Bills quarterback Josh Allen threw for a pair of touchdown passes in the first half Monday night against New England.
Josh Allen and Stefon Diggs absolutely toyed with the New England Patriots.
Read that sentence again, Bills fans, and bask in all its glory, because it was a glorious three hours Monday night on national television for the team’s star quarterback and wide receiver.
Allen and Diggs made it look laughably easy in connecting for nine catches for 145 yards and three touchdowns, leading the Bills to a rout of the Patriots. The 38-9 win did more than just regain the second seed in the AFC playoff race for the Bills. It also sent the message that New England’s time atop the AFC East is officially over.
The Bills are the standard in the division now, and the presence of Diggs is a big reason why. It could be that way for a while, too.
Jay Skurski weighs in with his grades on the Buffalo Bills' 38-9 victory over the New England Patriots on Monday night at Gillette Stadium.
"I feel like we’re still scratching the surface on the potential we have," Diggs said on a video conference call after the win. "I feel like Josh is still a young quarterback, but he’s playing some elite ball, throwing for 300 (yards) plus, making great decisions, he’s not turning the ball over, he’s running. Things we need from Josh the whole season. I don’t know the past, I just know Josh right now and he’s playing great football. As a receiver, I just want to give it all I’ve got for him, make the plays for him.
"You can’t help but be excited. Six months ago, who knew we would be here right now? Nobody would have. I went into this thing like let the chips fall where they lay. Who would have thought it would have gone as well as it has. I’m just thankful to be where I am and thankful for the people that I’m around, they make it fun, Josh makes it fun. He tells me just get open and catch the ball."
Diggs did that plenty Monday night, and let the Patriots know about it each time. The ESPN broadcast caught him jawing with Patriots cornerback J.C. Jackson early in the game.
"He was saying. 'Don’t play with me, the no-fly zone,' and I don’t like that very much," Diggs said. "I was like, ‘Relax.’ I'm not gonna say what I said, but after that, early on, me and Josh were trying to get on the same page, the flow of the game. They were taking some stuff away, they were sitting on a lot of stuff, so it was an open line of communication between me and Josh and coach (Brian) Daboll, letting them know what I’m seeing. And you know Josh, he can scramble around, make every throw and we slowly got on the same page and just took what they gave us and some plays started to pop and we started rolling."
Diggs continues to build his case as having the finest single season of any receiver in team history. A week after setting the franchise record for most catches in a season, Diggs became the franchise’s all-time leader in receiving yards in a single season, breaking Eric Moulds' mark of 1,368 yards set in 1998.
Diggs set the record in grand fashion, with a 50-yard touchdown reception in the second quarter. He now has 120 catches for 1,459 receiving yards – both totals that lead the NFL and are career highs. No Bills receiver has ever finished a season leading the league in either of those categories.
Allen has done every bit as much to earn the honor, even if oddsmakers have him third on the list of front-runners behind Green Bay's Aaron Rodgers and Kansas City's Patrick Mahomes, writes Vic Carucci.
"It means a lot to me, just because of where I came from, how hard I work," he said. "I always try to keep it full circle. I thank everyone who’s involved because it’s not an individual thing, it goes to my quarterback, it goes to my linemen. Just trying to move forward, we’ve got another game so we have to keep going. That’s a guy (Moulds) who had so much success in the league. If I could salute him in person, I would because I've got a lot of love and respect for him. All the stuff he did in the game for the Bills. This is the beginning of my journey, so I'm moreso just thankful for everything that’s thrown at me and give the credit to everybody."
Diggs finished one catch short of matching Detroit’s Calvin Johnson as the only receivers in NFL history to make at least 10 catches in four consecutive games.
Nevertheless, Diggs matched a Bills franchise record with three receiving touchdowns in a single game, matching Stevie Johnson’s “Why So Serious” celebration in 2010 against Cincinnati. He also became the first Bill with 50-plus yard receptions in consecutive games since Terrell Owens in 2009.
2. John Brown is back – kind of. The Bills activated the veteran wide receiver from injured reserve Monday, only to place him on the NFL's reserve/Covid-19 list.
Brown was deemed to be a high-risk close contact of running back T.J. Yeldon, who tested positive Sunday for Covid-19. As a result, Brown did not play against the New England Patriots on Monday Night Football.
Safety Josh Thomas and running back Christian Wade, both of whom are on the team's practice squad, were also deemed to be close contacts of Yeldon and also went on the reserve/Covid-19 list.
Brown, who had missed the past four games on injured reserve, will now get one more week to rest the ankle injury he originally suffered in Week 10 against Arizona. He could potentially play in Sunday's regular-season finale against the Miami Dolphins.
High-risk contacts are required to isolate for a minimum of five days. They can return to the team, provided their Covid-19 tests during that time come back negative.
One of the greatest coaches in NFL history could do nothing to stop the AFC East champion Bills from embarrassing his Patriots 38-9 on "Monday Night Football" at Gillette Stadium, writes Jason Wolf.
The Bills released wide receiver Jake Kumerow last week from the 53-man roster, a move that led many to believe Brown's return was imminent.
“John's one of, I think, the greatest route runners in the game today," Allen said last week. "He's extremely fast. He's a deep threat that you've got to pay attention to. We were running a lot of four wide before he went down. I don't know if we'll get back to that or not, but it just gives us an extra threat."
