Primetime football hasn’t been kind to the Buffalo Bills this season, but that didn’t matter to them on Monday Night Football as they dominated the San Francisco 49ers in route to a 34-24 victory.
The Bills excelled in all three phases of the game. They produced 449 yards of total offense and dominated the time of possession with almost 10 more minutes than the 49ers. They also dominated the defensive side of the ball, limiting the 49ers to just 86 rushing yards, and forcing two second-half interceptions.
After their second straight 10-point victory, Bills coach Sean McDermott called the victory one of Buffalo’s most complete performances of the season.
“It was, but I’m always looking for more, and I love the fact that our players are as well,” McDermott said during his post-game video conference call. “So we’ll go back to the drawing board this week, but I thought the takeaway by Tre White was key down the stretch and the answer when they scored in the fourth quarter. It was all good complimentary football pieces.”
Just a few weeks ago, the Bills went to State Farm Stadium to take on the Arizona Cardinals and came away with a loss due to a last-second hail mary. On Monday, due to coronavirus restrictions in Santa Clara County where the 49ers play, the Bills had to return to Arizona.
McDermott said that he was proud of the way his team responded to the adversity and how well they played given the situation.
“I love that our team can come back here and finish what we started here and finish it the right way,” McDermott said. “To me, you have to be mentally tough, not just in sports but in life, you have to be mentally tough and I thought it took a lot of mental toughness for our guys to not even flinch when we heard that the game got moved to Arizona.”
Monday’s matchup was the sixth game this year that the Bills allowed 100 yards of rushing or less and it was the third game in the past four that they’ve kept their opponent under 90 yards rushing.
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The Bills Defense is Starting to Show Its Potential
Last Monday, Buffalo Bills defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier said he thought his defense was starting to show the consistency he needs to see as the season turns into the winter months.
Monday was another example of that coming true.
Although they allowed quarterback Nick Mullens to throw for 316 yards and three touchdowns, the Bills defense held the 49ers in check for most of the night. After the 49ers marched 97 yards down the field on their first offensive drive of the game, the Bills made a goal line stop. But a Zack Moss fumble on the goal line allowed the 49ers to score first.
After that drive, the 49ers didn’t have a drive that stretched over 50 yards until there were three minutes left in the third quarter. Their final three drives stretched, 75, 70, and 73 yards. But for the Bills, their success came down to stopping the run and taking away the football.
“Takeaways change the game, takeaways change the field position and takeaways change the momentum,” Bills safety Jordan Poyer said during a post-game video conference call. “We gotta find more ways to do so.”
Hyde converted the first interception when a Mullens pass popped up off linebacker A.J. Klein’s elbow and into the hands of Hyde, who returned it 33 yards to San Francisco’s 5-yard line as the Bills turned it into their second field goal of the game.
With just over seven minutes left in the game, Tre’Davious White picked off Mullens on the goal line for his third interception in the last four games. During his post-game video conference call, Hyde said that those turnovers were a big part of the win on Monday.
“Executing on defense is big and I feel like those turnovers were a big part of today’s win,” Hyde said. “Mine, getting us down, and Tre’Davious’s pick in the red zone was huge. We’ve just been patient all season and they (turnovers) are finally coming in bunches.”
The Bills didn’t record any sacks on Monday, but they did record seven quarterback hits and also tallied 3.5 tackles for a loss.
The Offense Was Firing on All Cylinders
Quarterback Josh Allen turned in one of his best performances of the season by completing 32 of his 40 pass attempts for 375 yards and four touchdowns, which all went to different receivers.
Wide receiver Cole Beasley caught nine passes for 130 yards and a touchdown and Stefon Diggs caught 10 passes for 92 yards. Rookie Gabe Davis caught his team-high fifth touchdown pass fo the season and tight end Dawson Knox also caught a touchdown pass in his second straight game.
Killer Bease. 😈
“We were clicking, it just seemed like our guys were getting open, the ball was coming out of the hand really well and we were protecting well and it was really fun out there,” Allen said in his post-game video conference call. “But again, still some mistakes that we can learn from. I’m not gonna say it was our best game but it felt good to go out there and play the way we did.”
Allen was the star of the show as he put together his third performance this season with 375 passing yards or more and it’s also the third time he’s thrown four touchdown passes in a single game.
But, Allen’s performance was special in the way he was able to march down the field in several different ways. He scrambled, he ran up the middle, he hit Beasley underneath, and over the top, and spread the ball around to multiple different receivers.
“Our offense feeds off him and I really appreciate the way he played the game tonight,” McDermott said during his video conference call. “He played the game in a very patient way. He was patient when he needed to be and he took some shots when he needed to take some shots. I thought coach Daboll called a great game and I thought Josh and the guys executed well.”
The Bills will now turn their focus to Sunday when they play the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday Night Football after they suffered their first loss of the season on Monday.
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How the Bills Put Together a Complete Team Performance on Monday Night Football