The Buffalo Bills have obliterated the Miami Dolphins in Week 17. Even after sitting down most of their starters at halftime, Buffalo laid the smack down. It was really fun to watch as Buffalo clinched the second seed in the AFC.
Here are my takeaways from the game.
The Isaiah McKenzie Game
What a game from McKenzie. He saw increased snaps early with Cole Beasley injured and late with the Bills resting their starters. He saw return duties with Andre Roberts dealing with a back injury. Boy did he make it count. He scored two touchdowns on passes from Josh Allen and had a punt return touchdown for his best day since high school. Six catches for 65 yards is not a bad day at the office even without the TDs.
Don’t get hurt
This was the mantra all game. Taron Johnson left the game in the first quarter but returned. Jon Feliciano and Stefon Diggs had moments where they were slow getting up. We don’t know why they kept the starters in as long as they did, and it was scary, but they avoided anything major. Siran Neal left the game in the third quarter and in addition to being the Big Nickel cornerback, he is important on special teams. He later returned, like everyone else.
John Brown is back
One goal of the game was to get John Brown some meaningful snaps, since he has been on the shelf for half the season. They got Brown involved early and often, and he ended up catching four passes for 72 yards and a beautiful touchdown grab. He showed off great quickness and speed and looked 100 percent.
Tua Edwards
Tua Tagovailoa is not a good QB at this point in his NFL career. He dinked and dunked the entire first half. It wasn’t until the second half that he started moving it down the field. At halftime, he was 12 of 19, but only had 89 Yards. That’s an average of 4.7 yards per attempt. In the second half, he started pushing it down the field.
Variety is the spice of life
The Bills scored on offense, defense, and special teams. Antonio Williams, who had never played in an NFL game and spent a good chunk of the season ping-ponging on and off the roster, scored. McKenzie scored on a punt return, after having the job ripped from him last year for fumbling. Josh Norman scored his first touchdown since his All-Pro season in 2015. Matt Barkley went deep to Gabriel Davis to hang the 55th point, and Tyler Bass set the Bills’ scoring record with his 141st point of the year on the next snap.