By Rich Kowalski / Billswire.usatoday.com
When the Buffalo Bills went down to East Rutherford, NJ, to take on the New York Jets, most of western New York didn’t know what to expect but braced for the worst.
The Bills named Matt Barkley the starting quarterback on Saturday and Buffalo fans assumed the matchup between him and Jets quarterback Josh McCown would be an ugly one to watch.
The game was ugly for one team but the other thought it was beautiful – the Bills.
Buffalo (3-7) dominated New York (3-7) for all four quarters of the game, burying the Jets by a score of 41-10. It was unexpected but needed for the Bills. The team had been the punchline of jokes all week and Las Vegas oddsmaker’s even gave the team just a 28.5 point cushion against the Alabama Crimson Tide didn’t help.
Buffalo and their stellar defense impressed for their third win of the year. Two of the Bills wins have come by a steady and impressive performance by their defense coupled with the offense lighting up the scoreboard.
The Bills were averaging around 10 points per game going into Sunday but exploded for over four times that with a quarterback they signed less than two weeks ago.
Head coach Sean McDermott commented on if Barkley exceeded his expectations with the win.
“The biggest thing that really appreciated with Matt was the way he led the football team. He had good energy during the week, and the look in his eye today was a good one. He brought a good energy to our offense and gave the receivers a chance to make plays on the ball,” said McDermott.
McDermott is on to something when he talks about the energy Barkley and others showed on Sunday. In nearly every game for the team in 2018, the offense has come out flat and whoever was under center looked afraid to pull the trigger. On Sunday, Barkley looked seasoned.
“To get back out there after two years, I don’t want to be cliché by saying it’s like riding a bike, but I’ve done this for years. I believe I was made to play football and tonight was just an example of going out there and doing what I was made to do,” said Barkley after the game.
Whoa. Easy there cowboy. Buffalo already has their quarterback of the future, Mr. Joshua Allen. But, the Bills do need a serviceable backup so that may cause Buffalo to retain the services of Barkley for the future.