Image Credit: © Mark Konezny-USA TODAY Sports
It was an absolute clinic on the game of football. The Buffalo Bills set several NFL playoff records, one of which was scoring a touchdown on each of its first seven drives of the game. The Bills dominated every facet of Saturday’s wild-card playoff game from the beginning of the game until the final kneel down to end it.
It started with the opening kickoff. Buffalo QB Josh Allen led the Bills down the field on a game-opening scoring drive that took 5:15 and ended 70 yards later, with Allen hitting TE Dawson Knox on an eight-yard touchdown pass.
It continued into the Patriots’ opening drive when rookie quarterback Mac Jones led the Patriots to the Buffalo 34-yard line. Jones threw deep into the left corner of the end zone for WR Nelson Agholor but was intercepted by Buffalo S Micah Hyde.
Once again, Allen calmly and methodically led Buffalo down the field for its second touchdown. The drive went 80 yards, took ten plays, and five minutes off the clock. The drive ended with another Allen-to-Knox touchdown pass, this one from 11 yards out.
© Mark Konezny-USA TODAY Sports
For the game, Allen would finish 21-of-25 for 308 yards and five touchdowns. He did not throw an interception, and New England did not sack him. Knox led the Bills with five catches for 89 yards and the two scores. Gabriel Davis and Emmanuel Sanders each caught two passes, one of which was a touchdown.
The Bills also ran for 174 yards, led by RB Devin Singletary, who carried the ball 16 times for 81 yards. He ran for two touchdowns, both in the second quarter, to give Buffalo a 27-0 lead. The Patriots would not score until the end of the first half. With one second remaining in the opening half, kicker Nick Folk hit a 44-yard field goal.
Buffalo scored on its first drive of the second half, marching 58 yards in six plays. Sanders was on the receiving end of a 34-yard scoring pass. That touchdown gave Buffalo a 33-3 lead with 8:48 left in the third quarter. The Bills were so good offensively that even OT Tommy Doyle got involved in the scoring. Reporting as eligible, Doyle caught a one-yard pass from Allen for the Bills’ final touchdown of the day in the fourth quarter.
© Mark Konezny-USA TODAY Sports
Scoring touchdowns on their first seven drives was not the only Bills entry into the NFL playoff record book. Buffalo also became the first team in NFL history ever to go an entire playoff game without a single punt, field goal, or turnover. Though it’s not necessarily a playoff record, the Bills also became the first team to beat a Bill Belichick-coached team by double digits twice in one season. Buffalo beat the Patriots 33-21 in Week 16.
Despite the weather, the Bills were on fire, which featured temperatures below ten degrees. Allen’s 84 percent completion percentage was the highest (minimum 25 attempts) since Aaron Rodgers hit 86.1 percent of his passes in a 2010 divisional playoff game. Interestingly, all five of Allen’s touchdown passes came on play-action throws. The Bills quarterback has also gone four straight games now without being sacked.
Buffalo now advances to the divisional round. Had the Steelers been able to pull off the upset, Buffalo would have hosted Cincinnati. However, with the Chiefs having won Sunday night against Pittsburgh, the Bills will once again be traveling to Kansas City next week. Playing at home would have been ideal since they are 0-3 in road playoff games under McDermott. Having beaten KC earlier this year, the Bills know they can. Now, they just have to go out and do it.
Go Bills!!!
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