Buffalo Bills studs and duds: Josh Allen overcomes turnovers in Wild Card win

Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills overcame several mistakes as they defeated the Miami Dolphins in the opening round of the NFL Playoffs

It wasn’t pretty but the Buffalo Bills found a way to win against the Miami Dolphins in the Wild Card Round of the NFL Playoffs. They jumped out to an early lead but several miscues allowed their divisional rivals to get back into the game.

Still, they kept their composure and escaped with a hard-fought win. Here, we look back at the game and point out the studs and duds from Sunday afternoon.

Buffalo Bills studs and duds in Wild Card Round

Stud: Stefon Diggs, WR

Stefon Diggs continues to be one of the most impressive route runners in the NFL. He got off to a hot start, including the 52-yard reception that set up the Bills’ first touchdown of the game. It wasn’t a one-play performance either as he had seven receptions for 114 yards at the half.

In the second half, Diggs was very quiet and had no receptions. However, the attention he was drawing left his teammates in one-on-one matchups and they were all able to take advantage.

Stud: Cole Beasley, WR

One of the early targets to Cole Beasley didn’t go as planned as he sat on a route waiting for the ball. This allowed Miami to make a play and Jevon Holland ended up with a huge interception. Beasley, however, made up for this later in the game.

Trailing by four, Beasley was able to find a soft spot in the defense and hauled in a Josh Allen pass for a six-yard touchdown. On the following drive, he again rose to the occasion with a big third-down conversion.

At their own 48, Beasley caught a pass on third-and-eight and took it to the Miami 23 for a 29-yard gain. The very next play was a touchdown pass to Gabe Davis that extended the lead to 34-24.

Those were the only two receptions on the day for Beasley but they both came at clutch moments.

Stud: Matt Milano, LB

Matt Milano has always been known for his ability to cover tight ends and running backs in the passing game but he stood out in this one for being able to get after the quarterback.

He sacked Skylar Thompson for a nine-yard loss in the first half and while the Dolphins recovered to score a field goal, his second sack was much more impactful.

Trailing 24-20 and needing to get some momentum back, Milano got Thompson again, this time on a play where it originally appeared Thompson got the pass off. Eventually, it was called a sack and on the ensuing third and 19, Thompson had an ill-advised deep pass picked off by Kaiir Elam.

The veteran linebacker ended the day with 10 tackles to go along with his two sacks as he helped lead his defense to a narrow win.

Dud: Bills Offensive Line

Buffalo got the win which is what really matters but it was much tougher than it needed to be. Josh Allen was under pressure all night and it’s hard to pinpoint just one offensive lineman.

Dion Dawkins let Bradley Chubb beat him for a strip sack late in the fourth quarter and Spencer Brown struggled with Jaelan Phillips all night. In the end, Allen was sacked seven times and it could have been much more if he wasn’t as athletic and strong as he is.

Stud: Gabe Davis: WR

As good as Diggs has been this season, he’s far from the only Buffalo wideout to put up big numbers — especially in the playoffs. Gabe Davis had a monster game in the loss to Kansas City a year ago when he had eight receptions for 201 yards and four touchdowns. It should have been enough for the win, but the 13 seconds left on the clock ended up being enough for Patrick Mahomes.

Davis continued to play well this year with 836 yards and seven touchdowns in the regular season and went off against Miami. After Diggs took all the attention from the secondary, Davis went to work. He also topped 100 yards on the day and crossed that mark on his sixth reception — which was a 23-yard touchdown in the third quarter.

That score made it 34-24 in favor of Buffalo as they started to pull away from Miami following the Dolphins’ big push to take the lead earlier in the second half.

Dud: John Brown, WR

With a 17-3 lead, the Bills were looking to score again and take an even larger lead. Josh Allen, who had been dealing, threw it deep for Josh Brown but the ball was picked off by Xavien Howard. The Miami quarterback ran it back to Buffalo territory and Allen even got into a shoving match with Christian Wilkins as his frustration with the turnover was evident.

When watching the replay, it was clear why he was annoyed. Allen threw the ball where he believed Brown would be but the veteran wideout slowed down on the play, leading to the pick and giving Miami three points off the turnover.

Stud: Josh Allen, QB

Josh Allen continues to find ways to win, even when things aren’t perfect. Despite a few turnovers and some shaky pass blocking, he had 352 yards and three touchdowns in the win.

Early on, Allen looked unstoppable and showed off his incredible skill on the Bills’ second drive. Facing a third-and-15, Allen made a change at the line of scrimmage as he accurately read the Dolphins’ defensive alignment. He then dropped a deep ball perfectly into the hands of Stefon Diggs for a 52-yard gain.

He followed that up with a touchdown pass on the very next play — this time, scrambling to his right before hitting Dawson Knox for a six-yard score.

From there, Allen started to see things trend in the wrong direction. There were two interceptions that could have been on the wideout as much as him. He also fumbled twice due to defenders getting past the offensive line. One of those ended in a touchdown for Miami as Eric Rowe came in for a free hit.

Allen shook off the struggles and led the Bills to a 14-point third quarter. He had two touchdowns that put his team back on top and erased the earlier mistakes.

Dud: Khalil Shakir, WR

A rookie fifth-round pick, Khalil Shakir has shown flashes of brilliance for the Bills at times and nearly had a huge play in the first half. Shakir got past his defender and appeared to haul in a 54-yard pass to move the ball to the Miami 16.

Upon replay, it was evident that Shakir didn’t bring the ball in as it hit the turf as he was going to the ground. The play was then overturned and the Bills had to punt. Cedrick Wilson then returned a 47-yard punt 50 yards, giving his team the ball at the Buffalo 27. It was a huge flip in momentum right before the half.

Shakir made up for it with an acrobatic 31-yard reception on third-and-one but he still would surely love to have the 54-yard reception back.