Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR Sports Radio 550) - Well, at least the Buffalo Bills won.
If you hadn't seen Sunday's game against the New England Patriots and got that response when you asked how the Bills did, you would surmise that Buffalo didn't look that good. You would be correct.
Raise your hand if you expected the Bills to be trailing a 3-11 Patriots team 14-0 early in the second quarter.
OK, now raise your hand if at halftime, you thought Josh Allen's stat line would read 9-of-17 for 78 yards and his first interception in four games.
With all this exercise being good for you, now raise your hand if you thought the Bills wouldn't even have a lead until six minutes remaining in the third quarter.
You can put your hand down now.
All of that happened on a day when the Bills were as cold as the weather at Highmark Stadium. Perhaps it was the 14-degree weather. Maybe the Bills were on fumes after a stretch that saw them play the Kansas City Chiefs, San Francisco 49ers, Los Angeles Rams and Detroit Lions.
There could have also been some "taking the opponent lightly" thrown in there as well.
It all added up to a much closer game than most of us expected, and an uneven performance in all three phases of the game.
But at the end of the day, the Bills made enough plays to beat their AFC East rivals for the eighth time in the last 10 meetings.
It also kept the 12-3 Bills alive for the 1-seed in the AFC, and brought them one step closer to being no worse than the No. 2 seed for the upcoming playoffs.
The 2-seed in the AFC would, of course, mean the possibility for, at least, two home playoff games in Orchard Park, should the Bills hold up in the AFC Wild Card Round.
For the second-straight game, the Bills defense was down three starters in the secondary with cornerback Rasul Douglas, as well as safeties Taylor Rapp and Damar Hamlin all sitting this one out due to injury. And for the second-straight week, their absences showed.
Linebacker Matt Milano was also sidelined by an injury suffered the previous week in Detroit.
The Patriots, behind rookie quarterback Drake Maye, had an easy time with the Bills defense while building that 14-0 lead. Over the first two drives, New England totaled 141 yards, 12 first downs, averaged 5.7 yards per-carry, and converted all four of their third downs.
But as has been the case with the defense many times this season, they got better as the game went on.
After giving up touchdowns on the first two drives of the game, the Bills then held the Patriots scoreless on their next seven possessions. That stretch included takeaways on three-straight drives.
Pass rusher Greg Rousseau was the Bills' best player on Sunday. He had a handful of pressures and played a key role in two of those three takeaways.
On the first, Rousseau forced a fumble by Patriots running back Rhamondre Stevenson.
On the third, Rousseau's presence forced a lateral from Maye to Stevenson just outside the Patriots' end zone. With Rousseau bearing down on him, Stevenson didn't catch the lateral, and Taron Johnson fell on the loose ball for a Bills touchdown that sealed the win, for all intents and purposes.
With Allen and the passing game struggling, the Bills turned to the running game to get the offense going.
James Cook, who is having his best season as a pro, provided the spark for Buffalo. His 46-yard touchdown run in the second quarter came on the drive right after the Patriots went up 14-0, and it energized the freezing fans in the stands.
Trailing 14-7, the Bills got the ball to start the second half, and wisely decided to go with a heavy diet of Cook. He broke off a 25-yard run on the very first play, and it set the tone for that drive. Cook touched the ball on six of the nine plays, and accounted for 44 of the 68 yards.
Cook's touchdown catch and the subsequent extra point allowed the Bills to tie the game at 14-14.
Cook ended the day with 14 touches for 126 yards and the two touchdowns. I'll save you from doing the math, he averaged nine yards a touch on the day!
Cook and his fellow running backs combined for just four carries in the first half. They had 18 in the second half when the Bills put up 17 of their 24 points.
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Bonus notes:
- The Bills had 13 accepted penalties, including five for defensive pass interference.
- Special teams gave up a 42-yard kick return and a fake punt for a Patriots first down.
- Cook has 14 rushing touchdowns this season, which is two short of the Bills' single-season record of 16 held by O.J. Simpson.
- Cook set a Bills single-season record with his fourth rushing touchdown of 40-plus yards.
- The Bills are now 23-5 against AFC East teams since 2020.
- The Bills are 7-0 at home this season. The last unbeaten season at home was back in 1990.
- The Bills have won 14 of their last 15, and 23-of-25 regular season home games.
- Buffalo has won, at least, 12 games for the third time in five seasons.
- The Bills' streak of scoring, at least, 30 points ended at eight-straight games.
- The Bills are 22-3 in December/January regular season games since 2020.