- 9 minutes ago
Jeremy White and Joe DiBiase are joined by Buffalo Bills center Connor McGovern for his bi-weekly appearance with The Jeremy and Joe Show to share his thoughts on the Bills 36-10 win over the Ravens. The guys started with a conversation about how the offense is able to put up 36 on a day where they felt off for a lot of the game. They also discuss the adjustments they make as the game goes, how they prepare for a defense like the Vikings, and more!
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00:01Bills win. Happy Victory Monday. Football Monday. Buffalo Football Monday. Jeremy and Joe with you.
00:07Portions of Buffalo Football Monday brought to you by Tim Hortons, the official coffee of the
00:11Jeremy and Joe Morning Show on WGR Starters, Your Day Strong, with Tim Hortons and the Bills.
00:16Joining us on the Western Hotline is Bills Center Connor McGovern. Connor, good morning. Jeremy and
00:21Joe, happy Victory Monday. Good morning. How are you guys doing today? We're good. Connor,
00:26do you ever have a game like the one we just watched yesterday? The fans are happy. It's six
00:31and one. It's a good win. But when it's over, you kind of have the feeling of, that's a weird
00:36game.
00:37Like a lot of weird things happened over the course of those three or four hours. It was a long
00:41game,
00:41too. Yeah, it was a very long game. That's what, like, I think at the end of the first quarter,
00:46it felt like it was three hours long already. Yeah, it was a little weird feeling. It's one of
00:51those games where we're like, all right, we weren't cooking fully as an offense in the first half,
00:55but then we look up and we still scored 36 points. That's been the feeling, I think,
01:01for us in the last few games, right? Like, and I guess that could be the mark, though,
01:05of one of the best offenses in football where it's how did they score 36, but somehow they
01:10just scored 36. Yeah, I think that just really shows how good this offense can truly be when
01:17we're mad at ourselves for not scoring every single drive. And like we have, like the only way
01:22we're really being stopped is we're stopping ourselves with either penalties in the red zone
01:26or just turning the ball over. And we saw yesterday defense really stepped it up and
01:33they're stout the entire game. So that really gave us like even more motivation to get better. And then
01:39special teams played lights out. Yeah. Did it feel like Connor, like the middle of the game,
01:44especially there was like a seven drive stretch there where you guys only scored nine points.
01:48But like you said, like it was a fumble. It was, there was some sloppiness to it that really felt
01:54like your, did you feel like your game plan and what you were trying to execute worked? It's just
01:59cleaning up the little stuff. Yeah. I feel like the execution was there. Like you said,
02:03the little stuff, like just got to clean up, like ball security guys being detailed. It was just,
02:10just little stuff we could tweak. And that's just how the NFL is. Like the little stuff catches up
02:15to you every once in a while. Connor, you've been a part of a lot of offenses over the course
02:19of
02:19like your career and your entire football life. You know, you said you guys are mad at yourself
02:23there. Is it, is it a thing at halftime where you have to remind yourself as a group to not
02:27get too mad about it because there's, there's belief that we'll just, we'll, you know, we'll figure it
02:33out. This, this group tends to generally figure it out. Yeah. I think Joe Brady and the rest of the
02:38good stuff do a great job of that. Like, Hey, running like, Hey, we're getting back to our basics.
02:41We're doing our, we're just getting back to ourselves here. Like we came out in the second
02:46half. We're like, Hey, we're going back with the openers. We're getting ourselves going again.
02:50Let's just find our rhythm. Like we're a good offense. We know what we're doing.
02:53Let's just get back on track. Connor McGovern with us on the Western hotline. Connor,
02:57I know this is what happens in the crowd when Lamar Jackson goes out, but is anything different
03:02for you guys as an offense on the sidelines when the other team is, especially even down to their
03:07third string quarterback, instead of it being Lamar Jackson on the other side,
03:11like, I know your job doesn't change, but stress levels, like feeling at all, like,
03:15is any of that different? No, we tend not to really look at it. Like, I didn't know until
03:21a couple of plays later that Lamar is out just cause I'm constantly talking to Pat and like,
03:27we're all communicating on the sidelines. So like, we're not really fully watching. Like,
03:32obviously we see what's going on, what's happening with the defense, but like, we're trying to figure
03:36out things that their defense has given us. So obviously when stuff like that, you don't like
03:41as a competitor, when their best players go out, cause you want to beat them at their best.
