Tag: AFC East New England Patriots

Bills’ Micah Hyde makes decision on Rasul Douglas: ‘We won the trade’

#Bills’ Micah Hyde makes decision on Rasul Douglas: ‘We won the trade’

The Bills defeated a chippy Patriots team 27-21 in Orchard Park on Sunday, extending their win streak to four straight contests.

Buffalo will head into next week’s regular-season finale against the Dolphins in Miami for the AFC Championship.

Sunday’s win could be the final AFC East meeting between defensive head coaches Sean McDermott and Bill Belichick, whose future with the Patriots organization is unclear.

And it was McDermott’s defense, for whom he is the primary play-caller, that shone, holding New England to only 294 total yards.

Buffalo caused four Patriots turnovers, including a pick-six by trade deadline acquisition CB Rasul Douglas.

Douglas tipped a pass by Patriots QB Bailey Zappe earlier in the game, which was then caught by teammate DT Ed Oliver for his first career interception, thanks to some single-handed acrobatics, before the cornerback reeled in two picks of his own.

All in the first half.

“That should have been another pick by me,” Douglas mused during his postgame media availability. “I should have had 3, honestly, cause I knew it was coming. I read it, but I was on the right side of the tight end and he kind of threw it to the left. So, I had to go around him and deflect it up and then I seen Ed diving for it, I was just happy that he caught it.”

Douglas has been a huge addition defensively in general, not to mention in the wake of another season-ending injury to CB Tre White.

“I don’t know what we gave up to get him… but we won the trade,” S Micah Hyde said about the Bills’ corner, per ABC 13 WHAM. 

Hyde’s comments were backed by their head coach, who noted the team’s resilience.

“They’ve been very resilient. And just the things that they’ve learned, I think, through the journey that have gotten us to here and then using them week to week to find a way to win games,” McDermott said to the press. “Today we knew wasn’t going to be easy and I thought that their resilient nature was on display in the second half.”

New England’s defense was still stingy despite their offense’s shortcomings, but it was Buffalo’s defensive group that won the day. The offense will look to bounce back and the team will aim to keep rolling into the win column next week in Miami.

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Bills’ Josh Allen on rocky Pats game: ‘One of the longest quarters I’ve ever been part of’

#Bills’ Josh Allen on rocky Pats game: ‘One of the longest quarters I’ve ever been part of’

The Bills beat the Patriots at home 27-21 on Sunday, as the team continues to win games, even when the win is an ugly one.

And it’s paid off.

The Bills’ overall offensive performance wasn’t the smoothest, however, as both OC Joe Brady and QB Josh Allen and his receiving targets, who struggled with completions and capitalizing on several Pats turnovers, expressed visible frustration at times.

Allen finished the day with two rushing TDs and 213 total yards of offense, though he struggled a bit in the passing game putting up only 45 total yards with an interception near the end of the first half.

“That was one of the longest quarters I’ve ever been a part of,” Allen said during his press conference. “Three possessions down there in the first quarter and we only scored one touchdown. That’s not good enough on our end. We got to be better prepared to go and get six and seven there. We lucked out. Our defense played a heck of a game and we got to just try to find a way to win.”

He quickly surpassed that first-half number on the first drive of the second half hitting  TE Dalton Kincaid for a 51-yard reception, a career-long for the Bills first-year tight end.

In the contest, Kincaid finished with 87 yards and set a new franchise record for receptions by a rookie with 62 catches on the season.

“We’re playing a pretty good team so just glad we came out with the win,” Kincaid said to the media.

“Each game’s been you know the most important game and now that this game passed you know next week’s the most important game for us, so looking forward to that.”

The Bills offense was a little bit of history repeating in some ways, as Kincaid led the way in receiving yards and Allen scored multiple TDs in their last meetup too.

What has been different about these past couple of matchups with New England has been the usage of WR1 Stefon Diggs, who was quiet these several games, even not taking any offensive snaps on Buffalo’s opening scoring drive at the start of the 2nd half.

Before this season, he had been the leading receiver in several matchups against New England, and while he had a TD in their last meeting and a shot at deep ball on Sunday night, his role has been different,

Diggs often commands double teams, and the coverage he and WR2 Gabe Davis require of opposing defenses creates openings for other targets like Kincaid, WR Khalil Shakir, and receiving RB James Cook.

In the quest for the Buffalo offense to become more multi-dimensional under new offensive coordinator Joe Brady, the captain has sacrificed to help his team win.

And win they have.

