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00:00Pats won the first matchup back in Week 5, 23-20 over Buffalo.
00:04They're 11-2.
00:06We've been talking about the game all week long.
00:08We felt it'd be good to get the Buffalo view from Sal Capaccio, WGR 550, up in Buffalo.
00:14Sal, thanks for joining us here on Jones & Keefe.
00:16Yeah, you got it, guys. Anytime. Should be fun on Sunday.
00:19It should be. We have spent the last couple of days trying to rationalize,
00:22and I'd like your thoughts on this, how the Patriots could go into Buffalo,
00:26beat the Bills in the midst of a 10-game win streak,
00:29coming off a bye week.
00:31Buffalo, I don't know if you agree with this or not,
00:33but they've looked pretty shaky this year compared to how they've looked in the past.
00:36How with all of those factors has Buffalo favored as of right now in this game this weekend?
00:42Well, I don't know. You have to ask the oddsmakers in Vegas.
00:45My guess is because they have Josh Allen and the experience of this type of football
00:49and this type of environment.
00:51They have a very, very good December record under Sean McDermott.
00:55They are still one of the top-scoring teams in the NFL.
01:01Their defense has been a bit shaky, so I guess that's why.
01:04I mean, you look at the Patriots and give them all the credit in the world.
01:07They're playing really consistent football all year.
01:10But I think there's probably some questions, I guess.
01:12It's not me saying it.
01:12I'm saying why you would have the Bills favored.
01:15Still questions about their schedule or playing tight games and all that kind of thing.
01:20So I think it's a pretty even game.
01:22It doesn't surprise me either way that either team will be favored by a point or a point-a-half.
01:25What are the Bills fans' thoughts when they see Steph Diggs having the type of season
01:29he's having here in New England?
01:32Well, I think, first of all, they're a little surprised because this is a guy that appeared
01:38more on the downside of his career when he left Buffalo.
01:41And then he went to Houston, and he had the awful ACL injury.
01:44For him to come back and have this resurgence is unbelievable.
01:48It really just speaks to volumes about his hard work and his talent, to be honest with you.
01:53I don't think there's not one Bills fan would say, oh, my God, I can't believe they traded
01:57Steph on Diggs.
01:57I mean, it clearly was the end for the partnership at the end.
02:02He had to be traded for him and the Bills and for Josh Allen, I think.
02:06And all the talk that offseason was, well, what's Josh Allen going to do without a number
02:09one?
02:09Well, he went out and won the MVP.
02:11So I don't think anybody was upset about that.
02:13It's so funny.
02:13You get more Bills fans upset that Mac Hollins is on the Patriots than Steph on Diggs these
02:18days, to be quite honest with you.
02:20So I think it's more of a kind of, you know, just a bit of a knife in the side that Steph
02:25on Diggs came to Buffalo and had the game he had in week five.
02:28So we like Mac Hollins here.
02:29I've been pleasantly surprised by him.
02:31I've been very surprised as well by Diggs.
02:33Like, I didn't think he'd be back from the injury as quickly as he was.
02:37I didn't think he'd be, you know, the teammate slash leader that he's been dot, dot, dot
02:42so far.
02:43I'm curious, and you just hinted at some of this, but I'm curious if Steph Diggs and the
02:48Steph Diggs experience has a shelf life.
02:51I think it does.
02:53It did in Minnesota, and we were told that.
02:56It's so funny.
02:57You're asking me this, and I ask the exact same questions of people in Minnesota when
03:01this happened.
03:02And you're like, yeah, but everything's great here.
03:04And he's got this younger quarterback he's working with, and it's amazing.
03:06I have this great relationship.
03:08And people in Minnesota said, ah, just wait.
03:10Just wait.
03:11And I'm like, no.
03:12Well, guess what?
03:12Just wait.
03:13And I'll say the same thing to you guys.
03:14And that's, hey, I don't know.
03:15He's at a different point of his career, though, right?
03:18And, you know, we'll see how it ends.
03:20Steph Diggs is the ultimate competitor.
03:21There's no doubt about that.
03:23I do not think he's a bad teammate in any sense.
03:25I think what happens, though, is Steph Diggs has this aura and this weight about him that
03:29he is so competitive.
03:30He is so much of a guy that, you know, has a name and a spotlight that I think it becomes
03:35heavy around him.
03:36And if everything's not going exactly perfectly well, that becomes tough to sustain.
03:40And I think that's what's happened in Minnesota and Buffalo.
03:42What's the sense in Buffalo right now when you see the landscape of the AFC and some
03:47of Josh Allen's, you know, main rivals are all having bad years.
03:51At least the teams are having bad years in the case of Mahomes and Burrow and Lamar Jackson.
