October 30, 2025 • 20 mins
On this week's episode of Bills by the Numbers presented by FanDuel, Chris Brown and Steve Tasker take a look at James Cook's season so far, discuss where he could finish at year's end, and if Cook should be used more in the passing game. They share their thoughts on the identity of the Bills offense and if it should be a balanced attack. Steve is quizzed on running back history in The Numbers Game. Finally, the two give their answer to this week's One Burning Question - will Khalil Shakir finish the season leading the league in yards after catch?
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Glad you're back with us here on Bills by the Numbers,
where we let the stats tell you where the Bills
are at. We're presented by Fan Duel make every moment
more up. Next, just how historic the season could James
Cooks have? With ten regular season games to play? Should
the Bills offense be as balanced as they are? Or
is it time to prop up their pass game? And
(00:20):
should James Cook be a part of that passing game?
To use him in an expanded fashion? Steve is quizzed
on Bill's running back history, and we'll have our one
turning question. Somebody take the dang hand off already. Thanks
(00:48):
for joining us here on Bills by the Numbers. He's
Wall of Famer Steve Tasker on Bill's play by playman
Chris Brown, and we kick it off with the remarkable
first half of the season James Cook has had through
seven games, Buffalo's feature back ranks second in the NFL
in rushing with seven hundred and fifty three yards. His
average of six yards per carry leads the league. He's
third in first downs created, fourth in total yards from scrimmage,
(01:11):
and tied for fifth in scoring. At his current pace,
Cook would finish with eighteen hundred and twenty eight yards rushing,
which would be the second best rushing season in Bill's history,
behind Hall of Famer O. J. Simpsons two thousand and
three rushing season in nineteen seventy three. It would also
be the twentieth best rushing season in NFL history. Steve,
(01:38):
do you believe he hits that number, exceeds it, or
falls short?
Speaker 2 (01:43):
First of all, let me preface everything by saying, Chris
brown has been on the James Cook train since it
was sitting in a station in Georgia before he was
even drafted. So let me just give kudos to Brownie,
and he is a James Cook advocate all the time. Anyway,
Having said that, I think he's gonna fall a little
bit short because he's been so spectacular it's hard to
(02:06):
keep that going through. Yeah, somebody's gonna come up with
a game that's gonna put him off track and put
him behind the sticks on that eighteen hundred and twenty
eight number, But he's still I mean maybe what fourteen
hundred yards fifty that's a big season and it would
validate the contract and all the conversation that we had
about him in the offseason. I do think I don't
(02:26):
think he can make it that far because of what
it's going to take to win games going down the stretch.
And even though though having said that, it'll be one
of the great seasons in Bill's history, it could be.
Speaker 1 (02:39):
Yeah, I'm I'm thinking he's gonna end up somewhere around
fifteen to sixteen. Yeah, somewhere in there, because when we
get to December, you know, when the weather turns and
he's good in the snow, I think I think fifteen
to sixteen hundred is within reach. Eighteen hundred would be extraordinary, right, yes,
(03:01):
it would. I mean seventeen Even me, the biggest believer
in James Cook, would be impressed by that.
Speaker 2 (03:08):
That's that's a big number. But as we've seen, he's
playing in the right system to have it have some
opportunity because of the quarterback he's got, and teams aren't
you know, they know they they know Josh is the MVP.
The Bills want to try and beat him with a
run game instead of the throwing game. With that with
that guy, maybe they give him the opportunity to do it.
(03:29):
We'll see.
Speaker 1 (03:30):
Right now, Cook has a rushing success rate of sixty
six point seven percent, far and away the best in
the league, so much so that it's six percent better
than his next closest pursuer, the rams Kyron Williams, and
ten percent better than Jonathan Taylor of the Colts, who
is killing it by the way as well. In Week eight,
(03:50):
Cook had the most rushing yards in a game this
season and did not even play in the fourth quarter.
It's the most rushing yards in a game in the
last thirty five seeds seas by a player who did
not have a carry in the final Stanza. It's rare stuff.
Has it been successful enough to justify being the only
(04:11):
team in the league, however, that runs the ball more
than fifty percent of the time on offense?
Speaker 2 (04:17):
Steve Well, yeah, I mean that they won the game,
but we're.
Speaker 1 (04:22):
Talking over the whole season here. Do you want to
be a fifty to fifty run pass team when you
have the MVP at quarterback?
Speaker 2 (04:28):
Well, I think you know what you have in your quarterback.
