OverDrive - Naylor on Allen leading the Bills, Buffalo's stature in the AFC and the grand opportunity for the team

Episode Date: December 16, 2024

TSN Football Insider Dave Naylor joined OverDrive to discuss the biggest storylines around the NFL, the Bills' significant victory against the Lions, Josh Allen's MVP season leading the team, the team's stance in the AFC and more.

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Own your home, need a loan? Alpine Credits can help. Alpine Credits, where homeowners get approved. Just for license 12-616. Here he is, Dave Naylor, our TSN football insider. Is that accurate? How many pairs of jeans do you own? I think active.

I may have some retired ones that I haven't done away with. I think active, I have about three. But I actually could start this segment with a bit of a jean story, believe it or not. Yeah. You ready? Yeah. What do you have? Okay. So I come back off of a vacation Saturday night and I get like home at about 1030. And by the time I get to sleep, it's like one or something. And I'm on a 10 o'clock in the morning to Detroit for Lions Bills. Right. So I'm like, okay, 10 o'clock, land at 11, I'm probably going just to the hotel and then right to the stadium. So I pack a bag,

obviously, carry on, and I wear my suit. I put on my suit in Toronto and fly to Detroit. And I'm like, okay, this is cool. Wear the suit, have it on all day, no big deal, because I'm riding back. I flew in, but I drove back with our cameraman, Peter Bradley, today. That's no problem. I'd wear the suit for one day and get out of it and ride back. And then I get to my room and I realize I didn't bring any jeans. Oh, no.

No jeans. No jeans, just the suit. I brought a hoodie and a t-shirt, so it was two full days sitting in the suit, including riding back hoodie and a t-shirt. It was two full days sitting in the suit, including riding back five hours from Detroit today. The first thing I did when I got in

was went straight to the dry cleaner and dropped that baby off. I love it. The suit pant with a hoodie, that's a guy who's been through it, man. That's a guy that's traveling and he's in a dark place. I know it. I know it well. That's you guy who's been through it, man. That's a guy that's traveling and he's in a dark place. I know it.

I know it well. That's you, man. Well, listen, you got to see a great ball game yesterday. That was something. And Josh Allen, it feels like it's effectively locked up now because he was going to likely win the MVP anyway. Last night he plays the way he plays. They win in Detroit.

Now you have all the national media in the state saying it's over. Anyone that doesn't vote for him is going to get bullied now. I wouldn't be shocked if he won it unanimously. What's it like seeing him up close and personal, watch him in the zone because he is playing at a level that is absolutely absurd right now.

I don't know if I've ever seen anything like it. In particular, he's doing everything well right now. I mean, there isn't an element of his game, even when he was running, you know, when they would be third and four, second and six. And it was almost like he could pick a spot by the fourth quarter because they were so shell shocked with what he could do throwing the football that, you know, he could just run around the end and step out of bounds whenever he wanted. could just run around the end and step out of bounds whenever he wanted but the stuff that really blows you away is the stuff outside of structure which is the stuff that he's been criticized for in the past right being a little too loose with the ball security and taking chances and you know McDermott got asked last night when you stand on the sidelines and Josh breaks

structure is playing outside of structure are you are you in amazement as much as everybody else? And his answer back was, yeah, and blacking out. And you really think, because he's watching this stuff, but he has to really trust his quarterback. And I think Josh is, Josh Allen's a really humble guy. From what I can tell, and again, I'm always aware that, hey, I'm wearing a media badge. I don't know Josh Allen's a really humble guy from what I can tell. And again, I'm always aware that, hey, I'm wearing a media badge. I don't know Josh Allen. I see him once or twice a week through work

and watching him talk to the media and see sometimes the way he interacts with teammates. But when you talk to teammates about him, and I've been covering this team on a weekly basis now. This is for the third year. So you do get a pretty good sense, I think, of what a guy is like. And a guy to be that talented and kind of have that much humility, which is really reflected in his teammates' attitude about him.

And here's the other small part about that. If you're a guy from California and you're going to be the face of the Buffalo Bills, you kind of got to be that guy. You've got to lean in and be a Western New Yorker a bit. And Josh Allen does that. But I mean, the things he's doing, it's almost like every game, there's a Buffalo Bills PR tweet about Josh Allen became the first NFL quarterback in history to this, this, this, and this.

