ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — Here are my five takeaways from the Buffalo Bills’ 48-42 victory against the Detroit Lions on Sunday at Ford Field:
1. Statement made. And a loud one it was, nail-biting finish notwithstanding.
The Bills let the world know that the conversation about which is the best team in the NFL should unquestionably lead with them.
In what lived up to its billing as a Super Bowl LIX preview, the Bills looked the part of a club that belongs there. So did the Lions, at least in the fourth quarter when they scored 21 points in the last 12 minutes and came ever so close to recovering an onside kick in the final seconds.
The Bills won this one with a well-balanced offense that produced the most points allowed by the Lions this season. They won it with a defense that, aside from the late lapse, did a solid up of standing up to the challenge of facing the league’s top-scoring offense. They won it with exceptional coaching before and during the game.
The Lions entered the game with a 12-1 record, a franchise-record 11-game winning streak, and universal praise as the league’s best team led by its best coach, Dan Campbell, and top-notch coordinators in Ben Johnson on offense and Aaron Glenn on defense.
After Sunday’s game, those accolades require some rethinking or at least some reshuffling. I doubt there would be many arguments, even from Lions loyalists, that the Bills, Sean McDermott, offensive coordinator Joe Brady, and DC Bobby Babich more than belong in the same conversations. Not only are the Bills 11-3, but they’ve won eight of their last nine games, extended their franchise record of scoring 30 or more points to eight games in a row (the first team to do so since the 2013 Denver Broncos), and remain very much in contention for the No. 2 seed in the AFC playoffs.
If being the best means beating the best, the Bills have done exactly that by knocking off the teams with the best records in their respective conferences: Kansas City and now Detroit.
“Winning in the NFL against any team is not easy, so we don’t take those for granted,” Sean McDermott said. “I think, when you’re talking about today’s game and some of those other games, you’re talking about kind of rare air up there with the best teams that are around right now. But that’s how we’re gonna have to play every week going forward.”
It’s easy to envision the Bills and Lions meeting again on Feb. 9 in New Orleans to decide who hoists the Lombardi Trophy. After Sunday’s game, my guess is the NFL and Fox, which has the television rights for the Super Bowl, are salivating at the thought of it.
2. Are there any accolades or adjectives left to describe the greatness of Josh Allen? We’re running low … and there’s still a lot of football left in the season/postseason.
Let’s just say the guy is simply unstoppable. On Sunday, he ran for 68 yards (averaging 6.2 yards per carry) and a pair of touchdowns. He also completed 23 of 34 passes for 362 yards and two touchdowns, with no interceptions.
“It’s the best I’ve seen him play,” McDermott said. “And not surprised. When he sets a goal for himself, for a team, he’s hard to stop, right? … Just incredible. Incredible performance week after week. And what more can you say? I mean, every week we’re watching an incredible player play incredibly consistent, week after week.”
Interestingly, two of Allen’s more amazing plays of the day added up to only three points. On the first, which came late in the first half, he rolled to his right and threw to his left to connect with Keon Coleman for a 64-yard gain to the Lions’ 3. The drive ended with Tyler Bass sending a 24-yard field-goal attempt wide right.
Allen’s second eye-popping play was a chest pass to Dalton Kincaid in the end zone with 2:50 left … until a holding call nullified it.
Allen is the first player in league history to generate multiple passing touchdowns, multiple rushing touchdowns, 350-plus passing yards and 60-plus rushing yards in the same game. He’s also the first NFL player with at least two TD passes and two rushing scores in consecutive games, and the first player in league history with three such games in a season.
If there was at least a potential damper on Allen’s day it was the fact he underwent X-rays right after the game on his right (throwing) shoulder after taking a fall that left him with what he described as “funky feeling.” He said was able to throw the ball afterward, that he wasn’t feeling any pain in it after the game and that the X-rays were “more precaution than anything, I guess.”
3. I realize complimenting the performance of the Bills’ defense might not exactly sound right after it allowed 42 points a week after giving up 37 of the 44 points the Rams scored.
It’s also hard to say many nice things about a defensive effort that allowed Jared Goff to throw for 494 yards and five touchdowns with no interceptions.
But it’s worth acknowledging that the Bills did limit the NFL’s highly talented rushing duo of Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery to a combined 35 rushing yards on 13 attempts. Counting 13 yards Goff chipped in with his legs, the Lions had a mere 48 yards on the ground for an average of 3.2 yards per carry.
Through much of the first half, the Lions’ offense hardly looked like the explosive unit it has been throughout the season. The Bills’ defense had answers for almost everything the Lions threw at them, holding them to 14 points until late in the third quarter.
All of that changed in the final 12 minutes, when a comfortable Bills win became a little dicey. But that doesn’t erase the impressiveness of what happened earlier, especially considering the Bills were without starting safeties Taylor Rapp and Damar Hamlin and starting cornerback Rasul Douglas, and lost linebacker Matt Milano late in the game.
Ed Oliver had his best game of the season with a forced fumble, four tackles and one of the Bills’ three sacks. He also had three quarterback hits.
4. The Bills’ coaching staff deserves major props for having the team ready to play.
Keep in mind that the Lions, having played last Thursday, had extra time to rest and heal. The Bills had a long return flight home from Los Angeles last Sunday night. They also missed a day of practice because of a snowstorm.
“I thought they came out ready to play,” said McDermott, who expressed not feeling that was the case in last week’s loss at Los Angeles. “You could tell there was an attitude and a focus about them, even in the week, during the week, and then (Saturday) night. And then in pregame warm-up, you could tell just something in the locker room.
“That’s what I’m used to feeling. That’s what I’m used to seeing.”
Bobby Babich devised a scheme and called signals that helped generate strong inside pressure on Jared Goff by Ed Oliver.
Joe Brady put together a game plan and called plays that heavily involved running back Ty Johnson as a receiver. He led the Bills with 114 receiving yards on five receptions.
“I think he’s the best third-down back in the game,” Allen said of Johnson. “The way that we communicate, the way that he sees protections, it’s quarterback-like. He just plays the game the right way. He’s another guy on this team that we don’t really call a running back. He’s a football player that plays running back. … He’s a big reason why we are where we are.”
Brady also gets high marks for staying committed to a running game led by James Cook, who finished with 105 yards on 14 carries, an average of 7.5 yards per rush, and two touchdowns.
5. Things should get significantly less challenging for the Bills, while helping their chances to secure the No. 1 playoff seed in the AFC, through the final three games of the regular season.
They face the 3-11 Patriots next Sunday at Highmark Stadium. The Pats suffered a 30-17 loss at Arizona Sunday and hardly look as if they’ll put up much of a fight.
On Dec. 29, the Bills are home again to face the Jets. They’re 4-10, but their fourth win, after four straight losses, came by a touchdown Sunday against 3-11 Jacksonville.
The Bills face the Pats again in their season-finale. Can anyone say 14-3? Can anyone say top seed with the 13-1 Chiefs entering their final three games with Patrick Mahomes dealing with an ankle injury that could sideline him for at least their next game, against Houston, and possibly longer?