Talking Buffalo

It's a surprise bonus Saturday episode of Talking Buffalo and Patrick Moran has a Buffalo Bills vs Indianapolis Colts preview, keys to the game and bold predictions for it alongside some commentary on the see-saw Buffalo Sabres once again heating up.

Typically throughout the NFL season we use Fridays as the the official Talking Buffalo preview episode for the Bills. However, Patrick hosted University at Buffalo football star Shaun Dolac live from Imperial Pizza on yesterday's show. That made Patrick compelled to a bonus episode in large part to be able to preview this Sunday's Bills game, a contest Buffalo's favored to win by four points and should be a competitive game.

The Colts are 4-5 on the season but four of those five losses were to great teams. They've made the switch at quarterback from youngster Anthony Richardson to the ageless veteran Joe Flacco. Patrick goes over their offense, which may or may not have star wide receiver (back injury) on the field Sunday. Regardless, the Colts don't lack weapons and Bills fans know Jonathan Taylor, who ran for over 200 yards on them a few seasons ago all too well. They also feature Alec Pierce and his NFL-leading 22.9 yards per catch and a very stout offensive line.

Defensively the Colts are pretty middle of the pack as whole but have a trio of potential game wreckers at their disposal: defensive tackle DeForest Buckner, linebacker Zaire Franklin and cornerback Kenny Moore.

Patrick goes over his three biggest keys to victory for the Bills, including the safeties having an impactful afternoon in helping to stop Taylor. From there it's bold predictions time and guess what folks----Dalton Kincaid is going to have his best game of the season! That plus a final score pick and more.

Patrick also spends a handful of minutes talking about the Sabres, who smacked the New York Rangers on the road Thursday night, 6-1 and have won their last 2 games by an 11-2 margin. This comes after losing three in a row, which came after winning three in a row. It's been an inconsistent first 14 games for Buffalo to say the least---does Patrick think this team is now turning the corner?

That plus some reflections on Dolac being on Friday's show and much more!

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On this special episode of Talking Buffalo, Patrick Moran sits down with University at Buffalo star linebacker Shaun Dolac for a candid conversation about his life and football career through this point live at Imperial Pizza in South Buffalo.

Shaun leads the entire nation in both total and solo tackles and was named a semifinalist for the Butkus Award, given to the nation's best college linebacker. However, the road to the stardom and a potential future in the NFL was anything but smooth sailing for Dolac. He completely dominated the high school scene at West Seneca East, racking up 2018 Buffalo News Player of the Year, but college football success didn't come easy.

Shaun went to prep school for a year to remain in football rather than go to the University of Albany for lacrosse. He was a walk on to the UB football football program and eventually earned a scholarship before his sophomore year. He became a breakout start his junior year in 2022 before suffering a season-ending ankle injury four games into his would-be senior season. He then made the difficult decision to transfer to Utah State for his redshirt senior year before changing his mind following this spring and coming back to UB, where he not only picked up where he left off but has elevated his game even more.

Shaun talks about growing up in a big football family, the influence his late father had on him, his time at West Seneca and his journey through this point with college ball. He also talks about his short and long term goals, a bunch of fun facts and tons more. Remember the name Shaun Dolac, football fans!

Big shout-out and thank you once again to Imperial Pizza for being a gracious host and for their excellent wings. They now have two locations, 1035 Abbott Road and also 1665 Main Street

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On this episode of Talking Buffalo, Patrick Moran is joined by Buffalo Bills radio analyst and former Pro Bowl center Eric Wood to about Bills, his emerging broadcasting career, his podcast and venturing on a family road trip to see Taylor Swift in concert.

A longtime former Buffalo center himself, Eric has plenty to say about the job Connor McGovern's doing under center as well as the rest of the offensive line, a unit that could've easily taken a step back after losing a leader like Mitch Morse in the offseason. Instead the line has not only picked up where it left off in 2023 but has remained remarkably healthy again as well. Eric has thoughts on them as well as offensive line coach Aaron Kromer having the unit seemingly playing at its best.

The guys also discuss Eric's ongoing transformation into broadcasting and Patrick marvels at the fact Eric's been in that Bills booth for as long as he has now, joking that people are starting to recognize him more as a broadcaster than they did as a football player. Eric talks about getting more and more comfortable with each season and game, liking them to a player getting more reps.

Also, Eric recently took his wife and daughter all the way to Indianapolis to see the Taylor Swift New Eras tour live in concert. Patrick, a Swiftie himself is interested in learning as much about what it's like to be at one her concerts as possible.

They also discuss Eric's "Centered on Buffalo" podcast, recent wing stops and tons more. Make sure you’re subscribed to Centered on Buffalo, available wherever you listen to podcasts as well as YouTube.