I mean, it's almost comical. One after another, you know, the first guy ever, three rushing touchdowns, three passing touchdowns. The first guy to have a running touchdown, receiving touchdown, and a passing touchdown, one of each in a game. Back-to-back weeks with at least two rushing touchdowns, two passing touchdowns. He is not just doing things that we're not seeing elsewhere in the NFL right now. Not things that we haven't seen in the last few years.

He's doing things that nobody in the NFL has ever done. And when you combine it with the ball security and that throw he made to Keon Coleman, the 64 yarder on a rope, you know, after buying time and dancing around it. And it's, I think it's one of those things that probably on television, it's harder to appreciate, but when you're sitting up in that press box and you can see the whole field and you can see the way that defense just freezes when Josh starts to move around, and the way he's timing space in his head, and then he unleashes that rocket, it is something else, guys.

How much credit does the O-line deserve? Because we talk about Josh Allen all the time, but I feel like that might be one of those things where it almost gets underappreciated because of Allen's brilliance. I think you're right. I mean, no sacks. I think, you know, three hits yesterday, something like that. And here's the other thing about the O-line part of it. One,

they're talented. And Aaron Cromer, their offensive line coach, is very, very good. But I don't stand to be corrected on this, but I think I'm right about what I'm about to say. It's an incredible stat. I don't believe the Buffalo Bills have lost a single man game on their offensive line to injury the past two seasons. Think of that. Think how many times you hear an NFL game go, well, so-and-so's playing so-and-so.

The old line's really banged up, right? Or they're playing their backup tackle or this tackle was signed off the practice roster two weeks ago. The Bills have marched their starting five out there for 17 games last year 14 31 consecutive games wow and again i i may be i don't think i'm wrong about this and if i am i'm barely wrong but i believe it's 31 consecutive games and you know they made a couple of switches on the offensive line from last year to this, but they're starting five.

So I think that's the other part of it, just in terms of when you're blocking for a guy like Josh Allen, it's a unique beast. So the fact that they can roll out those same five guys every single week and have that consistency, I think that's part of what you're seeing as well, Frankie. With Dave Naylor. So the Bills still have an opportunity to get that first seed.

Kansas City, they've got some tough games coming up. They've got Houston. They've got Pittsburgh. And then they've got Denver. And now you're dealing with a high ankle sprain from a home. So who knows if he's even going to play in all those games, any of those games, a few of those games. How important do you think that number one seed is to the Bills

or should be to the Bills? And then beyond that, who in the AFC do you think still scares the Buffalo Bills? Well, you know what the Bills have left, right? Easy. Patriots, Jets, Patriots. Right. I mean, so, you know, I think, I don't want to get too far ahead of it in the schedule here, but there's a pretty good chance they're going to finish the season 14-3.

And again, with Mahomes' high ankle sprain, they play Saturday, they come back on Christmas, on Wednesday, they've got a really condensed schedule as well. And Kansas City's going to the playoffs, so how much risk do you want to take exposing Patrick Mahomes to at the end of the schedule when you know he's the guy who butters your bread in the playoffs? That's going to be interesting to watch.

In terms of what it means, I don't believe they've ever had it. I don't think they've ever had the number one seed in the playoff. That's going to be interesting to watch. You know, in terms of what it means, I mean, that's the one thing, I don't believe they've ever had it. I don't think they've ever had the number one seed in the AFC in the McDermott era. So, you know, yeah, I mean, you get a week off, right,

and you're home field through the playoffs. There's a bit of an irony about the Bills earning home style of the playoffs, though, and obviously you can't predict or you can't pick where you play. But among the factors that have played into at least the last two weeks

when the Bills have put up over 40 points, both games were played in perfect conditions, one at SoFi, one at Ford Field. And, of course, if the Bills go through the playoffs, you're not going to get perfect conditions at Orchard Park. But, I mean, hey, Josh Allen's been pretty good all season, good weather, bad weather. I just think you see when the conditions are ideal,

you see almost another level of what he can do. Teams that would scare you in the AFC? Well, Kansas City for sure. And I think if you look at the way they lost last year to Kansas City, I mean, they only gave up 27 points, which was, I think, only one team all year held Kansas City. The bill put up 24 points on Kansas City, which was one of the highest totals of the year.

