Remember how distraught the Bills were last week when they dominated the Dolphins statistically but a myriad of mistakes, large and small, caused Buffalo to endure a hurtful 20-19 loss in the Miami Gardens heat?
What a difference seven days makes.
Yesterday afternoon, in different, but lousy conditions – wind and rain – at Baltimore’s M&T Stadium, the Bills trailed 20-3 with 10 seconds left in the first half. But this time, it was the Ravens who came unglued and Buffalo, riding a streak of seven straight losses in one-score games, ended that concerning skein in the most encouraging possible way.
The Ravens never scored again, and after throwing a touchdown pass on the final scrimmage play of the first half, Josh Allen finished his run of 20 unanswered points after intermission as the Bills prevailed 23-20 on Tyler Bass’ field goal as time expired.
In the short term, the win made Buffalo 3-1 and tied it with Miami atop the AFC East.
But maybe more than anything, it was a high-character win for the Bills that figures to serve them well in the long-term.
To prevail, after looking so bad for most of the first half, in less than ideal weather circumstances, was impressive enough. But they also did it when Allen had a substandard passing day (19-of-36 for 213 yards with the TD and an interception) but, as he often does, made up for the arm deficiencies with his legs (team-leading 70 yards on 11 carries with a score).
Then, too, there were the injury issues on defense with both starting tackles out and one cornerback and a safety spot manned by backups.
Finally, and this might just be the most encouraging takeaway, Sean McDermott had a superior coaching game.
Often criticized for being a serial waster of timeouts to say nothing of making a number of dubious in-game decisions, he was about perfect against the Ravens.
Importantly, he didn’t let his team unravel when it went down by 17, though that was no surprise, as McDermott’s greatest strength is a close interaction and bond with his players.
However, the decision at the end of Buffalo’s final position was fraught with wisdom.
SAFETY Jordan Poyer got his second interception of the game when he picked off Lamar Jackson in the end zone on the Ravens’ ill-fated attempt on 4th-and-goal from the 2-yard-line.
That started Buffalo’s game-winning drive at Baltimore’s 20.
As the 12-play, 77-yard possession wound down, running back Devin Singletary took a screen pass 16 yards to the Baltimore 11 at the two-minute warning.
On the next play he went to the Ravens’ 3-yard-line and Allen then banged for a first down at the two. After a pair of knee downs using up Baltimore’s timeouts, Bass came on to kick the chip-shot winner.
It seemed that twice the oft-maligned Singletary gave himself up knowing scoring a touchdown was folly as it would mean giving the ball back to Jackson and his potent offense with time remaining.
Afterward, McDermott admitted the strategy was agreed upon by him and the staff, including new assistant Marc Lubick, whose primary responsibility is assisting with time management.
AFTERWARD, McDermott admitted, “The way (that drive) was executed, especially the final 20 yards or so, was high-level stuff and was good to see,” he said. “Motor (Singletary) on the screen knew not to score.
“The defense comes up with a turnover (Poyer’s pick), the offense drives down … to see it all executed the way it was … to get a win on the road in a tough situation was good to see.”
Of the early going, McDermott added, “In the first half we were a little sloppy with the football … two turnovers, but the defense was holding us in a little bit and then they settled in. The offense settled in during the second quarter and we started to move the ball a bit and executing at a higher level. It was fun to watch us settle in.
“If you look at the complexion of the game, it wasn’t going our way early via multiple (reasons), but the coaches adjusted. And the way we executed and the poise we had in a hard environment against a good football team that’s well-coached and that we’ve long-respected, is a good sign.”
In summation, he added, “The conditions were tough to play in, but it was a heckuva battle between two elite quarterbacks.”
And it just might have been an attitude-enhancer for the Bills over the rest of the season.
(Chuck Pollock, an Olean Times Herald senior sports columnist, can be reached at cpollock@oleantimesherald.com)
