 for 228 yards, no touchdowns, no interceptions. He was sacked six times, and the offense scored nine points.

So we are anxious to see what this looks like in the coming rounds. Kyle, I am fascinated in what's going on what this looks like in the coming rounds. Kyle, I am fascinated in what's going on with this Miami Dolphins football team, building the football team the right way. It feels like for the first time in a very long time, and obviously a team that many perceived as a zero one to win team winds up winning five of their last nine games last year creates this winning culture, but also adds a ton of talent this offseason. A lot of good pieces on offense and defense. They had all those draft picks.

And I can't help but notice some trends when I see the personnel that Brian Flores and Chris Greer brought into this football team. A lot of – you could kind of make a case that they're very specific in a way to matching up with the Buffalo Bills. Now, we know the Miami Dolphins have had their hands full dealing with Josh Allen so far. If Josh Allen played the Miami Dolphins every week for his career, we might be talking about him in a different light

because of the success that he's had. But now this Miami Dolphins team goes out and they bring in Byron Jones at cornerback to go with Xavier Howard. And, of course, they drafted Noah Igbenogany in the first round of cornerback. Meanwhile, the Bills add Stephon Diggs and they plan to run a lot of 11 personnel. And so you can kind of see that match up there. You can see this Dolphins offense under Chan Gailey, a horizontal spread, a power run game with horizontal spread.

That's going to stress the Bills defense in the way that I think the Bills defense struggles the most. And that's being consistent tackling. And so I can look at this and I can, I can think about the success that Josh Allen's had against Miami. I can look at how Miami's building this football team and how they match up. And I can't help, but think perhaps there's some, some in the, at least in the back of the mind of Chris Greer and Brian Flores, that if we're going to win the East, we're going to have to go through Buffalo and we're building a team that matches up very well to handle them. Kyle, your thoughts on what's happening in Miami in terms of how it's being built and how it matches up with Buffalo?

Yeah, listen, if Josh Allen played the Miami Dolphins every week, we'd already be talking about his bust in Kent because he whoops up on Miami every single time he's accounted for 20% of his career yardage from scrimmage has come in four games against the Miami dolphins. He started 28 games at the NFL level. It's incredible to just, and you think about what the dolphins did defensively. And it seems like they're trying to, uh, in capture a lot, as I said yesterday, when discussing the new England Patriots and the dynamics between these two teams, a roster and defensive construction that can mirror a lot of what the new England Patriots have been able to do slash not do against the Bills and Josh Allen over the course of Allen's first two seasons in the NFL. And yeah, it's really exciting. And I think the Dolphins expect nickel to be the base defense. I'd expect 60 percent of the snaps this year to be a nickel defense where you have Noah and Byron and Zavian at corner. They're going to play a lot of press, man.

They're going to play in your face and hope to disrupt those routes early on and throw off the timing. And then because they have, they brought in Shaq Lawson in free agency. Joe, and you and I have spoken quite a bit throughout the course of this offseason about what Shaq Lawson was able to do when the Baltimore Ravens and Buffalo Bills played last year. And the Dolphins, part of their problem is even when they generate pressure on Josh Allen, they can't get him to the ground.

Well, to bring in guys like Emmanuel Ogba and Shaq Lawson that have power components to their game, they can push the pocket, but they're really long, and they have the ability with the strength, the functional strength that they have to bring down a big-body passer like Josh Allen. I think it's going to be one of the more fascinating individual chess matches between all of these teams in the division because it's strength versus strength. As far as constructing a team to beat Buffalo, and you mentioned Chan Gailey,

and Buffalo Bills fans know all about Chan Gailey's offense, being exposed to it for three years in the 2010s with Chan as the head coach there. I think it's exciting to think about how that marries with, A, Ryan Fitzpatrick, who had plenty of experience, five years of starting experience with Changeli as his play caller, and B, how it pairs with philosophically, you think about what the Dolphins are trying to do

