ORCHARD PARK -- Now it is official. The Evil Empire is dead.

What a glorious sentence to type.

If there was anyone clinging to the belief that the New England Patriots are still a force of nature and a team to be feared, the Buffalo Bills shattered that illusion with a stunning 47-17 pummeling that will reverberate in the head of Bill Belichick for months.

This AFC wild-card game was no contest, as thorough a dismantling of the Patriots as they have ever suffered in the Belichick Era, and the fact that it was performed by the franchise the Patriots embarrassed for nearly two decades made this one of the sweetest beatdowns in recent NFL memory.

“Obviously, it didn’t matter who we played, we were going to try to come out and dominate,” said safety Micah Hyde. “But I think it’s big for the people in this community and the people out here to be a part of that game against that opponent because we know the history and what’s happened for the last 20-plus years or so.”

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Hyde came to the Bills in 2017 and felt the sting of six straight losses to New England through the end of Tom Brady’s tenure there in 2019. But now, Buffalo has won four of the last five, and this last one was the pinnacle achievement as it sent the Patriots into the offseason.

“I let all of the stuff in the past go,” said left tackle Dion Dawkins, who also joined the Bills in 2017, Sean McDermott’s first as head coach. “Every team is different, but of course, it’s a deeper feeling (knowing) that the times have definitely changed.”

Indeed, they have.

“It felt amazing just on the stage that it was done on,” said the longest tenured Bill of them all, Jerry Hughes. “A home playoff game here with our fans, with the Mafia up in the stands, cheering, being crazy, being what they are; the best fans in the NFL. It felt amazing to actually have that opportunity to be here.”

Here’s how I graded the Bills’ performance:

PASS OFFENSE: A+

Somehow, Allen finds a way to keep topping himself. Just when we thought he couldn’t play any better than he did in the game at New England on Dec. 26 – and make no mistake, that was sublime – he was even better Saturday. Taking out the final kneel down series at the end, the Bills scored touchdowns on all seven of their possessions.

Allen completed 21 of 25 passes for 308 yards and a team playoff record five TDs. Allen was given time to throw by his suddenly resurgent offensive line, and he played pitch and catch all night, throwing two TDs to Dawson Knox and one each to Emmanuel Sanders, Gabriel Davis and, if you can believe this, rookie OT Tommy Doyle.

Knox caught both of his in the first quarter. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, he became the first TE in NFL history to catch two TDs in the first quarter of a postseason game. The league is 102 years old. It was, in every way, a perfect performance through the air.

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RUN OFFENSE: A

Devin Singletary had another terrific night. Look, he’s never going to be compared to the elite backs in the NFL – the Jonathan Taylors and Derrick Henrys of the world – but in this particular offense, he has really started to carve his niche down the stretch in 2021.

He rushed for 81 yards and scored two touchdowns, averaging 5.1 per attempt, and that’s what had been missing from Buffalo’s run game most of the year, taking Allen out of the equation. The ability to hammer a defense and consistently gain 3, 4, 5 and 6 yards to keep down and distance in a favorable position. Singletary has never run better than he has lately, mainly because the line is giving him space and he’s taking the ball north-south rather than east-west.

Allen, of course, is the X-factor that no defense can handle when he leaves the pocket. When he tucks it and runs, he can be unstoppable and he averaged 11 yards per attempt to get his 66 yards.

PASS DEFENSE: A-

Hyde made a remarkable touchdown-saving interception in the first quarter that killed the Patriots' first possession, one of the best plays you’ll ever see a safety make. Jordan Poyer said it was the best he’d ever seen. Hyde ranged over like a center fielder and bailed out beaten CB Levi Wallace to pick off Mac Jones. Who knows how the game would have gone if not for that play. Maybe nothing would have changed, but it was a big early moment.

Jones didn’t have a terrible game by any stretch. He had that pick and another later that was tipped by Matt Milano and caught by Wallace. But he managed to complete 24 of 38 for 232 yards against the No. 1 pass defense. Granted, a lot of that came in garbage time, but he made some fine throws to Kendrick Bourne, including two TDs.

The line had another strong game as it racked up three sacks by Hughes, Star Lotulelei and Boogie Basham. That’s 22 in the last five games, a very promising trend going into next week’s divisional round game given that the opponent will either be Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs, or Joe Burrow and the Bengals.

RUN DEFENSE: A-

The Patriots certainly wanted to establish their ground game, but once they were down two touchdowns in the first quarter, they couldn’t keep feeding Damien Harris and Rhamondre Stevenson.

Harris had topped 100 yards in both regular season games, but he was held to 30 yards on nine carries with 14 coming on one play. The Bills did an excellent job of scraping down the line of scrimmage when he bounced outside, and they were sound in their inside gaps when the Patriots tried to plow between the tackles.

Tremaine Edmunds led the Bills with eight tackles while Milano, Wallace and Taron Johnson had five each. The Patriots finished with 89 yards, but 44 came on three plays including a reverse to Bourne. The other 17 attempts produced just 45 yards.

SPECIAL TEAMS: B

The only thing that even warranted a quibble in this game was the fact that the Bills allowed the Patriots to block two of Tyler Bass’ extra point attempts, the first misses he’s had all year. He had made all 51 in the regular season. Bass wasn’t required to kick a field goal because the Bills scored a TD on every possession.

Because of that, it meant that Matt Haack had his third no-punt game in the last five weeks, and given how he has punted this season, that’s a good thing.

Isaiah McKenzie was deep on kickoffs and he returned four for 35 yards, while Hyde handled the punt return duties and he ripped off a 53-yarder late in the game that almost went for a touchdown.

The kickoff coverage team did an excellent job limiting Gunner Olszewski to a 20.6 average on five returns as the Patriots average drive start after kickoffs was their own 23.

COACHING: A+

Bill Belichick this, Bill Belichick that. Yes, he’s one of the greatest in the history of the game, but Sean McDermott has now won four of the last five games. McDermott had his team as ready as they’ve ever been for a game and that was obvious all night as the Patriots looked dead in the water.

Brian Daboll called a great game and the Patriots defense literally could not stop them as they scored seven straight TDs. He took advantage of mismatches all over the field and the Bills were nearly flawless in their execution.

On defense, another great job by Leslie Frazier, especially with how the Bills finally corralled the potent Patriots run game. That had been a problem in the first two games, but they never got it going Saturday and that heaped more pressure on Jones.

Sal Maiorana can be reached at maiorana@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @salmaiorana.

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Bills report card: Josh Allen and offense perfect against Patriots