Buffalo Bills Bounce Back
Oh, what a relief it is for Buffalo Bills fans as they won convincingly 38-10 over the Las Vegas Raiders after a week one dud against the New York Jets.
Josh Allen looked completely different in his week two outing, throwing for 274 yards, three touchdowns, and an outstanding 84 percent completion rate. He was making good decisions, made defenders miss inside and outside the pocket, made some tough throws, and was accurate throughout the game.
The key to Allen’s performance was zero turnovers after a crushing four turnovers in week one. It’s nearly impossible to play clean football every single game, but this performance needs to be the springboard for Allen’s weekly goal of mistake-free football.
It is true that the Raiders have one of the weakest defenses in the league, but this was a flawless performance from the MVP-caliber quarterback to silence the early haters. All three Bills running backs looked great, with James Cook leading the way with 123 yards on 17 carries thanks to excellent offensive line play all game long.
Gabe Davis led the Bills in receiving with 92 yards on six receptions and a touchdown, including a few highlight reel catches. Stefon Diggs added 66 yards on seven receptions, and rookie Dalton Kincaid looked more comfortable in the offensive game plan, adding 43 yards on five catches.
Buffalo’s offensive output was great, but the Bills defense was even more impressive, swarming in the Raiders’ backfield all game long. Despite recording zero sacks as a unit, the Bills’ defensive line was disrupting the Raiders’ pass-and-run game.
Raiders star running back Josh Jacobs was held to -2 yards on nine carries, and quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo was uncomfortable in the pocket, especially in the second half, where they scored zero points.
After the Bills gave up an opening-drive touchdown, the defense responded extremely well, forcing three turnovers. The highlight of the entire game, in my opinion, was Bills linebacker Matt Milano’s interception, where he extended his arms underhand to catch the ball over the Raiders’ receiver’s head.
Even without future hall-of-famer Von Miller (who is returning in week five) on the field, this is an extremely encouraging rebound game from the Bills defensive unit.
The Bills dominated time of possession, 40min vs. 20min, and had 450 total yards on 29 first downs. The Bills will need more complete efforts like this to advance further in the AFC standings, as they currently sit at 1-1.
Surprisingly, the Los Angeles Chargers and Cincinnati Bengals are both 0-2 to start the season, as well as the New England Patriots, which helps mitigate Buffalo’s week one loss. The Bills are favorites to pick up another early season victory as they visit the Washington Commanders this Sunday, Sept. 24, at 1:00 p.m.