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The Buffalo Bills finally got over the New England hump last week, but that wasn’t enough for these Bills. Sean McDermott and Josh Allen beating a broken down Patriots team no doubt gave the team confidence. But that didn’t instill confidence that they could dominate a team in the playoffs.
Sunday did just that. In Buffalo’s 44-34 beat against the Seahawks, the Bills finally showed they belonged to that level of good to big teams by strangling Russell Wilson. Allen threw for 415 yards and three touchdowns, the defense turned the top MVP candidate more than four times, and thanks to special teams the Bills won the battle for position on the field as well.
The Bills went 1-4 in the 2019 regular season against playoff teams, claiming their only win over the Titans in Week 5 in the pre-Tannehill days. Then they gave up a wildcard round fourth quarter lead against Houston and lost in overtime to Deshaun Watson.
It’s more or less the same this year with the Bills beating teams they should and losing to teams they wish they could beat. An October lull saw Buffalo embarrassingly lose to a team of Titans who had not trained for nearly two weeks. The following week, they let the Kansas City full-backs slash them for 245 yards in an effort to stop Patrick Mahomes from beating them. It did not work.
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But the Bills understood Sunday to recover the honors they held after a month of this season. A Buffalo defense that had their opponents convert more than half of their third downs this season stopped Seattle on nine of their 12 attempts. They gave up just 3.4 rushing yards per attempt and collected three takeaways in the second half as the Seahawks tried to tighten the game.
Buffalo opened up a 21-point lead in the fourth quarter as offensive coordinator Brian Daboll continued to do what earned him that lead in the first place. The Bills recorded 45 losses against 16 rushed attempts before three knees to salt the game, a ratio of almost 3: 1 against one of the NFC favorites.
Seattle couldn’t stop anything from the bills in the air, but that doesn’t take away from what Allen has accomplished. On throws over 10 yards from the field, Allen went 12 of 16 for 230 yards and a touchdown.
The 7-2 Bills remain in full control of an East AFC which may be theirs this year and for years to come. Next week’s game against the Cardinals will be another test, but the Bills will enter it after having already cleared the hurdle of the right team.
The Carolina Panthers had the game plan to beat the Chiefs, but they still haven’t been able to finish the job in the dying minutes.
First-year head coach Matt Rhule made it clear that the only way Carolina had a chance against the defending champions was to keep the ball away from Patrick Mahomes. Many teams know this and have tried, but the Panthers have done it right. Carolina dominated possession time, holding the ball for over 38 minutes against Kansas City.
Rhule went for fourth and third in the red zone in his first practice and finished with a touchdown. Later in the first half, the Panthers managed to execute a false punt.
But for the third game in a row, the Panthers couldn’t find enough two-minute magic. Teddy Bridgewater looked thoughtful in the closing minutes against New Orleans and Atlanta over the past two weeks, but this Sunday against the Chiefs he didn’t have many chances to sideline the ball.
I think Joe Brady was a gaming fanatic in his freshman year in Carolina. But the endgame scenarios the Panthers have faced in recent times have left a lot to be desired from a team that has been in all of its nine games this year.
Goat RIP
Alex Trebek has died following a courageous battle with pancreatic cancer. I grew up watching him at 7 p.m. ET with my grandparents and in many ways he’s the voice of my childhood. The humility with which he has publicly handled his battle with the disease still gives me chills.
My thoughts are with his loved ones, who may never be able to fully appreciate the impact he had.
More insider notes
- I must apologize to Dalvin Cook. All season I said there were only two running backs I would pay a lot of money to, and those are Alvin Kamara and Derrick Henry. Cook absolutely deserves to be the third. With respect due to the league’s great running backs like Christian McCaffrey and Ezekiel Elliott, these three are stirring up the drink for their teams. After his four touchdown performance against the Packers, Cook racked up 206 yards on 22 carries.
- I respect the way Joe Judge delivers his messages. By not bringing Golden Tate on the trip to Washington, the first-year head coach made it clear he wasn’t facing the kind of nonsense Tate was trying to do. In the third quarter against the football team, he benched Andrew Thomas for Matt Peart after a waiting penalty in the previous practice. Thomas has been football’s worst left tackle this year. The jury may still be on the rookie, but the judge had to pass something to his No. 4 pick overall.
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