And I think they've got more confidence, particularly when they're healthy,
in their weapons outside than most fans do because they
haven't seen it. And because of that, I think they
(04:49):
don't want to put the burden on seventeen on Josh
Allen every single game whenever they can if they don't
have to, and there have been games when they have
not had to, and they're also I think even in
the losses they suffered this year, particularly in the Patriots loss,
you know, the turnovers really hurt him, Josh turning the
(05:11):
ball over and Keon dropping the ball in their own end,
deeping the Bill's own end. Offensively, that put them in
the eight ball. That's a game they should have, could
have would have won had it not been for the
offense stumbling like it did. So I think they're okay
with where they're at offensively, whether it's fifty percent run
(05:32):
or fifty five percent run forty pass or fifty percent
pass or even more whatever, because they I think they
believe when they go to Josh and turn that faucet on,
it's going to pour out.
Speaker 1 (05:44):
Okay, after last week's game, which skewed the numbers a
little bit because they ran the balls for so many
yards and so successfully, it's now fifty two run forty
eight percent pass for the Bills. They're the only team
that's at the fifty percent mark or over. And look,
it's gotten them to a five and two record, But
(06:07):
I think there are some out there who say, are
you almost costing this offense more production by choosing to
run it more than you throw it? Even with the
advent of more teams running the ball more often than
we saw five seasons ago when people were throwing it
(06:27):
all over the yard, some teams were like sixty five
thirty five. I just wonder if the offense might be
even more productive than it already is, and it's hard
to argue with almost thirty points a game. I wonder
if it would be even more productive if they go
just fifty five pass forty five run, and maybe it
(06:47):
gets there by the end of the season, who knows.
Speaker 2 (06:49):
I think it sounds counterintuitive, but I.
Speaker 1 (06:51):
Wonder if it's blasphemy Steve to not utilize Josh Allen's
talents more than they are in the passing game. Or
maybe is there a that the heavy run approach is
by design to help a defense while still shorthanded due
to injury. What about that premise?
Speaker 2 (07:09):
Maybe, yeah, that's all possible. I think, and this may
sound counterintuitive, that they may feel like doing it the
way they're doing it gives them best chance to win
games rather than chase stats. Right, They're in the business
of winning, and each of these games falls differently. So
when you take the cumulative numbers about the season, sometimes
(07:33):
it's not as accurate as what a team is capable
of as it was about the matchups and what won
games and how the game got out of hand. This,
particularly this Carolina game, like right and the Jet game
earlier in the season, excues the statistics because of where
they're at on the scoreboard. I think this is a
team that has a recipe for winning every game, and
certainly it may alter a little bit game to game,
(07:56):
but the big picture doesn't always paint the accurate picture,
doesn't give you the the nuts and bolts of how
they're gonna win. So I think the way they won
in Carolina certainly is not how they're gonna beat the
Kansas City Chiefs. So I think taking the big picture,
while it has some value, I don't think they care
(08:19):
game to game or in the big picture of what
it looks like game to game. And I think it's counterintuitive,
but I think they may be more interested in and
I know it sounds in playing the run pass ratio
in the small in the small sense, rather than the
big sense, then we're gonna run at this game because
(08:39):
it's gonna help us win. I think they're in the
business of winning games more so than looking at the
statistics and thinking it looks good. And I think the
way the schedule has fallen with the Jets, with the
Carolina Panthers and you know, and the others who they've
the Saints game, they just exkews the big picture numbers.
So whether they're fifty five percent run and thirty percent
(09:02):
pass has something to do with that. Now, in the
New England game, it got down to turnovers and penalties.
Falcons game. That was the one game where it was
a little bit of an aberration, I believe offensively when
they struggled to protect, struggle to move the ball, and
I think that game got away from him. But the
other six, including the Patriots game, I think they're right
(09:23):
on schedule with where they want to be, all.
Speaker 1 (09:25):
Right, So let's let's expand this conversation with respect to
the passing game. Should James Cook be utilized as a
mismatch in the passing game to help expand its usage
and production to get his breakaway ability out in space
more often?
Speaker 2 (09:42):
Yes, I am all about that I think, leave him
on the field as much as you can. That doesn't
mean you can't. I mean, and I don't think you
should be preoccupied with getting him more opportunities. But certainly
nobody's going to complain about more opportunities for him, particularly
in the past. Hi, it's the one thing that they
haven't had it now. They didn't have to do that
last week. I get it. And the same thing in
(10:04):
the Jet game, same thing in the Saints game. Some
of this stuff. The Bills can leave whole sections of
their playbook closed and never go to them, So I
get that. But they're in some of these games, particularly
the Atlanta game and perhaps maybe the Patriot game, or
particularly in the Patriot game, there was some instances where
they needed to unfurl some stuff and we didn't see it,
(10:27):
or at least we didn't feel like we saw it.
