It’s a great time to be a Bills fan. Buffalo has already secured their best regular-season record (12-3) since 1993, they’re arguably the 2nd best team in the league, have the inside track on the #2 seed in the AFC, and they wiped out the Patriots 38-9 in a rivalry game to close out Week 16 on Monday Night Football. Even though New England has had a rough go of it this season, this was a huge win for the Bills.
Heading into Monday night’s game vs the Patriots, Buffalo was 3-17 in Foxborough over the past 20-seasons. Their last road win in New England came back in 2016 before Sean McDermott took over as head coach of the Bills. Even with all of his success, a win at Gillette Stadium had eluded him during his tenure in Western New York. Josh Allen had yet to win there too so it was an important victory in terms of legacy and leaving the past behind.
I am not going to dig into the breakdown of the game so much because it was pretty lopsided, but let’s take a look at a couple of things. Before it became a blowout, the Pats struck first with a field goal and were having success on the ground. Early in the second quarter, Cam Newton finished off a 90-yard drive with a 9-yard touchdown run that would have tied the game but Nick Folk missed the point-after try. The Bills defense got gashed for a couple of big runs on both of New England’s scoring drives and had given up 130-yards on the ground by halftime. That’s a concerning number when looking ahead to Buffalo’s potential playoff opponents. Fortunately, they recognized what was happening and held the Patriots to only 15-yards rushing in the second half.
The pass defense was locked in all night and the Bills’ defense held them to 56-yards passing as a team. Newton was 5/10 for 34-yards before getting benched and Jarrett Stidham didn’t do much better in relief, going 4/11 for 44-yards. Even though New England has had their QB struggles all season long, the Buffalo defense made them look unprofessional throwing the football.
It’s good to see Matt Milano healthy and back on the field. He recorded 8-solo tackles, one tackle-for-loss, and one sack as he begins to return to full-time duty. Milano is a key element of the Bills’ team speed on defense and his absence was felt in the six-games he missed. If this is what the defense looks like with him back, I don’t really care what the rankings say.
The defense played great but onto the good things the Bills did on offense. Allen threw for 320-yards and 4-TDs, breaking Jim Kelly’s single-season franchise record for passing TDs which stood at 33. With one game remaining in the regular season, Allen is only 40-yards shy of breaking Drew Bledsoe’s franchise mark for single-season passing yards (4,359) and should eclipse that number even with a mediocre game in Week 17.
Stefon Diggs is having a blast this season and, after watching Davante Adams shred the Titans on Sunday night, he had some record-breaking of his own to do. Diggs had already broken Eric Moulds’ previous Bills’ record for catches in a season but he wanted more. His 9-catches for 145-yards and 3-TDs on Monday night also gave him the team record for single-season receiving yards which also had belonged to Moulds. A lot of folks may not know about him, but E-Money was my favorite player in football and he was absolutely incredible (I actually paused writing this to watch some of his highlights and I recommend you do too). So, Diggs taking ownership of both these records in the same season is nothing short of spectacular.
The Bills used the last time these teams played as an opportunity to get their run game on track and, while it wasn’t mind-blowing, they put up 130-yards rushing as a team. Zack Moss looks like he is established as the lead back now but Devin Singletary has been playing well as of late too and they offer a nice complement to each other’s styles. Pepper in a few Allen runs here and there to keep the defense honest and Buffalo has a nice recipe to keep the chains moving.
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On a bit of a down note, Cole Beasley left the game with some kind of leg injury and has been listed as week-to-week by McDermott. It’s a shame because Beasley is only 33-yards away from a 1,000-yard campaign, but I’d rather he be healthy for playoffs. Plus, John Brown should be back in the lineup in Week 17. Gabriel Davis has shown that’s he a capable pro receiver but those slot routes are better-suited for Brown in Beasley’s absence. Hopefully, the wide receiver corps can all get healthy in time for the playoffs.
Performance Grade: A
Buffalo heads home for a Week 17 showdown with the Dolphins. This is a crucial game for Miami as they fight to make the post-season, but they have a weird situation at QB. Tua Tagovailoa was named as the starter for Week 17’s game even though he was benched against the Raiders and it was Ryan Fitzpatrick and his particular brand of bearded magic that sparked the comeback win in Las Vegas. Fitzmagic has more experience, particularly in Buffalo where he was the starting QB for four seasons. Fins’ coach Brian Flores has shown he won’t hesitate to bring Fitz in when Tua is struggling, but it’s a weird approach. The Bills still want the #2 seed and with Pittsburgh also playing in the morning, we’ll see how much scoreboard watching they do.