Report card: Bills top Washington Football Team, 43-21

Report card: #Bills did well on the scoreboard and in our grades (via @NateMendelson):

The Buffalo Bills continued their offensive tear, scoring 43 points against the Washington Football Team.

Quarterback Josh Allen looked like the MVP candidate he was in 2020 while the defensive unit showed no mercy to the Taylor Heinicke led offense. The backup QB had a long day at the office.

Following the Bills’ win, here’s how Bills Wire graded Buffalo out in this week’s report card:

Game balls: 6 standouts from the Bills’ win over Washington Football Team

Game balls: 6 standouts from the #Bills’ win over the Washington Football Team (via @jdiloro):

For the second consecutive week, Buffalo completely dominated their opponent. The Bills started quickly, jumping out to a 21-0 lead over Washington and ending with a 43-21 victory. The Bills ended up outgaining Washington 481-291 in total yards. Buffalo’s defense also recorded three takeaways, leaving little doubt at who was the superior team Sunday afternoon at Highmark Stadium.

Here is who earned game balls from the Week 3 dominant performance:

Instant analysis: Bills overwhelm Washington in dominant Week 3

Instant analysis: #Bills overwhelm Washington in dominant Week 3 (via @jdiloro):

When Bills fans envisioned the ideal performance of their football team, it probably resembled how the team played in their 43-21 victory over the Washington Football Team Sunday afternoon.

Buffalo’s offense was completely in sync, overwhelming the Washington defense in every aspect of the game. Josh Allen looked exactly like the player who was a finalist for NFL MVP. Allen was decisive and accurate throughout the game. Allen, who signed the most lucrative contract in Buffalo history, had a field day against Washington, going 32 for 43 with 358 passing yards and four passing touchdowns. Allen extended plays when necessary and picked apart the Washington defense. He was quick with his decision when called upon, throwing strike after strike to his receivers.

Oh, and when his receivers were covered, Allen strolled in for a rushing score.

Allen’s supporting cast was featured on the day as well. Emmanuel Sanders had his best day in a Buffalo uniform, catching five passes, two of them for touchdowns, and 94 receiving yards.

The wealth was spread among the receiving corps. Cole Beasley was the big winner of the short passing game, reeling in 11 catches on 13 targets for 98 yards. Stefon Diggs had another solid game, with six catches for 62 receiving yards. Dawson Knox made another circus catch, twisting around to score on a back-shoulder pass.

The backfield held up their end of the bargain, battling for positive yards when called upon. Zack Moss rushed 13 times for 60 rushing yards. His big contribution came through the air, as he caught a touchdown reception from Allen.

The defense kept Washington quarterback Taylor Heinecke in his place, forcing several questionable decisions by the signal caller. Jordan Poyer and Micah Hyde recorded interceptions. the Bills defense also forced a fumble from the hands of Logan Thomas. To top it off, the Bills defense slammed the door shut on a fourth-down attempt by Washington’s offense in the third quarter. This gave the ball back to the Bills offense in prime field position.

Bills defensive tackle Star Lotulelei recorded the game’s only sack. Matt Milano was a pest for the Washington offense. In addition to the fumble recovery, Milano recorded six total tackles. He has been Buffalo’s best defender over the first three games of the season.

Buffalo allowed only 291 total yards to the Washington offense.

It was another impressive performance by the Bills as a whole. The playcalls and execution were stellar today. There were a few minor missteps (three defensive penalties called on one play, special teams turnover), but this was quite the day for the entire Buffalo staff and roster. The Bills reaffirmed that they are the top dog in the AFC East and the top candidate to challenge the Kansas City Chiefs for the AFC crown.

Buffalo takes on the Houston Texans at Highmark Stadium next Sunday. The Texans fell to 1-2 after a 31-21 loss to the Cleveland Browns.

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Josh Allen, Cole Beasley both say Bills offense must be better

Josh Allen, Cole Beasley both say #Bills offense must be better:

The Buffalo Bills have worked to bolster their roster and position groups over the last two offseasons.

Prior to last season, Buffalo general manager Brandon Beane looked to shore up one group, in particular, that he’d had an eye on for a bit. The receiving core.