and how that parallels the offense that you saw Alabama run with Tua Tunga-Vailoa throughout the course of the 2018 and 2019 seasons where they're going to run at you. They're going to spread the field. They're going to put that fringe defender on the box in a bind, and you're going to make that defender wrong because if he vacates, we're going to give the ball and we're going to challenge you to tackle us. And the average weight of the offensive lineman that the Dolphins brought in this off season is 322 pounds. They brought in a ton of beef. They're going to plan with Jordan Howard to run directly at you. And then once you get tired of that and you roll that extra safety

down in the box, you, we can go B or C level RPO reads and pull that ball out and zip it right behind him. So I definitely think you're onto something as far as the philosophies that you're seeing the dolphins implement with their team construction and realizing the value of being able to beat the teams in the division and that pathway to the postseason. Yeah, the simplest path to the postseason is winning your division. And oh, by the way, you get to play home playoff games, which the Bills haven't had one of those in a while. And so that would be a welcomed opportunity if that could happen this year.

John, Sam Darnold and Josh Allen are best friends. They were quarantined this offseason together in California. They talk about their relationship very openly. They train together all the time. They were brought in the same year in the NFL, right, in 2017. So they're both entering their third season. Now, I think there's a lot to be said for the way Buffalo has built around Josh Allen. Things are becoming comfortable for him. It's the same

people. It's the same system. It's adding to instead of rebuilding, but it doesn't feel the same way for Sam Darnold. They went out and they added a ton of bodies to this offensive line. They brought in Brashad Perryman and Denzel Mims. Obviously, Chris Herndon, hopefully he'll be a bigger part of the offense this year after the suspension and things last year. My question for you, John, really stems from, have the Jets done enough here to make up ground? Because it feels like, not necessarily that I'm going to argue that Josh is ahead of Sam at this point, but it feels like what the Bills have done to build around their quarterback is ahead of the Jets. However, the Jets did some things this offseason.

Your belief in what they were able to accomplish in terms of getting things up to speed so that you can feel good about this scenario and environment that's been created for Sam Darnold to be the best version of himself. Yeah, and if you go back a year, I was very jealous of what the Buffalo Bills did in the offseason of 2019 to build around Josh Allen because they made aggressive moves overhauling their offensive line and bringing in receiving targets for him. And if you look at what the Jets did for Darnold. They really did not touch the offensive. They barely addressed the offensive line. They did bring in Le'Veon Bell. But there was no focus on building around Darnold. And look, Darnold's been up and down his first two seasons.

And there have been some very bad moments that are his fault. But the Jets have done him no favors. And I think that they at least attempted to address things this offseason i don't think you could i don't think there's any way anywhere to go but up for the offensive line because and we saw this starting week one when the bills dominated in the in the trenches and the jets offense struggled to get anything going the offensive line was a nightmare for the jets last last year, and they brought in some new players. And I think one of the key signings this offseason

was Connor McGovern, because the center position has been an enormous problem for the Jets over the last three seasons. When I go back and review the film, it's been amazing, especially in the run game. How many failed plays where the root cause was the center not executing missing a block or not identifying his assignment and that started in 2017 with les wesley johnson it continued 2018

with spencer long last year the jets brought in ryan khalil in training camp uh to try and address the center position but did not work out at all and then backup center jonathan harrison has spent some time filling in the last three years as well so i think the govern was a really important signing now across the rest of the offense it's tough to it's tough to answer whether they've done enough because so many of the moves that they made are high ceiling low floor type moves they bring in ge in George Fant from Seattle, a guy with a lot of physical tools, a guy who, if they can coach him up, could be an answer at one of the starting tackle positions. But a guy who, if you're going to be objective, has not been a quality starter to this point in

his career. And he got a bit late, a bit of a late start playing football. You know, he was not a guy who played consistently throughout his college, his college days. Seattle brought him in. They're trying to, and they tried to coach him up. His play was up and down in Seattle. So that's a question mark.