03:55Is there any sense of if you don't break through the AFC this year, then maybe you won't?
04:02Yes, that's a lot of the talk here.
04:04It's a lot of the talk nationally, as you guys have probably heard as well, which is it's
04:08a really interesting kind of dichotomy, which is the Bills probably from the outside looking
04:14in have what might be considered their quote unquote easiest path to the Super Bowl that
04:19they've had in this five year run.
04:21However, that is coupled with the worst team they've had in the five year run.
04:25So which would you rather have?
04:28Now, of course, you want to have the best team possible.
04:32But guys, I'll be honest with you.
04:33The fact that if the Bills, the nemesis has been Kansas City, and I know they lost to Cincinnati
04:39the one year as well.
04:39But no Patrick Mahomes in Kansas City, no Joe Burrow in Cincinnati, no Lamar Jackson in
04:45Baltimore, at least it appears as though that's the case with all of these.
04:47Oh my God, the Bills fans are signing me up.
04:50Even going on the road for three games, I think Bills fans say, let's take that.
04:54Like even this game, for example.
04:56Yes, it's a very critical game.
04:58Bills don't want to lose it.
04:59Bills fans don't want to lose it.
05:00You don't want to see a hat and t-shirt game in New England with the Patriots and winning
05:05the division.
05:06And we all know, though, that most likely the Patriots are going to win the division.
05:09And it's an important game.
05:10But I think if you told Bills fans right now, you could sign up for the AFC divisional round
05:15in New England, they would absolutely take that, believe it or not, over Kansas City
05:18coming here or Baltimore coming here to Buffalo.
05:20Interesting.
05:21He's Sal Capaccio, WGR550 up in Buffalo.
05:24Give him a follow at SalSports on Twitter.
05:27You know, looking at this game and this matchup, you mentioned McDermott earlier, his record
05:33in December.
05:34Like our perception on McDermott is maybe he's on the hot seat.
05:38I don't know if it's the Jackson dark glasses that he's sporting these days.
05:40I don't know what it is, but I don't have a ton of belief in him.
05:43I don't think a lot of Patriots fans have a ton of belief in him.
05:46How hot is his seat in Buffalo, if at all?
05:50Well, from the fans' perspective, it's extremely hot.
05:53But I'll maintain that I don't think that this ownership has any thought to move on from
05:58Sean McDermott.
05:59Now, we'll see.
05:59Do they go to the AFC wildcard and, you know, get blown out or something?
06:03I think all those things can always change things, right?
06:05I mean, Sean McDermott has one of the most...
06:08The only thing that's held him back from winning a Super Bowl or getting to a Super Bowl, I should
06:11say, has been pretty much the Kansas City Chiefs.
06:13Now, he's definitely had his defense and moments that he's coached that have done that.
06:18There's no doubt.
06:18I'm not excusing that.
06:19What I'm saying is, though, that I think Bill's ownership knows that there are, you
06:23know, what, 25 other teams in this league that would love to have a coach like Sean McDermott
06:27who's done what he's done for the last nine years in Buffalo.
06:30So, I don't believe his seat's hot, but I will tell you guys, because of what happened
06:34in Kansas City in the divisional round in 21 with 13 seconds left, that forever sticks
06:39in Bill's fans' minds.
06:41And no matter what Sean McDermott does, it does not matter to them.
06:44They just want a new coach.
06:45And they'll always point to why he's not the guy.
06:48He has to do it.
06:49Or you're just going to go back to everything you just said about you can't get there.
06:53He won't be the guy to get you there.
06:54And it's just, we feel calls about it every day on WGR, that people just want a new head
06:59coach because that is the thing that sticks.
07:01I look at the big picture and say, oh my God, like he's one of the better coaches in the
07:04league and he has been.
07:05And do you not know where you were for 20 years before that?
07:09Another thing you guys must get a lot of calls on is the wide receiver room.
07:12Because even at the beginning of the year, it looked like a barren wasteland.
07:16And the Patriots have had some bad receiver rooms over the last five years.
07:19And even going into this year was sort of the uncertainty on Diggs and some of the younger
07:23players, we were all saying like, we'd take the Pats group over the Bills group.
07:27It seems like they're just putting so much on Josh Allen to succeed.
07:31But yeah, the receiver room has got to be towards the bottom of the entire league.
07:36You guys obviously remember and you heard the exchange between Brandon Bean and our
07:40morning show.
07:41Yeah, we played it.
07:43Yeah, that was right after the draft.
07:47And our morning show host, Jeremy White, he's been on what he calls his wide receiver
07:51train for the last few years.
07:52It's actually kind of become a bit of a shtick and kind of cool.