03:46But at the same time, you know, like your defense is going to start like, especially if the rookie
03:51comes in, they're going to start dialing up more pressure. So we're like, all right, maybe we're
03:55going to play in more three and outs and we're going to have the ball a little bit more.
03:57So that's always in the back of your head kind of through this game. We saw some short yardage
04:02stuff and red zone stuff. There's a tush push on a third down. Then there's Josh leaping in on the
04:07fourth later in the game with some option level plays. How much over the course of that was like
04:13about game plan versus adjusting on the fly. You guys are down Spencer Brown, Alec Anderson left a
04:20little bit here and there as well. So like, was that a, a fluid situation in terms of whether or
04:25not
04:25you guys were going to call what you usually go to, which is the tush push? Yeah. We always have
04:29different variations up and it's just what they're giving us. They're really trying to clog up the
04:34middle. So we were thinking, Hey, let's like nine times out of 10, we're always hitting certain areas
04:40like where this tush push is going. Like, let's try to get this on the edge, try to capture it.
04:45And some of them worked, some of them didn't. And then we just got back to it. Just going straight
04:50up the middle again. Do you find by the way, on those plays, and we've talked some tush push with
04:54you
04:54this season that, cause you guys almost always go left. I can't imagine defenses don't know that
04:59too. Do you find most often defense are loading up to stop you on the left and it just doesn't
05:05matter? Yeah, for sure. Like they see the film, so they know where they're lining up. A lot of
05:10teams will do like, they'll put two guys right over top of me and then they have the Mike linebacker
05:16run through. So it's, they know where the ball's going. And Josh is just a good freak that he's able
05:21to just wait a little bit and find that hole. And then he's 240 pounds almost. And he can just
05:27run through people also. Did Josh, by the way, say anything about the, the Roquan Smith play that
05:33a lot of fans are talking about where he tries to rip his helmet back. I mean, he's done that
05:37to other quarterbacks earlier in the season too. So maybe not the biggest surprise, but did you,
05:41did you know about that on the sidelines at all when it happened? I didn't know about it,
05:45but I saw the mark on his face and we're asking about it, but he's a competitor. He's never going
05:49to
05:49say anything. He'd rather just beat you on the fields. And that's what he does.
05:53Yep. Connor, you guys sit in the one seed spot right now. You know, this, this operation for
05:58the bills has been very successful over the years, but has never gotten to that thing. That
06:03first round by home field throughout the AFC portion of the playoffs. Are you actively thinking
06:08about it, talking about it, even though there's a lot of season left to be in that spot right now,
06:13I'd imagine feels good. How much conversation or focus is there on specifically that goal?
06:18I think obviously you always talk about it, but it's not something like it's kind of in the back
06:23of our minds. Like, Hey, like you always have the playoffs in mind. You always have championship in
06:26your mind. And the best way to do it is with the one seed, you get that by week rest
06:31recover. So you
06:32always talk about it, but it's not at the forefront. And it's mostly stick that, Hey, this, this week is
06:38this opponent and then have that game and then go to the next week. But in the back of your
06:42mind,
06:43that, that one seed is always there. What do you think? Does that kind of pick up as the season
06:47goes on? I mean, maybe week eight, it's not top of mind, but week 15 or maybe a game, the
06:53game on
06:53Thanksgiving will be against Kansas city. Like I'd imagine that'd be top of mind at that point.
