WGR

‘Though he struggled to start his first season in the pros, entering Week 10 with 72.7% accuracy, he shook off any signs of inconsistency as he drilled not one, not two, but three 50-yard field goals against the Arizona Cardinals… all in one quarter of action. Bass became the first kicker in franchise history to covert three kicks of 50-plus yards in one game, and also only the second kicker in NFL history to make three field goals of 54-plus yards in one game.’

‘We all know what happened after that, and there’s plenty to digest there. Should the Bills have called a timeout before the Hail Mary play? Did they make it too easy for the Cardinals receivers to run freely off the line of scrimmage? Should they have sent one more pass rusher to try and take away Kyler Murray’s time and space?’

‘As opposed to the previous week against the Seattle Seahawks in Orchard Park, the Bills did not play a great game. The offense went into a deep freeze for much of the second half. The Bills run game, at least rushers not named Josh Allen, produced next to nothing. There were some ill-timed and ill-advised penalties. The defense was shredded by the Cardinals’ run game and the punter had a 12-yard punt, giving Arizona a drive start at the Bills’ 30-yard line.’

‘The Buffalo defense did a good job limiting Arizona’s high-powered offense in the first half, holding them to three field goals despite the Cardinals getting inside the Bills’ 25-yard line on each of those drives. However, it was a totally different story in the second half, as a 17-point third quarter that featured a pair of rushing scores from Murray, pushed the Cardinals ahead going into the final frame.’

‘There is a lot Buffalo can take away from this game, positive and negative. The Bills played a great first half and did a good job controlling Murray and limiting the high-powered Arizona offense. But, another sluggish third quarter, a trend for Buffalo this season, put the Bills in a hole heading into the fourth, and Stefon Diggs’ 21-yard go-ahead touchdown catch with 34 seconds to go wasn’t enough to seal the victory.’

‘As much as the offense has carried the torch this season, they hold a heavy portion of the blame when it comes to their failures because of their inability to execute in the third quarter. Currently, it’s the single biggest roadblock this team faces in their quest to an AFC East title and potentially an AFC Championship. If the offense can find a way to push aside their third quarter struggles and put together a full four quarter performance, the Bills might really be the biggest threat to the Kansas City Chiefs.’

‘As good as Allen was at the start and end, there was a lot to inconsistency and bad passes in the middle. Twice he threw the ball into the arms of Cardinals CB Patrick Peterson, but Peterson didn’t hold on for the interception. But then Peterson did grab one, and so did Dre Kirkpatrick, both on badly thrown Allen passes. In the second and third quarters, Allen combined to go 13-for-23 for 108 yards, 1 TD and 1 INT.’

‘Safety Micah Hyde, who injured his ankle during Thursday’s practice, is listed as questionable to play, so the loss of three more defensive backs could leave the group thin facing the Cardinals, who are the top-ranked offense in terms of yards per-game.’

‘f course we don’t know exactly how the Bills will decide to use White and how often he’ll be specifically matched up man-to-man on Hopkins, especially considering how much zone defense they run, and now that cornerbacks Levi Wallace and Josh Norman will both be out due to COVID protocols, but it’s safe to say that matchup will happen often enough to matter, and whoever wins more of them may go a long way in determining who wins this game.’

‘Offensive lineman Cody Ford and safety Micah Hyde are both questionable to play. Hyde was a late addition to the weekly injury report after he tweaked his ankle on Thursday, according to head coach Sean McDermott.’

‘The Pythagorean model projects a team’s expected win total based on their point differential. FiveThirtyEight’s projections indicate the 8-0 Pittsburgh Steelers to be “historically lucky” this season, though the Bills (4.7 expected wins) aren’t far behind. In fact, only eight teams in NFL history have outperformed their Pythagorean expectation by a larger margin than Buffalo through nine games.’

‘McDermott on preparing to defend Murray: “I think the word that comes to mind is unique. Mobility is one thing, but a unique type of mobility with quickness, speed and a lot of arm talent to boot. It will be a big challenge for us defensively and as a team.”‘

‘The only player who didn’t practice at all either day was running back/special teamer Taiwan Jones, who is dealing with a knee injury.’

‘No media nor fans knew of the passing of his Allen’s grandmother before or during the game. It was only after the contest when Bills head coach Sean McDermott revealed the situation in his postgame press conference.’

‘This is the fourth time that Allen has been named as the AFC Offensive Player of the Week in his three-year career, and he joins Hall of Famers Jim Kelly and Thurman Thomas as the only other Bills players to earn AFC Offensive Player of the Week honors twice in the same season.’