San Francisco (5-6) at Buffalo (9-2)
Sunday, 8:20 p.m. EST, NBC
BetMGM NFL odds: Bills by 7.
Series record: Bills lead 7-6.
Against the spread: 49ers 4-7, Bills 7-4.
Last meeting: Bills beat 49ers 34-24 on Dec. 7, 2020, at Glendale, Arizona.
Last week: Packers beat 49ers 38-10; Bills bye.
49ers offense: overall (4), rush (7), pass (4), scoring (13).
49ers defense: overall (6), rush (11), pass (6), scoring (20).
Bills offense: overall (13), rush (11), pass (13), scoring (3).
Bills defense: overall (15), rush (13), pass (14), scoring (7).
Turnover differential: 49ers even; Bills plus-14.
DE Leonard Floyd returns to Buffalo for the first time since leaving the Bills in free agency to sign with the 49ers in March. Floyd is playing his best ball of late with 3 1/2 sacks the past two games after having only three in his first nine games this season. Floyd had 10 1/2 sacks last season in his only year in Buffalo.
WR Amari Cooper. A left wrist injury and getting accustomed to the playbook has limited the 30-year-old to seven catches for 124 yards and a touchdown in three games since being acquired in a trade with Cleveland on Oct. 15. With a bye week to heal up and more than a month to build chemistry with Josh Allen, Cooper could finally be in a position to begin playing to his potential.
Niners' RB Christian McCaffrey vs. Bills run defense. Buffalo bottled up the Chiefs in limiting their ground game to 78 yards in a major sign of improvement a month after allowing 271 to Derrick Henry and the Ravens. McCaffrey and the 49ers' usually sturdy run game has yet to get on track, with last season's offensive player of the year limited to 149 yards rushing and 132 receiving. He has yet to score a TD in three games this season.
San Francisco QB Brock Purdy is expected to play after missing one game with a sore right shoulder. ... The Niners, however, ruled out five starters: DE Nick Bosa (hip, oblique), LT Trent Williams (ankle), LG Aaron Banks (concussion), DT Jordan Elliott (concussion) and CB Deommodore Lenoir (knee). ... The Bills ruled out TE Dalton Kincaid, who will miss his second game with a knee injury. ... Rookie WR Keon Coleman (right wrist) is listed as questionable and was still wearing a non-contact jersey in practice on Friday. ... RT Spencer Brown (ankle) was cleared to return after missing one game. ... The Bills have yet to decide whether to activate LB Matt Milano (torn left biceps) and rookie defensive tackle DeWayne Carter (left wrist) off IR.
The Bills played the Niners in Arizona because of COVID-19 restrictions in California in 2020. It was Buffalo's second visit to Glendale in three weeks after a 32-30 loss to the Cardinals. ... The Bills beat San Francisco 45-16 in the Niners' most recent visit to Orchard Park, New York, in 2016, and are 3-2 overall at home. ... Buffalo has won the past two meetings with neither team having won three straight.
San Francisco has lost two straight and has a losing record this late in the season for the first time since going 6-10 in 2020. ... This is the fourth time this season that the 49ers are playing a team coming off a bye. They are 1-2 in the previous three. ... San Francisco had only 11 first downs last week, tied for the fewest in any game in eight seasons under Kyle Shanahan. ... The Niners have scored only three offensive TDs from outside the red zone this season, tied for the second fewest in the NFL. ... San Francisco ranks 10th worst in the NFL with 3.85 yards per carry in three games since McCaffrey returned after ranking fourth with 5.13 in the first eight weeks. ... The 44 yards rushing last week for the 49ers were their third fewest under Shanahan. ... TE George Kittle had his 509th catch last week, moving into third place in San Francisco history. ... Kittle leads the NFL with eight TD catches in the red zone, which is tied with Vernon Davis (2013) for the most in a season for a Niners player since at least 2000. ... The AFC East-leading Bills have won at least nine of their first 11 games for just the sixth time in team history, and first since 1992. Buffalo has been 10-2 or better just four times, the last in 1991. ... The Bills have won six straight for the first time since a 7-0 run to close the 2022 season. ... Buffalo has scored 30 or more points in five straight and a league-best eight times this season. The most recent time the Bills scored 30 or more in six straight outings happened in 2004. ... After not throwing an interception in his first seven outings, QB Josh Allen has five in his past four. He’s 43-27 overall when committing a turnover. ... Allen has rushed for five TDs this season, increasing his total to 58 to rank second on the team list behind only Hall of Famer Thurman Thomas (65). ... With two TDs rushing in a 30-21 win over Kansas City two weeks ago, RB James Cook became Buffalo's first player to rush for 10 scores since LeSean McCoy had 13 in 2016. ... Buffalo's defense has forced at least one takeaway in each outing this season.
