The Buffalo Bills were great in defense last season. They were second in the NFL in permitted points and third in permitted yards. Most of that unit is back for 2020.
The results were not the same. The Bills fell midway through the pack on defense but that didn’t really matter because Josh Allen and the crime were so good.
When Bills’ attack found himself caught in a gust of wind in a division-level playoff Saturday night, the defense emerged.
The Buffalo defense did a great job of containing Lamar Jackson and came up with a game-changing game, Intercept 101 yards back by touchdown Tarun Johnson, in a 3-17 win. The weather made it difficult for both offenses, and it was Biles’ defense that dominated the match. They smashed Ravens’ crime which was hot for the final month of the regular season.
The Bills had a great season and will play in the AFC Championship match for the first time since beating Joe Montana and the Kansas City Chiefs at the end of the 1993 season. Saturday night’s defense match should give the Bills Mafia hope that next Sunday will not be their last game of the season.
Defense bills for a big night
Buffalo wasn’t changing his attack plan, only a small wind. They trust Allen very much to cut it down, no matter the circumstances.
The Bills’ attack game plan was surprising at its extreme. They didn’t call up the runway play until I left 3:05 the first half, calling up 19 passes and one running in the first 30 minutes. Better if the billing team passed the ball, the crows are very good at going against the run, but it was great to watch a team in a playoff and not even try to run it. Especially in strong winds. The match was tied 3-3 in the first half.
But the bills stuck to the plan. It paid off in the third quarter with a nice lead and a short landing pass to Stefon Diggs. The crows answered with a long lead of their own, but then the Bills played the game.
Jackson returned to pass the third goal and did not see Tarun Johnson cheat in his area while watching Jackson’s eyes. Johnson was really there to pick Jackson and bring him back 101 yards for the touchdown, tying George Teague to the record for the longest interception spell in NFL history after the season.
Rather than drawing the crows in the match or at least attempting a short field goal to cut Buffalo’s lead to 10-6, the Biles advanced 17-3. The Buffalo offensive couldn’t last long on Saturday night, but the defense made sure it didn’t matter.
Lamar Jackson suffers from a concussion
On the road after the interception, the crows’ chances of winning disappeared. There was a bad shotgun shot, Jackson chased it, and as he was throwing it away, he took a heavy blow and bounced his head on the lawn. Jackson was diagnosed with a concussionAnd, without Jackson, the crows wouldn’t return.
Jackson had a tough night before that hit. The Bills did a great job when they were disciplined for rushing into passes and not allowing Jackson’s fracture to contain. When Jackson tried to run, they made sure to hit him hard. Jackson never got away in any long distances and couldn’t endure many trips with his legs over short stretches either. Jackson didn’t throw it so badly under the circumstances, but his big mistake dashed the crows’ hopes.
The Bills could host their AFC Championship match next weekend if the Cleveland Browns upset the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday. If the Chiefs win, Bills will face Patrick Mahomes in Kansas City with the Super Bowl pier on the line. The Bills haven’t gone to the Super Bowl since Jim Kelly, Thurman Thomas, Andre Reed and those great Buffalo teams in the 1990s lost their fourth time in Super Bowl in a row.
If the bosses are in the next round, that’s a tough job. But the Biles should feel a lot more confident after what they saw off their defense on Saturday night, regardless of who they’d play next.
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