Watching James Cook slice through the Dallas Cowboys defense play after play, and watching the Bills pass rush continually harass an MVP candidate quarterback, it was hard to believe this was the same team we saw mere weeks ago.
A truly dominant night at Highmark Stadium made you wonder how the Bills ever got to a place where games like these are close to “must win” scenarios. It’s been a rocky enough road that my colleague Jeff Madigan has brought back a familiar feature of our late drought-era Bills coverage: a look at the Bills’ playoff chances and the scenarios they need to make the postseason field.
The good news is the odds are much better now after the last two weeks, wins over the Chiefs and Cowboys. It’s remarkable the Bills are only two wins over losing teams (the Chargers and Patriots) and one Miami loss (to Dallas or Baltimore) over the next two weeks from the chance of playing for the division in Week 18.
Of course, the Bills will only have themselves to blame if they end up short of the playoffs, and it’ll be because of games much like the one they face on Saturday in Los Angeles. On paper, it should be an easy one: a 5-9 team, without its star quarterback and many others that just lost so badly in primetime it prompted the firing of its coach and general manager.
But you probably thought the same thing against an Aaron Rodgers-less Jets in Week 1, or the dismal Pats in Week 7.
We won’t see Justin Herbert, Keenan Allen or Joey Bosa — the kind of stars who likely enticed the schedule-makers to pick this a for streaming-only national TV game before the season — on the field for the Chargers. They will, however, have Khalil Mack, the former collegiate star at Buffalo and 2016 Defensive Player of the Year.
Quarterbacking in place of Herbert (out for the season’s final month after surgery for a broken finger)? Easton Stick, an FCS product out of North Dakota State who’s occupied a mostly anonymous spot on Chargers’ roster after being selected in the fifth round in 2019.
On Wednesday, NBC announced its Peacock broadcast (which will also be carried on local NBC affiliates in Buffalo and L.A.) will include a commercial-free fourth quarter. If the Bills play anything like they did last week, and attack Stick the way they did Dak Prescott, it might be a pretty boring uninterrupted period.
After the Chargers lost 63-21 to the Raiders last Thursday in Las Vegas, owner Dean Spanos mercifully parted ways with both coach Brandon Staley and GM Tom Telesco. So what exactly do these injury-riddled Chargers have to play for? Ask interim coach Giff Smith. The 55-year-old outside linebackers coach, and a former Bills defensive line coach from 2010-12 under Chan Gailey, will lead L.A. through the final three weeks.
In his press conference with the L.A. media on Wednesday, Smith relayed a comment from Gailey when asked of any advice he found insightful.
“I thought that Chan Gailey had a great one,” Smith said. “He said, ‘All of those suggestions and thoughts that you had are now decisions. Good luck.’”
A defensive coach, Smith was naturally asked about the Bills’ offense following Cook’s career-best day against Dallas.
“They looked good, didn’t they? They played well,” Smith said. “Coach (Sean) McDermott has done a great job of rallying those guys. It’s a challenge, but that’s the league. Every week is a challenge. You think you see a game and you’re like, ‘Oh, they’ll win that one.’ Then, boom, you get slapped right across the face. It’s a challenge, there’s no question about it. We know the issues that we have to address. What we want to do is go out there and fight and make Southern California proud of what they see on Saturday night.”
Of Bills QB Josh Allen, Smith noted, “He’s a great player. He gets paid a lot of money for a great reason. We have some stuff in the plan (that I) think can help. I don’t know if you ever stop Josh, you have to limit Josh and try to create some situations where maybe he can make a mistake or two. But we feel like we have a good plan, moving forward, into the game.”
(Times Herald sports editor Sam Wilson may be contacted at swilson@oleantimesherald.com)