The Bills defense/special teams might be a sneaky good play, and not only if Brandon Allen starts in place of Purdy. Special teams could play a factor with Buffalo's Brandon Codrington ranking fourth in the NFL with 243 punt return yards, and the Niners ranking 32nd in allowing 16.4 yards per punt return and having already allowed a kickoff return for a TD.
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL
San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle (85) makes a touchdown catch against Green Bay Packers safety Evan Williams (33) during the first half of an NFL football game on Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024 in Green Bay, Wis. (AP Photo/Matt Ludtke)
Buffalo Bills wide receiver Amari Cooper (18) makes a catch for a first down as Kansas City Chiefs cornerback Nazeeh Johnson (13) defends during the first half of an NFL football game Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024, in Orchard Park, N.Y. (AP Photo/Jeffrey T. Barnes)
San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey (23) stops Green Bay Packers linebacker Quay Walker (7) during the second half of an NFL football game on Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024 in Green Bay, Wis. (AP Photo/Matt Ludtke)
Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen throws as Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Leo Chenal (54) defends during the first half of an NFL football game Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024, in Orchard Park, N.Y. (AP Photo/Jeffrey T. Barnes)
NEW YORK (AP) — Retailers used giveaways and big discounts to reward U.S. shoppers who ventured out for Black Friday even as earlier offers, the prospect of better bargains in the days ahead and the ease of e-commerce drained much of the excitement from the holiday shopping season's much-hyped kickoff.
Frequent deals throughout the month and more awaiting on Cyber Monday gave consumers less of a reason to squabble over store shelves while trying to get their hands on TVs or toys. But shopping malls and merchants big and small used the day after Thanksgiving to entice customers into physical stores at a time when many prefer to browse and buy online.
Some Target shoppers lined up as early as 11:30 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day to get their hands on an exclusive book devoted to Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour and a bonus edition of her “The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology” album. Although both will be available purchase online starting Saturday, many locations sold out their supply of the products, the discount retailer said.
At a Target in Southfield, Michigan, a few miles north of Detroit, Marge Evans, 32, used her cellphone to take and send photos of shirts, sweaters and other apparel with Black Friday markdowns. Her shopping cart was full, but she was shopping for an upcoming cruise with her fiance, not Christmas.
“I’ll see what things are looking like the first week in January,”the 32-year-old massage therapist said. “Really, after the holidays are over is when the real deals come through. They get rid of everything.”
Industry analysts observed Black Friday shoppers displaying the same choosy, deal-driven behavior many U.S. consumers exhibited all year while adjusting prices after the period of inflation that started toward the end of the coronavirus pandemic.
At many stores, the huge crowds of Black Fridays past never returned after the pandemic. A Walmart in Germantown, Maryland, had only half of the parking spots filled on Friday morning. Some shoppers were returning items or buying groceries.
Bharatharaj Moruejsan, a 35-year-old software engineer, decided to check out Walmart's offers because he was jet-lagged after returning from a month-long family vacation to India. He scored an iPad for his 1-year-old daughter for $250, 32% off its original $370 price tag.
“That’s a good deal,” Moruejsan said.
