The Good
The Bills won
The team played the beginning of the game as if they were well prepared. They were one odd third down offensive play call away from a perfect start on both sides of the ball. Hopefully this starts a trend
Josh Allen was masterful spreading the ball around
Shakir, Davis, and Kindcaid all had great games.
Diggs was clutch when he needed to be
Benard may never be Dick Butkus, but at his current level of play MLB is not something the Bills need to worry about
Solid first three quarters from the defense.
The good outweighed the Bad and the Ugly last night.
The Bad
Crucial play calls being botched with the same mistakes from past games, particulary being in shotgun on third down at the 8 inch line. Bills do not have the luxury of leaving points on the board.
The Ugly
The Bills have a choking problem. In the past I have said the Bills do not seem to be closers. But the problem maybe more severe than that. This season, the Bills special teams allowed the first punt return for a TD in an overtime in a number of years. This is an example of choking. The Bills blew a lead with a less than two minutes left and the Patriots (NFL's worst statistical offense) 75 yards from the end zone. And in one failed to defend screen pass, allowed the Patriots back into the game, and then a horrible effort to actual lose the game. Another choke and a loss. The game against the Giants was arguably saved on the last play of the game by the a crucial non-call by the refs. But it was a choke for the Giants to even be in that position at that point. And last nights game saw Mike Godwin outchoke the Bills by not seeing/catching the ball on the hail mary.
Some fans want to pretend these types of blown leads and blown lead situations are typical of NFL close games. I do not think they are, particularly from teams aspiring to a championship. Chiefs, Niners, Eagles, all lose games, but I don't think they put themselves in positions to lose the games on the last play in 50% of their games. And then actually lose half of those game. It is so frustrating. On the one hand the team seems good enough that it should be 7-1 and in a dominating postion in the AFC East. But due to this choking issue is 5-3 and in second place. And two last plays of games away from being 3-5