Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen scores a touchdown during the second half against the Denver Broncos, Saturday, Dec. 19, 2020, in Denver.
At first, all that talk about "The Process" made us smirk, made us laugh, made us roll our eyes.
Sean McDermott would mention it as if it had been some longstanding motto at One Bills Drive rather than something he introduced upon his arrival as head coach in 2017. Understandably, the skepticism wasn't limited to the outside world.
"We trust the process, then we don't trust the process," Dion Dawkins told reporters Thursday. He was referencing his conversations with '17 draft classmates Tre'Davious White and Matt Milano after they were part of breaking the franchise's playoff drought as rookies, but then part of a 6-10 finish in 2018.
"Then we say, '(Bleep) it, let's trust it fully,'" Dawkins recalled. "And now we're us."
Us, as in a team with its own identity of excellence, finally emerging from the shadow of those Super Bowl teams of the 1990s to win the AFC East championship for the first time since 1995. Us, as in a team that is so good, it can toy with an inferior opponent, as the Bills did through much of Saturday's 48-19, division-clinching victory against the Denver Broncos at Empower Field at Mile High.
In his postgame speech, a clip of which the Bills posted on their Twitter account, an emotional McDermott said, in part, "Four years, man! Four years to make it right here, baby! Four years to make it, man!" The players then cheered and took turns shoving, shaking and hugging their coach.
Asked if it was fair to say "The Process" works, safety Jordan Poyer told reporters, "Yes, it's fair to say 'The Process' definitely works."
Jay Skurski weighs in with his grades on the Buffalo Bills 48-19 victory over the Denver Broncos at Empower Field at Mile High ...
It has allowed the Bills to climb another rung on the ladder of goals McDermott and General Manager Brandon put in place when they arrived four seasons ago. They'll have a chance to reach the next two, an AFC title and Super Bowl win, but the next rung will be the franchise's first home playoff game since 1996.
After the game, players wore t-shirts that said, "Won, Not Done."
"This is a step," McDermott told reporters. "We needed to win the the East. We've now won the East and a lot of hard work has gone into that. We'll enjoy this and now it's going to be time to reset and figure out what's next."
At 11-3, the Bills have their first 11-win season since 1999 and second since their last Super Bowl team. They also ended the NFL's third-longest active division-championship drought. The Cleveland Browns have the longest, since 1989 (but that includes time when the franchise was inactive) and the Detroit Lions since 1993.
McDermott has led the Bills to three playoff appearances in four years, an accomplishment equaled only by Marv Levy and Lou Saban in team history. McDermott said he received an e-mail from Levy after the game.
"There have been good moments, and there's been some times where people have questioned things," McDermott said. "I think it was 2018 when we were asked a lot about what we were doing and how we were doing it when we were 6-10 that year. A lot of that was necessary growing pains.
"I just really appreciate the way people believed in us and believed in our message."
The Buffalo Bills’ star receiver entered Saturday’s game against the Denver Broncos needing a single catch to set the franchise single-season record. Diggs got it on the very first offensive play.
As usual, their latest impressive showing began with a huge game from Josh Allen, who wasn't even born when the Bills previously won the AFC East. He threw for 300 yards for the seventh time this season (359), tying Drew Bledsoe's team record, and two touchdowns and also ran for a pair of TDs. He also became the second Bills quarterback, along with Bledsoe, to throw for 4,000 yards in a season.
The Bills scored at least 48 points in a game for the first time in more than a decade, since a 49-31 win at the Cincinnati Bengals on Nov. 21, 2010.
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"When Sean came in, there was a different culture that he was trying to build in Buffalo," said Poyer, who along with Micah Hyde were McDermott's first free-agent signings. "He took the right group of guys to continue to build that culture and continue to understand expectations that coach has for us. We understand the expectations that he has for us.
"It's been building, man. We had made it to the playoffs in 2017, ended up losing, we were able to learn from that. Wasn't very good in 2018. Same thing in 2019, one play away from winning a playoff game. Those experiences that we went through, the hardships that we've gone through, it's all led up to this moment right here for us to be able to win the AFC East."
Allen was remarkable on the Bills' first possession, leading a 13-play, 59-yard drive that ended with his 9-yard touchdown throw to Dawson Knox. It was Knox's third TD catch of the season, more than he had as a rookie last year.
