BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — Longtime Bills fans remember this game: a 6-3 loss to Cleveland at Ralph Wilson Stadium in 2009. Maybe the worst game ever played in Orchard Park.
Sunday may have been the best.
The 28-21 win over Kansas City Sunday had the 71,000 at the stadium nailed to their seats.
The Chiefs, winners of five of their last six coming into the game, ran into a Buffalo buzzsaw that is beginning to discover a few things about itself. Things like…
There’s nothing wrong with Josh Allen
In fact, he played a near perfect game. He had just three incompletions of his 26 pass attempts. He threw for 273 yards and one touchdown. He ran for two more.
He made sure “everybody ate” by completing passes to five different wideouts, three tight ends and two running backs.
Josh knew early on that he was going to have a big game.
“To be candid, yeah, you feel it in your mechanics sometimes,” he said afterward. “Early on in the game you know when you’re, I call it, ‘slotted,’ where the ball ‘s coming out of your hand as good as you really want it.”
“I’ve been working really hard the last couple of weeks trying to get back into that feeling. I feel like I had a good feeling early on in this game.”
That’s the closest Josh has ever explained being in the groove. Sean McDermott was almost at a loss for words for the quarterback and the person.
“He’s an incredible player,” McDermott said, “and he’s an incredible human being.”
Cole Bishop finally settles in
It was his 12th start over the two years since he was the team’s second round draft pick. And Bishop made enough big hits and pass break ups to prove he belongs.
“Cole was flying around,” according to rookie cornerback Maxwell Hairston. “Cole had about 10 PBUs (pass break ups) tonight. Even all week in practice he was flying around so I knew he was poised to have a good game.”
Officially it was only four pass breakups including two that ruined a Chiefs drive with five minutes to go until halftime. Bishop then rattled Kansas City tight end Travis Kelce with a big hit just before the break,
The young safety made an impression on his coach.
“I felt Cole out there making big plays — you could sense his speed,” McDermott said. “He was poppin’ some people out there, That’s the journey of a young player taking steps in the right direction.”
Another 100 rushing yards for Cook
Ho-hum, 114 yards on 27 carries for James Cook. This time, there was no 64-yard bullet that accelerated his output. This time, it was a lot of four- and five-yard runs that added up.
His consistent production helped balance the Bills offensive attack.
“It opened up a lot of things,” Cook noted after the game. “Hand in hand is always good.”
There was Maxwell Hairston’s timely interception and Joey Bosa’s relentless pressure on Patrick Mahomes-all part of the best effort of the Bills defense this season.
There was also a downside – Michael Hoecht’s torn Achilles that ended his season. You don’t know how many blows the defense can survive.
Who knows if the Bills will face the Chiefs again in the playoffs? Who knows if the Bills will have enough defenders to make a serious run to the postseason? Will they make the Super Bowl?
Who knows? They just played their best game of the season. That’s all.
John Murphy, the longtime Voice of the Bills and former News 4 sports director, now writes columns for WIVB.com. Find more of his work here.
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