So yeah, I believe James Cook. When he's having the
kind of season he's showing the kind of abilities and
the things that he's doing right now, I think more
opportunities are better, not worse. And if you throw it
to him, that's fine.
Speaker 1 (10:44):
And I would wholeheartedly agree the more touches for James
Cook the better for this offense, right and I think
with a passing game that has looked a little disjointed
in recent weeks, he could help in that with you know,
whether it's intermedia throws, short throws in space, yards after catch,
(11:08):
whatever you want from the passing game, I think he
could help in that vein because to me, he is
a mismatch on any linebacker and any safety in the league,
any of them. So why not get him in a
one on one matchup? Not to mention the fact that
with as strong as this run game is, you could
(11:28):
line him up in the backfield and they're gonna put
with three tight ends if you want two whatever the
other team's putting three linebackers on the field. Then you
motion him out late pre snap, and now you've got
him on a linebacker or at worse, the safety advantage
buffalo every single time. So to me, that makes sense.
(11:51):
Now here would you be surprised to know that James
Cook has not had a passing target since Week five?
Speaker 2 (12:00):
Yeah, I knew that against the Patriots, that was something
I thought. I was a little surprised. I was a
little surprised by that, no question about it. They just
and I you know.
Speaker 1 (12:09):
It's not a question of are they using him enough.
They're not using him.
Speaker 2 (12:12):
All I was, it's completely gone away. And there's been
a couple of games where you know, he's obviously no targets,
no catches.
Speaker 1 (12:20):
And not on the field sometimes and two minutes drill.
Speaker 2 (12:23):
So I think they need to they need to fix that.
Speaker 1 (12:27):
B John Robinson. They're not. They're not afraid about using
him too much.
Speaker 2 (12:30):
In Atlanta and I they got a lot of faith
in Tid Johnson. I get that, but there are some
guys in the like well like Keon. If sit him down,
put James on the on the field and use some
different formations, get some guys who have been productive in
the passing game, it just makes it just makes too
(12:52):
much sense to use him when he got It's the
old adage a bit of investments, when when you keep
giving more investment capital to one thing and it keeps
getting bigger and bigger returns, you keep putting more money
into it. Yeah, let's give those guys more opportunities, like
James Cook.
Speaker 1 (13:09):
All right, good discussion there. We now quiz Steve on
Bill's running back history in the numbers game. Let's do it.
Steve all right, there we go. Question number one. Only
two players are on the list for the top seven
single season most total yards from scrimmage in Bill's history.
(13:32):
They are Hall of famers OJ Simpson and Thurman Thomas.
Which one of those two names appears more often in
those top seven single season total yards from scrimmage?
Speaker 2 (13:45):
Thurman?
Speaker 1 (13:46):
And you would be correct? Four times?
Speaker 2 (13:48):
He let Yeah, he led the league four times. He
only got to ever do it.
Speaker 1 (13:53):
Yeah, yeah, pretty impressive. Question number two. Therman Thomas holds
three of the top five spots for most total touches
in a regular season in Bill's history. This other Bill's
running back holds the other two spots, and his name
is Knox OJ Simpson. Who is it? Freddy Jackson? It
(14:14):
is not fred Jackson. That's a good guess, though.
Speaker 2 (14:20):
Wow, okay is it? Wow? You got me with that one.
Speaker 1 (14:28):
That's tough.
Speaker 2 (14:31):
I'll say.
Speaker 1 (14:33):
Willis is not Willis mcgahey. Oh. Travis Henry, Travis Henravis Henry.
Travis Henry had three hundred sixty eight total touches in
two thousand and two and three hundred and fifty nine
in two thousand and three. Let's go tea hen Question
(14:55):
number three after oj Simpson's twenty three total touchdown from
scrimmage in a season. What Bill's back ranks second in
total touchdowns twenty Yeah, it's not Thurman. Freddy not Freddy.
Speaker 2 (15:18):
Uh, CJ, not CJ.
Speaker 1 (15:22):
It's the guy we've been talking about this whole episode.
James Cook Cook eighteen total touchdowns the last season. Wow,
that is second most.