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On this episode of Talking Buffalo, Patrick Moran is joined by Matt Warren from SB Nation for his weekly visit and today the guys are handing out hardware, both good and bad for the Buffalo Bills as they've reached the halfway mark of the 2024 season.

Seeing we couldn't do this show at halftime last Sunday when the season technically hit the midpoint part, we'll have to settle for the awards show nine games in, a season that's seen the Bills go 7-2 and have complete and utter control of the AFC east, in what most would consider shocking fashion.

Among the awards discussed and named on this episode is Best Defensive Player and Best Offensive Player not named Josh Allen. They also decide who's been the best rookie so far, the most pleasantly surprising and disappointing players, most underrated player, the best and worst games as well as the best and worst plays of the season through this point.

They also discuss the biggest storyline(s) for the Bills so far in 2024 before spending the remainder of the time going over some conference stuff, including an absolutely huge showdown looming with Kansas City in Orchard Park on November 17th. That and plenty more.

You can follow Matt on Twitter @MattRichWarren and be sure to check out Buffalo Rumblings for your (really good) daily Bills content.

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On this episode of Talking Buffalo, Patrick Moran is joined by Buffalo Bills beat reporter Matt Parrino to go over their biggest Week Nine takeaways following the Buffalo Bills exciting victory over Miami on Sunday in addition to a conversation about athlete parenting and more.

It certainly wasn't easy facing a Dolphins team that knew any slim chance they had of getting back into the AFC east race hinged on them upsetting the Bills in Orchard Park. In the end though, Tyler Bass set a franchise-record with a 61 yard game-winning field goal and the Bills not only improved to 7-2 but put themselves where they'd need a total face plant to not win their fifth consecutive AFC east crown.

Matt's as entrenched with covering the team full time and has thoughts on many of Patrick's biggest takeaways from this week, including the wild (wild!) ride Tyler Bass went on, Sean McDermott showing confidence in a spot other coaches probably wouldn't have, Josh Allen staying patience paying off, a tip of the cap to Mack Hollins and focusing on a defense that other than a singular Taron Johnson effort got largely dismantled by the Miami offense.

In particular Patrick thought the defensive tackle play led by Ed Oliver was extremely lousy. Does Matt agree?

The guys also have a discussion about how protective parents of athletes can be and sometimes go a little overboard. Patrick feels that's the case recently after a social media incident involving him and Damar Hamlin's father. Matt shares his thoughts and the guys talk about relating to the parent in most cases. That and plenty more!

You can follow Matt on Twitter @MattParrino and of course be sure to check out his work at NYup.com as well as subscribe to the Shout Buffalo Football Podcast.

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On this episode of Talking Buffalo, Patrick Moran is joined by Joe From Queens not long after the Buffalo Bills dramatically beat the Miami Dolphins, 30-27 on an improbable Tyler Bass 61-yard field goal in the wanning seconds to move 7-2 and end Miami's hopes for a divisional title before Election Day.

It's safe to assume the last thing anyone expected Bass to do was win Buffalo the game, especially after missing an extra point and having another one bounce in through the uprights earlier in the game. But Bass not only the game-winning field goal but booted an all-time franchise record 61 yarder to do it. The guys talk this being one of the ultimate single-play redemption stories they can remember, as Patrick calls himself out for lambasting Bass on social media several times throughout the game.

The Bills offense started slow but then got things heated up in the second half, scoring on their last four drives on a day they had to because the defense wasn't stopping anything. The guys talk about Josh Allen playing MVP caliber football in the second half without the services of Amari Cooper and having to consistently overcome their own mistakes, something they've done a lot of this season.

The win is sweet but it was far from a perfect Sunday afternoon Patrick and Joe talked about a defense that other than one play from Taron Johnson mostly stunk, especially in the middle of the defense where both Ed Oliver and DaQuan Jones were eerily silent. Was it just one of those days or do the Bills have a serious problem in the middle of their defense? That plus some big picture stuff and much more.

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On this episode of Talking Buffalo, Patrick Moran is joined by Phinsider (SB Nation) blogger Marek Brave for a full Buffalo Bills vs Miami Dolphins preview, including keys to the game for each team as well as bold predictions and a final score pick that both guys picked exactly the same.

It's no secret that the Bills have completely owned the Dolphins in recent years. Sean McDermott is 14-2 vis Miami since taking over in 2017 and 5-1 specifically vs Mike McDaniel. Meanwhile, Josh Allen's 12-2 vs Miami including the playoffs with 34 touchdowns against just seven interceptions. Marek has plenty to say about Buffalo's domination from the other side of things.

