So where do the Bills sit with five games remaining in this Covid-19-affected season and what are the enduring concerns?
At 8-3, Buffalo leads the AFC East by a full game over the Dolphins (7-4) and holds the head-to-head tiebreaker though Miami can offset that with a win in the season finale at Bills Stadium.
However, as the season has progressed, Buffalo’s season-closing schedule has gone from daunting, to flawed, and now back to unpredictable.
Start with next Monday night’s game against the 49ers at Arizona’s State Farm Stadium. San Francisco is a mere 5-6, but went to L.A. and beat the Rams on Sunday and its injury-devastated roster is getting healthier.
Pittsburgh is 10-0 … ‘nuf said, even in Orchard Park.
The Broncos (4-7) should actually have healthy quarterbacks three weeks hence and Denver is still a cross-country road trip.
New England (5-6) remains alive in the division race, has won three of its last four, and among its victims are Arizona and Baltimore, both at home.
And Miami has claimed six of its last seven decisions including wins over the Chargers, Rams, and Cardinals.
BUFFALO clearly has the best position in its bid for a division title and theresultant playoff home game, though currently it would host the wild-card with the best record.
But as the Bills embark on the home stretch of their season, there’s the reality that they’ve had trouble putting teams away.
Only once — the 43-yard “Hail Murray” loss at Arizona with two seconds to play that wasted a 14-point margin — has Buffalo paid the ultimate price.
But on six other occasions the Bills have let comfortable second-half leads evaporate into tense finishes:
— At Miami, they were up 31-20 with under six minutes to play only to have the Dolphins close to within 31-28 in the final seconds.
— Against the Rams, Buffalo totally wasted a 25-point lead, fell behind 32-28 with four minutes to play, then won it via a touchdown pass with 15 seconds remaining.
— At Las Vegas, a 30-16 fourth-quarter lead became a one touchdown margin with a minute-and-a-half to go.
— Against the Patriots, New England was driving for the tying or winning score in the final two minutes when a Cam Newton fumble deep in Buffalo territory in the last two minutes preserved a 24-21 Bills victory.
— Versus Seattle, Buffalo wasted a 17-point second-half lead as the Seahawks cut it to 27-20 into the fourth quarter before the Bills prevailed 44-34.
— Sunday against the Chargers, Buffalo led 24-6 late in the third period when L.A. made it 24-17 and the Bills didn’t score the clinching points until Tyler Bass’ field goal with 3 ½ minutes remaining made it 27-17.
And, oh yeah, for the second straight game, the Bills allowed a completed “Hail Mary” pass play in the closing seconds.
This time, L.A. quarterback Justin Herbert lofted a 55-yard pass to wide receiver Tyron Johnson in the midst of a gaggle of Buffalo defenders … and he caught the ball at the 2-yard line. With better subsequent play-calling, the final score would have been 27-24.
AFTERWARD, coach Sean McDermott maintained, “I think we’re learning and growing through some of these. (But) we’ve got to do a better job of taking care of the football (two lost fumbles and an interception in the fourth quarter). Then the penalties (9 for 85 yards) hurt us. We definitely can clean some things up.
“It comes back to (protecting) the ball. The ball keeps (opponents) in games and we have to do a good enough job with (it).”
He added, in a rare moment of levity, “If I’m laying on the ground one of these days, you’ll know why. It would be nice (not to blow leads).
“Look at this (removing his hat to reveal a bald head). I came to Buffalo with a full head of hair.”
But, do the players get it?
Veteran safety Micah Hyde admitted, “You can’t turn the ball over … you can’t give up big plays.”
Of the completed “Hail Mary,” that came after the first successful one was negated by a penalty, he added, “They had fourth-and-long … you’ve got to be able to knock the ball down. They got a flag, went back and did it AGAIN.”
Hyde concluded, “The good teams are able to finish with wins … we did that today. You can say we didn’t finish, but obviously we did, we got the ‘W.’”
But as the Cardinals proved, it’s a gamble to count on every game.
(Chuck Pollock, a Times Herald senior sports columnist, can be reached at cpollock@oleantimesherald.com)
