Lanschaften » Buffalo Bills rookies bounce back against Minnesota Vikings

The Buffalo Bills rose to the occasion against the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday http://www.buffalobillsteamonline.com/lorenzo-alexander-jersey , saving their season. The completely unexpected victory came, in part, thanks to the positive play of most of the team’s 2018 draft class. Josh Allen was calm, cool and accurate, while Tremaine Edmunds was much more decisive with his play recognition. More about the performance of the Bills rookies below.QB Josh AllenAllen turned in the best performance on his young career on Sunday. His final stat line—15 of 22 for 196 yards and a touchdown—doesn’t completely do it justice. Offensive coordinator Brian Daboll helped the rookie out by drawing up some easy completions early, but Allen made the offense work by being decisive in his reads and yes, poised in the pocket. When faced with a collapsing pocket, instead of sitting and waiting for open targets, Allen consciously used his legs to gain positive yards. Two of his runs led to a first down: on 3rd and 9 and a touchdown. Through the air, Allen made quick decisions and delivered the ball accurately on what were admittedly simple concepts. This game presents yet another step forward for the rookie. LB Tremaine EdmundsContinuing the theme this week is Edmunds, who also had a strong bounce-back game following Week 2’s loss against the Los Angeles Chargers. He led the team in tackles for the first time this season with ten and had a tackle-for-loss as well. In the middle of the second quarter, it was his vicious hit on Latavius Murray that jarred the ball loose and led to an interception. The jury is still out on how the rookie deals with play-action and other types of fakes, but it’s clear that if Edmunds can trust his eyes, he can be the freakish talent he was drafted to be.DT Harrison PhillipsDespite playing 23 snaps, the rookie from Stanford did not record a single stat. On a day when the Bills were constantly pressuring Kirk Cousins, Phillips never managed to threaten the quarterback much. It’s fair to expect more from the rookie third-rounder http://www.buffalobillsteamonline.com/jeremy-kerley-jersey , especially one who garnered Kyle Williams comparisons during the draft process.CB Taron JohnsonJohnson’s effort against the run and on short dump off passes was noticeable for better or worse. He was quick to crash down, and that led to an 11-yard gain in one instance—but prevented bigger gains in others. In coverage, Johnson was generally in decent position but was beaten while in man coverage a few times by Stefon Diggs and Adam Thielen. Fortunately for him, poor passes from Kirk Cousins led to incompletions. Johnson appeared to injure his shoulder again early in the third quarter when tackling running back C.J. Ham, but he returned soon after.S Siran NealNeal didn’t see any snaps on defense but did have a solid tackle on special teams, bringing the returner down at about the 17-yard line.WR Ray-Ray McCloud IIIThe first play of the game was a quick screen on a run-pass-option to McCloud, who was able to take it up field for six yards. McCloud had 14 snaps on the day but was not targeted again in the contest. I’d expect him to get more work as the season continues. WR Robert FosterThe Bills’ coaching staff has shown quite a bit of faith in Foster in the beginning of the season, and the rookie undrafted free agent has yet to reward that faith. Foster’s only target on the day was on a long post route—a pass that could not have been thrown better, but was inexplicably dropped by the receiver. Foster has shown the ability to create separation against NFL corners, but he won’t continue to see the field if he can’t reliably catch the ball.P Corey BojorquezOn Sunday, Bojorquez had his best game as a Buffalo Bill. Five of his six punts were downed inside the 20. He also had his longest punt of the year, a 59-yard boot.NotesG Wyatt Teller and OT Ike Boettger were both inactive. Much to the chagrin of Buffalo Bills fans, the New England Patriots are back in the Super Bowl and will face the Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl LIII on Sunday, Feb. 3 in Atlanta, GA. The Patriots, led by quarterback Tom Brady and head coach Bill Belichick http://www.buffalobillsteamonline.com/jerry-hughes-jersey , are playing in the franchise’s third straight Super Bowl after outlasting the Kansas City Chiefs 37-31 in overtime of the AFC Championship game. While the Patriots are no strangers to postseason success—this is Brady’s ninth Super Bowl appearance—the team credits a Week 16 game against the Bills as getting the franchise ready for this latest postseason run. Heading into the Week 16 showdown between the Bills and Patriots in Foxboro, New England was coming off back-to-back losses to the Miami Dolphins (on a miraculous last-second touchdown play) and the Pittsburgh Steelers, when New England committed 14 accepted penalties and dropped to 9-5 with two games remaining. The team had fallen out of the No. 2 seed in the conference, and with it, was faced with the prospect of playing in a Wild Card round rather than receiving the customary first-round bye. So it was that the second match-up of 2018 between Buffalo and New England served as a wake-up call for Brady, safety Devin McCourty, and the rest of the Patriots. “It was like, ‘We’re running out of time,’” McCourty told ESPN Patriots reporter Mike Reiss. “Buffalo was like, ‘All right, guys, this is what it takes.’ Playing at home, winning a division championship, was like, ‘Guys, this is championship-level football. This is what we need to do.’ And then essentially playing another playoff game the next weekend against the Jets Womens Matt Milano Jersey , we rolled with that kind of mentality.”One of the biggest developments to stem from the game against Buffalo, a 24-12 triumph by the Patriots, was a return to the running game. Rookie Sony Michel rushed for 116 yards and a touchdown as the Patriots rushed for a season-high 273 yards on a season-most 43 carries. The Patriots turned to the running game that week in part because of how effective the Buffalo defense was in containing Brady. The Patriots won that game despite Buffalo limiting Brady to 13 of 24 passing for 126 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions—his lowest passing output since throwing for 123 yards in a season-opening 31-0 loss to the Bills in 2003. Since that Week 16 win over Buffalo, which clinched New England’s tenth straight AFC East division title, the Patriots routed the New York Jets (31-3) in the regular-season finale, blew out the Los Angeles Chargers (41-28) in the divisional round of the playoffs, and held off the Chiefs in the AFC championship. ”We’ve found a way to play our best the last four games,” Brady said. “Buffalo, Jets, had the bye, played great against the Chargers, played really well [against the Chiefs]. We’re going to need one more great game.”