After drafting a quarterback with a big arm and big potential like Josh Allen, Beane knew he would need to surround him with the talent necessary for him to take the next steps.

The team would go on to bring in playmakers, signing Cole Beasley, trading for Stefon Diggs, drafting Gabriel Davis, and most recently adding Super Bowl champion, and deep threat, Emmanuel Sanders.

Sanders prompted some post-game conversation during his media session after Sunday’s loss at home to the Pittsburgh Steelers to open the season, 23-16. 

Allen showed off his arm on the second drive of the game, throwing a deep ball 57 yards that was off target.

After the game, Allen and Beasley both commented on the difference and importance of getting the ball in the hands of their playmakers.

“We got to be better, we got to make more plays,” Beasley said while addressing the media. “We know we didn’t play our best, offensively we got to be a lot better than that.”

The wideout finished the day with eight catches for 60 yards and fully realizes how much more the Bills offense is capable of when they play to their potential.

“We know what we have with this group, so you know there’s not going to be any drop in confidence,” Beasley added. “We’re still going to go out there and try and score 40 every game and we feel we can accomplish that if we do it how we do.”

Allen was on the same page as his receiver in emphasizing the importance of connecting with the talent in Buffalo’s offensive core.

“As we move forward we got to find ways to execute and get the ball to the playmakers,” Allen said via video conference. “I got to trust my guys and got to put the ball where they can make a play.”

The Bills saw the return of their fans in full force at home in Orchard Park after last season’s COVID safety restrictions impacted game attendance most of the year. 

Allen, who finished the day with 270 yards throwing and a touchdown as well as an unfortunate pair of fumbles, realizes Sunday’s contest was neither what he or the team, as well as its fans, had hoped for. He pledged to do better.

“I wish we could have put on a better show for the fans and obviously that’s not how they wanted it nor us. So hopefully that next game we’ll be able to go out there and give them something they like,” Allen said. 

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Stock up, stock down following the Bills’ win over the Packers

Stock up, stock down following the #Bills’ win over the #Packers (via @mckennamiddle):

The Buffalo Bills capped off their preseason with a 19-0 win over the Green Bay Packers. The Bills took control of the game during the first drive and never looked back.

When quarterback Josh Allen was on the field, Buffalo looked in mid-season form, they connected on the short and intermediate routes as well as taking calculated strikes down the field. The Bills defense also looked ready to go, creating havoc for opposing quarterback Jordan Love and forcing a turnover. 

So let us look at who performed and who didn’t in the Bills preseason finale in this week’ stock report:

Bills WR Isaiah McKenzie completely brushing off a $14k fine for not wearing a mask is a massive problem for the NFL

Some players are just not taking this seriously, and it’s a shame

The NFL’s teams have gotten progressively better and better about getting their players vaccinated.

There are 23 teams in the league with, at least, a 90 percent vaccination rate right now, per the Washington Post’s Nicki Jhabvala, and 92.7 percent of players in the league have received at least one shot.

There are just four more teams with a vaccination rate of 89 percent or lower. Now, it’s just a matter of getting those teams on board.

But if the Buffalo Bills are going to be any indication of how that process is going to go, it’s going to be a real struggle. That’s pretty clear at this point.

The Bills’ vaccination rate is hovering around 80 percent, per The Athletic. And they just sent Cole Beasley, Gabriel Davis, Vernon Butler and Star Lotulelei home and labeled them as high risk in the NFL’s COVID-19 protocols after they came in contact with a vaccinated staff member who contracted COVID. The players were all unvaccinated.

On top of that, wideout Isaiah McKenzie was just fined $14,650 for not wearing a mask after repeatedly refusing to wear a mask, despite protocols requiring him to do so.

What’s worse? He didn’t seem to take it seriously at all. He posted the fine letter to Twitter saying “They got me! NFL you win!”

And then Cole Beasley followed up with this tweet in his continued efforts to delegitimize the NFL’s COVID-19 policies.

This is the problem the NFL is facing in a nutshell. Yes, it’s made incredible progress in getting folks vaccinated so far. But the ones who refuse? It seems to be leaning in.

