FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – It is generally accepted advice not to give yourself a new nickname. Buffalo Bills wide receiver Isaiah McKenzie ran past that warning this summer when he declared himself “The Face of the Franchise” in Buffalo.
Joking or not, he walked it back about a week later: Quarterback Josh Allen’s record-setting contract seemed to indicate the title was not rightfully McKenzie’s. But the fifth-year receiver got plenty of face time Sunday.
His standout performance helped seal the Bills’ 33-21 win over the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium. His 125 receiving yards and 11 catches were career highs. McKenzie's previous marks were 65 receiving yards and six catches, set in last year’s season finale against Miami.
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McKenzie’s game was big for the playoff picture: The road victory put the Bills back on top of the AFC East with just two games left in the regular season. It was needed. Buffalo was without wide receivers Cole Beasley and Gabriel Davis, both on the Reserve/Covid-19 list.
And it was redemptive. McKenzie has had a tumultuous recent stretch. After fumbling a punt return against the Colts despite being untouched, McKenzie was benched for two games. Between the two games, Thanksgiving night against the Saints and Monday night against the Patriots, McKenzie posted a picture of himself on Instagram smiling and giving a thumbs up to the camera with the caption “This hurts.”
If he was a bit in his feelings, it didn’t trickle over to practice. McKenzie said Sunday that coaches didn’t give him a specific reason why he wasn’t playing, but he knew both why and what to do next.
“Nothing was said,” McKenzie said. “Everybody just told me keep my head up, stay confident, and 'when you get your opportunity, just take advantage of it.' And I understood what I did during the Colts game, things like that. So I understood. … I blamed it on myself. So whatever I could do to get back on the field, that’s what I did.”
He had a catch a game the two weeks after he came back, in Tampa and against Carolina. Sunday brought his first receiving touchdown of the season, a three-yard catch in the first quarter when the Bills went for it on fourth-and-2 from the New England 3.
“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 then when given the opportunity, he stepped up,” coach Sean McDermott said. “And I think that’s a lesson for our entire team.”
McKenzie called it “a learning experience,” as well, saying he reevaluated himself and his approach during that time. He had a large takeaway from the benching.
“Never mess up again,” he said, before expanding on some more attainable goals. “Just learn to do my part, you know what I’m saying? Just try not to put the team in a bad situation, whether it’s giving up the ball or penalties or whatnot. And just do my job the best way I can like I know I can. That’s just the learning curve for me. I learn from it, and I don’t want to go back to it.”
Quarterback Josh Allen connected with eight different receivers Sunday. But McKenzie felt his expanded role came from more than strictly a next-man-up effect.
“This opportunity came around, with me coming in – not because Beas got Covid, or Gabe, but just because it was my turn,” McKenzie said. “And I felt like I just had to step up for my team.”
Seven of McKenzie’s receptions and 103 of his receiving yards came in the second half. Allen went to McKenzie on the first play of the third quarter, a short pass to the right that was good for nine yards. After that, each of McKenzie’s next six catches were good for a first down.
The Bills were 6 of 12 on third down Sunday. Three of those were by way of McKenzie on touchdown drives, and at critical times.
Allen was simply sublime from start to finish in throwing for 314 yards and three touchdowns without a turnover or getting sacked.
In the fourth quarter, Patriots running back Damien Harris’ third touchdown of the day pulled New England within five points with 7:37 remaining. The Bills knew they needed to score on the next drive.
On first-and-10 from the Buffalo 25, Allen was nearly intercepted. He threw it away the next play, bringing up a critical third-and-10. Allen turned to the self-proclaimed face of the franchise, who had a 17-yard catch.
“We saw that it was man-to-man, and they motioned me in, and it was like best man win, you know what I’m saying?” McKenzie said. “Everybody had routes, and I just got open faster than everybody else. So I was just running, he threw it to me, I caught it, and it was a first down. … It was man to man, and somebody had to win.”
Allen went back to McKenzie on the next play, a 15-yard pickup. McKenzie was injured during the play, but only left the game briefly. The Bills kept moving down the field until a two-yard touchdown from Allen to tight end Dawson Knox sealed the 33-21 victory.
McKenzie said Allen didn’t say anything to him during the course of the game, but plays like that third down showed McKenzie that his quarterback believed in him. Allen saved his praise for after the game.
“I'm so happy for him,” Allen said. “I've got all the faith in the world in him and for him to come out and play this way the day after Christmas means a lot to him. But I think it means a lot to everybody on this team, just seeing a guy like that who has his ups and downs throughout the year, loses the returning position, is sat for a couple of games and comes out ... I mean, he was unbelievable.”
McKenzie openly embraces provoking his teammates, who call him “Lil Dirty.” He sometimes heckles them at press conferences, either from yelling or actually throwing things at them. But for all his shenanigans, his teammates love that he’ll back it up.
“He's just like a little missile, man,” left tackle Dion Dawkins said. “Watching him run around and catch the ball and then bounce off the ground, that's probably the funniest part. But he's a storm trooper, man. He shows his personality on and off of the field.
“I am extremely thankful to have a guy like that as a teammate. The whole locker room is. He just brings positivity, just juice, all of the time. He puts his money where his funny trash talk is.”
