Buffalo Bills' Offense Breaks Another Franchise Record

Dec 24, 2016; Orchard Park, NY, USA; Buffalo Bills quarterback Tyrod Taylor (5) faces a handoff to running back LeSean McCoy (25) during the first quarter against the Miami Dolphins at New Era Field. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Hoffman-USA TODAY Sports

The Buffalo Bills’ offense came to play vs. the Miami Dolphins and even broke some team records in the process.

It was a tough overtime loss that definitely should’ve ended in a W. The Buffalo Bills‘ offense put the team in as good of a position to win as needed, but the defense was too weak to support it.

Although there is no way of making the playoffs now and ending the season with a winning record is now impossible, you can’t help but applaud at what the Bills’ offense was able to do on Christmas Eve.

It was truly a dominant performance on the ground, through the air and up front with the line.

Ending the game with not only 317 total passing yards, but 272 rushing yards is quite the accomplishment. In addition, the Bills ended the game with a 300 yards passer, a 100 yard receiver and a 100-yard rusher. It’s the first time that has happened in the past six years.

LeSean McCoy touched on how Buffalo was able to exploit the Dolphins’ defense on Saturday:

“We just started making plays. Running the ball, running the ball, taking shots,” said McCoy. “The way that we’re built. That’s how we’re built. We run the ball and get the looks that we get with the one high safety in man coverage. Anytime you get a guy one on one with Clay or Sammy you know the ending. So that’s the way we’re built. We run the ball and then take some shots.”

Another big accomplishment that came vs. Miami was being able to finish a season with three rushers over the 500-yard mark. It’s something the Buffalo Bills did last season with McCoy, Tyrod Taylor and Karlos Williams. With one game left, McCoy has 1,257 yards, Taylor has 580 yards and Mike Gillislee has 537 yards.

There’s definitely plenty to be proud of for this offense and a lot to build off of moving forward. This is potentially the offense we’ve been missing all year due to injuries. Christmas Eve gave us a good look at what we are capable of with Taylor, Charles Clay, Sammy Watkins, Robert Woods, McCoy and Gillislee all out there contributing.

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Not to mention, we were still without our starting center, starting left tackle and a not-so-impressive right tackle.

Let’s take a look at some of the biggest stories from this Bills’ offense on Christmas Eve, including a broken record and some career days for some players.

We start with that broken record!

Dec 24, 2016; Orchard Park, NY, USA; Buffalo Bills running back LeSean McCoy (25) celebrates after running for a touchdown during the second half against the Miami Dolphins at New Era Field. The Dolphins beat the Bills 34-31 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Hoffman-USA TODAY Sports

Coming into this game, the Buffalo Bills’ franchise record for most offensive yards in a single game was 582 back in 1991.

Whether it was throwing the ball or running it, the Buffalo Bills‘ offense could do no wrong on Saturday. It was a breath of fresh air, despite coming up short in overtime — or more specifically coming up wide right.

Looking past all of that, the offense netted 589 yards vs. the Miami Dolphins and it was enough to break their previous record of 582 yards, which was set back in 1991 in the Bills’ season opener vs. none other than the Miami Dolphins. In that game, the Bills ended with 397 passing yards and 185 rushing yards.

Tyrod Taylor handled a bulk of the load, finishing with 329 yards through the air and 60 yards on the ground. McCoy and Gillislee helped with a combined 219 yards on the ground. There’s no doubt this is one of the most talented offenses we’ve seen in Buffalo, but only when it is healthy.

Saturday was proof of that.

If we learn anything from their performance vs. Miami, it should be how to attack the offseason. With Robert Woods and Mike Gillislee set to be free agents, we should definitely work to re-sign the two if the money is right. Gillislee is a big part of our running game and helps keep McCoy fresh. Woods is a great compliment to Sammy Watkins.

In addition, Taylor could potentially suit up for a different team next season. However, I think we are better off rolling with him and hoping the pieces around him stay healthy and productive.

This offense is dangerous and the more we figure out how to mesh the running game and passing together, the more dangerous it will get.

Congratulations to this offense for breaking the franchise record for most yards in a single game, a nice team achievement.

Moving on to the next headline from the game.

Dec 24, 2016; Orchard Park, NY, USA; Buffalo Bills wide receiver Sammy Watkins (14) catches a pass for a touchdown in front of Miami Dolphins cornerback Xavien Howard (25) during the first half at New Era Field. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Hoffman-USA TODAY Sports

Sammy Watkins was a man among boys on Christmas Eve and had one of his best days of his NFL career.

