Isaiah McKenzie Won't be Denied as Bills win at New England
In this story:
The Buffalo Bills didn't have many other options.
Cole Beasley and Gabriel Davis were on the Reserve/COVID-19 list and unavailable. And fellow wide receiver Stefon Diggs kept trying to battle through assorted nagging injuries.
They just had to call Isaiah McKenzie's number on Sunday.
McKenzie just had to respond with career highs of 11 catches and 125 receiving yards in a 33-21 victory over the New England Patriots that put the Bills back in control of the AFC East, which will be theirs with victories in their final two games.
He was particularly clutch on a pair of catches on third downs to keep two touchdown drives going in the second half, enabling the Bills to match the Patriots score for score.
McKenzie credited quarterback Josh Allen for trusting him despite McKenzie's limited usage all season before Sunday.
"At those moments, he believed in me," McKenzie said. "He threw me the ball, and I made the plays when I could. And I thanked him for that, I thanked the coaches for calling those plays and giving me the opportunity."
Allen credited McKenzie for earning that trust.
"I've got all the faith in the world in him," Allen said, "and for him to come out and play this way the day after Christmas, it means a lot to him but I think it means a lot to everybody on this team to seeing a guy like that who has his ups and downs throughout the year, loses the returning position is sat for a couple games and comes and, I mean he was unbelievable today.
"... Just an absolute just phenomenal, phenomenal day for him, and I'm so happy for him. I can't express that enough."
Coach Sean McDermott claimed not to be surprised by any of it.
"I did [expect it] to be honest with you," he said. "I know he was excited for the opportunity and he gives us great energy and I could just tell during the week that he was focused and ready to go.
"It was important to him, and that's good to know. He's passionate about what he does and how he does things and so it's a great testament to him the way he's worked to get himself back to get in this position to have this opportunity. And when given the opportunity, he stepped up, and I think that's a lesson for our entire team."
But if McDermott really did see this coming, he had to be the only one.
To put what the fifth-year player did in perspective, McKenzie had more catches in this game than he did in all of the Bills' previous 14 games this season combined. He wasn't even active for two of them, having been a healthy scratch against New Orleans and for the first meeting with New England after losing his punt- and kick-return duties to rookie Marquez Stevenson.
What's more, his totals trumped the season highs of the man he was replacing, Beasley.
McKenzie's yardage total nearly doubled his previous career high of 65, set when the Bills rested most of their key regulars in the final game of the 2020 regular season.
This game meant a little more, perhaps proving once and for all that McKenzie is a red-light player capable of filling Beasley's role full-time if the Bills decide that his $5 million salary next season, which is not guaranteed, is too much to pay going forward.
McKenzie wasn't the only deep reserve to play a major role, just the most noticeable.
Their offensive line, already depleted by the absences of starting guard Jon Feliciano and key backup Cody Ford to the Reserve/COVID-19 list, lost guard Ike Boettger to a ruptured Achilles tendon early in this contest. That meant the Bills had to adjust by thrusting starting left tackle Dion Dawkins back into action ahead of schedule following his activation from the COVID list the day before, moving Spencer Brown to right tackle and moving Daryl Williams back inside to one guard while using Ryan Bates at the other guard.
Bates had played just 62 snaps with the offense all season coming in.
The result was excellent protection for quarterback Josh Allen (30-for-47, 314 yards three TDs, no interceptions), who wasn't sacked, 114 rushing yards and no punts against the top-ranked scoring defense in the NFL.
On a day when the Bills needed the bottom of their roster to come through, the players they plugged in not only performed at a high level, but at a higher level than those they replaced.
They couldn't have asked for anything more than that.
Nick Fierro is the publisher of Bills Central. Check out the latest Bills news at www.si.com/nfl/bills and follow Fierro on Twitter at @NickFierro. Email to Nicky300@aol.com.