Without Brown, the team went with Diggs, Cole Beasley, Gabriel Davis, Isaiah McKenzie and Andre Roberts at wide receiver against the Patriots.
"We were really looking forward to having 'Smoke' back," Diggs said. "We planned all week. We knew in a game like this, he’d have a big game, so everybody was excited for him. But the Covid stuff happened so we were like 'damn, we gotta win without Smoke again.' It was like Tennessee when we lost Smoke, we had to figure it out and take baby steps. This game we lost Smoke and went out there and executed at a high level. It’s a tribute to our OC, Josh, the O-line, everybody working as one and working through the curveballs that are thrown and find a way to win."
3. Davis Webb got called up to the active roster. The team called up quarterback Davis Webb from the practice squad Monday, but there is no reason to panic – all is good with Allen and backup quarterback Matt Barkley.
In Webb’s case, it’s likely that the call up was a way of rewarding him for the work he’s done this season on the practice squad with a game check. Webb was inactive for the game, as was rookie quarterback Jake Fromm.
4. The Bills got creative. Facing fourth-and-5 from their own 35-yard line in the first quarter, the Bills took advantage of aggressiveness by New England on special teams. With gunner Siran Neal left uncovered by the Patriots on the right sideline, the Bills snapped the ball to up-man Jaquan Johnson. The second-year safety then threw it to Neal, who made the first-down catch.
“We worked on that play all last year,” retired linebacker Lorenzo Alexander tweeted shortly after the play succeeded. “Great to see (Johnson) and (Neal) earn the trust and then execute!”
The Bills’ last successful pass from a punt formation came on Nov. 11, 2018, when Logan Thomas completed a 15-yard pass to Robert Foster.
Don't miss Mark Gaughan's quarter by quarter look at the Buffalo Bills' 38-9 victory over the New England Patriots on Monday night at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass.
5. The Bills missed out on an NFL record. Buffalo entered the game with touchdown receptions from 13 different players, sharing an NFL record with six other teams. The record was almost the Bills’ alone, but running back Taiwan Jones dropped a pass in the end zone in the first quarter that would have made him the 14th different receiver to catch a touchdown.
6. Jordan Poyer was evaluated for a head injury. The Bills’ safety was involved in a big collision with Patriots quarterback Cam Newton in the second quarter. Poyer hit Newton along the right sideline with 3 minutes to go before halftime. After staggering back to the Bills’ defensive huddle, he was removed from the game. The team announced a short time later he was being evaluated. Poyer was replaced in the lineup by Dean Marlowe, who got a big sack of Newton five plays later.
Poyer was cleared to return to the game in the second half.
7. Beasley left early. The veteran slot receiver headed to the locker room midway through the fourth quarter. Beasley got his foot stuck in the turf a few minutes prior to heading to the locker room and was slow coming off the field. He spoke with trainers on the bench before heading to the locker room.
8. Trent Murphy and Reggie Gilliam rounded out the team’s inactives. Gilliam, a rookie tight end, was previously ruled out because of hamstring and knee injuries. Murphy, a seventh-year veteran, has been a healthy inactive since the team returned from its bye in Week 11.
“Trent has been terrific throughout this whole process,” defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier said last week.
After the Bills clinched the AFC East title in Week 15 with a win over Denver, Frazier approached Murphy.
“Gave him a big hug and just told him how much I appreciate his attitude and the way he’s handled this entire matter,” Frazier said. “He knows how this business works. He knows that in a snap of a finger he could … be having to go out and help us win games. So, he’s staying on the ready, preparing like he always has, like a pro. But his attitude has always been great.”
9. Stephon Gilmore faces an uncertain future. Gilmore, a former first-round draft pick of the Bills, has been excellent for New England. Last year’s NFL Defensive Player of the Year, however, is out for the season after suffering a quad injury. It’s been an interesting season for Gilmore, who was rumored to be on the trade block. He even listed his house for sale, with the deadline for offers falling on the NFL trade deadline. Gilmore is set to earn just $7.5 million in 2021, which is 22nd in total compensation among NFL cornerbacks. That’s significantly below market value.
Gilmore will likely want a raise, although the Patriots will probably want to see him come back from his injury before they decide on that. He’s scheduled to be a free agent after the 2021 season, provided New England does not use the franchise tag on him.
10. The Bills’ opponents for 2021 are largely set, barring the expected addition of a 17th regular season game. In addition to home-and-away games against their three AFC East opponents, the Bills will welcome Indianapolis, Pittsburgh, Houston, Atlanta and Carolina at Bills Stadium next season. The road schedule features trips to New Orleans, Tampa Bay, Tennessee, Jacksonville and Kansas City.
If, as expected, NFL owners approve lengthening the regular season to 17 games, the Bills will face an NFC opponent. Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer reported Monday the AFC East teams are expected to face the NFC East in that scenario, so the Bills would play the team that wins the NFC East, although it’s not clear yet where that game would take place. The NFL has played a 16-game regular season since 1978.
December 29, 2020 at 11:17AM
https://buffalonews.com/sports/bills/10-observations-josh-allen-stefon-diggs-make-it-look-laughably-easy-in-rout-of-patriots/article_e8628c76-4980-11eb-abaf-178dec189b2a.html
10 observations: Josh Allen, Stefon Diggs make it look laughably easy in rout of Patriots - Buffalo News
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