The Buffalo Bills laid the lumber on the Miami Dolphins on Sunday. It was a really fun game to watch. Here are my five takeaways—not the season, just the game.
Great sendoff for Kyle Williams
Before the opening kick, Williams got to hug his family on the field after being announced for the final time. Then he broke down the huddle. Later in the game, he got in to block on a Josh Allen touchdown run and gave him a bit of a push. In the fourth quarter, with the game clearly in hand, the Bills ran Williams into the flat where he turned it up the field for nine yards. Then it got dusty. Thankfully, Zay Jones was able to get the ball from the ref to give to the veteran later. With 1:19 left, Miami got the ball back. Williams trotted out to the field but head coach Sean McDermott called timeout to make sure Kyle could get one more ovation walking off the field.
Josh Allen has arrived
Allen threw his first career pick-six near the end of the second quarter. He also put on an absolute clinic at the quarterback position. He wasn’t close to perfect, but he showed flashes of every single thing you wanted to see. He used his legs and his arm, he delivered down the field and on short passes, he put heat and touch on his passes, and he rebounded from a bad mistake to close out Miami.
Special teams bad (again and again and again)
We’re going to discuss coaching changes soon, but Danny Crossman might not make it out of the stadium with his job tonight. The first two Matt Darr punts of the game were shorter than 36 yards. Stephen Hauschka was short on a field goal. It’s just the most recent example of the Bills’ special teams taking points off the board. Even Isaiah McKenzie got blown up on a punt return. It’s been bad.
LeSean McCoy or offensive line?
Where are you putting the blame? Ten rushes for 26 yards today just continued a bad season for McCoy. But Chris Ivory averaged just 3.2 yards. So is it the running backs’ fault, or the offensive line? Probably both but there need to be changes all over Buffalo’s offense. It will start with the offensive line.
Finally, some turnovers
The Bills forced four turnovers this week, something they had in 2017 but were sorely lacking in 2018. A Tremaine Edmunds pick followed by a Tre’Davious White interception opened the floodgates. Then, Shaq Lawson forced a fumble and Trent Murphy recovered a muffed Wildcat snap. It was nice to see that when Buffalo hasn’t been able to do it that much in 2018. When they did, they rolled. (See Vikings, Minnesota.)