Not all games are created equal, but it’s tough to overstate the value of the Bills’ 34-24 win over the 49ers. Heading into this Week 13 showdown, Buffalo hadn’t won on Monday Night Football since Doug Flutie was under center back in the ‘99 season. More than a solid victory over a quality team in need of a win, the Bills improved to 9-3 for the second straight season and snapped an eight-game losing streak under the Monday night lights. The win gives them crucial leverage in their conference and division, but their performance says a lot about where the team is.
Buffalo got the ball to start the game and the opening possession was going about as well as you could have hoped for but the drive stalled and Sean McDermott’s choice to go for it on 4th & goal is one of those coaching decisions that could have wound up being costly. I’m guessing he respected the Niners’ Top-10 defense and wasn’t expecting a lot of chances, but the play call in that situation left a lot to be desired as Josh Allen was basically forced to throw the ball away and turn it over on downs.
Backed up just outside their own goalline, SF looked like they would be forced to punt but a questionable pass interference call against the defense bailed them out on 3rd & 7. With a little breathing room, Raheem Mostert started to heat up and the Niners went down the field with relative ease but stalled near the end zone and were faced with their own 4th & goal. Coach Kyle Shanahan decided to go for it also but the Bills’ defense came up with a huge 4th-down goalline stand of their own. However, on the ensuing Buffalo possession, Zack Moss fumbled the handoff from Allen and gave the ball back to the 49ers right where they had left off. Three plays later, SF cashed in the TD to Brandon Aiyuk to make it 7-0. You know how I feel about bad omens and that sequence to blow the possession lead and wind up down a touchdown to close out the 1st quarter was about as bad as it could have been.
The Bills didn’t seem phased as they answered nicely on the next drive, going 77-yards in five plays, with two big grabs from Cole Beasley as he pulled in the game-tying TD. It was tough to tell where the momentum was exactly, but it was nice to see that Buffalo hadn’t let a poor start rattle their approach and the defense would respond with a 3rd down stop to get the ball back to the offense. They continued to carve up a good Niners’ secondary and Beasley was killing whichever nickel corner lined up across from him. The TD pass went to tight end Dawson Knox on a flat route to put the Bills up 14-7.
Momentum had firmly settled with the team from Western New York as a big defensive stop got the Niners off the field at the end of the half and gave BUF a chance for more points. The offense showed patience and great execution as they went 71-yds on seven plays to get the field goal and make it a 17-7 game going into the half. All things considered, the Bills mostly controlled the first half but the Niners would get the 2nd half kickoff so that extra 3-pts would have been nice on the first drive.
San Francisco would take the ball to start the 3rd quarter and their drive stalled but they still took the FG to open the 2nd half scoring and cut the lead back to 10-pts. Buffalo needed to respond with a decent drive of their own and they’d reached FG-range in SF territory but a holding penalty on Beasley pushed them back to 2nd & 18. The drive wasn’t over at that point but Allen flopped on a scramble to his right to draw a 15-yd roughing the passer foul and get a new set of downs. The hit was nothing but it was a good acting job by Allen to make it a tough call for the refs. Plays like that are a great example of why coaches should be able to challenge any penalty call in a game, not just pass interference. Anyway, two plays later, a slick play-action pass to Isaiah McKenzie TD extended the Bills’ lead to 14-pts. It’s great to see Offensive Coordinator Brian Daboll getting McKenzie involved because his speed and quickness remind me a lot of Tyreek Hill.
Down two full scores approaching the end of the 3rd quarter, running the ball was no longer a luxury the Niners could afford and a Nick Mullens pass bounced off Aiyuk and into the hands of Buffalo’s Micah Hyde for the tipped-ball interception. Starting at the SF 5-yd line, I was happy to see the Bills adopted a fake-sprint-pitch from the Chiefs’ playbook and almost scored on it. They ran a similar play last week but the design didn’t do them any favors. Offensive execution in the tank after that play as holding and false-start flags killed the drive, but Tyler Bass added another FG to stretch it out to a 17-pt lead. After a mediocre start to his rookie season going 6/9 on FGs over the first six games of the season, Bass has found his groove going 17/20 over the last six.
Despite the litany of injuries they’ve suffered throughout the season, the Niners are a team that always fights. Needing a big strike to get back in the game, Mullens found Aiyuk for a big 50-yd catch that set up a Kyle Juszczyk TD that cut the lead to 10-pts. With a full quarter remaining, the Bills couldn’t really afford an empty possession and Devin Singletary posted a big 1st-down run to end the 3rd. For some odd reason, they didn’t run the ball to start the clock on the 4th quarter and Allen was hit and fumbled during his drop back. Fortunately, he’d recover the ball but it was as if Daboll was daring SF to get back in the game.
Stefon Diggs had a great game, giving Jason Verrett the business all night long and broke him off with a nasty route to convert a first down. On a 3rd & 1, Zack Moss finally found his way back into the game for the first time since his fumble but the telegraphed run gained nothing and set up a critical 4th & short. Buffalo was within Bass’ range but they were going for the throat and Diggs beat Verrett again for the conversion. Two plays later, Allen caught Richard Sherman peeking and found Gabriel Davis behind him for the TD to put the nail in the coffin at 34-17.
With the game all but secure, San Francisco still didn’t back down and found success gutting the Bills’ defense on the hurry-up pass attack. Kendrick Bourne’s short TD was overturned thanks to a great tackle by Hyde to prevent the extension of the ball. A false start would take them off the 1-yd line, which gave Tre White the space he needed to come away with the interception at the goal line. To think he almost opted out of the season, White has been playing great lately and has three INTs in his last four games.
The Bills would punt and SF would end up getting the meaningless TD to the resurgent Jordan Reed, who still looks like one of the best tight ends in the game when he’s healthy. Diggs would recover the onside kick attempt and Buffalo would end the game in victory formation.
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After a less than ideal game against the Chargers where the Bills’ offense looked mediocre, Allen looked as good as he ever has against a very good 49ers’ defense. If I was giving out game balls, they go to Allen who finished with 375-yards, and 4-TDs with no INTs, and Cole Beasley who had 9-catches for 130-yds and a TD. Diggs also broke the 1,000-yard receiving mark already, tied for the league-lead in catches, and is on pace to have career-highs in both receptions and yards. If the offense can continue to perform like this, without John Brown, against good defenses and the defense continues to improve, Buffalo will be a handful for any team.
Performance Grade: A
The Bills head home in Week 14 to welcome the NFL leading Pittsburgh Steelers to Orchard Park. Pittsburgh’s unbeaten season came to an end, but they still boast one of the best defenses in the NFL. I don’t know if it’s the weather affecting their timing or what, but the Steelers haven’t looked great the last couple of games. Drops have plagued them and finally cost them the game and they haven’t exactly played top competition lately. The Bills are going to test them and while I wouldn’t have thought Buffalo’s chances were very good a month ago, I like the Bills’ odds a lot better right now. Either way, this will be a good litmus test and could be a defining win for a young Bills team.