BY: JOE KONZE JR.
After clinching a playoff berth and capturing an AFC East division title for the first time in 25 years, the Buffalo Bills took to the field on Monday night at Gillette Stadium in hopes of becoming the first AFC East rival to sweep the season series with the New England Patriots for the first time in two decades.
Behind the impressive play and record-setting duo of quarterback Josh Allen and wide receiver Stefon Diggs, the Bills (12-3) dominated the Patriots (6-9) en route to a 38-9 victory. The Bills last swept the Patriots in 1999, and the last division opponents to sweep the Patriots were the Jets and Dolphins in 2000.
With the Bills’ hopes of securing a top-three seed for the AFC Playoffs still alive, here are three quick hits from Monday night’s game.
Josh Allen breaks records
Josh Allen continues to embrace the primetime spotlight. Last night, with four touchdown passes, Allen became the Bills’ single-season record holder for passing touchdowns in a season (34). Allen also surpassed 300 yards passing, setting a new franchise record for 300-yard games in a season with eight.
After a slow start to the game, Allen caught fire and completely took over and completed 27 of 36 passes for 320 yards and four touchdowns. He now has 4,320 yards passing on the season and is just 40 yards shy of breaking a single-season passing yards record held by Drew Bledsoe (4,359 in 2002). With Allen slinging the pigskin, the sky is the limit for the Bills’ offense.
Diggs thrashes Patriots secondary
Stefon Diggs is cold blooded.
The fleet-footed, elusive wide receiver has been nothing short of spectacular since he put on a Bills uniform. Man-coverage, double coverage, or zone coverage, it doesn’t matter. Diggs always finds a way to get open and finds a way to hurt you. Coming into last night’s game against the Patriots, Diggs needed just 55 yards to become the Bills’ all-time leader in receiving yards in a single season (1,368), a record set by Eric Moulds in 1998.
He had no problem reaching that milestone as he thrashed the Patriots and put an exclamation point on his already stellar season. Diggs finished the game with nine receptions for 145 yards and three touchdowns. Diggs currently leads all NFL wide receivers catches (120) and yards (1459). Without question, he is a perennial all-star and a true, elite No. 1 wide receiver.
Rushing attack a non-factor
The stars were aligned for the Bills’ rushing attack to have a big day. Before last night’s matchup, the New England Patriots had given up a total of 436 rushing yards in its last two games.
But with Allen slinging the ball all over the field early and often, the Bills did not have to rely on the legs of Devin Singletary and Zack Moss much en route to a blowout victory. Singletary finished the game with 10 carries for 36 yards, while Moss finished with 12 carries for 57 yards and a touchdown. Allen added a few rushing yards with his legs. Combined, Allen, Moss, and Singletary finished with over 100 yards rushing on the day.
The Sports Desk can be reached at editorialtrainwrecksports@gmail.com
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