1. Jerry Hughes' homecoming inspires record-setting playoff performance
Jerry Hughes grew up in Sugar Land, Texas. It's a suburb right outside of the Houston metro area. Saturday, marked his first playoff game in the area and he didn't disappoint.
Hughes finished his day with three sacks on Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson. He also assisted on one tackle to put his total tackles at four on the day. It was Hughes' best game of the season.
Hughes is the first Bill in team history to have 3+ sacks in a single postseason game. He's also the first NFL defender with three or more sacks in a postseason game since the Falcons Grady Jarrett had three in Super Bowl LI (2016).
Trent Murphy joined Hughes with a multi-sack performance. Murphy picked up right where he left off in Week 17 with another two-sack performance. Murphy and Hughes are the first Bills with a two-sack postseason game since Bruce Smith in 2000 at Tennessee.
They're the second duo in team history to ever tally two or more sacks in a post season game, joining Jeff Wright and Keith Willis who did it against Pittsburgh in 1993.
Hughes' performance came at a much needed time. His high for sacks in a game during the regular season came in Week 1 against the Jets with 1.5 and then he failed to record another until Week 9.
2. Josh Allen vows to be better
The Bills produced more than 400 total yards and successfully moved it on the air and the ground. But, the Bills kept settling for three points instead of touchdowns. It's an area the Bills have needed to improve on all season but couldn't do so against the Texans.
"No, it's just a collection of them and just finding ways to continue to move the ball," quarterback Josh Allen said. "Like I said, we had our chances, and we didn't finish, and that's on my shoulders. I will forever say that, that I've got to finish and I've got to be better for this team moving forward."
Allen took long strides in his second NFL season. He struggled early on with turnovers but nipped it in the bud after Week 5 and the bye week. He flashed his potential as the future of the franchise while still showing room for growth.
Allen has become a captain of the Bills team and someone for them to rally around. He knows what happened on Saturday wasn't good enough and knows the loss will make the team stronger.
"I mean, obviously not winning your last game. That's the end goal is to win a championship. So in that aspect, it is disappointing that we had our opportunities and chance to see improve our season and extend our season, and we didn't get it done," Allen said. "But I felt like this team grew throughout the season. We started finding each other and really developing a really good relationship and bond within the locker room, and again, I love my teammates and I appreciate everything that they've brought to the table this season, and I expect this to make us hungrier and come out next year ready to go."
3. Players offer these reactions to the end of the 2019 season
The Buffalo Bills took to social media to react to the end of their season.
Jerry Hughes kept it short.
Rookies took time to reflect on their first year.
And veterans wanted to thank the fans for their support throughout the season.
