Buffalo Chill: Bills Turn to Devin Singletary on Winning Drive
The Buffalo Bills are used to having snow ground their flights. They likely didn’t expect such delays during a game, however.
That's more or less what happened when lake-effect snow descended upon Highmark Stadium for the final stages of Saturday's crucial divisional showdown with the Miami Dolphins, which the Bills won 32-29. The wintry precipitation held off for a majority of the game, leaving Orchard Park to primarily deal with the frozen accumulation from hours before kickoff, but fresh snow that quickly amassed on the playing surface added to what was already set up to be a classic ending.
With the snow beginning to fall shortly after the Bills earned tied the game at 29-all courtesy of the arm and legs of Josh Allen, Buffalo forced Miami into a punt that left the Bills on their 7. Allen's aerial antics got Buffalo to its 34. But when the new accumulation made things more difficult, as the Bills turned to perhaps a forgotten staple of their recent success, running back Devin Singletary.
While no one can deny Singletary's contributions to the Bills' recent run of success — Buffalo clinched its fourth consecutive playoff berth with Saturday's win — it's perhaps easy for him to get lost in the Bills' countless offensive weapons. He's been a staple of the Buffalo rushing attack, but the Bills always seem to be searching for his replacement as the primary back, notably using a second-round choice on James Cook.
But when it came down to the vital final stages, Buffalo put its faith in Singletary, and the runner dashed through the snow in victorious fashion.
Singletary was entrusted with the ball seven times on the winning drive, amassing 36 of the 86 yards necessary for Tyler Bass' game-winning boot from 25 yards out. He was directly responsible for only one first down on the trek, but his otherwise efficient rushing afforded the Bills short yardage situations that let them keep the ball moving. Prior to the final drive, Singletary had only seven yards on seven carries.
On his final run of the night, a seven-yard dash that set Buffalo up four yards away from a clinching touchdown, Singletary appeared to pull up and intentionally stop short of the goal line with 34 seconds remaining, leading to confusion and concern.
Bass' ensuing triple should vindicate Singletary, but coach Sean McDermott praised the running back known as "Motor" for hitting the brakes despite a valuable touchdown on the line, mentioning that his "situational awareness" from practice.
“We had talked about it. We call it ‘no mas,’ which means no more,” McDermott explained. “You’re expecting them to potentially allow you to score right there, based on where the game was, where we had the ball, and the timeout situation.”
With Miami bereft of timeouts, Allen kneel downs centered the ball for Bass before improvised snow-clearing allowed him a clean area to kick the 25-yard winner through. Singletary's unsung heroics came in a game where Buffalo enjoyed the efforts of some of its not-so-usual offensive suspects. Quintin Morris and Nyheim Hines each scored their first touchdowns as Bills, which helped build a 21-13 lead.
Locked in amongst the AFC's postseason seven, the Bills (11-3) will look to inch closer toward the top seed and the bye that comes with it when they face another test Saturday against the Chicago Bears.
Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags
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