Speaker 2 (15:31):
That's awesome.
Speaker 1 (15:32):
Uh. Question for what Bill holds the record for longest
rushing touchdown in team history?
Speaker 2 (15:44):
What Bill holds the longest the record.
Speaker 1 (15:46):
From longest rushing touchdowns?
Speaker 2 (15:48):
Gotta be juice.
Speaker 1 (15:49):
It is not Oj Simpson. Someone has top ten.
Speaker 2 (15:56):
CJ.
Speaker 1 (15:57):
That's a good guess, but incorrect.
Speaker 2 (16:06):
James Cook.
Speaker 1 (16:07):
It is not James Cook. This is a guy who
would not guess to have a lot have won this
long but he did. Freddy, it is fred Jackson. Eighty
yards October sixteenth, twenty eleven against the New York Giants.
I actually watched it back this week. Serpentine, Serpentine, serpentine, serpet.
Speaker 2 (16:29):
Freddy's not outrunning on too many people, but he is.
Speaker 1 (16:33):
He used to be hyper aware of who was trailing him,
and he would cut right when the guy was gonna
jump at it. Freddie was.
Speaker 2 (16:39):
He's one of those guys that if you're fast enough
to catch him, you might not be big enough or
strong enough to kit him down because he's got a
he had a forearm that was in like a taser gun.
And then if you were big enough, strong enough to
tackle him, he might not be fast enough to catch him.
Just right in that and there's right in between there,
(17:01):
and he was physical and aware, like you say, aware enough,
if you're fast enough to catch him, you might have
had to like pick your spot.
Speaker 1 (17:07):
That's what it was.
Speaker 2 (17:08):
It was.
Speaker 1 (17:08):
It looked like a game of pac Man. He's like
runningto the end zone. There's three guys after him, and
right at the last second, he sees this guy over
his left shoulder and he comes back to the left
and the guy, oh, he misses it. He gets into
the end zone. It was a great run eighty yards
the team record. Bill's fans. Get in on the action
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(17:29):
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Buffalo Bills, we now ask our one burning question. Khalil
Shakir currently ranked second in the NFL in yards after
(17:51):
catch among receivers with two hundred and ninety four. He
is second only to Cincinnati's Jamar Chase, who has three
one hundred and fifty six yards after the catch. Will
Shakir lead all receivers in yards after the catch at
season's end.
Speaker 2 (18:12):
I don't think so. Not. He's trailing by too much
by Jamar.
Speaker 1 (18:16):
He's about sixty yards behind a little more than sixty
yards behind.
Speaker 2 (18:20):
He's probably he's gonna get some. That's what he does.
He's very good at that. He's elite at yards after catch.
He's elite. I'm gonna have to say no, just because
of the opportunities and other guys in the league and
how hard it is to do. I think he's gonna
have a ton and I think they're gonna continue to
use him like that because he's really good at it.
(18:42):
But he's also had a bunch of long ones already.
Teams are gonna, you know, no, I'm gonna say no.
I don't think he can.
Speaker 1 (18:49):
I got a forty five yard and a fifty four
yard both for touchdowns already through the first seven games, right,
he's gonna have some more. I think he finishes in
the top five, Yes, maybe even the top three.
Speaker 2 (19:01):
Yeah, I don't know.
Speaker 1 (19:02):
If he finishes at it would be a heck of
an accomplished go And you know he's got to stay healthy.
Speaker 2 (19:07):
And who knows, he's second in the league.
Speaker 1 (19:08):
He's played one less game than a lot of teams. Yeah,
he's second in the league among receivers. The running backs
usually lead that category, but among receivers he's number two.
Right now, I think he could finish in the top
five among receivers. Our closing figure got to give credit
to Steve on this. He pointed this one out in
the stat sheet this week. Our closing figure deals with
(19:29):
the Bills Chiefs matchup in Week ten. This is the
tenth meeting between or sorry week nine, This is the
tenth meeting between Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes. Overall, in
those ten meetings, Mahomes has the better record of five
and four, but the point totals in the previous nine matchups,
if you add them all together, are separated by a
(19:51):
single point. Kansas City with two hundred and forty three
points scored to Buffalo's two hundred forty two.
Speaker 2 (20:00):
Absolutely crazy. You can't take your eyes off this game.
Speaker 1 (20:04):
It's gonna be a good one. That'll do it for
this episode, be sure to subscribe on whatever podcast platform
you use, or watch us on the Bills YouTube channel,
because when you need to know about the Bills, you
need to check Bills by the Numbers For Steves After,
I'm Chris Brown. Thanks for listening. We'll catch you next time.
