Orchard Park, N.Y. (WGR 550) - The Buffalo Bills defeated the New England Patriots on Sunday, 35-23, in front of a raucous crowd at Highmark Stadium.
The win was Buffalo's seventh in-a-row, securing the Bills the No. 2 seed in the AFC playoffs, and also knocked the Patriots out of postseason contention.
Another win means I get to start with my Arrows Up again:
ARROW UP:
Nyheim Hines
It was an unbelievable start to an emotional week when Hines took the opening kickoff 96 yards for a touchdown. Then he did it again, returning another kickoff 101 yards for a score.
Hines finished the game with 235 yards in returns for an average of 58.8 yards per-return.
Coaching staff
Given the emotional events of the past week, the fact the Bills already had a short week, then even more abbreviated due to the situation, the coaching staff deserves a lot of credit for having their team ready to play both emotionally, as well as with a game plan in-hand.
WR - Stefon Diggs
Diggs had his first 100-yard game since Week 10, grabbing seven passes for 104 yards, including a big 49-yard touchdown.
Three interceptions!
The Bills defense grabbed three interceptions for the first time since Nov. 14 of last season, and took the ball away three times in any capacity for just the second time this season.
LB - Matt Milano
Milano had a key interception in the fourth quarter, had two other pass breakups, and finished the game with eight total tackles.
LB - Tremaine Edmunds
Edmunds also had an interception, added three pass breakups, a quarterback hurry, and finished with seven total tackles.
DE - Gregory Rousseau
Rousseau sacked Patriots quarterback Mac Jones on the very first series, and finished with five total tackles, and a quarterback hurry.
QB - Josh Allen
Allen didn’t have a spectacular game, but his numbers were very good, throwing for 254 yards and three touchdowns. His deep ball was on target, as he connected for two huge touchdowns to John Brown and Diggs.
He also ran for 16 yards for a 270-yard day.
Third down offense and defense
The Bills were 7-of-12 for 58.3% on third down. The Patriots were 4-of-13, only a 30.8% success rate.
Red zone defense
The Patriots made it inside the Bills' 20-yard line four times, but only came away with two touchdowns (50%).
Big-play passing game
The Bills got back to their big-play passing game, scoring on touchdowns of 49 yards to Diggs and 42 yards to Brown.
Penalties
The Bills committed only two accepted penalties for only 20 yards.
ARROW DOWN:
Pass rush
The Bills sacked Jones on the first series. After that, they didn’t generate much of pass rush most of the game and wound up with just the one sack.
Long drives allowed
The Patriots scored three touchdowns. They came on drives of 74 yards, another 74 yards, and 90 yards. Each one of those drives were, at least, eight plays long.
WR - Gabe Davis
Davis was targeted 10 times, but only had three catches. Some were no fault of his own, but one was a touchdown he should have had but didn’t come up with in the end zone.
Three turnovers... two in red zones
The Bills turned the ball over three times.
The first was an interception thrown by Allen at the Patriots' 15-yard line in a tied 14-14 game late in the first half. The other came on a fumble by Devin Singletary at their own nine-yard line. That led to New England taking the lead.
A third came with 8:34 remaining in the game when Taiwan Jones had a punted ball go off his foot, allowing the Patriots to recover at the Bills' 35-yard line.
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