Allen showed tremendous awareness and mobility. He twice avoided what looked like certain sacks to complete passes, the most impressive of which was a falling, sidearm delivery to Stefon Diggs to convert a third down to the Denver 9.
Bills fans finally can break out some AFC East champions gear after their team Saturday clinched the division title for the first time since 1995.
The Broncos' opening drive was indicative of how far below the Bills they are competitively. They drove far enough to attempt a 51-yard field goal, but Taylor Russolino, a former XFL kicker who had never kicked in an NFL game, was way wide right. Russolino was promoted from the practice squad to replace Brandon McManus, who is on the Covid-19 reserve list.
The play of their defense, which has been gutted by injuries, also made it clear that the Broncos were clearly outclassed.
On their second possession, the Bills made it look far too easy in driving 95 yards in 11 plays to a 24-yard touchdown run by Allen, who went untouched into the end zone to make it 14-0 early in the second quarter. It marked the Bills' second-longest TD drive of the season after the 97-yarder they had against Miami. Afterward, NFL Network's cameras caught a sideline argument between Denver defensive linemen Shelby Harris and Bradley Chubb.
Andre Roberts muffed a fair catch on a punt and the Broncos recovered at the Buffalo 35 with 9:29 left in the second quarter. That set up a 10-yard touchdown run by Melvin Gordon on third down on a series that included a 14-yard carry by Drew Lock on third-and-one from the Bills' 26.
After reaching the Denver 5 with the help of a roughing-the-passer penalty, the Bills took their turn making yellow flags fly. Three penalties in a row pushed them back to the 30. Two plays later, Allen found Jake Kumerow for a 22-yard touchdown on the wide receiver's first reception with the Bills to give Buffalo a 21-7 lead. Kumerow became the 13th different Bill to catch a TD this season (including Allen), equaling an NFL record.
With a little help from the officials, the Broncos managed to get a touchdown at the end of the half. A highly debatable roughing-the-passer penalty on Milano moved the Broncos from the Bills' 46 to the 31.
On third-and-4, Lock found Jerry Jeudy for a 19-yard completion to the Buffalo 6. One play later, Lock connected with Noah Fant for a touchdown. Russolino missed the extra-point try to make it 21-13 at halftime.
Roberts' 53-yard return of the second-half kickoff put the Bills in business from the Denver 43. From there, Allen went to work, picking apart the Broncos' defense with three throws to Cole Beasley for 39 yards, and 6- and 7-yard connections with Diggs and Gabe Davis to put the Bills at the 1. After that, Allen ran untouched for his second touchdown to give the Bills a 28-13 lead.
Here’s a breakdown of key plays from the Bills’ 48-19 victory, starting with arguably the most impressive pass by Allen.
The Bills put a stranglehold on the game when White sacked Lock and forced a fumble that Jerry Hughes returned 21 yards for a touchdown to make it 35-13. That was the Bills' second defensive touchdown of the season and second in consecutive games for the first time since 2016.
The play was made by White, who was McDermott's first draft pick, in the first round in 2017, and Hughes, the longest-tenured Bills player.
"Me and him have a special bond because in his first coaching job he picked me, his first pick to try to turn this thing around," White said of McDermott. "I don't take this Buffalo and changing the culture lightly, because I was the first guy he drafted. He handpicked me."
The finishing touches were back-to-back 27-yard Tyler Bass field goals, the second capping a 7:46 drive – after a 7:11 march closed out a victory against Pittsburgh last Sunday night – and a 51-yard TD run by Devin Singletary.
"Guys like Micah and myself and Tre'Davious, who have been here for four years, just continue to build that (culture) and add it to guys that they brought in," Poyer said. "It feels really good, man. It feels like a long time in the making, but it's been worth it."
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December 20, 2020 at 08:19AM
https://buffalonews.com/sports/bills/vic-carucci-bills-follow-the-process-to-easy-win-for-first-afc-east-title-in/article_9b8af9e2-4241-11eb-9a10-e76b77f5a0fc.html
Vic Carucci: Bills follow 'The Process' to easy win for first AFC East title in 25 years - Buffalo News
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