Everybody
Glad you're back with us here on Bills by the Numbers,
where we let the stats tell you where the Bills
are at. We're presented by Fan Duel make every moment
more up. Next, just how historic the season could James
Cooks have? With ten regular season games to play? Should
the Bills offense be as balanced as they are? Or
is it time to prop up their pass game? And
(00:20):
should James Cook be a part of that passing game?
To use him in an expanded fashion? Steve is quizzed
on Bill's running back history, and we'll have our one
turning question. Somebody take the dang hand off already. Thanks
(00:48):
for joining us here on Bills by the Numbers. He's
Wall of Famer Steve Tasker on Bill's play by playman
Chris Brown, and we kick it off with the remarkable
first half of the season James Cook has had through
seven games, Buffalo's feature back ranks second in the NFL
in rushing with seven hundred and fifty three yards. His
average of six yards per carry leads the league. He's
third in first downs created, fourth in total yards from scrimmage,
(01:11):
and tied for fifth in scoring. At his current pace,
Cook would finish with eighteen hundred and twenty eight yards rushing,
which would be the second best rushing season in Bill's history,
behind Hall of Famer O. J. Simpsons two thousand and
three rushing season in nineteen seventy three. It would also
be the twentieth best rushing season in NFL history. Steve,
(01:38):
do you believe he hits that number, exceeds it, or
falls short?
Speaker 2 (01:43):
First of all, let me preface everything by saying, Chris
brown has been on the James Cook train since it
was sitting in a station in Georgia before he was
even drafted. So let me just give kudos to Brownie,
and he is a James Cook advocate all the time. Anyway,
Having said that, I think he's gonna fall a little
bit short because he's been so spectacular it's hard to
(02:06):
keep that going through. Yeah, somebody's gonna come up with
a game that's gonna put him off track and put
him behind the sticks on that eighteen hundred and twenty
eight number, But he's still I mean maybe what fourteen
hundred yards fifty that's a big season and it would
validate the contract and all the conversation that we had
about him in the offseason. I do think I don't
(02:26):
think he can make it that far because of what
it's going to take to win games going down the stretch.
And even though though having said that, it'll be one
of the great seasons in Bill's history, it could be.
Speaker 1 (02:39):
Yeah, I'm I'm thinking he's gonna end up somewhere around
fifteen to sixteen. Yeah, somewhere in there, because when we
get to December, you know, when the weather turns and
he's good in the snow, I think I think fifteen
to sixteen hundred is within reach. Eighteen hundred would be extraordinary, right, yes,
(03:01):
it would. I mean seventeen Even me, the biggest believer
in James Cook, would be impressed by that.
Speaker 2 (03:08):
That's that's a big number. But as we've seen, he's
playing in the right system to have it have some
opportunity because of the quarterback he's got, and teams aren't
you know, they know they they know Josh is the MVP.
The Bills want to try and beat him with a
run game instead of the throwing game. With that with
that guy, maybe they give him the opportunity to do it.
(03:29):
We'll see.
Speaker 1 (03:30):
Right now, Cook has a rushing success rate of sixty
six point seven percent, far and away the best in
the league, so much so that it's six percent better
than his next closest pursuer, the rams Kyron Williams, and
ten percent better than Jonathan Taylor of the Colts, who
is killing it by the way as well. In Week eight,
(03:50):
Cook had the most rushing yards in a game this
season and did not even play in the fourth quarter.
It's the most rushing yards in a game in the
last thirty five seeds seas by a player who did
not have a carry in the final Stanza. It's rare stuff.
Has it been successful enough to justify being the only
(04:11):
team in the league, however, that runs the ball more
than fifty percent of the time on offense?
Speaker 2 (04:17):
Steve Well, yeah, I mean that they won the game,
but we're.
Speaker 1 (04:22):
Talking over the whole season here. Do you want to
be a fifty to fifty run pass team when you
have the MVP at quarterback?
Speaker 2 (04:28):
Well, I think you know what you have in your quarterback.
