Pollock: The Buffalo Bills are buying into the 'Everybody eats' mantra

By CHUCK POLLOCK, Wellsville Sun and Olean Star Senior Sports Columnist

What if the Bills are actually this good?

Yeah, I know, we’re only 18% into a 17-game schedule and a mere five teams have managed to start 3-0, Buffalo one of them.

But somehow this seems different.

In the opener, the Bills needed a defensed pass at the goalline as time expired to survive, 34-28, over Arizona at Highmark Stadium.

The last two games, though, have stood out in their onesidedness against quality opposition.

FIRST IT was a trip to Miami Gardens to face the high-scoring Dolphins, a team, in some quarters, favored to end the Bills’ streak of four straight AFC East titles.

It wasn’t a game.

Buffalo, in a short week, hung a 31-10 defeat on a seemingly ill-prepared Dolphins club whose night only got worse in the late going when quarterback Tua Tagovailoa suffered yet another concussion and is lost indefinitely. Now, possibly down to their third-string quarterback, (back-up Skylar Thompson is also injured), Miami’s grandiose hopes for the season might well be dashed.

Then came last Sunday at Orchard against another playoff hopeful, Jacksonville, off to an 0-2 start.

Again, no contest.

The Bills scored touchdowns on their first five possessions, led 34-3 at halftime, and went on to a 47-10 evisceration of the Jaguars, tied for the fourth largest margin of victory by Buffalo.

Those two wins by an average score of 39-10 were hard to ignore and, over three games their scoring margin is +64 points, the second-best figure after three games in franchise history.

BUT WHAT stands out about the Bills’ start, aside from two such quality wins, is the unselfish attitude of the players … no Stefon Diggs whining about a lack of targets.

The factor that was supposed to be Buffalo’s undoing — nine new starters and a roster with 13 players in their first or second seasons — has seemingly worked to coach Sean McDermott’s advantage.
Everybody knew about the inexperience at wide receiver, two new starters on the offensive line, injuries at linebacker and the loss of quality safeties Jordan Poyer and Micah.

But what that did was create openings for young players who were merely grateful to have the opportunity and responded accordingly.

The Bills’ coaching staff then came up with a phrase that’s caught on: “Everybody eats.”

It means each player will get a chance to make a contribution.

AS McDERMOTT noted, “The unselfishness of that mantra is huge. That’s a key aspect of really good teams across all sports … that unselfish nature. That’s what you’re seeing on full display and what you saw (against Jacksonville). Ten guys caught balls, James (Woods), Ray (Davis) and Ty (Johnson) had their share of carries and their share of success on the ground.”

In addition, for the third time in team history, six different players scored a touchdown in a single game and the young players voluntarily mouth the phrase, “Everybody eats,” as true disciples.

TIGHT END Dawson Knox admitted, “It’s fun, because any given play, you don’t really know where the ball is going. It’s fun seeing everybody get involved. So much versatility on this offense, so many weapons that really makes a defense game plan for everybody. The more touches we can get around the roster, the better off we’re going to be, and (against the Jaguars) was a great example.”

QUARTERBACK Josh Allen conceded, “It’s paying dividends of what we’ve worked on throughout the entire offseason and through training camp of the ‘everybody eats’ mentality. It could be your play this play. You never know when it’s going to happen and that’s the beauty of it. “When guys get to buy into this and really understand, ‘I may not get the ball four or five times thrown to me a game, but the one or two times I do, I’m going to have opportunities being (in) the end zone. It’s a fun and wonderful thing when you’ve got a bunch of guys that don’t care about the stats, don’t care about the touchdowns.”

The Bills’ seventh-year quarterback explained, “Throughout practice we just had this mindset of, like, ‘Hey, let’s just do things the right way and find ways to win football games.’ That’s what we’re doing right now.”

WIDE RECEIVER Marquez Valdes-Scantling agreed.

“I’ve been a part of some really great offenses,” he said. “This is one of those where you spread the ball around and you can’t really key in on one guy.

“It makes it hard for the defense, and then you’ve got a good running game to go with it … a bunch of different guys that can catch passes, whether it be a receiver, tight end or a running back. It makes it really tough on a defense to kind of figure out what you’re going to do on each play.”

And so far it’s working.

(Chuck Pollock, an Olean Star and Wellsville Sun senior sports columnist, can be reached at cpollock@wnynet.net.)

Pollock: The Buffalo Bills are buying into the ‘Everybody eats’ mantra

You may also like

Jennifer S. White, 38, Belmont

Fatal fire victim identified from Wellsville house fire