Another one-sided blowout, which is becoming the norm for the Bills

ORCHARD PARK - These Buffalo Bills of the 2020s are doing the impossible. They are making us all forget that before Sean McDermott, Brandon Beane and Josh Allen sauntered into western New York, this was a franchise that missed the playoffs for 17 consecutive seasons.

I mean, for all of us - fans and media - to barely remember the misery of those days when the Bills were trapped in what seemed like an inescapable abyss, that’s quite a feat, but that’s what this team has done.

The Bills were a national laughingstock for nearly two decades, rifling through coaches and general managers and quarterbacks more frequently than Aaron Judge hits home runs. They majored in losing games in the most unimaginable ways, and let’s be honest, they minored in losing games in the most imaginable of ways, too.

Now? The Bills make other teams look laughable, the latest example being the Tennessee Titans who were overwhelmed 41-7 by the Bills on Monday Night Football in front of a raucous crowd at Highmark Stadium.

Before the game, with all-time great Jim Kelly and Bruce Smith flanking him, 97-year-old Marv Levy held a microphone in his hand and repeated one of his most famous rallying cries. He asked the fans, “Where else would you rather be than right here, right now?”

Nowhere. No one in that throng of 70,683 wanted to be anywhere else in the world than right there in Orchard Park, watching the Bills lay waste to an opponent that has been a major pain in their collective butt the past couple years.

“I don’t know how it was before I got here, but now we put the pedal to the metal,” said newcomer Von Miller. “We have an attitude of domination. We’re not playing the game to just win the game, we’re playing the game to dominate the game. And we’ve got a team full of killers.

“It’s led by our quarterback, our head coach, the leadership on this team. From Brandon Beane all the way down to the janitors and the infrastructure of this team, like our cafeteria ladies are just so great. Everybody that helps out with his team … everybody has their hand in this.”

Whatever those ladies are serving in the dining hall, man, sign me up if it means I could write as well as the Bills have played in the first two weeks.

This little nugget of information is truly astounding. The last 20 Bills regular-season victories have been by 10 points or more, tying the longest such streak in NFL history set by George Halas’ Chicago Bears spanning the 1941 and 1942 seasons.

That’s crazy. Think of all the great teams in the 80 years since that Bears streak - the Packers of the 1960s, the Steelers of the 1970s, the 49ers of the 1980s, the Cowboys of the 1990s, the Patriots of the 2000s and 2010s. None of those teams did this.

Now, to be fair, it hasn’t been perfect, right? For instance, last year, while every one of the Bills’ 12 victories was by double digits (counting the blowout of New England in the playoffs), every one of their seven losses came in a one-possession game including the season-ender in the AFC Divisional disaster at Kansas City.

Meaning, there is still work to be done if the Bills hope to finally, at long last, bring the Lombardi Trophy to Buffalo.

“We don’t take that for granted at all; it’s really hard to win,” McDermott said.

The Bills just don’t make it look too hard these days.

Sal’s Six Points

▶ 1. The Bills grabbed this game by the throat: Midway through the second quarter, Allen threw an incomplete pass on third-and-1, and then on fourth-and-1 from the Tennessee 26, McDermott decided to go for it but backup center Greg Van Roten committed a false start, so Tyler Bass kicked a 49-yard field goal that gave the Bills a 10-7 lead.

At that point, the Titans were being the Titans. That is to say, they were frustrating the Bills like they always seem to do, and the game was up for grabs. From that moment on, the Titans stopped being the Titans and they had about as much of a chance of beating the Bills as I would trying to beat Usain Bolt in the 200 meters.

The Bills left the Titans in the dust over the next 20 minutes bridging the second and third quarters. They scored three touchdowns (all by Diggs on passes from Allen), a Bass field goal, and a pick-six touchdown by Matt Milano, capping a 34-point eruption.

▶ 2. Josh Allen was superb, yawn, again: During that game-changing stretch, here’s what Allen did on the three possessions that ended with Diggs touchdowns. He was 6 of 7 for 87 yards on the drive that was capped with his schoolyard-type four-yard TD just before the end of the first half when he extended the play long enough for Diggs to get open in the end zone.

He was 4 of 6 for 79 yards on the first possession of the third quarter including a gorgeous 46-yard TD pass to Diggs. “That throw that Josh made to Stef, I’m just saying, ‘Go get it man, go get it’ and he he got it,” McDermott said. “It was fun to watch. I mean, that was awesome.”

And right after Jordan Poyer’s interception at midfield, Allen hit Diggs twice, the last a 14-yarder on a quick slant, a throw that was meticulously timed and placed. “When we execute how we know we’re supposed to execute, success typically leads to success,” Allen said. “We’re just trying to be the best version of ourselves.”

▶ 3. Von Miller played better than the stat sheet indicated: If you looked only at the numbers, they showed that Miller had one tackle (for lost yardage against Derrick Henry) and one tipped pass. Doesn’t seem like much, right? Think again. Miller was winning his matchups most of the game, nearly had a strip sack of Ryan Tannehill, and his pressure and presence on the edge influenced Tannehill on numerous plays.

