It certainly wasn’t pretty, but it counts the same in the standings. The Buffalo Bills won on Saturday night, beating the Los Angeles Chargers out west at SoFi Stadium, 24-22.
After falling behind 10-0, the offense got back on track and the defense made an offense without its starting quarterback and best two receivers look the part.
In the end, it was Bills defensive tackle Ed Oliver who put the nail in the coffin. Chargers quarterback Easton Stick had a chance to add “miracle comeback” to his résumé, starting at his own 30-yard line with 22 seconds and no time outs.
Those hopes barely persisted past the first play of the drive, where Oliver immediately shed past the right guard on his way to sacking Stick. The sack was Oliver’s second of the game – and quarter – and put the cherry on top of perhaps his best game of the season.
“Coach [Sean] McDermott said we need a sack to end the game, I said ‘OK!’” Oliver said after the win. “I had already hit the dude with the move earlier … he fell for it again. Went with it, the quarterback tried to climb the pocket, I was already on him.”
That sack brought his total on the year to 8.5 and hit a $500,000 incentive bonus, a proper way to compensate for Christmas-time shopping.
That contract, worth $68 million over four years, was a point of contention when it was signed, but is quickly turning in Buffalo’s favor. With big plays like Saturday’s, Oliver is playing himself out of contract conversations and into Pro Bowl (if not better) talks.
“I feel like I’m [going to] outplay the contract, to be honest … I just want to shut everybody up who said I was overpaid or something like that,” Oliver has said previously. “Just sit back and watch.”
Bills Mafia watched – nervously for most of the game – but Oliver’s heroics won’t go unnoticed. The win brings Buffalo to 9-6 and nearly locked into a playoff spot. With an AFC East title within reach and a Wild Card in their back pocket, the Bills have turned a rocky start into a team nobody is looking forward to playing.
Oh, and the defense that sacked Stick five times in Week 16 is about to get defensive tackle DaQuan Jones back, too. The holiday season just keeps coming up Buffalo. Oliver summed up Saturday’s proceedings simply.
“Christmas gonna be good!”
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