The jets brought him drafted McKay Beckton in the first round, which was a welcome development for Jets fans because it was the first time the Jets have used a first-round pick in an offensive lineman since 2006. And I think long-term, Becton is going to be a cornerstone player at one of the two tackle spots. But his game does need a little bit of development. So what can you expect year one? That's not entirely clear. You mentioned Rashad Perryman, the guy who wasn't a former first round pick, lots of physical tools,

had a tremendous season, finished the 2019 season. His last five games, he was one of the best receivers in football. But to this point in his career, those five games are really the only time he's put together a stretch where he's played effectively denzel mims they draft him in the second round which seems like a great value pick on paper and kind of the same thing i'd say about beckton i think long term he's going to be

an important player on the foundation of this offense but what can you expect this year that's not entirely clear and chris herndon who had a really good rookie season back in 2018 30 39 catches fourth round pick last year was just a total lost season began it suspended suffered a hamstring injury right before he was about to return finally gets back on the field against the giants in november suffers a rib injury his first game ends the season with one catch guy with a lot of ability guy who could be one of the better tight ends in this league, but you can't ignore what happened last season, the injuries, only one catch. How much can they expect out of him? Le'Veon Bell, his reputation is well known in this league, struggled last year.

How much of it was due to the offensive line? How much of it was due to him offensive line, how much of it was due to him just not being the player he was in Pittsburgh, being hurt by the year off. There are more questions than answers right now for this Jets offense. And it makes you a little bit nervous from a Jets perspective because the pieces around Darnold are going to go a long way towards determining his success. Well, Sam Darnold, 23 years old. He's younger than Joe Burrow, the number one overall pick for the Cincinnati Bengals, but Sam Darnold just happens to have 26 starts in the NFL under his belt. So he's still a young developing player. And obviously we're all anxious to see how

things come together for the Jets and Darnold this year, or I'm also anxious to get these guys picks for where they think the Buffalo Bills will fall in the landscape of the AFC East. You have that to look forward to right after this. All right, folks, it's time to let us know how you really feel about this Buffalo Bills football team and where you slot them to finish in the AFC East standings at the end of the 2020 season. Mike, we'll start with you because you told us yesterday that you are predicting the Bills to win the AFC East. You talked a lot yesterday about why you didn't necessarily

believe that the Patriots would repeat for the 12th time in a row. Maybe today you can tell us a bit more about where and why you believe this is the year Buffalo gets that done. Well, ultimately, I think it begins and ends with Josh Allen, and I think that he's shown plenty of promise in his first two years. I don't necessarily believe he has to be the elite quarterback that everybody is clamoring for him to be, I think that by being a very, very good quarterback, which I believe he is, is going to be enough to

be able to get the job done. When it comes to what they've done on the running game, when it comes to their defense, I do believe the Buffalo Bills, again, have the slight driver's seat because of the fact that they have continuity, which is something that the New England Patriots don't have right now. John mentioned yesterday on the Patriots centric show where it's still a wild card about what how the Patriots are going to fit together this year. There's uncertainty for the first time in a good long while. I think the season is going to come down to how much progress each team in the AFC East can make. And right now, I think the Buffalo Bills are in the

driver's seat to do that. Look, Josh Allen threw 20 touchdowns last year, nine interceptions. I believe he can improve on those numbers. And if he does, that only puts them in even a better standpoint to be able to contend for a division title. They went out and gave them a nice weapon in Stefan Diggs. Stefan Diggs had a000 receiving yards in each of the past two seasons. That was with Kirk Cousins. I think it's going to be interesting to see how Diggs clicks with Allen. I don't believe Diggs is going to be a malcontent. I've seen some people raise that possibility.

We've talked about whether or not the actual battery relationship between he and Josh Allen would result in a lot of overthrows or a lot of missed opportunities. I think these guys are going to be on the same page. So that's why I'm so high on Buffalo's offense. They also, in my opinion, have a great running back in Devin Singletary. He rushed for 775 yards in 12 games last year, splitting time with Frank Gore, who is just absolutely the fountain of youth when it comes to running backs. So much respect for him. But I think the feature now being on Singletary allows him to be able to improve on those numbers. Leslie Frazier's defense was one of the best in the league last year.

