ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — One good half was enough.
That’s all it took for the Bills on Sunday afternoon at New Era Field to dispatch Miami, 24-16, and enhance their chances of ending a 17-year playoff drought.
They delighted an announced crowd of 62,202, which sat through a 12-degree windchill, by jumping all over the Dolphins in the opening 30 minutes … then hanging on after intermission.
And, midway through the second period, running back LeSean McCoy delighted the Bills faithful by breaking off a 14-yard run, eclipsing the 10,000-yard career rushing milestone, only the 30th NFL player to do so.
McCoy scored twice, running four yards for one TD and catching a 16-yard pass from Tyrod Taylor for the other. Buffalo’s QB also ran nine yards for a score, putting his team up 21-6 at halftime.
The win improved the Bills to 8-6 on the season — 6-2 at home for the first time since the 1999, the last time Buffalo made the playoffs — and dropped Miami to 6-8 and virtually out of the playoff chase.
But the Bills playoff hopes won’t survive if they only play a half.
At the break, Buffalo had a 245-156 edge in offensive yardage, McCoy had 46 yards on eight carries and Taylor was 12-of-18 passing for 165 yards, a TD and a 114.4 passer rating.
However, after intermission the Bills totaled a mere 83 yards, McCoy had 12 carries for four yards and Taylor was 5-of-11 passing for 59 yards.
Indeed, Miami got it to a one-possession game with 39 seconds to play AND recovered the onside kick.
Fact is, Buffalo won the game because its defense intercepted Dolphins QB Jay Cutler three times (safety Jordan Poyer and cornerbacks Shareece Wright and rookie first-round draft choice Tre’ Davious White, the latter ending Miami’s final possession).
That 3-0 takeaway/giveaway edge, plus three sacks of Cutler were enough to preserve the Bills’ critical victory.
Afterward, Taylor admitted, “Starting fast, of course (is important), but finishing games is absolutely (critical). Coach McDermott talked about it at halftime … the killer instinct.
“We’ve been able to put some teams away (this) year, but not on a consistent basis. It’s something we’ve got to be able to do.
“We got the win today, but there’s a bunch of things we could have done better in all phases, special teams, defense and offense. Very good teams look at themselves in the mirror after a game like this and still try to figure out ways where they can get better. That’s what we have to do.”
McDermott pointed out, of the first half, “I thought we were dynamic in terms of the mix of run-pass and opened it up downfield a couple of times, which kept them off-balance. We were running the ball effectively and then the play-action was working.
“Tyrod did a good job of really getting a lot of people involved in the passing game … so I think Rick (Dennison, offensive coordinator) called a good game … it was good to see, in particular to score three times in that first half … that was big.”
So what happened after intermission?
“There was a lot of opportunities,” McDermott conceded. “It’s a challenge in the league (to put away) teams, but there were some opportunities where we got sloppy.”
To McCoy, the bonus was that he achieved his milestone in a win … at home.
“The linemen wanted it as bad as I did … maybe even more,” he said. “That shows you the kind of team we have.
“I’m happy it’s over, happy it’s done. Now I can look forward to us trying to get into the playoffs. We took care of business today. It would have sucked if we lost … the whole mindset today was let’s get the win AND let’s get the 10k.”
Of his team, he added, “We’re finding ways to win … we’re all accountable. (We) come early and leave late. Everybody’s prepared … on time for meetings. It’s like they want to be here. They want to win and they’re ready to put everything on the line to do that.
“I’ve been on a lot of good teams with a lot of talent (and they have that attitude). Guys are sore and banged up after games because they’re putting everything they have into that.”
Of course, on this day, Buffalo’s defense earned a big share of credit for the victory.
The Bills hadn’t won the takeaway/giveaway battle since the win at Kansas City and hadn’t had as many as three forced turnovers since beating the Raiders in late October.
“Everything is not always going to be high-rise,” Wright said. “There’s ups and downs in the NFL, the thing is to keep fighting and striving for those turnovers.
“You never know when they’re going to come … so be ready when they do.”
For veteran linebacker Lorenzo Alexander, it was clear how the game changed.
“The big thing was stopping (Kenyan) Drake early on,” he said of Miami’s running back who had 54 yards on 10 carries in the first half, but finished with only 78 on 16 tries. “He had some runs, but they weren’t too explosive … then they got away from it and put the ball in Jay’s hands and he threw us some picks. That’s what it ultimately came down to at the end.”
And, in the end, the Bills are still alive for a playoff spot.
