CURTIS HENRY
Sports Editor
Stop me if you have heard this one before: The Buffalo Bills are atop the AFC East in September.
A bit of an anomaly, for sure, but the Bills gave fans every reason to circle the wagons in 2017 on Sunday. A 21-12 victory over the Jets gave Buffalo sole position of first in the division, a title awarded equally in part due to Hurricane Irma postponing Miami’s game against Tampa Bay and the Patriots suffering a shocking defeat to the Chiefs last Thursday.
The win over the Jets was far from sexy or flawless, and frankly, it was probably closer than it should have been. However, the win was almost exactly how the team was hoping to look under the leadership of new head coach Sean McDermott.
The team has already taken steps in two major areas in the transition from the Rex Ryan to the McDermott era: discipline and resiliency. The Bills totaled a mere six penalties for 50 yards on Sunday, and in that count were no personal fouls or pass interference calls. That is a welcomed change from the past two seasons, which saw flags littered all over the turf at New Era Field more often than not.
In evaluating the team’s resiliency, it is important to note how the team closed the game out. The Bills closed the game out defensively by intercepting Jets quarterback Josh McCown twice, which stymied any attempt that the Jets made to get back into the game late.
The discipline the Bills exhibited on Sunday was refreshing, to say the least. Sunday afternoon was the type of gameflow that Bills fans have been expecting to see since the team went 9-7 in 2014: heavy doses of LeSean McCoy, relatively mistake-free play from Tyrod Taylor and solid effort defensively.
McCoy tallied 159 total yards from scrimmage Sunday, while Taylor threw for 224 and added 38 more yards on the ground. The defense surrendered a measly 38 yards rushing to the Jets, an encouraging sign for a team that gave up 200+ yards on the ground on three occasions last year to the likes of Jay Ajayi and Le’Veon Bell.
Sunday’s victory came against an expected 2017 NFL bottom-feeder in the Jets, so fans need to remain humble. However, the win is an important first step toward success in Buffalo this season. A loss would have been a grim indicator of what is to come for the next 16 weeks, but Sunday’s results will give fans one more reason to circle the wagons in 2017.
Hold on, Bills fans. It is about to be a bumpy ride.