07:55But you know, just because ever since Stefan Diggs left, especially, it's been get Josh
08:00Allen, you know, another more receiving help, get him a true number one.
08:03But the Bills have gone to this mentality.
08:05And I think this is so ironic that the Bills actually shifted a mentality to everybody
08:10eats because they didn't want to have a guy like Stefan and for the reasons I said, and
08:14there's so much weight around and you got to kind of make sure he's satisfied.
08:17And now it's like, wait a minute, he's doing that in New England and they kind of
08:20having everybody eat these, you know, everybody's getting all these balls and the Bills need
08:23a guy like that now.
08:24So to answer your question, though, yes, it is a huge question.
08:27It's something we've talked about.
08:29Now, I will say when you say put everything on Josh Allen, let's remember the Bills haven't
08:33done that because they have the number one rushing attack in the league.
08:35What the Bills have done here over the last few years, if they've gone to a different
08:38philosophy of, OK, we have Josh Allen.
08:41He's this great quarterback.
08:42Maybe he's the best quarterback in the league.
08:43He can do all these superhuman things.
08:45But he can make everybody around him throwing the ball better.
08:47What we need to do is insulate him with a really great running attack and a really good
08:51offensive line and keep him healthy and protected.
08:53And that's actually gone really well this year.
08:55And that's exactly what they've done this year.
08:57And the Bills lean on that running attack.
08:58I would make the argument that James Cook could be the AFC Offensive Player of the Year
09:04before Josh Allen could, even though Josh Allen would be the Bills MVP.
09:08Pick it.
09:08Who wins on Sunday?
09:09Well, I'm on the radio broadcast on the sidelines, so I'm careful about things like this, guys,
09:15with all the gambling stuff that goes on these days, as you know.
09:18So I will say, though, that I am pretty sure that the Bills are in a position where they
09:22do not want to see the New England Patriots with hats and T-shirts after the game and celebrating
09:28a division championship.
09:29So I think the Bills will give everything they had to walk away with a victory here.
09:32But I do think the Patriots probably wind up winning the East because it's just tough for
09:37them to see them losing against the Jets and the Dolphins, or the Dolphins, I should say.
09:42But I think that these two teams might match up again in the playoffs.
09:45So I think the Bills have a very good shot to win this game.
09:48But, man, if you can do what you did in Week 5, muck it up a little bit, get a couple
09:51of turnovers, I could see it going the Patriots' way.
09:54Okay.
09:54He's Sal Capaccio, WGR550 up in Buffalo.
09:57Give him a follow at SalSports on Twitter.
10:00Sal, we appreciate the time.
10:01Thanks so much.
10:01Thanks, Sal.
10:02Yeah, you got it, guys.
10:03All right.
10:03Sal Capaccio joining us here on Jones and Keith.
10:05He's got the Bills winning the battle on Sunday.
10:08Yes, but not the division.
10:10But the Patriots winning the war, if you will, in the division.
10:13Maybe a rematch in the postseason.
10:15Yeah, it is funny.
10:15I'm not surprised in Buffalo how they feel about Sean McDermott, right?
10:20Because it's just from the outside, right?
10:21We see him twice a year head to head.
10:23He felt differently.
10:24No, no, he feels differently.
10:25But fans are like, all right, enough is enough.
10:27But it's also like, I guess that's probably the more mature way of looking at it is like Kansas
10:32City Chiefs have literally stood in the way a couple of times.
10:34And the Chiefs were, maybe they still are, but they were a dynasty.
10:38So it's like, are you going to fire your coach because the only team you can't beat is like
10:41the best team of the last six years?
10:43Okay, but that's why this is so important.
10:45100%.
10:46No, this year's a different story.
10:47I'm with you.
10:47If there's no Chiefs in the playoffs and you get bounced by, you know, Drake May, or you
10:51get bounced by Trevor Lawrence or somebody like that, well, then what the hell are we
10:54talking about?
10:55Yeah.
10:55But you can't just say, like, yeah, you're right.
10:58I've never liked Sean McDermott that much.
11:00But also, the GM's not doing a great job when you look at the roster around Josh Allen.
11:03Like, you're not maximizing Josh Allen because he hit on something we said, I think, earlier
11:07this week where this is the worst Bills team of the last six years, but it's also the worst
11:15AFC in the last six years.
11:16But they might not be able to capitalize on that because they also aren't that great.
11:19It's fortunate that Steph Diggs has stepped up in such a big way for the Patriots this
11:23year because we were thinking about doing that wide receiver train bit.
11:26But now we don't have to do that.
11:27I like that.
11:28We don't have to do that.
11:28We can't.
11:29We can't.
11:30They're in a worse spot.
11:30You can check out Sal Capaccio again, WGR550 up in Buffalo, if you missed any of it.
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