FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – Grading the Buffalo Bills in their 33-21 victory over the New England Patriots on Sunday at Gillette Stadium …
RUNNING GAME: B
Quarterback Josh Allen was the Bills’ leading rusher, gaining 64 yards on 12 carries. As we’ve written before, that’s less than ideal, but in a game of this magnitude, so what? Allen did what he had to do. That includes showing no interest in sliding at the end of any of those runs. Again, that’s probably not what you want to see, but the Bills needed a victory. Devin Singletary gained just 39 yards on his 12 carries, although he did score a crucial 2-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter. Watching the game, it felt as though he played better than his stats might suggest. Zack Moss gained 12 yards on three carries, although one of them picked up a first down and the other, which went for 6 yards, set up the Bills at the Patriots’ 1-yard line.
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PASSING GAME: A+
Allen is a baller. That’s the big takeaway from Sunday’s performance. With a makeshift offensive line and without two of his top four receivers, Allen went 30 of 47 for 314 yards and three touchdowns against the No. 1 scoring defense in the NFL – in their house. Consider this, too – Allen’s numbers should have been even better. Receiver Emmanuel Sanders probably should have made a touchdown catch on a fourth-down play from the Patriots’ 1-yard line in the second quarter, and Allen had a touchdown throw to tight end Dawson Knox negated by a penalty in the third quarter. Put simply, it was an MVP-like performance by the Bills’ quarterback. This will be remembered as the “Isaiah McKenzie Game” after the Bills’ receiver finished with career highs of 11 catches and 125 yards to go with a first-quarter touchdown. You really can’t say enough good things about McKenzie’s performance, which came after he was a healthy inactive for a two-game stretch earlier in the season. He should be quite proud of his performance.
RUN DEFENSE: C
Things started off on a good note, as defensive tackle Harrison Phillips made a tackle for no gain on the Patriots’ first offensive play. From there, however, the run defense was ordinary. New England ran 27 times for 149 yards – 5.5 yards per carry – and all three of their touchdowns came on the ground. Damien Harris did all that damage, with his three scores coming on 18 carries that produced 103 yards. Tremaine Edmunds had a team-high eight tackles, and seemed to play with a good, physical edge in both run and pass defense.
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PASS DEFENSE: A
The Bills set the tone early, with safety Micah Hyde coming on a blitz and rookie defensive end Greg Rousseau registering a pass defensed on Patriots quarterback Mac Jones’ first throw. Jones looked every bit like a rookie in going 14 of 32 for just 145 yards and two interceptions – a rating of just 31.4 that is by far the lowest of his 15-game career. Ed Oliver got a third-down sack to force a three-and-out on New England’s first possession. The pass rush seemed to struggle getting home a bit in the second half – Oliver’s sack was the only one of the game. A.J. Klein had a pass defensed that set up an interception by Hyde in the second quarter.
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SPECIAL TEAMS: A
No complaints. Heck, Matt Haack didn’t even have to punt. It was just the fifth time in team history the Bills played a game without punting. Kicker Tyler Bass converted both of his field goals, from 25 and 34 yards, respectively. He also booted five touchbacks. On the two kicks New England did return, Gunner Olszewski gained just 19 yards. Bills rookie returner Marquez Stevenson averaged a healthy 11.3 yards on his three punt returns, while his two kick returns went for an average of 24.5 yards.
COACHING: B-
I’m in favor of getting the bad news out of the way first, so let’s do that. Questioning the offensive coordinator is nothing new in Buffalo. Frequently, that feels overblown. During the second quarter, however, it felt justified. Brian Daboll's decision to call three consecutives passes from the 1-yard line was ridiculous. Yes, if Sanders makes the catch on fourth down, this isn’t as much of an issue, but in that situation, the offensive coordinator has to trust his offensive line and 6-foot-5 quarterback to gain 1 yard on one of those plays. Also, running Allen – thus exposing him to a big hit on the penultimate play of the second quarter – before going into halftime was reckless. If you’re going to sit on it, just hand the ball off to a running back there. Also, coach Sean McDermott used three timeouts in a poor manner. Two of them were spent on offense to prevent the play clock from expiring, and one was on defense. That could have been costly. Now, the good news. The Bills have won back-to-back games in New England – the first team to accomplish that since the Colts in 2005 and '06, and the first team to win by 10-plus points in New England in back-to-back years since Denver in 1995-96. Despite constant interruptions with players going on the reserve/Covid-19 list, McDermott’s team showed up for the biggest game of the season and put together one of its more complete performances. It wasn’t perfect, but it was more than good enough.
