1. Buffalo home crowd gets rave reviews
Bills fans were loud on Sunday. By some accounts the volume at New Era Field was as high as it has been in several years and players, coaches and media members took notice.
Bengals assistant coach Darrin Simmons said, "It was loud, if not louder, than Seattle, I think."
Even media members were shocked at the atmosphere of their first Bills game.
"Really appreciate our fans, the way they support this football team, whether it's Week 4 or Week 1, Week 14," head coach Sean McDermott said on Monday. "We've got a very passionate fan base and a fan base that I would hope our team blends well with in terms of the types of guys we have on our team and the way that they play."
2. Brian Daboll likes Dawson Knox's versatility
Dawson Knox had a fun day during his first Bills home game. He scored his first touchdown since high school and had the play of the day on his 49 yard catch and run leading to the Bills game winning touchdown.
"He's still young, but improving like the rest of the young guys. But he's a smart guy. He can line up in multiple spots for you. You see him in a variety of positions. It's not over his head in terms of learning, so we'll try to use him the best way we can," offensive coordinator Brian Daboll said. "But, credit to him and (tight ends coach) Rob (Boras), they've worked really hard, and (Knox) was out for a while there in training camp and things like that, but a good young guy to work with."
Daboll is having fun with using his tight ends. Knox and rookie Tommy Sweeney are each versatile and can either block or go out for a pass on any play. The Bills have experimented with ways to get their players the ball and Sunday, Daboll even brought out the rare tight end jet sweep to put the ball in Knox's hands.
"You try to plan, and go out there and practice hard, but you're going to get some obstacles that come up that are unexpected, and you have to be able to weather the storm sometimes, and keep on pressing to the next play, and he did," Daboll said.
3. Crowd noise forced Edmunds to alternative communication
Tremaine Edmunds couldn't hear Leslie Frazier in his helmet speaker on Sunday. The leader of the Bills defense was unable to get information from his coach because the fans were so loud. Fortunately, the Bills defense was able to function well enough and hold the Bengals to 17 points.
"We want that noise, we need it. It makes it harder for the opponent when they're trying to run the operation," Frazier said. "So, we'll work through what we need to work through. We need our fans to continue to make it a difficult place for opponents to operate their offense. So, we'll work through things we need to work through."
Buffalo recorded two sacks on Sunday. Kevin Johnson recorded his first career sack as a Bill and it was all because of communication. Safety Micah Hyde was jumping up and down to get Johnson moved from the left side of the formation to the right before the called blitz. Four seconds later, Johnson had Dalton on the ground.
"You know, Kevin (Johnson) is kind of new to the nickel position and we had a call that, that maybe he didn't quite have some clarity on. And Micah did a tremendous job of getting him lined up and really talking him through a little bit of what he had to do," Frazier said. "So yeah, maybe Micah doesn't get the credit he necessarily deserves or Jordan (Poyer). They do a great job of quarterbacking our back end and our secondary and they've been doing it for the last couple of years we've been together and it's needed. I mean, just like Tremaine has a lot of responsibility on his plate, so do they on the back end. And that was a big help to us, when Micah kind of talked Kevin through that situation, it was good."