The Bills were at 6-6 and on the outside looking in at the playoffs, and have since rattled off four victories and a shot at their fourth straight AFC East crown in next week’s season finale against the Dolphins in Miami.

“I obviously would love to have a home game in the playoffs,” Allen added. “Would love to get in the playoffs, so that’s first and foremost. [We’re] just doing whatever we can do to give ourselves a chance of getting in.”

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Von Miller: Bills got ‘punch in the mouth’ vs. Patriots

The #Bills defense explains what happened vs. the #Patriots:

The Buffalo Bills are looking for answers on both sides of the ball following a disappointing division matchup loss to the New England Patriots.

While the offense has struggled, putting up only ten first-half points in their last three games, the defense struggled on Sunday as well, giving up a game-winning drive inside the final two minutes.

OLB Von Miller, who recently returned to live gameplay from a year-long injury and surgery recovery, found a silver lining in the ugly defeat.

“A good punch in the chin, a punch in the mouth – they’re always good,” he said, suggesting it could inspire a spark, for the team and perhaps himself as well.

DT defensive tackle Jordan Phillips, meanwhile, touched on the teams’ pattern of playing to the level of their competition. A trend evident across the past several seasons.

“We have to stop playing down to different people,” the veteran noted. “We have to do our thing and play Buffalo Bills football and we haven’t done that the last few weeks even though we won last week.”

Behind the line, safety Micah Hyde recognized the Patriots’ offensive execution while pointing out the Bills’ defensive lack thereof.

“They worked their way down the field and worked the clock. It was just poor execution by us as a defense, we’ve got to do better,” he shared. “I felt like we gave them too much in the first two drives. I’ve got to look at the play-by-play to see rushing yards and all that stuff, but it’s just we didn’t play our brand of football today. We gave them a little too much and obviously, it came down to that last drive. This is the NFL and coming down to the last two minutes of the game, you’ve got to execute and get off the field. We just didn’t do it.”

Buffalo head coach Sean McDermott, a former defensive coordinator for the Philadelphia Eagles and Carolina Panthers, took over playcalling duties on that side of the ball following the departure of DC Leslie Frasier.

The Bills defense, however, struggled to stop a Patriots offense that hasn’t been good this season.

“Just not enough, we didn’t do enough,” McDermott said during his postgame press conference. “We didn’t put it in position enough. I didn’t put the defense in position enough, and then just overall didn’t play complementary football.”
 
Hyde’s fellow safety Jordan Poyer provided some perspective both on the season as well as the short time before they face their next opponent.
 
“This is a long season. This is a very long season – 4-3, maybe not where we wanted to be at the beginning of the year, but we’ve got a short week this week and the games are going to keep coming,” Poyer said. “No reason to sulk into this one and turn one loss into two. We’ll hit it on the plane, watch the tape on the plane and tomorrow we’re on to Tampa Bay.”
 
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Bills’ Josh Allen on slow start: ‘I wish I knew the exact answer’

#Bills’ Josh Allen on slow start: ‘I wish I knew the exact answer’;

The Bills put up enough points over several minutes near the end of the fourth quarter in Sunday’s matchup to take the lead against the Patriots.

And then, within the final minutes, gave it back.

Despite a continued pattern of not putting points on the board until late in the contest, it seemed like Buffalo was making a comeback to secure a win on Sunday.

They took a fourth-quarter lead, and their defense got the chance to stop in the final minute, like the week before. Unlike that game, however, they didn’t stop their opponent.

When asked about whether he needs to be more involved on the offensive side of playcalling and if that is possible given he’s both head coaching as well as calling the plays on defense, HC Sean McDermott noted it would be a team effort to find a resolution to their offensive struggles.

“I oversee all three phases, we have communication across all three phases,” he said to the press postgame. “Collectively, we need to continue to find answers.”

The beginning of the outing was a little rocky for Josh Allen, who threw an interception on Buffalo’s first offensive play of the game. After the third contest in a row where the offense got off to a slow start, the QB is still looking for answers.

“I wish I knew the exact answer because we’d have it fixed by now, so I’m going to watch this film and find a way to get there,” Allen said. “Our season’s not over, it’s a long season I know it feels pretty bleak right now but we’re going to figure it out.”

In previous seasons, under offensive coordinator Brian Daboll, at times Buffalo would charge downfield to score on the opening drive or pile on points in the first half to add to in the second, where by the fourth quarter, their backup QB would take over for handoffs and running the clock down to a win.

