Buffalo Bills Show A Monday Night Football Audience What They Are Made Of

The Buffalo Bills showed a Monday Night Football audience what they are made of. And it’s clearly something special. They’re not just good. They’re very good. And so much fun to watch.

Instead of shrinking in prime time, the Bills exploded with a spectacular performance usually reserved for the elite teams like the Kansas City Chiefs or Pittsburgh Steelers.

In control from the opening kickoff, Buffalo beat the San Francisco 49ers 34-24 in Week 13 to improve their record to 9-3. Buffalo has now started 9-3 in consecutive seasons for the first time since the 1990-92 seasons.

And to have this happen on Monday Night Football, before a national TV audience, was the icing on the cake.

The Bills won their first Monday Night game since Week 4 of the 1999 season. They were due. Buffalo was the only franchise since the start of 2000 that had not won on Monday Night Football.

Some teams crash on such a big stage. The elite teams are at their best when they have the most eyes on them.

But that’s the thing about these Bills. We can now call them elite, and who’s to say they can’t run with the Steelers and the other big boys?

Of course, quarterback Josh Allen put on what has to be called the best performance of his career. He was poised and accurate and was making his reads quickly and decisively.

Allen was 32-for-40 for 375 yards and four touchdowns. Slot receiver Cole Beasley caught nine passes on 11 targets for 130 yards and one TD. Stefon Diggs caught 10 passes on 11 targets for 92 yards.

Amazingly, the Bills offense was on fire without wide receiver John Brown, who is still injured.

Allen now has four games this season with 300 passing yards and three TDs. That passes Drew Bledsoe (2002) and Jim Kelly (1991) for the most in a season in Bills history.

And the defense, which has been up and down this season, was at its aggressive best, with Tre’Davious White and Micah Hyde coming up with interceptions. It was White’s third pick of the season. White now has 16 second-half takeaways since 2017, which leads all NFL defenders.

It’s no surprise that there is more excitement in Buffalo about these Bills than at any other time since the Kelly Super Bowl era.

As much fun as it is to see Allen throw darts all over the field, especially in the most dangerous areas of the field, it’s just as much fun to watch the sticky-fingered Beasley slash his way up field and grab Allen’s passes to drive the 49ers crazy.

Beasley established a personal best in both receiving yards (797) and receptions (66) through the first 12 games of the season. He also became the first Bills player to record 60-plus catches in consecutive seasons since Sammy Watkins in 2014-15.

Allen is getting more comparisons to Jim Kelly. Perhaps those comparisons are unfair because Kelly took the Bills to four consecutive Super Bowl appearances. But statistically, Allen is earning that comparison.

With 33 TD passes on the season, Allen moved into sole possession of second place and is one off the team record of Kelly, who threw 34 TD passes in 1991.

This all could have been so different just a few weeks ago.

After dropping a 32-20 heartbreaker to the Arizona Cardinals with the “Hail Murray” TD pass in Week 10, the Bills morale could have taken a dive.

But that loss did the opposite.

The Bills came off their bye and became more determined and more aggressive in everything from their play-calling to their attitude on the field.

Buffalo dominated the L.A. Chargers 27-17 in Week 12 and now have taken down a defensively sound 49ers team.

But all this hoopla doesn’t change the fact that the Bills have won nothing yet. The biggest test of the season awaits next week when the 11-1 Steelers come to Buffalo.

After visiting the Denver Broncos on Dec. 19, the Bills close out the season with games against the resurgent 6-6 New England Patriots and the 8-4 Miami Dolphins.

Coach Sean McDermott and general manager Brandon Beane have made the right moves and changed the course of this franchise in three short years.

The Bills mission now is to keep the momentum going. Last year, of course, Buffalo stumbled at the end of the season, losing three of their last four regular-season games and then blowing a 16-0 lead and losing the wild-card playoff game to the Houston Texans 22-19.

Oddsmakers still don’t see the Bills as Super Bowl favorites. They are listed behind such teams as the Chiefs, Saints, Steelers, Packers, Rams, Seahawks and Buccaneers.

Clearly, doubters remain. And there’s no denying it. The important work is still to come.

For now, the Bills can relish their underdog role. It’s why the BillsMafia embrace them. They love the Bills for who they are and also for what they’re about to become.