Dion Dawkins dedicated the Buffalo Bills’ performance Sunday to Brian Daboll after a 43-21 victory over the Washington Football Team.
A few minutes later, quarterback Josh Allen provided some more clarity on just why the team was so inspired to put on a good showing for its offensive coordinator.
“Daboll lost his grandma this last week, and she was the woman that raised him,” the quarterback said. “So he had a pretty tough week, and to go out there and play the way we did and execute the way we did … I know him and his family are hurting right now.”
Ruth Kirsten died Wednesday at the age of 86. Along with her husband, Chris, Ruth raised Daboll in West Seneca, taking him in shortly after he was born in Welland, Ont. They supported him when he scrapped his original plan to use his economics degree for a job on Wall Street with Goldman Sachs or Bear Stearns to become a coach. They sent cash when they could to help their grandson pay rent and put gas in his car when he began his coaching career as a volunteer assistant at William & Mary.
When the St. Francis High School graduate returned home to take over as the Bills’ offensive coordinator in 2018, one of the things that made the opportunity so special was the chance to spend more time around his grandparents.
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“I’ll try to stop there either on a Friday night or on a Saturday afternoon just to spend a little time with them,” Daboll said toward the end of his first season. “They’ve done everything for me. So just to go over and sit on the couch with my grandfather, grandmother and watch one of her television shows or watch her sit there and play with our 1-year-old or 3-year-old, it’s pretty cool.”
For Allen, the roles were reversed after he lost his grandmother, Patricia, before the Seattle game in 2020. When Allen returned to the locker room after the victory over the Seahawks, Daboll greeted him, with the quarterback collapsing in his coach’s arms.
“Last year I got to come into the locker room and, you know, I had a heartfelt hug with him,” Allen said after Sunday’s win. “And this year, you know, he falls in my arms.
“My heart aches for him. And I think our guys on offense would say the same thing. He cares so much about football and cares so much about being the best version of himself for us to put ourselves in situations to be successful. He takes everything very personal about this game. That's why we love him. He's an extremely fiery competitor, and when you see a guy hurting, you know, guys rally around that and they want to try to help ease that pain and ease that tension.
"It's never an easy situation. I've been in that situation. There's nothing you can say to help him or his family feel better, you know. I think throughout and over time it feels better, but to have that type of support here and to share that pain with, it takes a lot off of it.”
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Allen was spectacular against Washington, going 32 of 43 for 358 yards and five total touchdowns. The Bills have scored 78 points in their last two games. Their plus-50 point differential is the best in the NFL going into Monday Night Football of Week 3. Coaching with a heavy heart, Daboll’s game plan against Washington was flawless.
The offensive coordinator said in 2018 his grandmother didn’t want to go to games and couldn’t stand to watch. Instead, she prayed.
“My grandmother gets so nervous about outcomes – and she’s been this way her whole life – that she won’t even watch,” he said. “We’ll call my grandmother on the way home. Driving back from the Detroit game (a 14-13 win in 2018), she said, ‘Did you win?’ I said, ‘Yeah, we won.’ She said, ‘Oh, thank God! I was praying, I was praying.’ ”
After the win Sunday, it was clear the Bills had Daboll and his family in their prayers.
“It's a tragic situation, obviously, when someone loses someone else in their family, and just thankful for the togetherness of our football team, the way that they supported Brian,” head coach Sean McDermott said. “Our hearts go out to Brian and his family.”
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“This one was for Brian Daboll,” Dawkins said. “He puts a lot of love in faith in us, and we went out there and did this thing for him.”
2. Zack Moss had the hot hand early. The running back caught a 7-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter from Allen – his third touchdown in two games. Moss also showed off some impressive elusiveness in the first half on a 17-yard reception. Moss finished the game with a team-high 60 yards on 13 carries and added 31 yards on three catches.
Moss has bounced back from being a healthy inactive in Week 1 to having a big role in the offense during a two-game winning streak.
“I think that’s kind of how you have to be in life,” he said. “Every day may not be your day, but you can respond a certain way. … I just try to go to practice, have a great week of practice, day in and day out.”
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3. Special teams made a bad mistake. The Bills were firmly in control of the game with a 21-0 lead in the second quarter. Washington running back Antonio Gibson’s 73-yard touchdown catch cut into that, then the special teams made a big-time error. Washington’s Dustin Hopkins kicked off short, and Bills return man Isaiah McKenzie couldn’t run up to make the catch in time. The ball bounced at the Buffalo 15-yard line and went backward. Hopkins ended up jumping on the loose ball, giving Washington a drive start at the Bills’ 24-yard line. Washington cashed in the short field when Washington quarterback Taylor Heinicke scrambled into the end zone from 4 yards out.
