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So far in this young NFL season, long-suffering Buffalo Bills’ fans have been treated to some of the most exciting games since the club’s 4 Super Bowl runs in the 1990s, especially at home in Ralph Wilson Stadium. Sunday’s game against the self-proclaimed “Dream Team”, the Philadelphia Eagles, was no exception. The Bills used the same formula in this game as they have all year so far, running a balanced offense centered around Fred Jackson. Jackson ran for over 100 yards again and also contributed greatly in the passing game, turning screen passes into long gains. Ryan Fitzpatrick guided a solid passing game, throwing for less than 200 yards but making those yards count by distributing the ball among all his receivers. Unlike some of their other wins this year, the Bills this time rarely took shots downfield against the Eagles’ strong cornerbacks and didn’t utilize tight end Scott Chandler much, but kept drives alive with timely Fitzpatrick passes to Jackson, David Nelson, Stevie Johnson, Donald Jones and Namaan Roosevelt, who stepped in and contributed after Jones was hurt. Brad Smith also chipped in with a 5 yard TD run out of the wildcat formation.

Defensively, the Bills also followed the same pattern as their 3 other wins this year, giving up chunks of yardage and points, but also coming up with turnovers and making stops when they needed to. Nick Barnett had 2 interceptions and returned one for a touchdown. A weekly “Pick Six” by the Bills’ defense has become a habit for these guys also. Overall, the Bills came up with 5 turnovers, 4 of them interceptions. Incidentally, the team led the NFL in picks coming into this game, so they’ll surely hold onto that distinction. George Wilson, who played a monster game along with fellow safety Jairus Byrd, had an interception, as did nickel cornerback Reggie Corner. Alex Carrington tipped Michael Vick’s pass to set up Corner’s pick, Arthur Moats pressured Vick on Wilson’s interception, redirecting the pass, and rookie LB Kelvin Sheppard’s hit on Vick set up Barnett’s touchdown pickoff. Once again, it was a total team victory, as the Bills did what they needed to do to overcome Vick’s dynamic “high risk, high reward” style of play. At 4-1, the Bills are now firmly established as a team to reckon with in the AFC East race this year. The circumstances of this game, winning against a totally desperate team that needed the game badly, makes the win possibly more impressive than beating the Patriots to end a 15 game losing streak against them. Next week, they get a similar test – this time on the road, against another NFC East team, the New York Giants,  who’ll be angry after losing at home to lowly Seattle.