1. Still love the direction of this team
You never want this game to end the way it did, period. You especially don't want it to happen out west because it's a long way back on the plane, and then you really don't want it on a bye week because you just have to keep reliving it. This is not a normal bye week; guys will not be going back to their hometowns, they will be getting COVID tested all week here in Buffalo. So, they are truly just going to be working and wallowing on this loss, but I think it'll fuel them. Kyler Murray made a great play at the end and it is what it is. That's a low percentage play, and the Bills are still 5-1 this season in games decided by one score, and that's the one loss. If the Bills made a winning play that could easily be 6-0 in that stat column. So I still love the direction on the team.
2. Guys stepped up after COVID struck the team
I think throughout this season the Bills, obviously, aren't going to be the only team affected by COVID and I like their approach. Sean McDermott said after the game that the guys that stepped in, he thought played really well. And it looked like it on the very first possession of the game when Dane Jackson broke up a ball in one-on-one coverage in the end zone against DeAndre Hopkins on a jump ball. He looked the part, he also had a fumble recovery in this game, and unfortunately, he went out with an injury to his knee. But I thought that the Bills were resilient in the fact that guys stepped in and did their jobs. Arizona has the No. 1 yards per game offense in the league so they were going to put up some points and they were going to put up some yards. All things considered, the guys that stepped in played really well.
3. What impressed me most about Josh?
Josh was really hard on himself after the game about the two interceptions. But when you throw the ball with the frequency that the Buffalo Bills have been this season, guys are going to make plays against you. Patrick Peterson sunk back out of his zone to grab his interception. Then, I'm not sure if Gabriel Davis should have worked back downhill, or if Dre' Kirkpatrick simply made a good play in running that ball down but you know those happen throughout a game. What impressed me the most about Josh is leading that game-winning drive at the end. He made some really good third-down conversions and ended his final drive with the excellent throw to Stefon Diggs for the 21-yard touchdown. He also had a receiving touchdown in the game and led the team in rushing with 38 yards.
4. Finding an identity
I think the last four weeks of the season the Bills defense is starting to find their identity. With this new high-flying offense and them getting up on teams and teams having to respond by putting the ball in the air the whole game, they're giving up a lot of yards. But these last four games, they're sacking the quarterback at a high rate, with 16 sacks through those games and they've also forced nine turnovers in the last four weeks as well. So although the Bills defense is giving up more yards and points than they're used to, when you look at it from last year, they are starting to make big plays, and that's keeping them in games and giving them a chance to win them.
5. Time to get healthy
In this COVID year, the Bills have 10 games under their belt and they are beaten up like a lot of teams in this league. So, hopefully over these next couple of weeks, they can get healthy. Also, they take the time to get rejuvenated while also remaining a little ticked off from this loss and get ready for a great final six games of the season, and hopefully a long playoff run.
