ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — Here are my five takeaways from the Buffalo Bills’ 43-21 victory against the Washington Football Team on Sunday at Highmark Stadium:
1. The 2020 edition of Josh Allen is back!
He threw for 358 yards and four touchdown passes (three in the first half) and ran for another. Allen had a pretty 41-yard connection with Emmanuel Sanders to set up the first of two second-quarter field goals. Allen and Sanders showed their best chemistry to date, as Sanders caught five of the six passes thrown his way, two for touchdowns.
Allen looked mostly sharp and poised, even when Washington’s talented defensive front was able to turn up the heat on him. It also helped a great deal that he worked with three short fields created by Washington turnovers.
Despite a few misfires, Allen found open receivers at all levels of a defense that ranked second in the NFL last season. He found a rhythm, especially early in the third quarter, when he smoothly operated a no-huddle attack that had Washington on its heels.
"We definitely found our rhythm today," wide receiver Cole Beasley said. "The first two games, we were stressing. Even last game, when it was 35-0, it was hard to feel good about it."
What kind of day was it for Allen and the rest of the Bills’ offense? Mitchell Trubisky replaced Allen with 5 minutes, 41 seconds left.
2. Once again, the Bills’ defense showed up in a big way.
There was a fumble that Tre’Davious White forced after a catch by tight end and former Bill Logan Thomas. Matt Milano’s recovery set up a drive that ended with Allen’s 7-yard touchdown that gave the Bills a 14-0 lead.
Safeties Jordan Poyer and Micah Hyde each intercepted Taylor Heinicke, who was making the first road start of his NFL career. Poyer’s pick set up a first-half TD, while Hyde’s led to a field goal to make it 36-14 in the third quarter.
The Bills were solid against the run, and often forced Heinicke to move around and feel uncomfortable in the pocket. But Heinicke showed remarkable toughness by repeatedly bouncing back up after some hard hits.
3. The Bills showed some semblance of a running game, though there wasn’t a whole lot of balance in Brian Daboll’s play-calling this week after a highly balanced approach in last week’s 35-0 pounding of the Miami Dolphins.
It was understandable. The Bills’ passing game functioned the best it has through three games. A mixture of screens and intermediate throws essentially acted as a run game and sufficiently kept Washington’s defense off-balance for most of the game.
Having the effective tight end play the Bills have been getting from Dawson Knox also allows the offense to be a bit less dependent on the run game.
Give Daboll extra credit for toughing it out with a heavy heart from the passing of his grandmother, the woman who raised him in West Seneca, earlier in the week.
The offensive coordinator had strong support from all of his players. Allen learned of the passing of his grandmother right before the Bills beat Seattle last season, and he mentioned after Sunday's game how much it meant to have Daboll in his corner.
4. Sean McDermott should be applauded for keeping his team, and especially Allen, fully dialed in for this game.
Allen had been hearing a decent amount of criticism through a 1-1 start. Fans and media loudly questioned his unimpressive performances against Pittsburgh and Miami, always quick to point out that he wasn’t looking like the guy who convinced the team to give him a $258 million contract extension or who was widely seen as a favorite to be named the NFL’s Most Valuable Player.
Allen added fuel to the sentiment by publicly criticizing his play. His teammates understood. "The standard's high, man," Beasley said, adding that the Bills' expectations for themselves are greater than those on the outside.
Still, all the members of the offense needed to gather themselves and recognize that the team as a whole had plenty going for itself, beginning with a stout defense.
Credit McDermott with doing what he does best whenever there’s any sense of frustration/panic in the air. He pulls everyone together and makes it go away.
5. The Bills are set up nicely to go to 3-1 with the hapless Houston Texans coming to town next week.
After that, they face back-to-back prime-time road challenges at Kansas City and Tennessee before getting their bye. But then come three consecutive winnable games at home against Miami and on the road against Jacksonville and the Jets.