Bills fans won’t soon forget this game.
Who wouldn’t recall a stadium power outage that blacked out the network telecast for over 20 minutes?
And what about — in the same game — a lightning delay that sent both teams to the locker room for a half-hour plus?
Yet that’s exactly what happened in the first 32 game-clock minutes of the Bills meeting with the Dolphins on Sunday afternoon at Hard Rock Stadium.
But, get this, for Buffalo fans, those weren’t the most memorable things that happened yesterday at Miami Gardens.
That honor belonged to Josh Allen, the Bills’ oft-maligned third-year quarterback.
In his 29th start, he showed the poise and skills that Buffalo’s front office saw when it traded five spots — at the cost of two second-round draft choices — to take him seventh overall in the 2018 NFL Draft.
HE’S BEEN oft-criticized for a lack of ball security — 24 fumbles before Sunday — and a lack of accuracy, particularly on the deep ball.
But in last week’s 27-17 win over the Jets at Orchard Park, Allen teased the faithful with the first 300-yard passing game by a Buffalo QB in nearly four years. Of course he also fumbled twice, losing both, and ran a concerning 14 times.
However, seven days later he pooh-poohed the critics with a performance that put him squarely in the upper reaches of the Bills’ passing record book.
Allen was a glittering 24-of-35 through the air for 417 yards, tied for third-most in franchise history and added touchdown passes to four different receivers: veterans John Brown (46 yards), Stefon Diggs (22) and rookies Gabriel Davis (6) and Reggie Gilliam (1).
He also mustered his fifth fourth-quarter comeback in the last 19 games — the second against Miami — as the Bills trailed the Dolphins, 20-17, with six minutes to play.
Best of all, Allen ran a modest four times for 18 yards and didn’t suffer any of the big hits he absorbed earlier.
OH, HE wasn’t perfect.
Twice Allen made throws that could/should have been intercepted.
One was a pass that glanced off the hands of Dolphins’ linebacker Kyle Van Noy that would have been an easy “pick six” had he caught it. The other was an overthrown bomb that the Miami defender couldn’t quite corral as the Dolphins were desperately trying to get the ball back.
Allen also fumbled at the end of a gritty, tackle-breaking 16-yard run but fortuitously, officials ruled his forward progress had been stopped before turning the ball loose.
Still, being critical of those ill-considered decisions is a bit like winning a car and complaining that it needs new tires.
And, quarterbacking wasn’t the only reason the Bills are among the shrinking list of NFL unbeatens.
After a pathetic rushing effort by the running backs in the win over the Jets — Devin Singletary and Zack Moss combined for 41 yards on 18 carries — that same tandem had the same number of ties but this time totaled 93 yards.
AS USUAL, despite Allen’s big game, coach Sean McDermott was metered in his praise.
“It’s Game 2,” he cautioned, “(but) he’s got ice water in his veins, there’s no moment too big for him. That was true from the very start when we got him here. Josh is a leader and he does a great job of leading by example and just has that winning mindset. He’s a highly-competitive guy, as are a lot of guys in the locker room.”
As for the issues that came up during the game, McDermott added, “It’s a tough thing to go on the road in the NFL, wins are hard to come by, period. The obstacles that were in our way from coming down here banged up on the defensive side (starting linebackers Tremaine Edmunds and Matt Milano both out). The weather … we knew it was going to be hot when they schedule us down here early. But our guys overcame and they stayed resilient. We knew there was a chance also for the weather that we did get and we were ready to go with the lightning storm and I thought we handled it well.”
Thanks in large part to Josh Allen.
(Chuck Pollock, a Times Herald senior sports columnist, can be reached at cpollock@oleantimesherald.com)