06:57Yeah. Like once you get like further in, you have your divisional opponents and then
07:01playing like teams like the chiefs, like big powerhouse in the AFC, like that, that does have a little
07:06bit more play for those games. Connor McGovern with us on the Western hotline. Connor,
07:11I know you guys are not all the way into the next game yet, but for you guys as an
07:15offensive line, like, I don't know if you've seen the numbers on Minnesota this year, but
07:20they are like setting records for how often they're blitzing. Was it 92% blitz rate this
07:24last game? I think so. It's something crazy. Yeah. Yeah. How do you guys feel like as an
07:29offensive line and Josh included in that you are against the blitz and I mean, whether you
07:34just would expect them to do what they do, no matter who the other team's quarterback
07:38is that it might not even matter how good Allen is against the blitz, which is generally pretty
07:44good that they're just going to do that to everybody. Yeah. That's the one thing that
07:47Flores does and does very, very well just blitzes. And I think it's going to be a challenge
07:52for us. Like we got to make sure communication is on point. I think that's where a lot of
07:56teams fail is you look at the film and they look confused out there and that's what that
08:00defense tries to do to you. And so we have to be like, it has to be a focal point
08:06this
08:06week. The communication makes sure everyone's on the same page that we're all together and
08:10that's not just the line that's tight ends. That's the running backs. That's Josh. Everyone
08:14clued in wide receivers have to know when they're hot. So that's going to be a huge major point
08:18this week. On that. How do you feel like Tylon Grable has folded into that in the couple
08:22games he's had to play for Spencer Brown? Good. Um, you saw like he was obviously a little
08:27bit nervous getting his first start there at right tackle, but as he wanted, he just got
08:30more and more comfortable. And by then like he's making out calls. Like it, it was, I was very
08:36proud to see him how it unfolded during the game. Like he just felt that he looked very
08:40comfortable out there at right tackle. Back to Minnesota here. Connor is, is Flores week
08:45a thing for offensive linemen and for, you know, calling protections because it's going
08:49to be so much different than anybody else. Yeah. I would definitely say like there's a
08:54start. I said, just cause you know what's coming, like you don't know what he's going
08:59to dial up for you. Cause every week it's something new, but you know that that pressure
09:02and those blitzes are coming. So you have to be prepared for it.
09:06And are these things that, you know, you'll, you'll watch this week, but you, you kind of
09:10trust the systems you guys have put in place and that communication throughout.
09:14Yeah. Like we always have our base game plan going into it with all the protections, but
09:18then, uh, Austin Gunner, assistant online coach does a great job dialing it in. And then
09:23me and Josh will be together figuring out what we need to call and what we need to change.
09:28And then we'll have the rest of the offense get together and we'll have a great game plan
09:32for it. Can you remember off the top of your head, like how many times you've gone up against
09:36Flores in your career? And, and also like, if it, I think he's always had a reputation
09:40for blitzing, but it certainly feels like it's reached its peak. Yeah, definitely. Like
09:44I played against him a couple of times and it's always a crazy amount of blitz, but I feel
09:49like this year is all whole nother level. Like, like I remember playing, I would say it was
09:53probably like 60 to 70% like you would blitz, but now like it's almost every single play.
09:59So I think this is a whole new level and it'll be on the road in Minnesota, probably pretty
10:04loud in there. So like a lot of silent stuff worked on this week as well. Yeah, definitely
10:08do a silent cadence. So Osiris is going to be locked in for that. Make sure he's set,
10:13give me the cadence for that. Um, that place is a very fun environment to play. And you got
10:19the Skolchanko and the horns that it's one of my favorite places to play in the NFL.
10:23And it's Monday night football, you know, bright lights. You guys are back in prime time.
10:27That is true. The Bills love being in prime time. All right. Connor McGovern on the Western
10:32hotline. Connor, thanks for the time this morning. Congratulations on the win and good
10:37luck against the Vikings and Brian Flores. Perfect. Thank you guys for having me on.
10:42Thank you. Thanks Connor. Flores week. Flores. 92% blitz rate last.
10:48Did he forget? 92%. Yeah. I want to know what happened in the eight plays. You do have
10:54to wonder if on those plays, somebody didn't hear the call, right? I actually called a hundred
11:01percent, but the one guy forgot, right? He dropped into coverage. He checked 92% blitz
11:08rate. Am I wrong in misremembering that he just didn't have this rep when he was in Miami?
11:13I don't remember it like this. He was the, he was a head coach in the Bills division. They
11:19won nine in another one. And like, I don't remember ever thinking about him as like this
11:23giant challenge. The Bills were going up against defensively. Like they were a decent team,
11:29but never this, never this. Does he get a head coach job next year?
11:36Maybe. Who wants to hire a defensive coach? Like that's, that's a disadvantage to begin
11:43with. Offensive guys get jobs more often. So do you feel like Seattle hired a defensive
11:47coach and they won the Superbowl? So like, it's not like it isn't done, can't be done.