Since offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey took over last season, there have been times where they’ve continued to spread the ball out and dominate and times where they are stagnant. He was previously the passing game coordinator and quarterbacks coach for Buffalo and has been learning on the job in his first experience as an OC.

Buffalo currently has a first-half points total of only 10 in their past three combined games, following what were several previous high-scoring outings.

That, along with continued execution issues, wasn’t enough to put the game out of reach for New England despite good production from TE Dalton Kincaid, WR Stefon Diggs, and RB James Cook.

Ultimately, the Buffalo defense couldn’t seal the win and the inconsistency and struggles have left McDermott acknowledging the need for examination.

Several commonalities across his tenure manifested in the game, such as penalties, turnovers, and struggling to stop the run. The pattern of often playing to the level of their competition continued as well.

“We’ve gotta continue to find answers to some of the reasons as to why we’re stubbing our toe,” the Bills coach added. “We’re not playing complimentary football. … We’re beating ourselves at times, and we’re not linking up in all three phases to control a game.”

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Josh Allen finds John Brown, Stefon Diggs with deep balls in Bills win

Josh Allen finds John Brown, Stefon Diggs with deep balls in #Bills win:

The Buffalo Bills topped the New England Patriots 35-23 at home on Sunday in Orchard Park.

In a game that saw some electric scoring plays by the Bills in front of the Highmark Stadium crowd, several of those came by way of quarterback Josh Allen and the Bills receiving corps.

The longest of which was a 49-yard bomb to Stefon Diggs.

Diggs led all Bills receivers with seven receptions on ten targets and 104 total yards with the score, which was good for a third straight game against New England with at least 85 yards, seven catches, and a receiving touchdown.

The Patriots have simply not been able to stop him, and the Bills have too many weapons for New England to double-cover him with a safety.

In my Bills vs. Patriots: 5 things to watch for during Week 18’s game for BillsWire, I pointed out that Diggs was poised for another big performance against the Patriots’ secondary coverage and CB Jonathan Jones. Diggs has cooked Jones so often that he could have his own special on Food Network.

This after his lack of targets was questioned late in the regular season.

The wideout was involved in the offense early as the target of Allen’s first two passes. He played well against man coverage, and his TD catch was his 11th on the year, tying former Buffalo receiver Bill Brooks’s franchise record from the 1995 NFL season.

“We wanna throw to 14,” Allen said to the press postgame. “Teams do a really good job of taking that away, but at the end of the day they can’t do it every single play.”

Allen went 19-for-31 with 254 yards, three touchdowns, and one interception throwing with a 106.1 passer rating on the day.

“Just giving 14 a chance one-on-one and that’s something maybe I’ve gotten away from a little bit too much,” quarterback Josh Allen said. “The dinking and dunking is great, but sometimes you’ve got to let your dogs be dogs.”

Prior to the rocket to Diggs, TE Dawson Knox hauled in a four-yard touchdown catch in the second quarter, and Allen found John “Smoke” Brown who laid out for a big 42-yard scoring catch on a third-quarter dime the QB threw running toward the sideline on a broken-up play.

It was Brown’s only target and catch in the contest, and he made it count.

The two deep-scoring tosses came at a good time for Buffalo, while WR2 Gabe Davis was third in receptions with 39 yards and has factored more into the offense in recent weeks, he’s struggled with reliable hands and consistency this season, and was three for ten on catches in the game.

Brown’s touchdown was his first since the 2020 season with Buffalo, in a January 3rd, 2021 game against Miami. He recently re-signed with the Bills’ practice squad and was elevated to the active roster for the game.

With the win, the Bills have secured the No. 2 spot in the AFC playoffs and will host none other than the Dolphins, who might wish it was colder, in Orchard Park next weekend with a day and time yet TBD.

“I’m not going to say other teams haven’t been through a lot but we faced a lot of adversity and obstacles this season,” Diggs said to NFL Network’s Mike Giardi after the game. “It showed that we can really weather the storm on the field, off the field, everything. That all the trials and tribulations, we’ve got a strong group, a real family over here. And that’s something we’re going to lean on going into this new journey. But the mission starts.”

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Bills’ Nyheim Hines: ‘Felt like Damar Hamlin was out there with us’

#Bills’ Nyheim Hines: ‘Felt like Damar Hamlin was out there with us’on kickoff touchdowns:

The Bills beat the Patriots in NFL Week 18  to secure the No. 2 seed in the AFC playoff picture and did so in aerial fashion.

Buffalo got the scoring started right off the bat thanks to a trade deadline acquisition GM Brandon Beane brought in to stabilize the teams’ kick return duties while adding depth at the running back position.