We are already seeing what Miller means to the entire defense as Greg Rousseau is flourishing on the other edge and he had three pressures and a sack in this game; Boogie Basham now has an interception, a fumble recovery and seven pressures in two games; Tremaine Edmunds was sprung free up the middle for a sack on a blitz; and with Tannehill and the Rams’ Matthew Stafford harried in the pocket, the Bills already have five interceptions.

▶ 4. Jake Kumerow stepped into the prime-time lights: With Gabe Davis out, there was much speculation about who would fill that sizable void. Would the Bills send Isaiah McKenzie out wide and use Jamison Crowder in the slot? Would rookie Khalil Shakir get an opportunity to show that his training camp and preseason was real?

Nope. The Bills turned to special teams ace Kumerow and he played 78% of the snaps on offense, catching two passes for 50 yards including a beautiful 39-yarder in the second quarter that set up Diggs’ first touchdown. Kumerow also played 70% of the special teams snaps. Coming into the game, Kumerow had three career catches for 50 yards in 23 games as a Bill.

▶ 5. James Cook got some good work: Yes, it came in ultimate garbage time with the Bills lead 41-7, but the rookie second-round pick carried 11 times for a game-high 53 yards, so he can catch his breath after fumbling in his first NFL carry against Los Angeles.

The Bills other two backs, Devin Singletary and Zack Moss, did very little, though to be fair, the Bills really weren’t interested in running against a Tennessee defense that was vulnerable against the pass. Still, they combined for only 36 yards, and 33 of those came on two carries. Their other seven attempts produced just four yards.

▶ 6. Christian Benford is a revelation: The rookie sixth-round pick started again at cornerback ahead of first-round pick Kaiir Elam and he played a team-high 91% of the defensive snaps. He held up fine in coverage, and he also had a beautiful tackle on Henry for a loss of four yards.

He has shown a real knack for open-field tackling, and that is a skill that will really be put to the test this week when he has to go against Miami’s Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle. It will be one of the key matchups in the game, especially if Dane Jackson - who is out of the hospital Tuesday morning after his scary neck injury - isn't able to play.

What they said in the locker room

▶ QB Josh Allen on Stefon Diggs: “He did a great job of getting open, making plays, making some great catches. That long one (for a 46-yard TD in the third quarter) was a great catch. So he is what he is. It’s Stefon Diggs. We know he is one of the greatest, if not the greatest, receiver in the game right now, and I trust him implicitly. I love that guy. He works his tail off.”

▶ SS Jordan Poyer on the play of rookie CBs Christian Benford and Kaiir Elam: “They’ve just bought in from the moment that those guys have stepped in the Bills uniform. Those guys just bought into the system, bought into the way we talked, the way we walk, just our attitude. There’s a standard around the facility and those guys have lived up to it. Just the way they prepare for the game, you wouldn’t think that they’re rookies.”

▶ WR Jake Kumerow on helping to fill in for injured Gabe Davis: “It felt good, but you know it’s same-old, business as usual. We practice, we prepare like we’re all about to play in the game. I wasn’t worried about it. I know my plays. Gabe is there to help me out, the coaches got me right. We didn’t miss a beat. … It’s fun, is what it is, because we’ve got a great team of guys who ride behind you. It’s fun to play with the guys. With the preparation, there’s nothing you have to worry about, because if you prepare the right way, then you just come out and execute.”

Extra points

• Monday Night Football had not been kind to the Bills through the years. Before this game, they had lost 13 of their last 17 in that prime-time window, and had lost four straight at home. Their last home Monday night victory was in 1994 against Denver. Overall, the Bills are now 20-27 in Monday games and 40-46 in all prime-time games.

• Monday nights have been very kind to Diggs, though. Since he entered the NFL with the Vikings in 2016, no player in the league has more receptions (82), receiving yards (949), or touchdowns (12) in Monday night games than Diggs.

• Only five players in the Super Bowl era have at least three career games with at least 140 receiving yards and three receiving TDs. They are Jerry Rice (7), Randy Moss (4), Diggs (3), Marvin Harrison (3) and Tyreek Hill (3).

• The Bills held Henry to 25 yards, his lowest total in his NFL career in a game in which he carried at least 13 times.

• This is the first time since 1993 that the Bills have forced at least three turnovers in each of their first two games of a season.

• Since the start of the 2020 season, no team has punted fewer times than Buffalo’s 97. Kansas City has punted the second-fewest times at 100.

• The Bills have scored an opening drive TD, including playoffs, in seven straight games which is the second-longest streak by any team in the last 40 seasons. In 2016 the Falcons did it in eight straight.

• There have been 201 instances in NFL history of a team facing a playoff team from the previous season in each of their first two games. The Bills' plus-55 is the largest point differential of any of them.

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This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Another one-sided blowout, which is becoming the norm for the Bills