And I think they've got more confidence, particularly when they're healthy,
in their weapons outside than most fans do because they
haven't seen it. And because of that, I think they
(04:49):
don't want to put the burden on seventeen on Josh
Allen every single game whenever they can if they don't
have to, and there have been games when they have
not had to, and they're also I think even in
the losses they suffered this year, particularly in the Patriots loss,
you know, the turnovers really hurt him, Josh turning the
(05:11):
ball over and Keon dropping the ball in their own end,
deeping the Bill's own end. Offensively, that put them in
the eight ball. That's a game they should have, could
have would have won had it not been for the
offense stumbling like it did. So I think they're okay
with where they're at offensively, whether it's fifty percent run
(05:32):
or fifty five percent run forty pass or fifty percent
pass or even more whatever, because they I think they
believe when they go to Josh and turn that faucet on,
it's going to pour out.
Speaker 1 (05:44):
Okay, after last week's game, which skewed the numbers a
little bit because they ran the balls for so many
yards and so successfully, it's now fifty two run forty
eight percent pass for the Bills. They're the only team
that's at the fifty percent mark or over. And look,
it's gotten them to a five and two record, But
(06:07):
I think there are some out there who say, are
you almost costing this offense more production by choosing to
run it more than you throw it? Even with the
advent of more teams running the ball more often than
we saw five seasons ago when people were throwing it
(06:27):
all over the yard, some teams were like sixty five
thirty five. I just wonder if the offense might be
even more productive than it already is, and it's hard
to argue with almost thirty points a game. I wonder
if it would be even more productive if they go
just fifty five pass forty five run, and maybe it
(06:47):
gets there by the end of the season, who knows.
Speaker 2 (06:49):
I think it sounds counterintuitive, but I.
Speaker 1 (06:51):
Wonder if it's blasphemy Steve to not utilize Josh Allen's
talents more than they are in the passing game. Or
maybe is there a that the heavy run approach is
by design to help a defense while still shorthanded due
to injury. What about that premise?
Speaker 2 (07:09):
Maybe, yeah, that's all possible. I think, and this may
sound counterintuitive, that they may feel like doing it the
way they're doing it gives them best chance to win
games rather than chase stats. Right, They're in the business
of winning, and each of these games falls differently. So
when you take the cumulative numbers about the season, sometimes
(07:33):
it's not as accurate as what a team is capable
of as it was about the matchups and what won
games and how the game got out of hand. This,
particularly this Carolina game, like right and the Jet game
earlier in the season, excues the statistics because of where
they're at on the scoreboard. I think this is a
team that has a recipe for winning every game, and
certainly it may alter a little bit game to game,
(07:56):
but the big picture doesn't always paint the accurate picture,
doesn't give you the the nuts and bolts of how
they're gonna win. So I think the way they won
in Carolina certainly is not how they're gonna beat the
Kansas City Chiefs. So I think taking the big picture,
while it has some value, I don't think they care
(08:19):
game to game or in the big picture of what
it looks like game to game. And I think it's counterintuitive,
but I think they may be more interested in and
I know it sounds in playing the run pass ratio
in the small in the small sense, rather than the
big sense, then we're gonna run at this game because
(08:39):
it's gonna help us win. I think they're in the
business of winning games more so than looking at the
statistics and thinking it looks good. And I think the
way the schedule has fallen with the Jets, with the
Carolina Panthers and you know, and the others who they've
the Saints game, they just exkews the big picture numbers.
So whether they're fifty five percent run and thirty percent
(09:02):
pass has something to do with that. Now, in the
New England game, it got down to turnovers and penalties.
Falcons game. That was the one game where it was
a little bit of an aberration, I believe offensively when
they struggled to protect, struggle to move the ball, and
I think that game got away from him. But the
other six, including the Patriots game, I think they're right
(09:23):
on schedule with where they want to be, all.
Speaker 1 (09:25):
Right, So let's let's expand this conversation with respect to
the passing game. Should James Cook be utilized as a
mismatch in the passing game to help expand its usage
and production to get his breakaway ability out in space
more often?
Speaker 2 (09:42):
Yes, I am all about that I think, leave him
on the field as much as you can. That doesn't
mean you can't. I mean, and I don't think you
should be preoccupied with getting him more opportunities. But certainly
nobody's going to complain about more opportunities for him, particularly
in the past. Hi, it's the one thing that they
haven't had it now. They didn't have to do that
last week. I get it. And the same thing in
(10:04):
the Jet game, same thing in the Saints game. Some
of this stuff. The Bills can leave whole sections of
their playbook closed and never go to them, So I
get that. But they're in some of these games, particularly
the Atlanta game and perhaps maybe the Patriot game, or
particularly in the Patriot game, there was some instances where
they needed to unfurl some stuff and we didn't see it,
(10:27):
or at least we didn't feel like we saw it.