11:51It just feels like it, it tilts to the offensive side. Let's say you're a team and you, you're
11:58not even a team. Cause you might just say, I'll take the offensive guy. You are the fan
12:02of a team that you feel like, you know, like it's been reported. They're going to hire a
12:05defensive coach. You want Flores or McDermott? That's a good question. They'd be the top
12:12two defensive names for next year. They would. The next cycle. And Flores would have an
12:15identity and McDermott would have probably a different identity. He did not blitz a
12:19lot. It's almost polar opposites for what they're known for. Well, I mean, fans like
12:23aggressive, no matter what everyone likes aggressive. The idea of just be aggressive
12:29because I want to go down swinging. 803 05 50 is our phone number around the league
12:34really quickly. Some other quick thoughts and we'll get to your calls here. The
12:38Patriots win in Miami. They had to battle it out. They came from behind to win and they
12:43did Cincinnati have their hands full with Tennessee. Wanted Tennessee to win that game.
12:47So I know Jacksonville absolutely laid. I mean, just smoked Indianapolis who might as
12:52well sell off every player they've got because that team is ready to quit. Yep. The Raiders
12:56get by the jets. Yep. The Falcons won a game. Sorry. The bucks won a game without completing
13:03a pass. Unbelievable. First time since the bills in 1974 winning a game without completing
13:09a pass. Yeah, that's crazy. What? What happened? Atlanta. I mean, I know it was raining, right?
13:15Yep. And it was bad weather, but I mean, this is the new Sun Tzu game, right?
13:19They might as well be. How many passes did they complete against the bills? Two.
13:24Belichick's bills or Belichick's Patriots? Was he one for three or two for three? I thought
13:29he had three attempts. One for three. Might've been one for three. It might've been one for three.
13:34You think Belichick's mad they attempted, they completed that one pass? Because at some point,
13:38if you're Tampa, it's like, you know, this game's getting late. We're up 16. We can't
13:43complete a pass. Don't throw a pass. Yeah. We want to not complete a pass by the time
13:46we get down to it. The Rams beat the Chargers who are 0-7. Yeah. Chargers were competitive
13:53for a while. The Chargers have gone nearly a month without a touchdown. Wait. Offensively.
14:00Wait a minute. Their last offensive touchdown was October 11th. How's that possible? How many
14:05games they played? They might've had a buy-in there, but their last offensive touchdown was
14:08October 11th. But even still, that would be multiple football games if they didn't score
14:11a touchdown. They don't have an offensive touchdown. I mean, they've got to fire McDaniel. They
14:14definitely have to fire McDaniel. And tonight, a great game. Seahawks and Bears in Seattle. It's
14:19awesome. Mike in Pennsylvania. Mike, good morning. Good morning, guys. Wow. I got to listen to the
14:25last hour and a half on hold, but great show so far. Listen, the trade deadline, I'm curious to see
14:31what the bills we're going to do. I know we're, I think we're three or four pieces away from being
14:36a good defense. So I want them to invest on the offense. I would much rather overpower teams or be
14:43able to keep up with teams on the offense. I'm only nervous whenever Allen's down weapons during a
14:50football game. I don't really care about the defense. I know Allen, if he has a full deck of
14:54cards, can keep up with other teams. So with that said, I would really like the bills to do their
14:59due
15:00diligence on Devante Smith or somebody with upside. I'm not looking for an Amari Cooper trade. I'm not
15:05looking for somebody that's on the downs, that's, that's broken goods or just past their prime in
15:11the twilight. I want them. I would be okay if they gave up a number one pick for Devante Smith.
15:15I don't
15:15know if that's what it's going to take, but that's what I'm looking to get. It's just a scary thought
15:20of Allen running out on the field and having no weapons and then getting murdered in the backfield
15:25because he can't have an open receiver. Not saying the receivers haven't been playing good.
15:29Keon Coleman's obviously progressed into a salvageable receiver and I'm happy to see where
15:35he can continue to grow. But at the end of the day, I really think the bills need to get
15:39another
15:39receiver. And if it was, it was up to me, I'd be Devante Smith. Thanks, Mike. I get tested every
15:45single week about these receivers because you guys know I want them always so bad. I'll just draft
15:50one next draft. Smith is a $54 million dead cap hit for the Eagles if they trade him today.