After visiting stores and shopping centers on Long Island, Marshal Cohen, chief retail adviser at market research firm Circana, said that apart from people lining up for Target's Taylor Swift merchandise, the number of shoppers appeared typical.
“The spreading out of the holidays has created the lack of need and lack of urgency,” said Cohen, who had a 20-person team monitoring crowds nationwide. “This is going to be a long, slow tedious process” of getting shoppers to buy, he said.
Michael Brown, a partner at management consulting firm Kearney, saw no lines at the Westfield Garden State Plaza in Paramus, New Jersey, 10 minutes before the 7 a.m. opening.
“It’s not the old Black Friday that we used to know,” he said.
Retailers that offered at least 40% off drove shoppers’ attention, according to Brown. For example, Forever 21 had 50% to 70% discounts and had lines to the stores, while H&M, which offered 30% discounts, was relatively quiet.
Enough consumers still enjoy holiday shopping in person that Black Friday nonetheless was expected to retain its crown remains the biggest day of the year for retail foot traffic in the U.S., according to retail technology company Sensormatic Solutions.
At Macy’s Herald Square in Manhattan, the setting for the 1947 Christmas movie “Miracle on 34th Street,” a steady stream of shoppers early Friday found some shoes and handbags priced half-off, special occasion dresses marked down by 30%, and 60% off the store's luxury bedding brand.
Keressa Clark, 50, and her daughter Morghan, 27, who were visiting New York from Wilmington, North Carolina, arrived at 6:15 a.m.
"I am actually shocked to see so many Black Friday deals because so many things are online,” Morghan Clark said.
Karessa Clark, who works as a nurse practitioner, said President-elect Donald Trump’s pending return to the White House made her feel better about the economy. She plans to spend $2,000 this holiday season, about $500 more than a year ago.
Julie Rambo, a retired school teacher, shoved aside her worries about the incoming Trump administration as she shopped with her grandchildren at the Target in Southfield, Michigan.
Rambo, 74, said she was “totally, completely scared of tariffs because I’m still going to need an automobile,” but it was a problem to confront later. As she does each year, she was primarily looking for Christmas gifts through a prison ministry for children with parents who are incarcerated.
“As we’re shopping, we find things for ourselves too,” Rambo said.
Online sales figures from Thanksgiving Day gave retailers a reason to remain hopeful for a lucrative end to the year.
Vivek Pandya, the lead analyst at Adobe Digital Insights, said consumers spent a record $6.1 billion online Thursday, 8.8% more than on Thanksgiving last year. Bigger-than-expected discounts helped spur spending on electronics, apparel and other categories, Pandya said.
Across the board, Black Friday weekend discounts should peak at 30% on Cyber Monday and then retreat to around 15%, according to Adobe’s research.
Analysts forecast a solid holiday shopping season overall in the U.S., though perhaps not as robust as last year. Retailers were even more under the gun to get shoppers in to buy early and in bulk since there are five fewer days between Thanksgiving and Christmas this year.
Shoppers at Lakeside Shopping Center in Metairie, Louisiana, were treated to a glass of champagne and a $50 gift receipt.
“This is a nice touch. I was just talking to my best friend and rehashing over Thanksgiving so this was a nice little treat after that conversation. Everyone needs a little drink,” said Faren Kennedy, a Houston resident who was in town visiting family and wanted to stop at the mall for the nostalgia of Black Friday shopping.
At Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota, some 13,000 people showed up the first hour of its 7 a.m. opening, roughly 1,000 more than a year ago, according to Jill Renslow, the mall’s chief business development and marketing officer.
The mall was on target to exceed the 200,000 Black Friday customer visits it received in 2023, Renslow said. Stores with deep discounts and promotions were the most packed, she said, citing Lego’s giveaway of a free retro record player with a $250 purchase.
Stephen Lebovitz, CEO of CBL Properties, which operates 85 shopping properties, and Bill Taubman, president and chief operating officer of upscale mall landlord Taubman Realty Group, also said customer visits were up.