On Sunday, RB Nyheim Hines made good on the returns on that deal.  Literally.

It started on the opening kickoff to the game, when Hines took it 96 yards to the house for a touchdown at a max speed of 21.25 mph which was good for a career-high carrying.

And it didn’t end there.

If you might be wondering how Hines could top a game-opening 96-yard kickoff return for a touchdown? How about a 101-yard return to give the Bills another lead yet again in the third-quarter…

He became the first player in Bills franchise history to return two kickoffs for touchdowns in the same game, while also becoming the first Bill to log 235 kick return yards in a single game as well. Hines also became the first NFL player in history to have a game with 2 punt-return TDs and a game with 2 kickoff-return TDs in his career.

Buffalo improved to 13-3 in the regular season, matching a franchise-best mark during an emotional week that culminated in an inspired performance in lieu of everything that had occurred with Bills safety Damar Hamlin.

“It was spiritual,” Hines said after the game. “I felt like he [Damar Hamlin] was out there with us.”

On the field, Hines became the 1st player since Leon Washington (2010) to have 2 kickoff-return TDs in the same game.

Quarterback Josh Allen added three additional passing touchdowns to the cause in the victory. After the game though, he opened up about Hines’s return and what he felt and experienced.

“Obviously, that first kickoff, and you couldn’t have scripted it any better man, that one was pretty emotional. Just the way it happened,” Allen said during his postgame press conference. “You want the truth? It was spiritual it really was. Bone-chilling like, it was special”

While sharing how he’d just been told it’d been 3 years and 3 months since the Bills last returned a kickoff for a TD, Allen became visibly emotional, per Hamlin’s jersey number three.

And when asked where the memory ranked in his memory of experiences, he opened up further, saying “I can’t remember a play like that touched me like that, I don’t think in my life. So it’s probably number one.”

Instead of Bills special teams coach Matthew Smiley or Hines himself, Allen pointed to something greater behind the experience.

“It was just spiritual,” Allen added after a week of prayers around the league and sports world. “I was going around my team saying ‘God’s real’. You can’t draw that one up, you can’t write that one up any better.”

With a win against the Jets on Sunday, low-temperature enthusiast and Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel and his club will return to Highmark Stadium to face the Bills in the wild-card first round of the NFL playoffs next weekend, having lost to Buffalo during their most recent visit.

As seen today for the Bills, having an explosive and reliable return man can make a significant impact on the overall game, giving the team momentum they’ll need going into the playoffs.

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Bills vs. Patriots: 5 things to watch for during Week 18’s game

#Bills vs. #Patriots: 5 things to watch for during Week 18’s game:

The finale to the regular season has arrived, and for Buffalo, it features a familiar foe.

The New England Patriots travel to Orchard Park this week for a 1 pm EST game on Sunday.

The Pats will look to avenge an NFL week 13 loss to Sean McDermott’s club while the Bills will play for the first time since an unprecedented near-tragedy in a now-canceled game against the Bengals.

Here are five things to watch for during Thursday’s Bills-Patriots matchup:

Bills offense welcome run game contributions vs. Patriots

#Bills offense welcome run game contributions vs. #Patriots:

Buffalo rookie RB James Cook had a career evening in Foxborough, MA on the way to a 24-10 Bills victory over their AFC East rival, the New England Patriots.

Cook led the team in rush attempts and yardage on the ground, also hauling in six targets that made him second in receptions on the night. In all the first-year pro had 14 carries for 64 yards with 41 yards receiving.

The contest was the third in which he logged double-digit attempts rushing, and marked the best overall performance of his young career.

Much of the Bills ground game has previously been carried on RB Devin Singletary’s shoulder, so what’s led to the increased role on offense? In part, the playcalling has been more balanced, but there are some other things Cook’s head coach noticed as well.

“It was just overall his growth and seeing what he can do,” Sean McDermott said to the press postgame. “Rotating different guys in there. It was just all Motor (Devin Singletary) and I think that’s a good thing there.”

The playcalling was absolutely a factor in giving the running back’s group a chance to gain ground in the offense, and the coach acknowledged how offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey has been reading when to run or pass the football.

“I thought coach (Ken) Dorsey did a really good job of changing it up. When the run is working like it was at times, just being able to stick it–And sometimes it wasn’t–but just being able to stick with it, I thought he was very patient in that regard. I thought the O-line did a very good job up front,” McDermott added.

