The Buffalo Bills beat the New England Patriots handily on Monday Night, 38-9, and in the process, swept the season series for the first time since 1999.
Here are my Arrows Up and Down for the game:
ARROW UP:
Aggressiveness all night long
The Bills went hard early and kept their foot on the gas all night long.
They went for it on fourth down, conventionally, twice in the first half, and converted them both for first downs. Then on another fourth down, while lined up in punt formation, they noticed their outside gunner Siran Neal was uncovered and up-back Jaquan Johnson threw a strike for a fake punt and first down. They also took several deep shots in the third quarter despite already being up 31-9.
They just kept coming at New England.
Josh Allen
Despite being taken out early in the fourth quarter, Allen finished his night 27-for-36 (75%) for 320 yards, with four touchdowns and no interceptions. Allen also rushed for 35 yards for 355 total yards on the night.
Many said Allen still needed to show he could solve and beat a Bill Belichick defense after four subpar games in his career against him. He definitely checked that box.
He also broke Jim Kelly’s 29-year-old record with 34 total touchdown passes for the season.
Stefon Diggs
Diggs did what he always does - catch a lot of passes for a lot of yards. In this one, he caught nine passes for 145 yards and three of those four Allen touchdowns, including a 50-yard touchdown reception, the longest touchdown catch of the season for the Bills.
Lee Smith
The Bills' blocking tight end was much more than that Monday night, catching two passes for 31 yards and a touchdown, including a short floater that allowed him to run in the open field for a 27-yard gain.
Long drives
The Bills had drives of 65, 67, 75, 75, and 85 yards, all of which resulted in touchdowns. They had the ball for almost 40 of the 60 minutes in the game (39:41).
All hands on deck
As they usually do, Josh Allen and the Bills offense spread the ball around. 10 different players caught passes in the game.
Red zone offense
The Bills scored on four of their five trips (80%) inside the Patriots' 20-yard line.
Matt Milano
Milano was all over the field, making tackles and disrupting plays. He finished tied for a game-high eight tackles, one for a loss, a sack, and a quarterback hurry.
Dean Marlowe
Marlowe had to fill in for Jordan Poyer late in the first half. Poyer eventually returned, so Marlowe had a limited number of snaps, but made the most of them, coming up with a sack, a tackle for loss, and a quarterback hurry.
Total defense
The Bills held the Patriots to 205 total yards of offense, their second lowest output of the entire season.
Pass defense
The Patriots were only 9-for-21 passing (42.8%) for a minuscule 79 yards.
Third down defense
The Patriots only went 4-of-12 (33%) on third down attempts in the game.
Corey Bojorquez
Bojorquez only punted twice, but both punts were terrific. A 62-yard boot that was downed at the Patriots’ five-yard line and a 51-yarder downed at their 10. He averaged 56.5 gross yards, and a whopping 54.0 net yards on the night.
Andre Roberts
Roberts continued his sensational season right from the start of the game, returning his first kickoff 49 yards to just shy of midfield.
Jaquan Johnson’s awareness
The Bills safety was the up-back on the punt the team faked. He saw Neal uncovered to his right, so he made the call for the fake, then threw a strike to the gunner for the first down.
Penalties
The Bills were only penalized three times all night for a total of 27 yards.
Tyler Bass
The Bills rookie kicker was perfect on his kicks once again, going 6-for-6 overall with five extra points and a field goal. Bass has missed one kick (an extra point that appeared to actually be good against the Pittsburgh Steelers) since Week 9 against the Seattle Seahawks.
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ARROW DOWN:
Taiwan Jones and Dawson Knox drops
Jones dropped an easy touchdown, right off his chest, on the second drive of the game for the Bills. Then two plays later, Dawson Knox dropped one right in his hands in the back of the end zone. Thankfully the Bills still scored a touchdown on the drive, on the very next play.
Early defensive struggles
The Bills gave up scores on two of the Patriots' first three possessions, including a touchdown drive of 85 yards. They were having some trouble with the no-huddle the Patriots were using and gave up several good runs.
Run defense totals
The Bills gave up 145 yards rushing and 6.0 yards per-carry.
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