USA TODAY International Edition
In heart- pounding finish, Bills wipe out AFC ghosts
ORCHARD PARK, N. Y. – Be honest. How many of you were absolutely terrified on the final play of Saturday afternoon’s AFC wild- card game when the Colts’ Philip Rivers heaved that Hail Mary pass toward the end zone?
I’m not even sure why I asked, because I know for a fact you were. I know you had flashbacks to what happened a couple of months ago in Arizona because anyone who calls themselves a Bills fan knows all too well this team’s tortured history and therefore is almost programmed to be thinking the worst.
While your eyes were bulging from their sockets and your knuckles were turning white as thoughts of impending disaster racked your brains when Rivers dropped back and took aim, the Buffalo players themselves were not scared. At least that’s what they said.
“None at all,” safety Jordan Poyer said when asked if he was feeling any Arizona déjà vu. “I had all the confidence in the world.”
Once again, this 2020 edition of the Bills proved it isn’t like past teams that would have found a way to lose this game in inexplicable fashion and have yet another nicknamed loss
on the franchise resume. Safety Micah Hyde knocked Rivers’ feeble prayer to the ground and the Bills escaped with a breathtaking 27- 24 victory.
Not since 1996 had the Bills played a home playoff game, and not since 1995 had they won one, but finally the Bills no longer have to reference either fact.
“Ya know, this time I was happy that it was going up there,” tackle Dion Dawkins said of the Hail Mary pass. “Our guys practice it every single day; I see it every single day in practice. When it went up, I was less stressed because my dogs are prepared for this moment.”
And sure enough, as Dawkins said, “Micah went up and tomahawked that ball down like he was a starter on the volleyball court. That was a doublehand, tomahawk spike as a statement like it wasn’t happening again.”
You could almost feel the gale- force breeze created by the collective sighs of relief as the ball hit the ground and the clock ticked to zero.
“It was the same way ( for the players),” said Cole Beasley of the relief everyone felt. “We’re into the game just as much as they are. We want it bad, too. We invest so much into this stuff, man. ... It’ll be hard to sleep tonight.”
Oh, but sleep would have come so much harder had the Bills blown this game. The Colts won 11 games for many reasons, and they were all on display as they pushed the Bills to the very brink.
“I haven’t had time to celebrate and take it in, but this is awesome for the Bills organization, the city, to be able to play a home game and get a victory,” said Poyer. “Since 2017, we’ve been working at this, but a day like today, to come out on top, we worked so hard.”
Given the way the Bills closed the season with six massively impressive wins, this was a rather unexpected performance. There were certainly great throws by Josh Allen, but the group was not nearly as explosive as it has been despite his 324 yards. They converted 2 of 9 on third down, and while three TDs is nothing to sneeze at, it was well below the standard of recent weeks.
“We were able to take what we learned last year and take it into this game,” Allen said. “Not trying to press or do too much. Let the game come to us.”
It was probably a good omen of how the day would ultimately end when the Bills were outplayed almost the entire first half yet left the field leading 14- 10.
The key moment came around the two- minute mark when the Bills were on the verge of falling behind 17- 7 before things went haywire for the Colts. Indy was confronted with 3rd- and- goal from the 1, but it tried an option pitch to Jonathan Taylor and the Buffalo defense led by Taron Johnson and Tre’Davious White blew it up for a 3- yard loss.
Indy then opted against kicking the field goal and very nearly got the touchdown, but Rivers’ pass to an open Michael Pittman in the end zone was just a hair too long and the diving Pittman couldn’t reel it in.
Taking over at the 4 with two timeouts to work with, Allen put together a tremendous 10- play, 96- yard drive that ended with him scoring on a 5- yard keeper, essentially a 14- point swing.
Along the way, Gabriel Davis made eye- popping, toe- tap sideline catches for gains of 37 and 19 yards, both of which held up on instant replay review. Then, on a 4th- and- 3 at the 26 when the Bills were clearly just trying to draw the Colts offside, Allen did it as Kemoko Turay inexplicably jumped with one second left on the play clock. That led to Allen scoring the TD two plays later.
“I think the turning point of the game was that fourth- and- goal stop by our defense,” Allen said. “( Then) driving down right before the half and getting a chance to double dip. I know we got a field goal ( to start the second half ), and we gotta find a way to get a touchdown there, too. But we did enough to win the game, and that’s all that matters.”
After Tyler Bass’ 46- yard field goal following the second- half kickoff, the Colts proceeded to put together a sevenminute possession, converting three third downs before stalling at the Bills’ 15, but it was all for naught when Rodrigo Blankenship clanged a 33- yard field goal attempt off the right upright.
Energized by that, the Bills turned around and drove 77 yards to the score that made it 24- 10, the final play a gorgeous 35- yard dime from Allen to Stefon Diggs, who beat cornerback T. J. Carrie one- on- one with no safety help.
But from then on, the Colts were the energized bunch and the Bills were hanging on for dear life at the end.
Indy answered in rapid fashion with a 75- yard drive during which the Bills played zero defense. Well, except on the last play, after Rivers threw a 9- yard TD pass to Zach Pascal. On the extra point, Quinton Jefferson jumped offside, so the Colts decided to take the penalty and apply it to a two- point conversion try from the 1, but the Bills stuffed Taylor, leaving the score 24- 16.
Bass drilled a 54- yard field goal with 8: 08 left to make it a two- possession game, but still the Colts weren’t done. It took them five plays to go 76 yards, with Rivers hitting wide- open Jack Doyle for a 27- yard TD, then found Doyle over the middle for the two- pointer.
The Bills’ last offensive possession almost created widespread panic when Allen nearly lost a fumble on a play that lost 23 yards. Eventually the Bills had to punt and the Colts had just over two minutes to tie or win the game.
Rivers worked the ball to midfield, converting a 4th- and- 10 play that also survived an instant replay review for a fumble, but his last three passes fell incomplete and time expired.