The Buffalo Bills had no intensions of slowing down heading into the postseason.
With the AFC East title already wrapped up and likely having the No. 2 seed secured even prior to Week 17’s kickoff against the Miami Dolphins (10-6)… nothing stopped Buffalo. The Bills (13-3) absolutely beat down the Dolphins in their regular season finale, 56-26.
Take about ending the year on a high note.
Following that blowout, here are five takeaways from the Bills’ win:
Starters play till half
It was an unknown and then later an uneasy situation the Bills put everyone in. Throughout the week, Buffalo head coach Sean McDermott was a man of his word. You’ve got to give him that. The entire time he said he wouldn’t reveal who would play and start for his team against the Dolphins. Even the night before the season finale, reports on what Buffalo would do were flimsy at best.
Well, as it turns out, the starters for the Bills would play till roughly halftime. The name at the top of this list was quarterback Josh Allen, who played all the way till the end of first half kneel down. Wide receiver Stefon Diggs played just about the same amount of time. Guys like QB Matt Barkley and others came in on offense at the start of the third quarter.
On defense, the Bills had a mixed bag. Some starters actually were left inactive for the game. That grouping included cornerback Tre’Davious White and pass rushers Jerry Hughes and Mario Addison. Probably a smart play. Others, like starting linebacker duo Tremaine Edmunds and Matt Milano saw playing time up until the first series in the second half.
All-in-all, the Bills still came to play even with their personnel question marks. Allen was 18-for-25 passing for 224 yards and three touchdowns. He also had an interception, as did Barkley in relief (Barkley also had a score.) Practice squad rusher Antonio Williams turned some heads with his first-career touchdowns. Wide receiver John Brown did get back in the lineup him and he looked good as usual. He caught a touchdown pass.
But there was one guy who stood out above the rest for the Bills…
HOLY SMOKEs. 😤
📺 #MIAvsBUF on CBS pic.twitter.com/7DsHqXd5UN
— Buffalo Bills (@BuffaloBills) January 3, 2021