15:56I just don't see that team doing that. They should, they would not do it also because
16:02he's plenty young enough that they would count on him being great still when they are competitive.
16:07He's 28. Devante Smith? No way. He's 28. I had him at like 25. Nope. He's 28. Wow. Okay.
16:15Way off. Yeah. He's so, do you want to trade a first row 28 year old receiver? I mean,
16:19D.J. Moore's 29. Wow. They need to get, no, I would want younger. Like part of the Garrett
16:25Wilson appeal for me is that he's a little bit younger. I'm glad to hear all this support
16:28for the wide receiver train, which will fire up in the off season. Superbowl champs or
16:33not, we'll be talking young receiver. We something they need right now. I just, even, even with
16:39the Palmer injury. Yeah. I'm not making the case against it. If you could just plug Smith into
16:44this offense, I'd think gangbusters, you'd never lose, but it's just, I don't think it's
16:50the time to do it. I think what they'll likely do is add a linebacker or a safety.
16:53The reason I like the idea and would hope that they do something on that level is the blueprint
17:00for this football team. The way they are constructed to win the Superbowl this season is to outscore
17:05their opponent. And they have one wide receiver that consistently separates and he's been injured
17:10every week. I agree with all of it. I'm just not, I'm not, I'm not taking a, I'm not taking
17:18a swing at that football, Lucy. To borrow some of Howard's favorite imagery. I'm not, you can't
17:23get me to run and try and kick that football. We're going to Devante Smith, Garrett Wilson.
17:27I got Joey on Twitter asking if the bill should trade two firsts for Kyle Hamilton. Like we're
17:31into safety, big ideas. No, they should not trade two firsts for Kyle Hamilton. No, no.
17:38Absolutely. They should not trade two firsts for Kyle Hamilton. Isn't he the best safety
17:42in football? If you would say no to that, then you would say no to every safety in the
17:45league for that idea. For two firsts? Yes. I would say no to every safety in the league
17:50for two firsts. What if Ed Reed in his prime returned to the NFL right now? A magic, magic
17:54time machine. 23 years old. 23 year old Ed Reed is available. Would you want him for
17:58two firsts? Yes. All right. So there's one ever maybe that exists. Rob in Connecticut.
18:03Hey, Rob. Hey, happy Victory Monday, Jeremy and Joe. Great show this morning. A lot of
18:10information, especially from Sal Capaccio. But the curiosity is getting the best of me
18:18today. And I don't know if you felt the same way. It didn't hit me right off the bat after
18:22we won yesterday. But, you know, leading up to this game, the hype was, you know, Lamar
18:32Jackson, Derrick Henry, and the I will bring up a receiver, but it was from the other team
18:38Flowers. We didn't hear it was cricket yesterday, which was great. But my curiosity is how would
18:46have this game turned out if Lamar Jackson had played the game? And Connor just said
18:52it. When we play the best, we want to beat the best. And yesterday, it just seemed like
18:57a walk in the park. Even though it was sloppy, it was like I kind of knew that we were
19:01going
19:01to win this game no matter what, when that happened to Lamar. But I was just kind of curious,
19:06like, what would have been the outcome if Lamar was in this game and Flowers had produced
19:13with him as well? Have you guys even thought about that? The Bills haven't seen Lamar and
19:20Flowers together since the 35-10 game? Like, they didn't play together in the playoff.
19:28No. Did they play, I guess, in the opener last year?
19:31Flowers and Lamar both. He probably was there for that, yeah. I mean, Flowers is great.
19:36Great. And did nothing. How much of that was what the Bills had schemed up for him? I don't
19:40know. Flowers did play in that game last year against the Bills. He went 7 for 143 in a
19:44touchdown. Flowers and Lamar is a test. The good news is, if they don't play, you don't
19:52have to apologize for it. Could it have gone differently? Sure. I bet Baltimore doesn't
19:55score 10 points if Lamar plays the whole game. Pretty confident. They score more than
20:0010. Did they score more than 20? Maybe not. Yeah. It's tough, though, to play that
20:05game when we didn't get to see what Lamar we were getting. That's right. He short arms
20:11a pass early. Talk about him being still in pain when planting. I don't know. It's very
20:18possible that Lamar was not going to be able to score points on the Bills yesterday, even
20:23with the Bills' defense being as bad as they were. So, I don't know. If Lamar plays, I
20:27think the Bills maybe still could have had a stress-free game. It probably would have been
20:30more stress. I can't imagine even injured Lamar is not better than Fignano.
