The Buffalo Bills beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at home in Orchard Park on Thursday Night Football, 24-18.
The team has struggled to find consistency primarily on offense in recent weeks, though their defense also struggled to get stops as well in their game last Sunday against New England.
This time around, however, Buffalo looked better on offense during a nationally televised TNF matchup.
While WR1 Stefon Diggs is known for bringing his energy to every game, he imparted that energy to the fans and his teammates as well before the game.
His head coach noticed a different energy level with his team right out of the gate, in part thanks to Diggs who gave a passionate pregame speech in the locker room after pumping up the home crowd in the end zone after pregame warmups.
“Well, I mean, I could feel the team. They came out with an attitude and it started in the locker room, really.” McDermott said to the press of Buffalo’s early intensity level. “Stefon Diggs, there’s a little motivational couple of words he said to the team before we went out there. That’s what a leader does. He did a phenomenal job of basically setting the tone.”
Diggs would go on to add nine catches on the day for 70 yards.
In the victory over the Bucs, the Bills improved to 5-3 and gained some needed momentum, as their offense finally had some consistency that’s eluded them.
Buffalo scored on three of their four possessions and put up 17 points in the first half alone, a departure from recent games in which they struggled to score in the first several quarters.
After the game, QB Josh Allen joined former Bills QB Ryan Fitzpatrick and the TNF broadcast team where Fitz asked him about the change in pace of the offense.
“I love it, I love it. I don’t know if we’ll stay in it all season, but on a short week it worked for us,” Allen replied.
Allen went 31 for 40 (78%) with 324 yards, three total touchdowns and an interception in another historical outing in which he became the first player in the Super Bowl era with 17+ passing TDs & 5+ rushing TDs in his team’s first eight games, per Buffalo Bills PR,
He averaged a career-best 2.27 seconds throwing, per Next Gen Stats, which was notably lower than his 3.15-second average in his last several outings.
“It helps us all, so it’s a really good deal,” center Mitch Morse said on Allen getting the ball out quickly. “But it also gets completions going, and when you get in the rhythm at quarterback, it really helps.”
While OC Ken Dorsey’s playcalling wasn’t completely without question, the offense was well spread out, with Khalil Shakir leading all receivers with a career-high 92 yards on six catches.
“We just came to this game with a different mindset,” the second-year pro said during his postgame media availability. “Obviously, ups and downs, but McDermott tells us don’t ride the roller coaster. Stay consistent as a team and stay on the gas pedal.”
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