Beasley is dismissing the NFL’s policy every chance he gets. McKenzie is totally dismissing a $14k fine as if it’s Monopoly money. They just don’t really seem to be concerned about the policy or, more importantly, the well-being of others at all.

Maybe there’s room for heftier fines and suspensions to get them to care, but they’re already hefty as is.

And it’s hard to think about what more the NFL can do to coerce them to convince them to just take the shot. The league’s policies are already stringent and could even lead to the forfeiture of games if things go haywire.

It looks like it’s just a matter of hoping players choose to think about doing a relatively simple thing for others instead of themselves, at this point.

And, well, good luck with that.

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Bills’ Isaiah McKenzie, Cole Beasley fined for breaking COVID mask protocol

#Bills WRs Isaiah McKenzie & Cole Beasley were fined for breaking COVID mask protocol this week. Here’s what we know about that:

At least one Buffalo Bills wide receiver was fined for breaking a COVID-19 safety protocol in the team’s facility in Orchard Park. However, signs are pointing to there being two: Isaiah McKenzie and Cole Beasley.

The one that was absolutely fined by the NFL was wide receiver McKenzie. That we know because… McKenzie posted the letter the league sent him to inform him to his social media account on Twitter.

According to the NFL’s memo to McKenzie, he was not wearing a mask and because of that he was fined $14,650.

Here’s McKenzie’s post to social media:

Beasley, who is notably the most outspoken player in NFL in terms of being “pro choice,” in his words… appears to have likely been fined as well.

Beasley took to his Twitter account for a chunk of the NFL offseason and publicly took a stance against being vaccinated for COVID-19.

Beasley wielded his social media once again on Wednesday. He replied to McKenzie’s post saying “they got me too.”

Here’s Beasley’s full message:

Also confirming the news of Beasley also being fined was NFL Network‘s Tom Pelissero. He writes that both McKenzie and Beasley were fined for not wearing masks in Buffalo’s team facility.

In addition, Pelissero points out that the next time both players will face even harsher penalties. Increased fines and suspensions are now on the table for both:

Along with responding to McKenzie, Beasley went on to write plenty on social media on Wednesday. He did that throughout the summer while discussing his stance on the COVID-19 vaccine.

Beasley was replying to folks comes only days after Beasley was among a group of Bills players sent home due to a COVID safety protocol. That group of four were unvaccinated and came into “close contract” with a training staff member that tested positive for COVID-19 recently.

In one instance, Beasley reply to The Athletic‘s Matthew Fairburn.

In that message, Beasley writes he was fined for not wearing a mask “from the entry door to the locker room which is literally 5 steps.”

…And now don’t worry, folks… one more curveball for you.

ESPN‘s Chris Mortensen adds one extra layer. Mortensen says McKenzie’s fine, specifically, has some “uniqueness” attached to it.

Per his reporting, the Bills couldn’t hide McKenzie not wearing a mask from the NFL even if they tried to… because the league had personnel in Buffalo to discuss COVID protocols and they happened to see McKenzie’s violation, first hand:

The situation involving McKenzie and Beasley has been taking turns throughout the early hours of Wednesday morning. Bills Wire will track any potential updates as they unfold.

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Only four NFL teams are below 89 percent COVID-vaccination rate

Only four NFL teams are below 89 percent COVID-vaccination rate:

Once thought to be impossible, NFL players are well ahead of the rest of the country  in terms of COVID-19 vaccinations.

According to The Washington Post, 92.7 percent of players in the league have received at least one COVID-19 vaccine shot.

In addition, only four teams reportedly sit below a total of 89 percent of their players vaccinated.

As of Aug. 2, the total number of adults in the United States who had received a vaccine was at 70 percent.

On Aug. 16, the Atlanta Falcons became the first team in the NFL to have their entire roster vaccinated against COVID-19.

Despite the positives in terms of vaccination numbers, the league isn’t fully out of the dark just yet.

Earlier this week, the Buffalo Bills had to send multiple players home from their team facility due to COVID-related safety protocols.

No players tested positive for the virus, however, a team trainer did.

Current NFL rules require unvaccinated players who were deemed to be in “close contact” of anyone with a positive test to have to quarantine for five days.

Among those players in Buffalo needing to do so was Cole Beasley. The Bills wide receiver has been the most vocal player in the NFL against requirements for players to be vaccinated.