Prior records against each other are based on the past, but the present Miami Dolphins are just 2-5 and in grave danger of being completely run out of the AFC east divisional race if not the playoffs all together by the end of Sunday. Marek talks about what's went wrong with Miami this season, keyed of course by the injury to quarterback Tua Tagovailoa suffered against Buffalo in Week two. There's been other issues and some of them are discussed, including the quirky act of the Dolphins head coach McDaniel wearing thin among some of the fan base and the disappointment that's come with former Bills safety Jordan Poyer joining the Dolphins this offseason.

Both guys offer their keys to the game for the respective teams they cover, with Patrick focused on the most obvious things like not letting the Tyreek Hill/Jaylen Waddle go crazy and the defensive front four making life uncomfortable for Tua. Marek pins Miami's hopes on being able to stop the Bills running game and Allen transforming into the turnover machine he's been at times in previous years.

They also have three bold predictions each and come up with the exact same final score prediction. That plus Marek, who's been in professional wrestling for more than 20 years talks about his career, which includes running a highly touted and well known wrestling academy with his partner, WWE superstar Seth Rollins. That and plenty more.

Make sure to follow Marek on Twitter @MBrave13 and check out Phinsider on SB Nation for ongoing Dolphins news and commentary.

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On this episode of Talking Buffalo, Patrick Moran is joined by Joe From Queens for a livestreamed edition of The Podbag focused primary on the Buffalo Bills (a little Sabres too)

The Podbag is a recurring episode theme where the audience controls the narrative and topics of the show with their questions, comments and takes submitted via Youtube, email or social media. Typically Patrick does these shows solo but brings in Joe to mix things up.

To keep the questions for Joe more spontaneous, Patrick doesn't let him know what was submitted ahead of time. Among them is the description of effort following a Josh Allen mistake that raises his level of respect, a move the guys would make if they were Brandon Beane and allowed a trade before the deadline, and an incredibly on-field Keon Coleman former player comparison.

They're also asked about anxiety levels watching Bills games, who'd they like to see Buffalo play least in the AFC championship game, former Sabre from the ongoing drought they've love to have back right now, a celebrity that would leave them star struck and tons more.

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On this episode of Talking Buffalo, Patrick Moran is joined by Matt Warren of SB Nation for their weekly conversation, this time turning heel a little bit on Buffalo Bills fans and telling them some things to be skeptical of regarding the team despite their glowing 6-2 record.

The heel turn isn't on the level of Seth Rollins turning on the Shield, but the guys decide to take a break from all the positivity talk about the Bills (mostly well deserved) and play Devil's advocate today, focusing today's episode on some things that already have or could ail the Bills as they progress through what's become a most promising season.

Among the things the guys discuss is the Bills playing a relatively weak schedule so far, especially compared to what it was expected to look like back in September. They also talk about how their penchant for racking up penalties is a problem, slow starts in at least half their games so far this season, Curtis Samuel looking like a complete bust right now and not having a lot of good luck on the injury front.

Again, both guys are highly optimistic with the Bills at this point of the season but sometimes you have to take a look at the dangers that may lie ahead. They also talk some AFC as well, including the absolutely stunning revelation that the AFC east race is close to being over before we even reach Halloween and Kansas City just two home wins away from coming to Orchard Park in a few weeks with a 10-0 record.

You can follow Matt on Twitter @MattRichWarren and be sure to check out Buffalo Rumblings for your (really good) daily Bills content.

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On this episode of Talking Buffalo, Patrick Moran goes over a slew of his biggest takeaways surrounding the Buffalo Bills following their 31-10 shellacking of the Seattle Seahawks on the road that has Buffalo sitting at 6-2 and running away with the AFC east.

With Miami hosting Arizona and the New York Jets traveling to Foxboro to play the New England Patriots, coupled with the Bills having to travel to Seattle this felt like a week where the Bills holding serve would be the best outcome. Not only did Buffalo end up doing their end but the Dolphins and Jets both suffered upset losses, putting Buffalo in complete and utter command of the division at roughly the halfway point of the season. Considering what the expectations from most were back in September it's simply amazing.

Patrick spends plenty of time talking about some of his biggest takeaways from Buffalo's dismantling of Seattle on Sunday, starting with an offensive line that minus the annoying penalties was essentially flawless both in protecting Josh Allen and opening up huge holes in the running game. The play of the line allowed James Cook to have another big day and Patrick's again reminded of how Cook can often look like former Pittsburgh Steelers star running back Le'Veon Bell.

Keon Coleman is becoming an important part of the passing game while Khalil Shakir may be one of the most underrated receivers in the NFL. Patrick talks about both, shifting snap count percentages and of course plenty on the defense, which had it's best run defending day in nearly five years.

That plus Joe Brady stepping up over the last six quarters and much more.

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