That wasn’t a must-win game Sunday at Highmark Stadium.
The Bills 24-21 victory over the Patriots fell into the “should” win category, not a “must” win.
That’s what happens when you’ve already won 11 games, six straight at home, have the division title clinched for a couple weeks, and are ticketed for the second or third seed in the playoffs. You don’t coast, but kinda.
If you’re the ultra-competitive Sean McDermott, you’d never admit it, but the Bills had bigger fish to fry. That’s part of the reason why Matt Milano, Rasul Douglas, Taylor Rapp and Damar Hamlin sat this one out.
“We had those conversations with our training staff,” McDermott said after the game. “It’s like ‘Hey, we’re not holding anybody out just because this or that.’ Certainly, understanding already being in the playoffs you’re trying to improve your football team overall, but at the end of the day those guys just weren’t ready.”
Josh Allen went so far to say the Bills were disguising what they do.
“As an offense,” he said, “it’s, how much do we want to show? Are we going to go extreme and show everything in our arsenal? There’s a line that we’ve got to toe.”
That’s a line that could become clearer Christmas Day when Kansas City plays Pittsburgh and Baltimore plays Houston. A Chiefs win puts Buffalo out of contention for the 1-seed and Houston victory over Baltimore makes the Bills playoff seed #2 regardless of what Buffalo does the rest of the season.
That may mean more Bills starters get a day off, including Josh Allen.
It only seemed like the Bills had Sunday off. They put another 100-yard rushing day from James Cook and a strong second-half defense together for a win against the plucky but undermanned Patriots.
Cook was unstoppable especially on a 46-yard touchdown run in the second quarter that cut the Patriots 14-to-nothing lead in half. He even took a direct snap in the third quarter before catching a touchdown pass from Allen.
“When he is angry and hungry he runs like it. And you can tell,” McDermott said.
He keeps fresh also thanks to the smart use of Ty Johnson and Ray Davis. Expect to see all three running backs in the run-up to the playoffs.
The Buffalo defense took over the game in the second half with three consecutive takeaways and a touchdown; 17 points from the offense was enough to produce a victory. A fourth quarter New England touchdown in the final minute made it a three-point game – close, but no cigar.
There were problems in the Bills’ 12th victory. Thirteen penalties, six of them pre-snap, were high on McDermott’s list of complaints. The team’s lackadaisical approach offensively in the first half and 4-of-11 third-down conversion rate were issues. They gave up their first sack since the Colts game November 10 and Allen threw his first interception in five weeks.
But they won and have started to get ready for the postseason. That’s when the must-win games begin.
John Murphy, the longtime Voice of the Bills, is writing columns for WIVB.com this season. Find more of his work here.