To the Bills’ credit, they didn’t let that momentum swing carry on.
“I thought the players did a good job, and we had a group of guys that are some veteran players, and, in other times, I saw some younger players stepping up, and we need that also from a leadership standpoint at that moment,” McDermott said. “Then it went back to execution. We were executing again at a high level right after that, which was good to see.”
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4. Fourth down continues to be a strength for the defense. A week after stopping Miami four times on attempted fourth-down conversions, the Bills got another big turnover on downs against Washington. Early in the fourth quarter, Heinicke kept the ball on a fourth-and-1 play at Washington’s 23-yard line. He was dropped by Bills linebacker Matt Milano for a 1-yard loss on the play.
“Huge, huge, huge,” safety Micah Hyde said. “We’re able to do that in back-to-back games, get the fourth-down stops, get the offense great position, and I think they ended up scoring on that one. So, anytime we can do that, put our offense in good field possession, that’s ideal for us.”
Hyde is right: The offense converted the short field when Allen rushed for a 2-yard touchdown three plays after Milano’s stop.
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5. The Bills pulled off a hat trick of sorts. Cornerback Taron Johnson had an interception in the second quarter, but it didn’t stand up after the defense was assessed three penalties on the play. Johnson was flagged for illegal contact before the interception, while linebacker Tremaine Edmunds was flagged for holding. On the return, defensive end Jerry Hughes was called for an illegal blindside block. After all of that, Washington only got the 5-yardr penalty against Johnson and an automatic first down.
6. Safety Jordan Poyer left with an ankle injury. The Bills almost made it through the whole game without an announced injury, but Poyer left the game with about 6 minutes left in the fourth quarter because of an injury to his left ankle.
Coach Sean McDermott said after the game that he would know more about Poyer’s status in the coming days, but Poyer was among the players celebrating Mitch Trubisky's run in the final moments.
The team came into the game without any players inactive because of injuries. Cornerbacks Levi Wallace (knee) and Dane Jackson (knee), both of whom were listed as questionable on the final injury report, were able to play. Wallace started a week after leaving the Week 2 win over Miami in the second quarter because of cramping issues.
Jaquan Johnson replaced Poyer in the lineup and laid a huge hit on Heinicke near the goal line.
7. Matt Breida was inactive for the first time. The veteran running back played just two offensive snaps in the Bills’ Week 2 win at Miami, so it’s not a huge surprise he sat against Washington. Breida played 10 snaps against Pittsburgh in the season opener, rushing four times for 4 yards. Without him, the Bills went with three running backs, which has typically been their usual game-day lineup in recent years.
With Breida inactive, linebacker Andre Smith dressed for his first game of the season. Smith finished with one tackle on special teams.
The Bills’ remaining inactives were the same as Week 2: Rookie offensive tackle Tommy Doyle and rookie defensive end Boogie Basham were healthy inactives for the third straight game, while defensive tackle Harrison Phillips and defensive end Efe Obada were out for the second straight week.
8. Old friend Logan Thomas got into the end zone. Thomas, Washington’s starting tight end, made an impressive, 2-yard touchdown catch late in the fourth quarter, despite tight coverage from Hyde. Thomas finished the game with four catches for 42 yards and the score.
Allen and Thomas embraced before the game during warmups.
“I miss him. I talk to him actually quite a bit still and it's been awesome to kind of see what he's done,” Allen said of Thomas during the week leading up to the game. “He's made some unbelievable plays. Guys like that that are big, fast, and ultimately smart, those guys usually find a way to stick around in this league, and not only is he sticking around, he's kind of submitted himself as one of the better tight ends in this league and one of the better guys, too, so I got a lot of love for him and his family.”
9. Washington rookie running back Jaret Patterson was active. The University at Buffalo product, however, did not log a carry in his return to Western New York.
10. Bills open Week 4 as huge favorites. Buffalo is 17-point favorites against the Texans at home, according to BetOnline. The last time the Bills were favored by that many was Oct. 20, 2019 – a 31-21 home win over Miami. You have to go back to Nov. 1, 1992, to find the last time the Bills were favored by more than 17 points. On that day, the Bills were favored by 19 over the New England Patriots, but didn't cover in a 16-7 win.
