Plays That Defined 2021 Tournament: Runoff Round

Alright everyone! We’ve been working at it for weeks, selecting the play that defined each game of the Buffalo Bills’ 2021 season based on the following premise:

Pretend you’ve just written a novel and it’s time to select the cover art. You want a single picture that tells the reader what it’s all about, right? That’s the deal here. Vote for the play that best tells the “story” of this game. Which GIF is the best “cover art” for...

Today we start our path to select the GIF that provides the best cover art for the entire season. My advice? Come up with a sentence or two that tells the story of the season. Write it down somewhere safe and then for each pairing vote for the play that better captures your top-secret narrative.

Before we begin, with 19 games it’s a bit of an odd bracket. Here’s the full look of where we’re at so far. This runoff round will determine which of the lowest-seeded plays get into the main tournament. Seeding was determined by the percentage of votes each play received in its respective game. The lone tie (Miami Dolphins and Jacksonville Jaguars in the Away Conference) was determined by whatever criteria Excel used when I sorted the list.

Plays That Defined 2021 Bracket.pdf
Bracket courtesy of PrintYourBrackets.com

Home Conference Runoffs

Miami Dolphins game - Micah Hyde’s fumble recovery (Ninth seed at 33%)

vs.

Carolina Panthers game - Stefon Diggs’s TD (Tenth seed at 32%)

Just a reminder as we gear up with our first matchup that each play can have many storylines attached. Vote for what YOU see, even though I’m about to discuss things I see. Is the cover art for the season an opportunistic defense? Or is it the always exciting Josh-Allen-to-Stefon-Diggs connection? Maybe you see divisional dominance vs. high octane offense?

New York Jets game - Boogie Basham’s sack (Seventh seed, 36%)

vs.

Houston Texans game - Tremaine Edmunds’s INT (Eighth seed, 35%)

Our next contest is defense vs. defense. Which play better represents the season? The tenacity of the rookie to harass a rival? Or the effortless range and athleticism from the “quarterback of the defense?”

Away Game Runoff

Divisional Round at Kansas City Chiefs - Tyler Bass’s kickoff (Eighth seed, 43%)

vs.

At New York Jets - Stefon Diggs’s long catch (Ninth seed, 35%)

I wont lie, when I checked in on the results I was pretty shocked the kickoff beat out the Kelce plays. Also not gonna lie—the kickoff would have been my personal vote too. That said, do you define the season by how it ended? Or do you define it by how it went as far as it did? They’re both great choices, so let’s vote it out.