Orchard Park, NY (WGR) - The Buffalo Bills came back from a rough start to defeat the Los Angeles Chargers 24-16 Sunday and move to 3-0 on the season.
Here are my Arrows Up and Down from the contest, starting Up for a third straight week:
ARROW UP
- Defense getting stops when needed
The Bills defense was put in some tough spots because of the offense, but were able to keep the team in it with a couple of key stops, including holding the Chargers to a field goal after they started at the Bills 43 yard line, and coming up with an interception at the goal line. After an opening drive touchdown, Los Angeles didn’t find the end zone the rest of the game.
- Greg Rousseau
Rousseau collected his fifth and sixth sacks of the season, becoming the first Bills player to ever have at least six sacks in the team’s first three games, became the first player to ever open a season with two or more sacks in three straight games, and third player in NFL history to ever have three straight games of at least two sacks at any point, joining Mark Gastineau and Kevin Greene. Rousseau collected eight total tackles and added four QB hits.
- Davison Igbinosun
The rookie was pressed into duty after Christian Benford left with a toe injury. He saw some time even before that, but had to play a big role as the game went on, and finished with five total tackles and a pass breakup.
- CJ Gardner-Johnson
The veteran came up with an absolutely monstrous interception when the Bills needed it most, right at the goal line to not only prevent a possible Chargers touchdown but then take the ball back to the Bills 42 yard line. He also had a pair of pass breakups and five total tackles.
- James Cook………after the first play
Cook fumbled on the very first play of the game. But by the time zeros showed on the clock, he ran for 154 yards on 24 carries, averaging 6.4 yards per run.
- Ty Johnson
Johnson came up huge when the team needed him in the passing game, catching 4 passes for 50 yards.
- Red zone defense
As mentioned, the Bills defense came up with some big stops. The Chargers were just 1-for-4 (25%) scoring touchdowns once inside the Buffalo red zone.
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ARROW DOWN
- First half offense
I couldn’t imagine a worse start for the Bills offense. James Cook fumbled on the very first play, Josh Allen threw two interceptions, and they scored just ten points.
- Josh Allen
Allen wasn’t sharp, connecting on just 16-of-26 passes (61.5%) for just 204 yards and throwing a pair of interceptions. He also lost a fumble.
- James Cook on the first play
Cook fumbled the ball on the first play off the game. That gave the Chargers the ball in Bills territory, and they scored a touchdown eight plays later.
- Dalton Kincaid’s fumble
Kincaid had a really nice run after catch that was going to set the Bills up inside the Chargers red zone. But he had the ball too loose in his arm and had it punched out. The Chargers recovered.
- Pass protection
The Chargers sacked Josh Allen four times, and added another seven quarterback hits. Allen wasn’t good enough, but he also didn’t have enough time and space too often.
- Penalties
The Bills were called for ten penalties for 88 yards, including one that took an interception off the board and others that extended Chargers drives.
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