Orchard Park, N.Y. (WGR 550) - The Buffalo Bills won a dramatic prime-time game on Sunday, 14-9, over the New York Giants at Highmark Stadium to improve to 4-2 on the season, and stay within a game of the Miami Dolphins for the top of the AFC East.
Here are my Arrows Up and Down from the game:
ARROW UP:
Nine points allowed
Anytime you can hold a team out of the end zone for an entire NFL game, it’s impressive. The Giants didn’t score a touchdown on the Bills, kicking just three field goals on the night.
LB - Terrell Bernard
Bernard had 12 tackles on the night. Of those, three were behind the line of scrimmage for tackles for loss.
Another sack for Leonard Floyd
Floyd continues to do exactly what the Bills signed him for, and that's get to the quarterback. He collected another sack, giving him 6.5 on the season.
Run defense
While the Giants ran for 132 yards, it was more due to volume and their 34 carries. The Bills held them to 3.9 yards per-run.
DE - A.J. Epenesa
Another strong performance from Epenesa, who collected another sack to go along with three total tackles and a quarterback hurry.
CB - Taron Johnson
Johnson led all players on either team with a whopping 15 total tackles. Whether a flag should have been thrown or not, he also did whatever he had to do to keep the ball out of the hands of Giants tight end Darren Waller on the final play of the game.
WR - Stefon Diggs
Diggs was his usual terrific self, catching 10 passes for 100 yards on 16 targets!
Allen's touchdown pass to Morris
While quarterback Josh Allen’s numbers weren’t spectacular, he still made a couple great plays, including a laser-touchdown pass thrown to tight end Quintin Morris.
Morris did a great job to hold on after Allen scrambled away from a muddy pocket, and stepped up to throw it as Morris was between defenders.
RB - James Cook
Cook got back on track, averaging 5.1 yards a carry, running 14 times for 71 yards.
No sacks allowed
The Bills' offensive line did not allow a sack of Allen on the night.
Third down offense
The Bills finished Sunday's game going 6-for-12 (50%) on third down.
Red zone offense and defense
The Giants were inside the Bills' 20-yard line five times and did not score a single touchdown (0-for-5)! The Bills were 2-for-2 on offense in the Giants’ red zone, scoring touchdowns on both trips.
ARROW DOWN:
Three quarters offense
For the first three quarters of Sunday's game, and especially the first half, the Bills offense couldn’t do much at all. When they did do anything, they made a critical mistake to halt a drive.
Through the first three quarters, their possessions ended with a punt, fumble, punt, punt, missed field goal and interception. Buffalo had only 222 total yards, and were shut completely off the scoreboard.
K - Tyler Bass
Bass had been perfect on all fields goals and extra points coming into the game. He then missed two field goals from 52 and 53 yards out, both of which were huge at each particular point of the game.
Closing out the game: Part 1
The Bills had a five-point lead and the ball at the Giants' 37-yard line with just 1:45 remaining. Because the Giants still had all three timeouts left, the Bills needed to gain one first down to seal it. They couldn't do it.
Then, Bass missed a 53-yard field goal that gave the Giants the ball at their own 43-yard line with 1:25 left.
Only 20 seconds came off the clock.
New York promptly marched 42 yards down the field in that time, aided by a pass interference penalty on the Bills' on the second-to-last play.
Part 2: Dawson Knox’s drop
During that sequence, facing a third down at the Giants' 36-yard line with 1:36 remaining, offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey called a pass to Knox to, if complete, effectively end the game.
While Allen threw it a bit low, it still was a very catchable ball that Knox didn't hold on to, leading to the missed field goal attempt.
Gabe Davis’ fumble
On the second drive of the game, Bills wide receiver Gabe Davis was near first down yardage and was already across midfield. However, he fumbled the ball and the Giants recovered, leading to the first points of the game later that drive.
Third down defense
The Bills forced the Giants into third down 19 different times, which is a huge number. However, the Giants were 10-for-19 (52.6%) converting them.
Too many easy passes given up
On those third down plays, and several others, the Bills defense allowed too many easy catches underneath, giving the Giants more opportunities to keep drives alive.
Need more than Diggs
Diggs was targeted 16 times. All other pass-catchers for the Bills were only targeted a total of 13 times, and no one else had more than 21 yards receiving.
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