After a sobering defeat in London and a very long week to think about it, some joy returned to Bills Nation on Sunday. Everything always looks better and feels better when the Bills win, especially when the opponent is a division rival and the win marks a season sweep.

The Bills have now climbed back to .500 at the halfway point of the season and there is still plenty of talk of playoffs. New England, Cincinnati and Denver are cruising towards division titles and parade of teams hovering near the .500 mark are in play for a wildcard spot – it would be hard to script a better scenario for the Bills.

And yet I’m not all that enthused about the Bills winning and their chances for finally playing past week 17. Don’t get me wrong – I love that the Bills won and I love that they swept Miami. I was cheering like crazy on Sunday and there were lots of highlight plays. I’m just not feeling that energized and excited – what’s wrong with me?

If you read my weekly column you’ll know that by and large I think the Bills are out of it at this point. Things could still break Buffalo’s way and I’d be overjoyed, but I’ll be damned if I’m going to get emotionally hooked on a team making a longshot run late in the season that falls short…again. I’ve been through that so many times it feels like a formulaic romantic comedy minus the happy ending.

There is so much to like about Sunday’s game. First up, it was great to see some familiar faces back out on the field making the plays you want and expect to see. Tyrod Taylor was the man once again – making some really nice throws and using his feet when needed. In the first two series Taylor ran for two first downs – it’s great to have a quarterback who can move the chains when needed.

It was nice to see a healthy LeSean McCoy being the slippery runner we want him to be – his 48-yard touchdown run was a thing of beauty – THAT’S why you watch Bills football. It was great to see Sammy Watkins making plays all over the field and catching the deep ball – his 44-yard bomb was fantastic as was his 63-yard bobbling catch. What can I say about Karlos Williams – that guy is a beast – every time he touches the balls it seems as if he has an opportunity to break one for a touchdown.

Of course Miami helped the Bills, directly responsible for at least 13 points by my count. First there was the safety on a bad snap – the first offensive play for the Dolphins and it was snapped right through the back of the end zone – ugly, but I’ll take it. At the half the Dolphins tried for the touchdown rather than the field goal and left empty handed as time ran out. Later, Miami elected to accept a holding penalty on third down rather than accept the play that left Buffalo in a field goal situation – the move blew up in Miami’s face when Taylor found Watkins for his touchdown.

Here’s what’s sapping my enthusiasm about the Bills win – the defense and the stat sheet. Hard to be picky about wins, but I can’t help how I feel.

Defensively I keep waiting for the Bills to have a game where they show an opponent no mercy – the type of game where the offense comes onto the field and it’s apparent that they don’t want to be there. The game where very series sees a number of big defensive plays – sacks, tackles for losses, turnovers, runs that go nowhere and passes that get knocked away. Buffalo has had a really good defense for a few years, and this year they were supposed to be even better but they haven’t. By no means is the defense the weak spot of the team and maybe our expectations were unreasonably high, but I think I have plenty of company when I say that I was expecting more this season.

Buffalo had two sacks and a forced fumble on Sunday, but beyond that there weren’t many big defensive plays. Ryan Tannehill was not terrorized in the pocket. Lamar Miller was held to 44 yards rushing, but added almost another 100 on catches. The Bills gave up drives of 86, 85 and 80 yards that were painful to watch – the touchdown drive to start the second half and put Miami within five points was something I’ve seen far too often. The defense didn’t lose the game for the Bills, but without the aforementioned Miami miscues the game could have well ended at 20-17, a lot closer than it did.

Speaking of close, that’s what the stats show. Buffalo put up 420 offensive yards, but they also gave up 397 to Miami. The Bills gave up 29 first downs and only held the ball 1:13 more than their opponent. I’m not sure what I can still say about penalties that I haven’t already said this season, but the Bills tacked on another 13 for 94 yards including 7 that gave Miami first downs – makes you want to tear your hair out.

The injuries the Bills have had this year really show what this team is all about. Without Taylor they don’t have much of a shot to win – there’s such a huge drop off between what he can do and what EJ Manuel can do. Likewise, without Watkins or Percy Harvin to stretch the defense vertically, the Bills become a totally different team. Buffalo wants to run the ball like they did on Sunday (266 yards), pass like they did on Sunday (12 passes attempted) and win like they did on Sunday – I just wonder how long they can keep it up.

And so I’m not completely sold of the Bills win. There is a huge test on Thursday waiting in the NY Jets and if they pass that test I may start to get a bit more enthusiastic, but that’s a big if – a nationally televised night game on the road with a lot of emotion – Buffalo has let emotion get the best of them over and over again and I suspect it could hurt them in the Meadowlands. The new “color rush” uniforms will make their debut on Thursday with the Bills decked out in bright red from head to toe and the Jets will be enwrapped in bright green – it’s going to look like someone vomited Christmas – gentlemen, start your Pepto!