Even though the Bills have had a successful season, it doesn’t mean it didn’t come with struggled.
It is the season of giving and the Buffalo Bills have delivered a fantastic 2024 season up to this point. All the talk that was surrounding the Bills last offseason is nowhere to be found. There was a big debate on whether the Miami Dolphins or New York Jets would be the team to dethrone the Bills as the AFC East champs.
While all of that chatter was going, the Bills were getting ready quietly and they have won their fifth consecutive division title and they did it in Week 13. They were so dominant and the rest of the division was so bad, that the Bills clinched the division before taking on the New England Patriots for the first time this season.
Going into Week 17, the Bills are sitting at 12-3 and they can’t be any lower than third seed in the AFC playoff picture. They have the New York Jets this coming Sunday and will then close out the regular season in Foxborough against the Patriots.
Even though the Bills have exceeded expectations this year, it doesn’t mean that all came easy. They had their weak moments and they got beat up at times. However, there are three specific gifts that they gifted to other teams this year that either cost them games, or allowed opponents to stay close to them.
What gifts did the Bills give to their opponents in 2024, so far?
Matthew Stafford, Rams controlling matchup in Week 14
As a candidate for “Game of the Year”, the Bills came out on the losing side against the Los Angeles Rams. It was one of the first games in awhile where the Bills’ defense looked like they didn’t show up and Buffalo was Josh Allen-dependent. While Allen was playing like Superman, the Bills’ defense couldn’t contain Matthew Stafford and the Rams’ offense.
The Rams finished with 457 total yards of offense and Stafford threw for 320 yards and two touchdowns. To make matters worse, the Rams went 11-15 on third-down conversions and won the time of possession at 38:30 to just Buffalo’s 21:30.
Buffalo losing this game could easily cost them the No. 1 seed in the AFC and yet they put up 42 points…that’s a tough fact to accept. The Rams were gifted with a horrendous defensive outing by the Bills.
Allowing Aaron Rodgers to complete Hail Mary pass in Week 6
The Bills escaped MetLife in Week 6 with a 23-20 win over the Jets on Monday Night Football. Just a week prior, the Bills were coming off an ugly loss to the Houston Texans so bouncing back against the Jets was a nice pick-me-up game for them. At one point, the Bills were up by double digits and were going to head into halftime with a 20-10 lead…then Aaron Rodgers happened.
Throughout his career, Rodgers has been notorious for completing hail mary passes to receivers to either tie or win a game. The Bills managed to avoid losing this game against the Jets, but they fell to Rodgers’ ability in clutch moments when Rodgers connected with wideout Allen Lazard on a 52-yard hail mary pass to cut into the Bills lead going into halftime.
The Bills gifted the Jets life at a potential comeback because of that hail mary, but they held them off to get the primetime win.
Derrick Henry’s 87-yard rushing TD in Week 4
After getting off to a hot 3-0 start where Buffalo was averaging 37 points per game and only allowing 16 points per game. Then they traveled to Baltimore for a Sunday Night showdown against the Ravens where the Bills were humbled right from the start. It literally took Ravens running back Derrick Henry one play to make his presence known.
On Baltimore’s first offensive play of the game, Henry ran the ball 87 yards all the way to the house to put the Ravens on the board first. That run jumpstarted a 199-yard game by Henry and he also finished with two total touchdowns. Buffalo giving up that 87-yard run gifted the Ravens an early beatdown of the Bills.