Game balls: Standouts from Bills’ wild-card demolition of the Patriots

The Buffalo Bills’ wild-card win was a historic game for the franchise, as it helped exorcise over two decades of beatings at the hands of the New England Patriots.

Patriots coach Bill Belichick faced his worst postseason loss in his career on Saturday. There’s no debate that the changing of the guard has occurred in the AFC East.

The victory included a multitude of performances that stood out. It was as close to an ideal game as possible for Buffalo, as the Bills completely dominated New England in every fact of the game.

It was a difficult week to determine who earned game balls this week. Here’s who earned the honors this week for the Bills:

Josh Allen

Allen put forth arguably the best quarterback performance in Bills postseason history, going 21-of-25 passing for 308 yards and five touchdown passes. Allen added 66 yards on six rushes. His passes were precise all game, completely overwhelming the Patriots defense. Allen, as we’ve come to expect, extended plays and put his receivers in idea situations to make plays.

Dawson Knox

Knox was an absolute force, catching two touchdown passes (and nearly a third) and providing a large target for Allen in all areas of the field. Knox led the way for Buffalo with five catches and 89 receiving yards. He opened the scoring for the game with a stellar catch in the back corner of the end zone.

Micah Hyde

Buffalo’s defense put a whoopin’ on New England’s offense. No moment completely took the soul out of the Patriots game like safety Micah Hyde’s interception in the first half:

Devin Singletary

Singletary’s emergence over the second half of the season has helped the Bills offense expand its play-calling options. Singletary ran 16 times for 81 rushing yards and two touchdowns in the wild-card game. It was the third-straight effort from Singletary where he scored twice:

Bills coaching staff

Bills head coach Sean McDermott, offensive coordinator Brian Daboll, and defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier put together a nearly flawless game plan. Buffalo was ready to dominate this game from the opening kickoff. It was a 60-minute beatdown on the Patriots.

Mandatory Credit: Mark Konezny-USA TODAY Sports

1

1