Currently the league does not mandate players to be vaccinated against COVID-19.

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Brandon Beane opens up on Buffalo Bills COVID situation

Brandon Beane opens up on #Bills COVID situation (via @NateMendelson):

The Buffalo Bills had a vaccinated trainer test positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday. As a result, four close contacts were sent away from the team facility.

Vernon Butler, Gabriel Davis, Star Lotulelei, and Cole Beasley will be away from the Bills for up to five days due to the NFL’s health and safety protocol. The Bills are hoping no other positives will show up in the coming days.

The trainer did not feel they had COVID when they tested positive per general manager Brandon Beane via video conference. Currently, they are fine and experiencing minor symptoms.

The Bills sent an additional two players home out of precaution by the Buffalo staff. Matt Milano and A.J. Klein were pulled as the league completed its interviews for who could be a close contact.

With interviews taking time, Butler was on the practice field Tuesday. Beane says they were surprised to see him as a close contact and would not have practiced if they knew. Butler did test negative on Tuesday.

“These are the rules that are currently agreed upon by the NFLPA and league office so we deal with it and now all understand them,” Beane said. “I’m glad it’s the preseason and hopefully we won’t have a lot of this in the regular season.”

The league safety protocols differ for those vaccinated and unvaccinated. Those who are vaccinated test once every two weeks while those who are not must test every day. Beane is unsure where the Bills vaccination rate stands with recent roster moves. Buffalo surpassed the 80% threshold at the start of training camp. He doesn’t know if they’re still above it.

The Bills had a push at the beginning of training camp to reach the threshold but rates have leveled off. There is encouragement some players could get it now that the Pfizer vaccine is FDA approved.

“As long as it’s not a mandatory thing, I think most teams are going to have a number of players (unvaccinated),” Beane said. “Maybe some players are waiting on that, I don’t have a specific number of players who said ‘hey if the FDA approves this I’ll get it’ maybe some will look at this and say ‘hey I don’t want to deal with it.’ I’m not sure all of them will, time will tell.”

Bills players have already seen how the virus could affect them and their team. Left tackle Dion Dawkins returned to the practice field last week after covid put him in the hospital for four days. Beane reiterated that no one is exempt and the virus doesn’t discriminate against anyone.

The four close contacts aren’t automatically out of playing in Saturday’s final preseason game against the Packers. The five-day clock from the close contact period could have started two-to-three days ago for some players. Beane did not specify which.

Until then, the Bills will hope there are no other positive cases within the organization.

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Report: Matt Milano, A.J. Klein sent home via COVID protocol, Bills list up to 5

Report: Matt Milano, A.J. Klein sent home via COVID protocol as well, #Bills list up to 5 players:

(Update: 12:07 p.m.): Speaking via press conference, Buffalo Bills defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier has confirmed that Milano, Klein and Lotulelei will not practice on Tuesday. He did not mention the reasoning being COVID-related but said the team will update the situation at some point later in the day.

Previous coverage: 

The list of Buffalo Bills players sent home from the team’s facility on Monday because of a COVID-19 safety protocol has reportedly grown to five.

According to New York Daily News NFL reporter Pat Leonard, linebackers Matt Milano and AJ Klein are the latest additions to the designation. Leonard initially was the first to report on players being sent home in Orchard Park:

Through reports, the first three players said to be sent home by the Bills because of the safety protocol were defensive tackle Star Lotulelei and wide receivers Cole Beasley and Gabriel Davis.

The list all five are reportedly on is one specifically for unvaccinated players in the NFL.

Via the original report, Beasley and Davis tested negative for COVID-19 on Monday. However, the two were deemed to be in close contract with a training staff member on the Bills staff who did test positive for the virus.

It appears that Lotulelei, Milano and Klein were as well.

Because theses players are not vaccinated, they must now go into a safety protocol for five days while continually testing negative for COVID-19 before they can join their teammates once again.

This is the third report of Bills players being added to the designation. Bills Wire will continue to follow the topic as it unfolds. Check back for future updates.

Original report on Beasley and Davis: 

Cole Beasley, Gabriel Davis in 5-day COVID reentry process

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