So yeah, I believe James Cook. When he's having the
kind of season he's showing the kind of abilities and
the things that he's doing right now, I think more
opportunities are better, not worse. And if you throw it
to him, that's fine.
Speaker 1 (10:44):
And I would wholeheartedly agree the more touches for James
Cook the better for this offense, right and I think
with a passing game that has looked a little disjointed
in recent weeks, he could help in that with you know,
whether it's intermedia throws, short throws in space, yards after catch,
(11:08):
whatever you want from the passing game, I think he
could help in that vein because to me, he is
a mismatch on any linebacker and any safety in the league,
any of them. So why not get him in a
one on one matchup? Not to mention the fact that
with as strong as this run game is, you could
(11:28):
line him up in the backfield and they're gonna put
with three tight ends if you want two whatever the
other team's putting three linebackers on the field. Then you
motion him out late pre snap, and now you've got
him on a linebacker or at worse, the safety advantage
buffalo every single time. So to me, that makes sense.
(11:51):
Now here would you be surprised to know that James
Cook has not had a passing target since Week five?
Speaker 2 (12:00):
Yeah, I knew that against the Patriots, that was something
I thought. I was a little surprised. I was a
little surprised by that, no question about it. They just
and I you know.
Speaker 1 (12:09):
It's not a question of are they using him enough.
They're not using him.
Speaker 2 (12:12):
All I was, it's completely gone away. And there's been
a couple of games where you know, he's obviously no targets,
no catches.
Speaker 1 (12:20):
And not on the field sometimes and two minutes drill.
Speaker 2 (12:23):
So I think they need to they need to fix that.
Speaker 1 (12:27):
B John Robinson. They're not. They're not afraid about using
him too much.
Speaker 2 (12:30):
In Atlanta and I they got a lot of faith
in Tid Johnson. I get that, but there are some
guys in the like well like Keon. If sit him down,
put James on the on the field and use some
different formations, get some guys who have been productive in
the passing game, it just makes it just makes too
(12:52):
much sense to use him when he got It's the
old adage a bit of investments, when when you keep
giving more investment capital to one thing and it keeps
getting bigger and bigger returns, you keep putting more money
into it. Yeah, let's give those guys more opportunities, like
James Cook.
Speaker 1 (13:09):
All right, good discussion there. We now quiz Steve on
Bill's running back history in the numbers game. Let's do it.
Steve all right, there we go. Question number one. Only
two players are on the list for the top seven
single season most total yards from scrimmage in Bill's history.
(13:32):
They are Hall of famers OJ Simpson and Thurman Thomas.
Which one of those two names appears more often in
those top seven single season total yards from scrimmage?
Speaker 2 (13:45):
Thurman?
Speaker 1 (13:46):
And you would be correct? Four times?
Speaker 2 (13:48):
He let Yeah, he led the league four times. He
only got to ever do it.
Speaker 1 (13:53):
Yeah, yeah, pretty impressive. Question number two. Therman Thomas holds
three of the top five spots for most total touches
in a regular season in Bill's history. This other Bill's
running back holds the other two spots, and his name
is Knox OJ Simpson. Who is it? Freddy Jackson? It
(14:14):
is not fred Jackson. That's a good guess, though.
Speaker 2 (14:20):
Wow, okay is it? Wow? You got me with that one.
Speaker 1 (14:28):
That's tough.
Speaker 2 (14:31):
I'll say.
Speaker 1 (14:33):
Willis is not Willis mcgahey. Oh. Travis Henry, Travis Henravis Henry.
Travis Henry had three hundred sixty eight total touches in
two thousand and two and three hundred and fifty nine
in two thousand and three. Let's go tea hen Question
(14:55):
number three after oj Simpson's twenty three total touchdown from
scrimmage in a season. What Bill's back ranks second in
total touchdowns twenty Yeah, it's not Thurman. Freddy not Freddy.
Speaker 2 (15:18):
Uh, CJ, not CJ.
Speaker 1 (15:22):
It's the guy we've been talking about this whole episode.
James Cook Cook eighteen total touchdowns the last season. Wow,
that is second most.
Speaker 2 (15:31):
That's awesome.
Speaker 1 (15:32):
Uh. Question for what Bill holds the record for longest
rushing touchdown in team history?
Speaker 2 (15:44):
What Bill holds the longest the record.
Speaker 1 (15:46):
From longest rushing touchdowns?
Speaker 2 (15:48):
Gotta be juice.
Speaker 1 (15:49):
It is not Oj Simpson. Someone has top ten.