They're going to miss Phillips. They had a strong season. They're going to miss Shaq Lawson. But in my opinion, I think this defense still has enough firepower for the expectations to be high. Josh Norman isn't what he was, folks, but the Bills don't need him to be with Tredavious White on the other side. They still have a lot of firepower in that secondary. Micah Hyde is a great, you know, strong safety. Jordan Poyer, I believe, at free safety allows them the opportunity. And one of the guys I'm watching in this defense more than anybody is a guy that I was absolutely salivating at for the Patriots to go after in the draft. And that's AJ Epineza,

Joe, and even Kyle, you guys across the board at the draft network did a great job of covering AJ Epineza. And you've mentioned that he was devastating bull rushing off the edge, getting on the same level of the passer, shucking the block and finishing. He reminded me so much of Trey Flowers that I just thought he'd be such a hand and glove fit in a Bill Belichick coach defense. I think Epineza has the chance to push for a starting position this year. And that may be a little bit of an eyebrow razor to some Buffalo Bills fans, especially when the Bills went out and added Mario Addison. I still think that A.J.

Epineza can push him, and I like his ability to contend this year in that defense. So that's the reason why I think Buffalo has the leg up, that continuity, bringing back the guys that I've mentioned. The complementary pieces that they've added to me gives them the leg up, even over a team that may have some equals when it comes to their ability to put a talented team on on the field in the new england patriots i still think buffalo has the leg up on the competition for the reasons that i mentioned mike uh that statue is fully erected now in the parking

lot at new era field but what you don't know is now they're planning on uh building uh buffalo herd a statue around you so now you're surrounded by little Buffalo statues. That's it. It just gets better and better every time we talk. Well, I got news for you after my fan base, here's this. And after the listeners locked on Patriots, I may need to start begging you guys for a job up in Buffalo pretty soon. No, I'm kidding.

I assure you. No, my fans know that I still bleed Patriot blue and look, I'm not giving up on the Patriots folks this year. I'm not saying they won't win the AFC East. I'm just saying on paper right now, I do give the slight edge to the Buffalo bills. Kyle crabs. And I, we host a daily podcast called draft dudes.

It's part of the lockdown podcast network. You should subscribe to it. We talk NFL college football, the NFL draft every day. And one of the things we're doing right now is a series where we're predicting each team's schedule game by game. And we've done the Buffalo Bills together. Together, we picked them to go 10 and six and win the AFC East. But this isn't together today, Kyle. This is you and you alone. Where do the Bills finish this year? I do think the Bills have the most likely odds to win the AFC East this year for many of the same dynamics that we've talked about.

I said on yesterday's show, I think 10 wins is a realistic expectation for the New England Patriots once they've brought in Cam Newton and the difference that he is going to provide for their offense versus Jared Stidham. But I do think ultimately Buffalo, because of the continuity, you know, yes, the Patriots have Bill Belichick, but they have new pieces that have to execute that offense and defense at some pretty critical spots with the quarterback position, obviously being the key one. And I think Buffalo, because they don't have a first

place schedule i think there are some enough breaks in there where i think this sets up for a 10 or 11 win buffalo bills team and if it comes down to it just take care of business and get that monkey off your back and beat the patriots once and i think the rest of the schedule sets up well enough for even if both teams finish with the same amount of wins, the Bills are the team that will take home the AFC East crown. That one felt good, didn't it? Oh, man. I'm just going to splice that out.

I'm going to listen to it a lot every day. Looking forward to seeing you in person at the end of the week. Maybe we can listen together over a glass of... Do you want a whole dance, too? That'd be great. We'll light up some stogies, we'll have some bourbon, we'll sit out on your back deck, and we will listen to that, I mean, 20 or 30 times, no doubt. John, my guy, do you share in this optimism that Mike and Kyle do in the Bills claiming their first AFC East division

title since 1995? I think that there is a path for any of the four teams in the AFC East to win the division title. And I think that I don't really have many questions with this Bills defense. I think that this is a playoff caliber defense. I think ultimately if Josh Allen takes that next step, then this Bills team has a very good chance of winning the division. And we've seen through the first two years that Josh Allen is inconsistent. There have been some bad moments, as there are with any young quarterback. But I think the talent is off the charts, and I think when he's been good, he's been very good.

