Less than a week ago, the Bills locker room was quiet from the outside, and nearly empty once reporters were allowed in following Buffalo’s loss to the Denver Broncos on Monday Night Football.
This Sunday, music blared from inside the locker room after the Bills’ 32-6 win over the New York Jets in front of a roaring crowd at Highmark Stadium.
After a tone-setting tackle by fullback Reggie Gilliam, who forced a fumble on the opening kickoff, the Bills did not look back, leading for the entire game after the first 90 seconds.
The win was more than just a much-needed divisional win over a team that opened the season by upsetting the Bills on the road. As interim offensive coordinator Joe Brady’s first game calling the plays, the Bills win was a validating result of a long week for the offense after Ken Dorsey was relieved of his play calling duties.
“First and foremost, it was a tough week just because a lot of us spent a lot of time with Dorse and respect him not only as a man but as a football coach and all he’s done for this team over the last however many years,” said center Mitch Morse. “I didn’t envy Joe’s position by any means. We executed. He gave us a game plan that we knew we were able to dial in, the simpler the better, and then it was about executing that game plan and I think that’s a great job for the first week.”
Quarterback Josh Allen, who threw three interceptions in the Bills’ first game against the Jets, threw three touchdowns Sunday night – the first time he has done so in his 10 games against New York. Allen was sacked five times in September, but just once on Sunday. His lone interception came on a Hail Mary heave to end of the first half.
Allen credited his teammates for their ability to rebound from the coaching change and come out with a win.
“We have a lot of true professionals in this room,” Allen said. “It wasn’t an easy week, I’ll tell you that. I’m proud of everybody that stepped up and filled roles that they maybe didn’t expect to fill this year.”
Allen, who leads the NFL with 26 total touchdowns, said that the Bills would continue to take the season one game at a time. After speculation throughout the season on what the issues were affecting the Bills’ ability to move the ball downfield, Allen reaffirmed his confidence in the offense.
“This isn’t an offense that was broken,” Allen said. “We’ve been playing close to where we need to play and today felt like we played close to – not as good – as we can play, but we played obviously better.”
First appeared on www.buffalobills.com