They gave up 27, which wasn't a disaster against that team. But the problem was that the defensive line couldn't disturb Mahomes. They couldn't get off the field. He was just doing his thing, and they couldn't disrupt him. And I think even though they went into the regular season this year like they did in spectacular fashion on November 17th, that doesn't really ease, I think, people in Buffalo and the Bills organization year, like they did in spectacular fashion on November 17th, that doesn't really ease. I think people in Buffalo and the bills organization about,

we play because they beat them in the regular season on three times in recent years, and they still can't beat them in the playoffs. So I don't know that you can say, well, check Mark on Kansas city, November 17th. No,

chiefs are a legit threat. And the other one is Baltimore, you know, and maybe it's not as big a problem as we remember because they got blown out in, I think it was week four. And it was one of those games where you had a team that plays a lot of heavy offensive sets that is really committed to run the ball and they just blew the Bills away on it. And I think going into yesterday, there was a lot of fear that that could be a repeat

of Baltimore with you got Gibbs you got that offensive line you've got Montgomery and it's like okay the last time they finished they played a team that was built like this here's what happened and I think you know two things were different yesterday that happened than in the Baltimore game one they didn't give up any explosive runs early on like they did you may remember Derrick Henry going off for you know 79 on the third play of the game or something in that game and the other thing was their offense was so much better that they flipped the game script on detroit and got them out of what they like to do which is just line up and power run the ball and wait for explosive runs and in baltimore they didn't score they got behind

they got pressing so maybe what they learned in executing against detroit yesterday makes baltimore less of a threat but i still think that's not a great matchup for the Bills. Yeah, that's where my head would go as well. I mean, Kansas City is always going to terrify you because of who they are, what they've done, right? If Mahomes is under center and that defense is playing the way it's playing, it's a very difficult out, especially if you have to go to Arrowhead. It seems like that's just going to be a very, very difficult thing to do,

yet the Bills are very capable of doing it, and especially the way they're playing right now, the way Josh Allen's playing. But it does feel like Allen probably has to find another level in the playoffs. I don't even know if that's possible. I mean, based on what you've just described, Dave, up close and personal, seeing him do things that you don't think anyone's ever done before, is it reasonable to ask Allen to do more in the playoffs?

Or does another element of this team have to step up a little bit? I don't think Allen has to do more, and I don't think he has to do better. And as the other element of the team, this is the cool thing about this year's Bills. And it kind of reminds you maybe a little bit of the Patriots and a bit of their golden era, where every week it's something different. It's not like, okay, you can stop Buffalo's offense if you do this. No, because they might not even be trying to do that. They may be trying to do this, and you're not lined up to stop that.

I'll just give you a couple examples. You see what Ty Johnson's receiving total was in that game yesterday? Like 100 and something? He's the number three running back. He had over 100 yards receiving in that game yesterday? Like 100 and something? He's the number three running back. He had over 100 yards receiving in the game. Do you think Detroit prepared for that? No, of course. Okay, here's another one.

You know how many targets Amari Cooper had yesterday? The second highest paid offensive player on the Bills yesterday. How many targets did he have yesterday? Zero. I was going to say two or three, but yeah. Zero. Not one. Did not have a catch.

And by the way, that's the difference when Amari Cooper is your star receiver on your team as opposed to Stephon Diggs. Because if the Bills had won 48-42 in Detroit yesterday and Stephon Diggs had that out of the target, guess what we'd be talking about today? He'd be going nuts on the sideline, even in a win. Bodyline, everything. I really think moving on from Stephon Diggs has freed the Bills offense

to be able to do whatever they should be doing in any given game or any given series or even any given play, as opposed to the burden where Josh has got to funnel 14, 15 throws to Stephon Diggs every game. So I think that versatility, it started off back in the summer. Everyone talked about the line they used, everyone eats, right? Hey, we don't have a star receiver, everyone eats. But they really are that kind of team, especially when you look at the way they mix in the summer everyone talked about you know the line they used everyone eats right hey we don't have a star receiver everyone eats but they really are that kind of team especially when you look at the way they mix in the three running backs into the past game so

i don't think josh has to be better and i think the bills can keep kind of flipping the script on teams week after week and they're incredibly difficult to prepare for because again if you're i don't know what the lions expected going in but I'm sure they saw some things they didn't expect and weren't prepared for, and that's kind of the magic of this offense and maybe what sets it apart from previous Bills teams. Great catching up with you, Dave. Get in those jeans, man.

Make sure you pack those jeans next time you're on the road. Do not forget. I will not, guys. Thanks a lot. All right, that's Dave Naylor, TSN Football Insider.