Speaker 2 (15:56):
CJ.
Speaker 1 (15:57):
That's a good guess, but incorrect.
Speaker 2 (16:06):
James Cook.
Speaker 1 (16:07):
It is not James Cook. This is a guy who
would not guess to have a lot have won this
long but he did. Freddy, it is fred Jackson. Eighty
yards October sixteenth, twenty eleven against the New York Giants.
I actually watched it back this week. Serpentine, Serpentine, serpentine, serpet.
Speaker 2 (16:29):
Freddy's not outrunning on too many people, but he is.
Speaker 1 (16:33):
He used to be hyper aware of who was trailing him,
and he would cut right when the guy was gonna
jump at it. Freddie was.
Speaker 2 (16:39):
He's one of those guys that if you're fast enough
to catch him, you might not be big enough or
strong enough to kit him down because he's got a
he had a forearm that was in like a taser gun.
And then if you were big enough, strong enough to
tackle him, he might not be fast enough to catch him.
Just right in that and there's right in between there,
(17:01):
and he was physical and aware, like you say, aware enough,
if you're fast enough to catch him, you might have
had to like pick your spot.
Speaker 1 (17:07):
That's what it was.
Speaker 2 (17:08):
It was.
Speaker 1 (17:08):
It looked like a game of pac Man. He's like
runningto the end zone. There's three guys after him, and
right at the last second, he sees this guy over
his left shoulder and he comes back to the left
and the guy, oh, he misses it. He gets into
the end zone. It was a great run eighty yards
the team record. Bill's fans. Get in on the action
with FanDuel, America's number one sportsbook. Just download the app
(17:29):
today to play any way you want. Plus, with live betting,
you'll get updated odds on games that have already started.
Best of all, you get paide your winnings fast. Make
every moment more. With FanDuel Official Sportsbook partner of the
Buffalo Bills, we now ask our one burning question. Khalil
Shakir currently ranked second in the NFL in yards after
(17:51):
catch among receivers with two hundred and ninety four. He
is second only to Cincinnati's Jamar Chase, who has three
one hundred and fifty six yards after the catch. Will
Shakir lead all receivers in yards after the catch at
season's end.
Speaker 2 (18:12):
I don't think so. Not. He's trailing by too much
by Jamar.
Speaker 1 (18:16):
He's about sixty yards behind a little more than sixty
yards behind.
Speaker 2 (18:20):
He's probably he's gonna get some. That's what he does.
He's very good at that. He's elite at yards after catch.
He's elite. I'm gonna have to say no, just because
of the opportunities and other guys in the league and
how hard it is to do. I think he's gonna
have a ton and I think they're gonna continue to
use him like that because he's really good at it.
(18:42):
But he's also had a bunch of long ones already.
Teams are gonna, you know, no, I'm gonna say no.
I don't think he can.
Speaker 1 (18:49):
I got a forty five yard and a fifty four
yard both for touchdowns already through the first seven games, right,
he's gonna have some more. I think he finishes in
the top five, Yes, maybe even the top three.
Speaker 2 (19:01):
Yeah, I don't know.
Speaker 1 (19:02):
If he finishes at it would be a heck of
an accomplished go And you know he's got to stay healthy.
Speaker 2 (19:07):
And who knows, he's second in the league.
Speaker 1 (19:08):
He's played one less game than a lot of teams. Yeah,
he's second in the league among receivers. The running backs
usually lead that category, but among receivers he's number two.
Right now, I think he could finish in the top
five among receivers. Our closing figure got to give credit
to Steve on this. He pointed this one out in
the stat sheet this week. Our closing figure deals with
(19:29):
the Bills Chiefs matchup in Week ten. This is the
tenth meeting between or sorry week nine, This is the
tenth meeting between Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes. Overall, in
those ten meetings, Mahomes has the better record of five
and four, but the point totals in the previous nine matchups,
if you add them all together, are separated by a
(19:51):
single point. Kansas City with two hundred and forty three
points scored to Buffalo's two hundred forty two.
Speaker 2 (20:00):
Absolutely crazy. You can't take your eyes off this game.
Speaker 1 (20:04):
It's gonna be a good one. That'll do it for
this episode, be sure to subscribe on whatever podcast platform
you use, or watch us on the Bills YouTube channel,
because when you need to know about the Bills, you
need to check Bills by the Numbers For Steves After,
I'm Chris Brown. Thanks for listening. We'll catch you next time.
Everybody
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