Rochester Democrat and Chronicle

‘But Sunday, Allen came out firing and if not for a great play by Washington’s Antonio Gibson on his long catch and run touchdown, and then a miscue on special teams which set up another quick Football Team score, this one would have been a colossal blowout. As it was, it was your average run of the mill blowout.’

‘“When we got word that we were going to be aggressive there, I love those types of situations,” said Allen, who operated that 26-second drill the way the greats of the game, the Bradys and Rodgers and Mannings all have. “That type of trust that you have in your offense, we feel that when coach is allowing us to go out there and be us. It’s a good feeling.”’

The game was pretty much in hand in the first half, but right after Washington’s breakthrough TD catch-and-run by Gibson, the Bills kickoff team allowed a short kick by Washington’s Dustin Hopkins to hit the ground, and a crazy hop wound up right in Hopkins’ hands for a recovery at the Buffalo 24, and that set up Washington’s second TD. Isaiah McKenzie later had a 33-yard punt return called back on a holding penalty against Tyler Matakevich which cost the Bills 28 yards in field position. And then Tyler Bass, who made a 48-yard field goal to end the first half, kicked the ball out of bounds to start the third quarter, giving the Football Team a drive start at the 40, though they went nowhere. Bass, who also made field goals of 29 and 21 yards, managed five touchbacks on eight kickoffs.

‘Sal’s prediction: Buffalo Bills 27, Washington Football Team 14.’

‘Granted, that was also two very talented defenses in Baltimore and Kansas City, but no matter who the Bills are playing – and they will see another stout defense Sunday when the Washington Football Team comes to Highmark Stadium – the quarter-billion-dollar man has to rise above it and be Buffalo’s best player.’

‘“When I was a head coach at a very small school in Chicago (Trinity International University) and Ron was trying to figure out what he wanted to do once he got through playing, I said, ‘Come and join me on my staff, man, you’d be a really good coach,’” Frazier recalled. “He didn’t want to coach at the time, he wanted to dabble in other things.”’

‘How’s this for a defensive domination: Six sacks aided by a relentless blitz package; an interception by Levi Wallace; a fumble forced by Taron Johnson and recovered by Matt Milano; four turnovers on downs; and just 216 yards and 13 first downs allowed. It’s been a long time since a Buffalo defense played that well.’

‘Last week was undoubtedly a gut punch, losing the emotional home opener to a Steelers team that Buffalo is also better than – for proof, Raiders 26, Steelers 17. This was a soul cleanser, so, whether he chooses to revel in it or not, at least for the proverbial 24-hour window, McDermott must know that his Bills put forth quite an impressive performance.’

‘It was certainly not a vintage Allen performance, let’s not sugarcoat that.’

‘There are three things that would concern me if I was McDermott regarding the offensive line. Was LG Jon Feliciano deciding to lose 25 pounds in the offseason a good idea since he was pushed around so mercilessly by Cameron Heyward last week? Was last year’s strong performance by RT Daryl Williams, which led to him re-signed as a free agent, merely a one-off? And is LT Dion Dawkins’ severe case of Covid still affecting his play?’

‘Some fans can be fickle – you read that here first. This fan, positive at kickoff, has morphed into negative. He punctuates his comments on the Bills’ performance with a word and its variants that can’t be written here.’

‘Since that day, Allen has played five games against the Dolphins. The Bills have won them all, have averaged 39.4 points per game, and Allen has completed 64.4% of his passes for an average of 259 yards with 17 touchdowns and just four interceptions. He also has 340 yards rushing and three TDs.’

‘“Yeah, that’s the game, right there,” offensive coordinator Brian Daboll said. “There’s plays here and there throughout the game that you’re gonna hit, you’re gonna miss. But 1-for-4 in the red zone, we’re down there and we’re settling. That’s hard to win a game, particularly against a defense like that.”’

‘”It was a joint decision between the Pegula organization and the county. We believe that the only way to ensure a real safe atmosphere is to actually have people vaccinated,” Poloncarz said.’

‘Left tackle Dion Dawkins was flagged for one holding penalty in 2020; he was nailed three times in this game, though two were declined. Feliciano, Williams, and center Mitch Morse also were caught holding.’