[sendtonews_embed video_id=”X9Zpsu6UQF-1038127-7498″]
The Bills can head into their bye weekend in one of two ways. They can mope about their tough loss to the Cardinals, 32-30, or just forget about football for a couple of days after that one… certainly do not turn on the TV in doing so.
Regardless of what the locker room does, reaction to the loss is still going to be debated by the Bills faithful. Buffalo (7-3) had a strong look at adding to their win column in Arizona (6-3). Instead… yikes.
For the sake of being a writer, we’ll briefly recap what happened but you already know… Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray to wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins. End story.
The prayer of a pass in the final seconds that sent the Bills into their bye week with a loss was one single moment. But that doesn’t mean the problem sits in just one area. On the play alone, the first final-second prayer victory in the NFL since 2015, the Bills did a couple of things wrong.
The first fingers will be pointed toward the three defensive backs surrounding Hopkins on the play: Micah Hyde, Jordan Poyer and Tre’Davious White. We’ve got a couple of Pro Bowls and an All-Pro mixed in there and somehow, Hopkins comes down with it.
Credit to Hopkins for the timing and hands, and to Murray for an excellent throw, but in any sports circumstance, three against one with the three losing deserves some level of criticism. Of all three, it appeared that White, who did not talk with reporters following the loss, went up to defend the pass with two hands in an effort to intercept the ball instead of getting a better reach with just one. Hindsight is 20/20, naturally, but…
Moving on, even before the ball was thrown, defensive end Mario Addison, who pounded the ground with his fist in the first half when Murray escaped a sack from him, failed to bring the QB down in the backfield on this play too. Then, even before the ball was snapped, the Bills played extremely far off of the line of scrimmage. Nobody slowed the pace of Hopkins & Co.
Let’s go deeper: Even before the fourth quarter, the Cardinals ripped off 17-straight points in the third quarter. Once again, teams get footing on the Bills in the second half of games to climb back in it. This could be the biggest issue the Bills have. Typically Buffalo has pulled off a win and we’ve used the phrase “paper covering cracks.” But this game-losing reception kind of does that in a way, too. The Bills did hold a 23-9 lead, but the focus will mostly be on the one final play.
All things considered, folks should not point to just one of these instances and blame one individual or one moment. A lot of things went wrong leading up to this heartbreaking loss for the Bills.
So if you can, take the latter route yourself.
The Bills should unplug from football for a day or two on the bye week, and why not do so as well? It’s going to be some decent November weather this week, after all.
Because through all of these negatives leading up to their third loss of the season, which also comes at a time when the Miami Dolphins are now nipping at the Bills’ heels in the AFC East standings… it’s not all bad.
Bills quarterback Josh Allen to Stefon Diggs was pretty sweet. Cole Beasley had himself a day, too. Plus, the defense appears to be improving. Of course, Buffalo’s still 7-3 as well and the world is (probably) not going end before Week 12 when the Bills host the Chargers.
The standard is raised for this Bills team in 2020 so such a disappointing loss leads one potentially thinking “same old Bills.” But no one is going to remember Hopkins’ heroics if there’s a playoff win for the home team in Orchard Park in a few weeks. Remember that.
[lawrence-related id=73213,73212,73216,73186]