It is my sincerest hope that everybody had a safe and enjoyable Thanksgiving. It was especially sweet for Bills Mafia after the Bills went into New Orleans and came away with a win over the Saints, 31-6, to cap off the holiday triple-header.
I figure I’ll start with the good news. Buffalo secured a very important win that gets them some temporary leverage in their divisional race against the Patriots. Sitting at 7-4, the Bills have the AFC East lead for now based on the divisional tie-breaker. It may not last long with the Pats taking on a seriously depleted Titans team on Sunday, but every little bit helps right now. Regardless of the outcome of that game, New England and Buffalo will square off on Monday Night Football next week with the undisputed division lead at stake.
The Saints have had a pretty stout run defense but the Bills’ offense went right at them and looked like they found some of their confidence as they put a touchdown on the board on their first possession. It was a nice mix of Devin Singletary, Matt Breida, and Allen all contributing and that eventually opened the door for the Dawson Knox TD catch. Despite the ease with which they scored, they didn’t find much success the rest of the half.
Buffalo would tack on a field goal to make it 10-0, but they ended the half with interceptions on back-to-back drives. The first one came with Josh Allen trying to force the ball to Diggs, but the pass was behind him and Saints’ cornerback Bradley Roby saw it the whole way and jumped the route. Fortunately, the Bills’ defense stepped up and turned the Saints over on downs to get the ball back. Buffalo had quickly driven into New Orleans’ territory again and what would have been Knox’s second TD of the half was taken off the board by an ineligible man downfield penalty. On the next play, Allen was hit as he threw and Kwon Alexander made a great diving effort to come away with the interception. It didn’t turn out to be a killer, but the Bills’ O-line play continues to make costly errors.
Stefon Diggs continued his hot streak and ran a filthy arrow route to shake Marshon Lattimore from the NO 5-yard line and Allen timed the throw up nicely for the TD. Diggs led the team in targets (9), receptions (7), and yards (74) and he’s continued to benefit from an increased workload. While I don’t want to see the ball “forced” to him as we have seen the negative side of that, I do like getting him somewhere in the 8-10 targets per game range. At that point, it was 17-0 Bills, and they never looked back.
Knox added his second TD of the game, late in the 3rd quarter, when Buffalo elected to go for it on 4th & 2. In a different type of game, I would have just taken the FG but with the game pretty well in-hand and the Bills needing to find their groove again, I liked the decision to go for it. Brian Daboll drew up a nice play to take advantage of the pressure and Knox did the rest. At 24-0, it was a wrap.
The Saints did eventually breakthrough with a TD of their own to tight end Nick Vannett own but missed the 2-point conversion attempt. That would be their only score of the game and the Bills’ defense clamped down once again, forcing a 3 & out and a 4th-quarter interception, courtesy of Jordan Poyer. New Orleans’ offense was certainly hobbled heading into this game, but Buffalo had to come out and show that they weren’t going to let an inferior offense hang around.
Before I get into the long-term effects of this game, I feel like I have to acknowledge the Bills’ run game. Zack Moss was a healthy scratch for this one and, if you’ve been reading me or listening to the show, you’ll know that I’ve been locked in a season-long debate over the run game. On Thursday night, Buffalo ran the ball 32 times for 113-yards and they did it against one of the best run defenses in the league. I wouldn’t say they dominated on the ground but they stayed committed and were effective. In particular, Devin Singletary ran the ball with power and helped set a physical tone for the team. It was Matt Breida who scored on a screen play late in the game, but the two of them combined for 24-carries for 70-yards. Allen chipped in with 43-yards of his own but it allowed him to have a very efficient game through the air. The run game is starting to show some wrinkles that allow for all the pieces to contribute. It was a good litmus test against a good run defense and I liked what I saw.
While it was an important win and a good showing against a pretty stingy defense, it wasn’t all good news coming out of the Super Dome. Unfortunately, Buffalo lost one of the league’s best cornerbacks’ as Tre’Davious White was lost for the season due to an ACL tear. It happened on a non-contact as it usually does and team doctors performed an on-the-field test for the injury while White was visibly shaken before heading to the medical tent on the sideline for further evaluation. The really bad news came on Friday morning after an MRI revealed the extent of the damage.
It’s a massive loss for one of the league’s top defenses and it will put the Bills’ depth to the test. Rookie Dane Jackson stepped in after White’s injury and had some good and some bad moments. Overall, he didn’t do terrible but the Saints wide receiver group wasn’t going to be the bunch that really puts him to the test. How the Bills approach the rest of the season is going to be very interesting.
Performance Grade: A
The Bills played a very strong all-around game vs the Saints and they’ll have nine days off to gameplan for the Patriots. I’d get the team together to watch New England’s game vs Tennessee rather than just doing film study on the game afterward. I know the Bills can beat the Pats and it’s going to be the biggest game of Mac Jones’ career to this point, so I am hopeful that the Bills can get after him and force some mistakes. You’ve gotta think Bill Belichick isn’t happy with how the season series went last year and will look to bring something special to the table this time around. Buffalo has to take away the run dominance of the Pats and force Jones to gamble downfield. It’s going to be an interesting game one way or the other. Go Bills!