20:33Right. And if the Bills are planning on blitzing him because he can't move, then maybe they
20:38have a positive game script. If they have Lamar at full health and they blitz and he starts
20:43eating the blitz alive, they probably back off. I don't want to take too much out of what
20:47the Bills did from a game plan standpoint, but the defense played well. Take it. Move
20:53on. You're in the one-seed spot. You are seven games in. You play ten more. If you beat the
21:00Chiefs, can you pretty much protect the rest of the games and get home field to the playoffs?
21:07Because the way the playoff picture looks right now, let me tell you, it's ideal. The AFC
21:14playoff picture has Kansas City and Jacksonville playing in the first round, and you'd take
21:19that. If there are three teams in the AFC that are very good, it's those three. It's the
21:24Bills, the Chiefs, and the Jaguars. The Jaguars could be nasty. What are the odds the Bills
21:30are going to have a game lead still on Kansas City when they play? Very, very good. The
21:36Bills play the Vikings. I think they will beat Minnesota. The Bills play the Vikings, then
21:41Miami, and the Jets. They will beat Miami and the Jets. Flip those two around. Jets, then
21:44Dolphins. Yeah, and the Chiefs play? Jets, Falcons, Cardinals. I think both teams will win
21:50out. I agree. The Minnesota and Atlanta games are the ones. Those are wild cards a little
21:55bit, but I think the Bills will be fine this week. I think the Bills will be fine. I hope
22:01you like screen passes this week. Oh, yeah. You really just might. Man, they might set
22:07the record. This is six days, seven days, everyone's saying, like, listen. Yeah. This
22:11might be the game where you really need them. Just to, you know, cool off that pressure a
22:16little bit. I hope you like screen passes. And I think a lot of running because that's
22:21what the Lions did. The Lions ran the ball 39 times yesterday against Minnesota for 230
22:26yards. That's how they did it. Golf wasn't great, but they ran it. Schefter and the ESPN
22:34guys were just talking about whether that was Lamar's last game as a Raven, which is possible.
22:39For sure. It's definitely possible that was Jackson's last pass as a Raven.
22:448-0-3-0-5-50. It is Football Monday. Buffalo Football Monday. This has been We Fix That.
22:52Brought to you by Triple O. Heating, cooling, plumbing, and electrical. We Fix That. What
22:56do the Bills need to fix? I mean, not a lot. Just hold serve. From yesterday, the only thing
23:02I would even try to nitpick at would be, like, clock management at the end of half.
23:05Sure. I would go with don't drop passes. There you go. Defense, what do they need to fix?
23:11Nothing. I'm taking very little out of it. So, look good against Kyler Murray, who, by
23:18the way, did he have a hamstring injury? He did. Listen, you might get a Kyler Murray
23:22that can't run. The Bills' defense might be about to get fat on some bad quarterbacks
23:27because they've played a lot of good quarterbacks. In defense of them, yeah, the numbers stink,
23:32but they've played... Who's the worst quarterback they've played before yesterday?
23:35Kirk Cousins. Cousins or Stroud, right?
23:38Yeah, but Stroud's having a pretty good year when Nico Collins is in. Cousins is having
23:42a pretty good year. So, like, middle-of-the-road guys, at worst, is what you've seen.
23:45Drake Mayer's the worst guy they've played until they played him.
23:47Right. So now you're getting either banged-up Kyler Murray or Carson Wentz, then Geno Smith,
23:53and then Malik Willis. Like, your defense might be about to put up some numbers in the next
23:58three weeks and start looking a little bit better statistically because you don't play...
24:01I mean, Geno's putting up some numbers because he has great receivers, but those are not
24:06great quarterbacks you play coming up. Football Monday. Join us, 803-0550 on WGR.