1 - Bye week moves Bills out of first place
Throughout the Bills bye week they were in first place in the AFC East. With the New England Patriots and New York Jets playing on Sunday it was inevitable that they would lose their top spot in the division.
The Patriots ended up winning 24-17 in East Rutherford. It was a very controversial contest, as a fourth quarter touchdown by the Jets was overturned. Tight end, Austin Seferian-Jenkins, was ruled to be in the end zone on a short pass from Josh McCown. After further review, the referees ruled that Seferian-Jenkins fumbled out of the end zone and the points came off the board.
There was a lot of noise around the league that the hometown team got robbed. Ultimately the replay officials in New York saw something that resulted in the ruling.
Prior to the controversy it was a thrilling game. The Jets jumped out to an early 14-point lead against the reigning Super Bowl champions. They moved the ball effectively through the air. McCown completed 31 of 47 passes for 354 yards. He tallied two touchdowns and threw two interceptions.
Once Tom Brady and the Patriots offense found their flow in the second quarter the game started to shift. Back-to-back touchdown drives to close the first half was huge for New England. Brady had a mediocre game statistically compared to what we're accustomed to. He went 20-for-38 passing for 257 yards. The quarterback added two touchdowns and had one interception.
Buffalo backed up one spot in the division standings after the bye. They're 3-2 and sit in second place ahead of the Miami Dolphins (3-2) and the Jets (3-3). The Patriots have played one more game than the Bills and Dolphins, which certainly jumbles up the standings. After New England has their bye in Week Nine the standings should be clearer.
2 - Taylor has good history after the bye
Bills quarterback, Tyrod Taylor, is a perfect 2-0 coming off the bye week since joining the team. In Week Seven, against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Taylor will try to stay perfect when Buffalo plays their first game after the bye.
Taylor became a member of the Bills in 2015. That year Buffalo's bye was in Week Eight. The following week they faced the Miami Dolphins and rolled to a 33-17 victory. Taylor had an incredibly efficient game. He completed 11 of 12 passes and threw a touchdown. The QB had no interceptions and a passer rating of 146.5.
Last season Buffalo's bye came in Week 10. The next week they headed to Cincinnati to play the Bengals. The Bills narrowly prevailed by a score of 16-12. Taylor completed 19 of his 27 passes for 166 yards. He didn't throw a touchdown, but managed to walk away with a win.
The team's signal-caller will look to continue his success on Sunday against the Buccaneers. With a win in that game Buffalo would improve to 4-2.
3 - O'Leary's role to increase moving forward
Third-year tight end, Nick O'Leary, is about to take on a significant role in the Bills offense. This is due to TE Charles Clay undergoing a surgical procedure on his injured knee last Monday.
Clay was on pace for the best season of his seven-year career. He currently leads Buffalo in receiving yards with 258 and touchdowns with two.
O'Leary will have big shoes to fill. Especially since he hasn't scored a touchdown in the NFL. Opposed to Clay who has notched 24 trips to the end zone in his career.
Bills quarterback, Tyrod Taylor, spoke highly of O'Leary's most recent performance against the Cincinnati Bengals.
"Nick played his butt off," Taylor said. "He battled, he competed and he did what we asked him to do. I'm proud of him."
O'Leary showed promise when Clay went down with the injury. He set single-game career highs with five catches for 54 yards.
SOCIAL MEDIA POST OF THE DAY
Former Bills running back Fred Jackson and his brother recently received inductions into the Coe College Athletics Hall of Fame.