Cook’s teammates noticed the impact he and Singletary, who added 51 yards on 13 carries with a touchdown, had in the win.

“We got the backs that can make explosive plays. They do a great job,” WR Stefon Diggs said during his media session. “It helps the pass game.”

Diggs went on to praise Cook specifically, adding “He’s a special player… He’s young. He’s growing and he’s growing in the right direction fast.”

“He’s dynamic with the ball in his hands,” QB Josh Allen said about Cook. “The more we can get him going, in the long run, is going to benefit us.”

Veteran center Mitch Morse noticed the overall development as well, speaking favorably as well about how this Bills team is evolving and expanding to be more multi-dimensional in their offensive game plan and attack.

“It felt good to execute in the run game to give ourselves a little bit of a cushion at least to not feel like we had to just drop back and play one-dimensional,” Morse said.

The team will have the opportunity to continue to build on their performance in the coming weeks, as they square off at home against the Jets and Dolphins in back-to-back AFC East matchups on December 11th and 18th.

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Bills ‘thankful’ to get first divisional win vs. Patriots

#Bills ‘thankful’ to get first divisional win vs. #Patriots:

The Bills shook off losses in their first two division matchups of the season to notch their first AFC East victory of the year on Thursday Night Football.

The team, who lost road games against division foes in the Jets and Dolphins earlier in the season, ended the night with a 24-10 victory over the Patriots at Gillette Stadium on a cold, blustery New England night.

Buffalo looked to be finding more rhythm on offense than they had previously this season in divisional matchups. Meanwhilte, more members of the defense stepped up to contribute as well.

“Just trying to find a way to win. Took a team effort,” DE Shaq Lawson said to the media. “Complementary football, all three ways. Just find a way to win.”

Head coach Sean McDermott was pleased with the progress and victory the team left Foxborough with.

“I mean a divisional win is important. We knew coming in here was gonna be tough,” McDermott said during his postgame press conference. “Like I said against a really good football team. They’re really well coached and prepared every week so we’re thankful to get a win, and in the division on top of that.”

The AFC East has gradually grown more competitive, something Bills LB Von Miller noted recently.

“I think (with) some of the offseason moves, you can see it starting to get better,” Miller said via the team’s website. “The Jets are definitely not the same Jets team that they’ve been over the last couple of years. The Miami Dolphins as well. The New England Patriots, they’ve put together some great games this season. It’s competitive. I don’t think it’s all of a sudden though.”

Next up, the team will head back to Buffalo to host a pair of division matchups at Orchard Park. They will once again face the Jets and Dolphins, this time at home, for their final meetings of the regular season.

Both games will be important in the Bills’ quest for a third straight AFC East crown as well as in making the playoffs.

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Bills’ Josh Allen on Patriots matchup: ‘Last year has no effect’

#Bills’ Josh Allen on #Patriots matchup: ‘Last year has no effect’

The Bills will face the Patriots this week for the NFL’s Amazon Prime broadcast Thursday Night Football game.

Buffalo has performed well against New England in recent years, going 2-0 at Gillette Stadium and 3-1 overall in games that saw Bills Quarterback Josh Allen throw at least two touchdown passes with 9 total TDs in each of his past three games at Gillette Stadium, with only one interception.

Still, he knows as well as anybody that nothing’s guaranteed from one season to the next, after falling to two division opponents on the road already this season in the Dolphins and Jets.

“We understand as a team that what we did last year has no effect, and is not going to help us in any way in this next coming game,” Allen said during his media availability this week about facing the Patriots. “They’re a team that is playing at a high level right now. We’ve got to be ready for whatever they can throw at us. We’ve got to be ready to go win over there in a division game and a hostile environment.”

Bills defensive coordinator and assistant head coach Leslie Frazier echoed a similar sentiment to Allen’s. 

“We really have to play extremely well as we go on the road against New England and try to find a way to get a win,” said Frazier per Patriots.com. “And that will set us up for the next game and the next game, but it starts with this game next week and really being able to put together a good game plan and being able to go out and execute at a high level. Anytime you’re playing against an AFC opponent, in particular one in your division, it just raises your awareness of what you have to get done.”

Surely having two division losses to their record this season may also provide that motivation to find a way to get a win, especially with rematches at home with the Jets and Dolphins next up on the schedule.

The good news is that Buffalo players are excited for the away game matchup against the Pats.

“Obviously, big divisional rival game this week,” Safety Jordan Poyer said to the press about the matchup. “We’re excited to play on the road in New England. This is what NFL football is about.”

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