Wide receiver Stefon Diggs received plenty of publicity after flossing his teeth on the sidelines during the Buffalo Bills’ 56-26 trouncing of the Miami Dolphins in Week 17.
The commitment to a clean smile prompted CBS broadcaster Kevin Harlan to exclaim “his dental hygiene is something to take note of,” but the reality is, Diggs’s picture-perfect on-field play is what caught the attention of the rest of the NFL during this most unusual of seasons.
Thanks to a regular-season finale where Diggs hauled in seven passes for 76 yards (in the first half), Diggs became the first Buffalo wideout to lead the league in receptions (127) and receiving yards (1,535). In his first season with the Bills, Diggs smashed both of Buffalo’s old franchise records and his personal bests for a single season in the process.
Eric Moulds previously held the franchise records for receptions with 100 (in 2002) and yards with 1,368 (1998) in a season. For Diggs, his previous bests were 102 receptions (2018) and 1,130 receiving yards (2019).
Diggs also established new records for most catches and receiving yards by a player in his first year with a new team, eclipsing Brandon Marshall’s previous marks of 118 grabs with 1,508 yards with the Chicago Bears in 2012. Diggs became the first player to lead the league in receiving yards in his first year with a new team, and his 127 receptions rank sixth-highest in league history.
Diggs has now caught seven or more passes in eight straight games, extending his own club mark, and he tied a franchise record with seven 100-yard receiving games this year, equaling Moulds (2000) and Hall of Famer Andre Reed (1989).
It seems inevitable that Diggs, who entered the 2020 campaign searching for his first Pro Bowl invite, will garner the first All-Pro accolades of his career thanks to this record-breaking regular season.
Diggs and the second-seeded Bills will look to keep the passing game clicking when they host the seventh-seeded Indianapolis Colts (11-5) at 1:05 p.m. EST Saturday in a Wild Card game at Bills Stadium.