Are there any NFL teams hotter than Buffalo Bills? For the fourth week in a row, Bills dominated its opponent on national television and crossed for a victory – this time over the New England Patriots. 2020 has been all about exorcising demons and redefining narratives for the Buffalo Bills, and the last victim of that crusade has been a 20-year streak since the last time the Bills swept the Patriots. After tonight’s 38-9 win, that sequence is restarted.
Bills barely managed to win against the Patriots in their first meeting of the year, but tonight’s team has fundamentally changed in the interim. They forced the Patriots to put Cam Newton on the bench in the third quarter. Meanwhile, the Bills eliminated Josh Allen to take advantage of his victory, with 12 minutes to go until the fourth period. They even ran the show on special teams, with an initial return of 49 yards and a successful fake punt that helped set up the strokes. It was a magnificent and cathartic performance from start to finish.
Allen was one of the best defenders in the NFL this year, but Bill Belichick’s defense has always been his kryptonite. In four career games, Allen had three passing touchdowns, six interceptions and a score of 57.8 passes. It helps that Stephon Gilmore didn’t play, but Allen was nothing short of a juggernaut tonight – 27 of 36 (75.0%) for 320 yards and four touchdowns – a pass rating of 138.7. Allen added four runs for 35 yards. His favorite target, Stefon Diggs, eviscerated the Patriots. JC Jackson had some initial success, but failed to contain Diggs, who took 9 passes for 145 yards and three touchdowns tonight.
Defensively, the Bills knew they were facing a one-dimensional offensive, and their game plan attacked that perfectly. Newton (and later, Jarrett Stidham) had no chance against Bill’s defense. They combined for an unfortunate passing performance: 9 to 21 (42.9%) for 78 yards. Bills took 22 yards in three bags. The Patriots were able to find some holes at the start of the running game, and they had 145 run yards and a touchdown in 24 runs, but as Bills continued to accumulate points, the New England ground game became irrelevant.
Buffalo advances to a record 12-3 with tonight’s victory, and they have guaranteed that they will have the second or third seed in the AFC playoffs tonight. They have a game left against the Miami Dolphins, but other than that, they are set to make the playoffs as the team that nobody wants to face.
Injury Report
Jordan Poyer was removed from the game at the end of the second quarter after a helmet-to-helmet collision with Cam Newton. It seemed to be a precaution, more than anything else. Dean Marlowe replaced him for the rest of the time, and Poyer was back on the field in the second half.
Cole Beasley awkwardly locked his left leg when trying to make a reception in the fourth half. He entered the locker room before the end of the game.
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- Jaquan Johnson completed a pass to Siran Neal on Buffalo’s fake punt in the fourth period. Bills’ first successful fake punt since November 11, 2018. Do you want to be flexible in Bill Belichick’s team? Overcoming them on special teams is how you do it.
- A game ball may have to go to Neal, who not only took a big jump with the fake punt, but also had a tremendous open tackle on a kickoff return to start a drive on the ten yard line. He’s an ace of discreet special teams for the Bills.
- Dawson Knox managed an easy reception for a touchdown in the first quarter, but recovered on several other occasions in the rest of the game. He may finally be developing on the general tight end that the Bills are looking for.
- Big credit goes to Bill’s offensive line – in the fourth quarter ESPN showed a chart for Josh Allen’s night – 36 hits, one hit, hurried or sacks. When Allen is comfortable, he is almost invincible.
- Matt Milano is back, guys. Defending leader tonight, Milano had eight tackles and a sack.
PANDA RECORD WATCH!
- Stefon Diggs broke the Bills record for a single season’s reception in style this evening – turning a crossing route into the field for a 50-yard touchdown.
- With four passes for touchdowns tonight, Josh Allen now holds the record for touchdowns in a single season.
- Allen also needed 360 passing yards to pass Bledsoe for the most passing yards in a season. The Bills took him out of the game at the start of the fourth period, after he launched to 320. He will need 40 yards to pass against the Dolphins to claim that record.
- Allen won the total yardage record in a single season, obtained from Drew Bledsoe.
- If Allen misses the final game of the season, he will have established the passer score in a single season as well as the percentage of completion records.
- The Bills came close, but failed to reach that record for the 14th exclusive touchdown receiver tonight. Taiwan Jones gave a gimme catch in the end zone, and Devin Singletary saw two passing targets in the red zone, but could not find the right situation for a touchdown.
- If Cole Beasley had 50 yards of reception tonight, he would hit 1,000 in the season – giving the Bills his first pair of 1,000-yard receivers since Eric Molds and Peerless Price in 2002. Unfortunately, he only had three receptions for 17 yards.