Some thoughts about the Buffalo Bills’ wild card playoff victory over the Miami Dolphins:
1. That was as sloppy of a win I’ve seen in a while. If this was the regular season I might nitpick and wonder how come they weren’t able to beat a battered Miami roster by more than a field goal. But at the end of the day, style points don’t matter in the playoffs. Wins are all that matter at this time of year, no matter how they are accomplished.
2. On that note, there were many Bills who didn’t have their finest hour on Sunday. Josh Allen, the offensive line, the running game, turnovers, poor tackling, the coaching staff (the coordinators and Sean McDermott had some questionable moments) are all the guilty parties here, but there were others that stood out for the right reasons.
Kaiir Elam was outstanding, Stefon Diggs (who was barely targeted in the second half) and Gabriel Davis had nice statistical outputs too. Shakir and Beasley had good moments as well and so did Buffalo’s pass rush. Overall it wasn’t pretty, but the outcome could have been far worse.
3. I do worry about Buffalo’s ability to take on Cincinnati next week. Having to deal with a top-flight quarterback like Joe Burrow and maybe the best trio of wide receivers in the NFL in Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins and Tyler Boyd is no picnic for anyone and the Bills will need all the help they can get to contain them.
4. On the other hand, the Bengals did have trouble with the Baltimore Ravens and were also dealing with an injury-ravaged team that was utilizing a backup quarterback – just like the Bills.
5. On to Cincinnati and the divisional playoff round!
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