And I mentioned this in our first segment i really like the way the bills have built around him now i'm not going to lie when they've traded when i heard about the stefan digs trade at first i was a little skeptical just from the standpoint that this was this was such a deep year at the receiver position i was wondering you know is was it that the best move to trade a first round pick for a wide receiver? But the more I've thought about it, the more I liked the move, because you never know what you're getting from a rookie. You can't, you can never even a first round pick. Sometimes they come along slowly. And this is such a big year for Josh Allen. This is

such a big year for the bills that you're getting a guy who will slide right in and be a number one receiver. And not only that, if you look at what the Bills are paying him contract-wise, that's not bad for a player with Diggs' ability. And it also allows John Brown to slide into a more complementary role. Mike talked about Singletary. I'll tell you, another guy I was very high on a year ago in the draft is Dawson Knox. I think he has the potential to be one of the better tight ends of the NFL.

A guy who can really threaten the seam. And when you have Diggs and you have Brown, it's just another guy who can do damage. So I think that everything's there for Buffalo to make the next step and take the AFC East this year. If Josh Allen can take that next step as a player and take advantage of all these, of the talent that they've surrounded him with, I don't see any reason the bills can't win the East. Is that a,

is that a prediction of yes, or you're saying it's the, they have the most likely path. Well, I, as much as I hate to say it, and I said this on yesterday's show i think that the patriots just have the benefit of the doubt until somebody knocks them off but it's not the the gap is much

smaller than it has been in the past fair enough i guess i i get the last word here and i think it's such a unique time in the history of the Buffalo Bills um obviously covering the team for a while now and paying very close attention for my entire life and um it's it's a little uncomfortable to be completely honest with you because there's never been this much optimism and one thing that I talked about last year is the Bills gained momentum and their record seemed to be trending towards the playoffs and double-digit wins for the first time since 99. I kept on saying things to the listeners of Locked On Bills about meeting the moment and meeting expectations. And this is

that next moment for the Bills to meet where there's a lot of momentum for them to go out and be the favorites to win this division. But how do they meet that moment? How do they meet expectations? Well, before Sean McDermott arrived, so between Wade Phillips' run with the team and the time Sean McDermott arrived, that 17-year stretch did not see the Bills reach the postseason at all. 17 consecutive years of no playoffs. And Sean McDermott in two of three seasons has taken this team to the playoffs with two different quarterbacks. And there's a lot of reason to be optimistic. And so the real question for me is, do they meet the moment? Now, part of

that is Josh Allen taking the next step and the defense repeating and making that continuity matter, right? Going out and executing to the way that you believe you can. But what's been different over the last three years compared to the previous 20 has been Sean McDermott has changed those narratives in ways that have become somewhat of a new normal when it comes to the Buffalo Bills and being a team that's not the laughingstock of the league. And they're a good run organization that is respected for what they're accomplishing. So, you know, obviously I do have great optimism about the Bills and their chances this year.

And I said yesterday when I was talking about the Patriots and their chances to win the division is that, you know, it's a combination of how the Bills matched up with the Patriots last year, plus the continuity, plus what bills the bills are bringing back and what they've added up against what the Patriots have lost and what they're counting on, uh, to, to, you know, win the division for the 12th straight year. So, uh, look, if, if me and Kyle are going to collaborate on the bills, uh, winning the division and,. And Kyle's going to do it independently. And, you know, Mike has the courage to dethrone the Patriots. I'm not going to be the guy that doesn't say the Bills win the AFC East in the year 2020, as odd as that sounds.

Thanks so much for tuning in to this episode of Locked on Bills, Dolphins, Patriots, or Jets. We have been having a lot of fun here talking about this division and the dynamics of it. You have the Jets and Dolphins to look forward to here the rest of the week. So make sure that you don't miss it. Make sure that you are subscribed to your podcast that you listen to, and we are so grateful for you giving us your ear today. As I always say to my audience on Locked on Bills, we do kindly ask that you share, subscribe, rate, and review this podcast.

And we look forward to coming back and talking more about the AFC East tomorrow.