Coming into the Buffalo Bills‘ Week 16 game vs. the Dolphins, Sammy Watkins had only eclipsed the 150-yard mark three different times in his three-year career. He increased that number by one on Christmas Eve.

It was also the 10th time he surpassed the 100-yard mark in his career.

Ending the game with 154 receiving yards on 7 catches, Watkins even pulled off a nice 38-yard TD grab in the second quarter. He was targeted 10 times, catching 70% of the passes thrown to him — which is what we want to see from him and Taylor.

Here’s a look at his TD grab that knocked the Dolphins’ lead down to 7 in the second quarter:

Tyrod.
Sammy.

38 yards… @BuffaloBills TD! ???? #GoBills https://t.co/TuD5D7iCNJ

— NFL (@NFL) December 24, 2016

Sammy Watkins had three catches over 20 yards, including that 38-yard grab. A 20-yard first down came early in the game, while a 53-yard bomb came a little bit later. It was truly a remarkable performance from someone we didn’t get to see much of this season.

After the game, he opened up about how difficult it is to have such a good performance result in a loss:

“It’s hard,” Watkins said. “It seems like every time I have a successful game, we lose. So that’s the hard part. And we’ve got to find other ways to win. I think we had the offense play well. I think we kept fighting and we pulled long drives. I think this game was the best we ever played.”

We can only hope he brings this type of fire next season — for 16 games.

Before this game, the only other times he amassed 150 yards receiving in a single game were:

2014 vs. New York Jets: 3 receptions, 157 yards, TD

2015 vs. Miami Dolphins: 8 receptions, 168 yards, TD

2015 vs. Kansas City Chiefs: 6 receptions, 158 yards, 2 TD

Including their loss vs. Miami on Saturday, the Buffalo Bills are just 2-2 when Watkins reaches that 150-yard mark.

Watkins wasn’t the only Buffalo Bill to have a career day, the man throwing it to him did the same thing — which leads us to our next headline.

Dec 18, 2016; Orchard Park, NY, USA; Buffalo Bills quarterback Tyrod Taylor (5) before a game against the Cleveland Browns at New Era Field. Mandatory Credit: Timothy T. Ludwig-USA TODAY Sports

Since joining the league in 2011, Tyrod Taylor has never thrown for 300 yards in a single game.

Hold it right there because Tyrod Taylor put an end to that statement in their overtime loss to the Miami Dolphins.

Coming into this game, though, it was true: Taylor had never thrown a 300-yard game before. He’s definitely come close, with the closest coming Week 2 of this season vs. the New York Jets. He finished that game with 297 yards, 3 TD and one INT. He added 25 yards on the ground.

In addition to the Jets and Dolphins, Taylor also came close to the 300-yard mark two other times. Last season vs. the Kansas City Chiefs, he finished with 291 yards and 3 TD, while also finishing with 289 yards, TD and one INT vs. the Seattle Seahawks this season.

Taylor finished Christmas Eve with a total of 329 yards through the air and 60 yards on the ground. He added three passing touchdowns, including what should’ve been a game-winning TD to Charles Clay.

“We knew going into this game that we could take advantage of a lot of matchups, especially on the back end and we were able to do that,” said Taylor. “We were able to make some of those explosive plays that we haven’t made that much this year and I think it just shows when you have all your weapons on the field at one time how explosive we can be.”

Here’s a fun statistic for those that think our losses are due to Taylor not having big days through the air: In the four games Taylor threw for over 275 yards, the Bills are 0-4. Add in the times he threw for 250 yards — which is a total of 7 times — the Buffalo Bills are 1-6.

That just goes to show that you need a balanced team to win games. Just because Taylor has a good day, doesn’t guarantee us a victory. We lose when Taylor has a good day, we lose when Taylor has a bad day. With that being said, is Taylor really the problem?

After the game on Saturday, Taylor touched on the fact that stats don’t matter when you lose:

“Statistically, yes, it was a good day,” Taylor said. “But like I said from Day One, you’re judged by wins as a quarterback.”

On the season, Taylor has accumulated 3,023 yards passing, 17 touchdowns, 6 interceptions, one fumble, an 89.6 rating and a 61.7% completion rate. He has added 580 yards and 6 TD on the ground, with a 6.1 yards per carry average. A lot of his numbers have improved from last season, his first season as a starter in the NFL.

