by Tony Fiorello
MIAMI GARDENS, FL - JANUARY 07: a Buffalo Bills helmet rests on the field before the game between the Buffalo Bills and the Miami Dolphins on Sunday, January 7, 2024 at Hard Rock Stadium, Miami Gardens, Fla. (Photo by Peter Joneleit/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
1. If this victory doesn’t stamp Josh Allen as a legitimate candidate for the NFL’s Most Valuable Player award, I don’t know what will. With Keon Coleman, Dalton Kincaid and Spencer Brown out and Khalil Shakir, Curtis Samuel, Amari Cooper and Dawson Knox having nice days at the office but nothing special, there’s zero chance Buffalo would have won the game without Allen at the controls. ESPN analyst and former NFL quarterback Dan Orlovsky has a nice breakdown of Allen’s game-clinching touchdown run here: https://x.com/danorlovsky7/status/1858545246407139638
2. Defensively, there were a few standouts. Von Miller, Ed Oliver and Greg Rousseau were applying pressure consistently, Terrell Bernard and Dorian Williams were solid in coverage and Taylor Rapp, Christian Benford and Rasul Douglas held down the fort on the back end.
3. Good on Sean McDermott and offensive coordinator Joe Brady to go for the win on the fourth and two situation near the end of the game. Against a bad team, one could maybe afford to kick a field goal there but against the Andy Reids, Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelces of the world you cannot. They have proven time and again that given the opportunity to drive down the field and win a game, they’ll likely convert on it. As we all know, McDermott is no saint and isn’t perfect, but at the end of the day he is a good coach and kudos to him for evolving his approach over the last few years.
4. It’s amazing to think that, given the loss of so many veterans in the offseason and the Bills’ current salary cap situation, that so many – yours truly included – would believe that the team would take a small step back and finish the regular season with only nine or 10 wins when they already have nine wins at this juncture of the season! Give Brandon Beane and his front office staff credit for identifying pieces in the draft and free agency who the coaching staff could develop and mold into key contributors on Buffalo’s roster.
5. My only concern with yesterday’s win over Kansas City is this – have the Chiefs already gotten the Bills’ best effort? Given the fact that Buffalo has now beaten them in the regular season four years in a row but have no playoff victories over them to show for it, one can only hope the Bills haven’t peaked yet. Sure this victory could be meaningful in regards to playoff seeding and potentially home-field advantage or a first-round bye, but the Chiefs are comparable to the Bill Belichick-Tom Brady era of the New England Patriots. They rarely, if ever, lose to the same team twice in one season. No one knows if those two will get together again come January of course, but it feels inevitable. All that matters at the end of the day is beating Kansas City when it matters the most – now they’ll need to show they can do that for once if given the chance.
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