It’s an extra special Victory Monday as the Bills won the AFC East for the second consecutive season with a 27-10 win over the Jets. The win locks them into the #3 seed for the AFC Playoffs and guarantees at least one home game in the tournament.
Perhaps the regular-season finale wasn’t as one-sided (or as high-scoring) as many people expected but the Bills still covered a 16-point spread as favorites which isn’t exactly easy to do. There were some lulls in the game and some bizarre special team calamities but they were still mostly pretty dominant, especially on the defensive side ball.
Buffalo’s defense surrendered only 53-yards to the Jets, total. Sure, the Jets ranked 26th in total offense but they still averaged more than 300-yards-per-game, so this was an exceptional defensive stuffing. The Bills only allowed 1.2-yards-per-play and gave up only four 1st downs while recording 9-sacks and 10-tackles-for-loss in the process. Because of all that sack yardage, the Jets finished the game with 5-net-yards passing. The statistically dominant performance only served to highlight why the Bills finished 1st in total defense (by a staggering 564-yards), 1st in pass defense, 1st in points-per-game allowed (17), and they also have the highest pressure rating at 29.1%. The idea that Buffalo has the best defense in the league is no longer a suggestion, it’s just the truth.
It wasn’t exactly like the offense played poorly either. They racked up 424-yards (more than their season avg.), picked up 170 of those on the ground, and converted 25-first-downs. It was collectively a very strong offensive performance but we were spoiled from seeing the 45-pts they put up against the Jets in the last matchup. There were some points left on the field but the 27-pts they scored were right in line with their season average of 28.4-ppg which is good for 3rd-best in the NFL. And there’s no question the Bills move the ball well between the 20s, ranking 5th in total offense.
Playing offense gets easier when you have a player like Josh Allen at QB. His first TD throw of the game (above) to Diggs was incredible. Getting hitting, moving up the sideline, and putting the ball where only his guy has a chance is some next-level QB play. I get that the MVP conversation has been steered mostly towards Aaron Rodgers but, if you listen to me even a little, you’ll know I don’t agree. Only one player in NFL history has 4,000+-yards passing, 750+-yards rushing in a single season and it’s not the guy playing QB in Green Bay. Allen did that this season and had more total TDs (42), more passing yards (4,407), and fewer sacks than Rodgers in the process. For whatever reason, people love to drool over Rodgers’ TD:INT ratio which certainly is remarkable. However, even with the slightest bit of a downturn in some of his stats, Allen still had a historic, one-of-a-kind season and deserves to be in that MVP conversation.
The first few drives of the game seemed to be centered around building back the rapport with Allen and Diggs heading into the playoffs. Diggs made one hell of a toe-drag catch on that first Allen TD throw of the game and he was inches from having another one on the second drive. He finished the day with 9-catches on 14-targets, 81-yards, and a TD which either led or tied for the team lead in all those categories. He finished the season with 103-catches, 1,225-yards, and 10-TDs.
After the Bills got up 10-0, they were in complete control, so I’m not going to rehash the whole game sequence here. However, they did block a punt on the Jets’ second possession and that seemed to light the fuse for a number of crazy special teams moments. The Bills would turn the ball over on downs right afterward, then the Jets were forced to punt but Isaiah McKenzie muffed it (he recovered). The teams traded punts, and then BUF punter Matt Haack started to hack it up.
His first botch was a 21-yard punt that didn’t cross midfield and set up the Jets’ only TD. He punted again on the next possession and that one was only 22-yards. He would get off a couple of good ones before disaster struck on his 3rd punt of the second half. On a fumbled snap, rather than just eating it, he tried to punt from with the grasp of a defender and barely got a piece of the ball for a punt of 7-yards. The Jets only got a FG out of it and that was the end of the special teams’ snafus.
Devin Singletary has been putting in work all season and he started to peak at just the right time. You could even say he’s had his best two games as a pro these last two weeks. Motor has been running with renewed purpose since Thanksgiving and it’s paying dividends late in the season. He finished the game with 19-carries, 88-yards, 2-catches, 24-yards receiving, and a TD of each. Singletary has emerged as the clear lead back and a very important and reliable part of the Bills’ offense since cleaning up some fumbling concerns earlier in the year. I’m super happy for him.
It wasn’t as pretty as it could have been through the first half, but all’s well that ends well. On an off day, Allen still threw for 239 and 2-TDs while adding 5-carries for 63-yards. Their #1 WR and #1 RB did their respective things, and the defense played nearly as well as possible. Even Tyler Bass went 2/2 on field goals. It was a great evening in Buffalo and now it’s on to the playoffs.
Performance Grade: A
The Bills will welcome the Patriots back to Buffalo with revenge on the brain for the rubber match. Looking at the totality of the two games, I’d say the Bills are in pretty good shape. They were one red zone conversion away from winning the first meeting, and they played with the lead basically the whole way through the second time around. Hopefully, the weather isn’t too insanely bad, but it looks like Sean McDermott and Brian Daboll have been working on contingency plans for that over the last few weeks. It’s going to be a wild Saturday night in Orchard Park. LET’S GO BUFFALO!!!
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