Charles Clay also continued some strong play late in the season and has showed much more chemistry with Taylor.

Dec 24, 2016; Orchard Park, NY, USA; Buffalo Bills tight end Charles Clay (85) celebrates a touchdown during the second half against the Miami Dolphins at New Era Field. Miami beats Buffalo 34 to 31 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Timothy T. Ludwig-USA TODAY Sports

In the past three games, Charles Clay has come alive and is playing some of the best football of his career.

It took a while for Charles Clay to get going this season, but he has definitely come out strong as the season comes to an end.

Through the first 12 games of the season, Clay was a big part of the Buffalo Bills‘ fantastic run-blocking. However, he wasn’t targeted enough in the passing game and when he was, the connection with Taylor just wasn’t there.

His blocking was big, but that’s not why he signed a 5-year, $38 million contract with this team.

What we’ve seen over the past three games, though, is exactly what we expect week in and week out. After scoring no touchdowns in the first 12 games of the season, he has now scored four in the past three games. He also only had two games go over 50 yards through the first 12 games, but has done so in the past three games.

It all started Week 13 vs. the Pittsburgh Steelers, when he finished with 52 yards and one TD, despite only catching 3 of his 6 targets. Then the Bills hosted the Cleveland Browns, where he went for 72 yards and one TD, catching all 7 of his targets.

Last week, he came up huge against his former team. Targeted a season-high 10 times, he caught 8 passes for 85 yards and added 2 touchdowns. One of those touchdowns was a go-ahead TD with time running out. Unfortunately, the Dolphins would tie the game and win it in OT.

This wasn’t Clay’s first big game vs. the Dolphins, something he did in Week 3 of last season when the Bills traveled to Miami. It was Clay’s third game with the Buffalo Bills and his first game against his former team. He finished with 5 catches for 82 yards and a TD on 7 targets.

Let’s just hope we see this type of play all of next season. If so, this offense will get a much-needed boost, especially when talking about the passing game.

The passing attack wasn’t the only part of the Bills’ game on point vs. the Dolphins, their run game was just as good.

Dec 24, 2016; Orchard Park, NY, USA; Buffalo Bills running back LeSean McCoy (25) misses a tackle by Miami Dolphins defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh (93) during the second half at New Era Field. The Dolphins beat the Bills 34-31 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Hoffman-USA TODAY Sports

LeSean McCoy has been on a tear this season and it didn’t stop vs. the Miami Dolphins on Christmas Eve.

There’s no way around it anymore, LeSean McCoy is one of the best running backs in the NFL and seems to be healthier than ever. His cuts are looking like they did in Philly, his speed is making defenses miss and his offensive line makes it all that much easier for McCoy.

Not only on pace for the second best rushing season of his career, McCoy has also already totaled his second highest rushing touchdown total in his career. With 1,257 yards and 13 touchdowns on the ground this season, he only needs 63 yards to surpass his second best career total in a single season.

Last week was yet another strong one for McCoy, who has been proving his doubters wrong all season long. Coming off his best game this year vs. the Browns, where he amassed 153 yards and two touchdowns while adding 16 receiving yards, McCoy totaled 128 yards and one touchdown vs. the Dolphins in Week 16.

He now has 7 100-yard rushing games this season in just 14 games. What’s even more incredible about that statistic is that he only totaled more than 20 carries in one of those games — he had 24 carries vs. the Dolphins last week. His only other game this year with 20+ carries was his 21 vs. the Seattle Seahawks, where he only totaled 85 yards on the ground and no touchdowns.

To add to the success, McCoy has 7 touchdowns since that Monday night game vs. the Seahawks. That’s a pretty incredible stat considering he has only played in 6 games since then. His 4 games with at least 2 TD is admirable, but even more so because he finished those games with over 100 yards as well. He also had a 3 TD game this season vs. the 49ers.

It has truly been a storied season for LeSean McCoy this season as he continues to look more and more like his old self. He will look to end the year on a good note vs. the Jets on Sunday, but hopefully he plays. He didn’t practice on Wednesday due to being sick.

Good luck Shady!

That’s it for the strong offensive performance the Buffalo Bills had vs. the Dolphins last week. If you haven’t heard yet, we won’t be seeing Tyrod Taylor vs. the Jets on Sunday. Take a look at what the players are saying about it by clicking the blue button above!