Isaiah McKenzie big day helps Bills Take the Lead in AFC East
Right after that Monday night lost to New England, you could see that bitter taste that carried all the way to the “wake up call” in Tampa Bay. When the plane landed in Foxboro Saturday Afternoon you could see the confidence and a look that was reminiscent of that Playoff loss in Houston. Today the Bills were not to be denied as Josh Allen had one of his Best Performances of the season completing over 60% of his passes and throwing for 314 yards and 3 touchdowns, also ran for 64 yards. “We gotta find ways to keep this goin” says Allen, after Bills beat New England 33-21.
Replacement Killer
Isaiah McKenzie put himself in the doghouse with his decision making and ball security mid-season. But Head Coach Sean McDermott always kept his faith in McKenzie, and Isaiah McKenzie aka “LIL DIRTY” had a great day with 11 catches 125 yards and 1 touchdown. Giving the opportunity he knew he couldn’t take things for granted.
“Learning experience. That was my first time sitting down in a while and I just had to take it even and think to myself, ‘what can I do better?,” McKenzie continued. “I just show up to practice every day and get my teammates better and do whatever I gotta do to make myself better and my teammates. So those two weeks I was inactive, I just thought about things and just reevaluated myself and then this opportunity came around with me coming in… and I felt I just had to step up for my team.”
Dawkins returns in the nick of time.
Dawkins fresh off the Covid/Reserve List didn’t even knew if he would be available until Saturday morning. Bills already would be without the services of Jon Feliciano “It shows how much of a true professional he is and why he’s a Pro Bowler” says Bills Center Mitch Morse. Bills did lose LG-Ike Boettger with a torn Achilles, Ryan Bates took his place. The Offensive Line didn’t give up a sack as Patriots DE Matt Judon was held in check the entire game.
Defense Attack!
Bills Defense only gave up 288 total yards, New England still ran for 149 as a team with Damien Harris leading with 108 on 18 carries. But Bills were aggressive from start to finish keeping the New England Offense to only 10% on 3rd down.
Next up
Bills will need that same juice for the remaining 2 home games beginning vs Atlanta and a strong finish vs Jets to win the AFC East.