Black Friday no longer is an American-only sales event. Retailers in Australia, Canada, France, Germany and the U.K. also appealed to holiday shoppers looking to save money.
In India, about 200 Amazon warehouse workers and delivery drivers, rallied Friday in New Delhi, some wearing masks of Amazon chief Jeff Bezos, to demand better wages and working conditions. Similar protests were planned in other countries.
Hadero reported from Germantown, Maryland. Stephen Smith in New Orleans and Corey Williams in Detroit contributed to this story.
Shoppers take advantage of Black Friday deals in Montreal on Friday, Nov. 29, 2024. (Christinne Muschi /The Canadian Press via AP)
A large advertisement for Prada stands as shoppers walk along Fifth Avenue, Friday, Nov. 29, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)
A group of shoppers take a selfie outside Macy's Herald Square, Friday, Nov. 29, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)
A shopper holds multiple bags while outside Macy's Herald Square, Friday, Nov. 29, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)
Shoppers take photos outside Macy's Herald Square, Friday, Nov. 29, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)
Shoppers manage their bags as they enter a Subway turnstile, Friday, Nov. 29, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)
Shoppers take advantage of Black Friday deals in Montreal on Friday, Nov. 29, 2024. (Christinne Muschi /The Canadian Press via AP)
A Sport Expert's employee walks past a sign advertising Black Friday sales in Montreal on Friday, Nov. 29, 2024. (Christinne Muschi /The Canadian Press via AP)
Shoppers walk along Fifth Avenue, Friday, Nov. 29, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)
Shoppers walk along Fifth Avenue, Friday, Nov. 29, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)
People carry shopping bags as they walk along Fifth Avenue, Friday, Nov. 29, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)
A participant wears a paper mask in the likeness of Amazon's Jeff Bezos as warehouse workers and delivery drivers stage a protest against the Seattle-based company demanding higher wages and better working conditions, in New Delhi, India, Friday, Nov. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
Early Black Friday shoppers line up outside stores at Citadel Outlets in Commerce, Calif., Thursday, Nov. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
To mark the Black Friday discount day, around 400 to 500 Amazon employees from Germany joined colleagues from the USA, Sweden, the UK and Italy at the international protest center in Bad Hersfeld,Germany, and took part in the central strike meeting in the Schilde Hall, Friday, Nov. 29, 2024. (Christian Lademann/dpa via AP)
An early Black Friday shopper uses a smartphone flashlight to locate a store at Citadel Outlets in Commerce, Calif., Thursday, Nov. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Early Black Friday shoppers are silhouetted as they wait in line to enter a store at Citadel Outlets in Commerce, Calif., Thursday, Nov. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Early Black Friday shoppers line up outside stores at Citadel Outlets in Commerce, Calif., Thursday, Nov. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
An aerial view shows a packed parking lot at Citadel Outlets in Commerce, Calif., Thursday, Nov. 28, 2024, as early Black Friday shoppers arrive at the mall. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
A woman walks a dog in a street of Mayfair at sunrise, in London, Friday, Nov. 29, 2024.(AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)
People walk by sale signs on the shopping street in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Nov. 28, 2024.(AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
A shopper passes a store advertising a Black Friday Sale on Regent Street in London, Thursday, Nov. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
People window shop in Bryant Park's Winter Village, Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024, New York. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
A shopper looks at handbags at Macy's department store on Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Anne D'Innocenzio)
FILE - Shoppers and others walk down a crowded sidewalk on Black Friday in the Soho neighborhood of New York, Nov. 24, 2023. (AP Photo/Peter K. Afriyie, File)
Items on sale for $5 are displayed at a Five Below store on Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Anne D'Innocenzio)
Items on sale for Black Friday are displayed at Macy's department store on Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Anne D'Innocenzio)
Shoppers pass a Christmas tree at the Bergdorf Goodman store on Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Anne D'Innocenzio)
A sign promoting Black Friday deals sits on table with a display of mirrorless cameras in a Best Buy store Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024, in south Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
