‘If the Bills win the next two but lose to Miami? The odds they make the playoffs are only 51%. Obviously, the odds fluctuate up or down in that scenario – a loss in Miami — depending on what happens in other games involving the AFC contenders.’
Archives for December 2023
How It Happened: Top plays, standout players in Bills’ win over Cowboys
‘The Bills were able to pull quarterback Josh Allen, receiver Stefon Diggs, running back James Cook and three offensive line starters (left tackle Dion Dawkins, center Mitch Morse and left guard Connor McGovern) with 10:37 remaining. Several defensive starters exited with seven minutes remaining.’
Plays that shaped the game: Bills sap Cowboys of their super powers
‘“I think we kept the pressure on the run game and didn’t allow them to get going,” said Bills left guard Connor McGovern. “When they start off and get hot, they start moving around and doing more. They had to keep focusing on the run, so they couldn’t pin their ears back like they like to.”’
Report Card: Running game, coaching get high marks in Bills’ win over Cowboys
‘Considering what was at stake, this was the Bills’ best showing of the season. McDermott deserves a ton of credit for getting his defense to utterly dominate an opponent that came into the game averaging 37.3 points per game over their past six games. In fact, this should go down as one of the signature wins of the McDermott era. There is still a ton of work to be done in the playoff race – the Bills got no help on the out-of-town scoreboard earlier in the day – but they took care of their business in resounding fashion. Brady didn’t try to fix what wasn’t broken, leaning on Cook and the run game. The Bills are averaging 29.3 points per game in four games with Brady as the interim offensive coordinator. A legitimate case can be made that move should have been made sooner. The Bills took just one penalty in the game. For a team that has shot itself in the foot far too often in that regard, that was a huge step in the right direction.’
Bills unlock potent offense under Joe Brady: 6 reasons Buffalo obliterated Cowboys
‘Surely, Brady was prepared for a shootout against this Dallas offense, but that never materialized and it was the type of in-game adjustment that the best coordinators excel at. Brady has proven in the month he’s been in charge that he has the chops to do that.’
Bills report card: Buffalo puts AFC on notice by annihilating Cowboys
‘One of the biggest concerns the Bills had coming into the game was whether the offensive line would be able to protect Allen and give him time to throw, but it became an irrelevant point once James Cook got rolling on the ground. But when Allen needed to make a play, he hit Diggs for a big 18-yard gain on the first TD drive, found Diggs who made a brilliant catch for 17 yards on the fourth TD drive, and then he hit Cook on a pretty 18-yard TD pass for the second TD.’
Cook, Bills’ line push around Dallas in rout
‘Or, put it this way: when Josh Allen stayed on the sideline to let backup Kyle Allen take care of the final 11 minutes, the scoring margin (28) nearly doubled Josh’s total passing attempts (15). The total rushing yards (266) nearly tripled Allen’s passing yards (94).’
Bills finally let James Cook: RB has star-making performance in blowout win (5 observations)
‘By the time the first half ended, it was clear that the Bills had found the new centerpiece of their offense in second-year running back James Cook. The 24-year-old finished the game with 221 all-purpose yards, almost doubling the Cowboys’ total for the game as an entire offense.’
Buffalo Bills’ James Cook uses three words to describe his monster performance vs. Cowboys
‘It was certainly a fun day for Cook. In front of a national audience, Cook put on an absolute show. His breakout season now has him third in the league in yards from scrimmage (1,401). He only trails Christian McCaffrey (1,801) and Tyreek Hill (1,557).’
Bills’ Josh Allen did something he hasn’t done since rookie season in win vs Cowboys
‘Allen admitted that the plan going into the game wasn’t to rely heavily on the run game. But once the team started having success on the ground, offensive coordinator Joe Brady remained determined to execute in the run game. Bills coach Sean McDermott credited Brady for recognizing that the run game was working and for staying with it.’
Buffalo Bills LB trolls Dallas Cowboys on social media following 31-10 blowout win
‘In a since deleted Instagram post, Dodson posted the pads. Instead of the faces of Bills defenders, however, Dodson put an L on each one.’
Defense dominant, Cook sets new career-high as Bills blow out Cowboys, improve to 8-6
‘The Buffalo defense limited the vaunted Cowboys’ offense to just 2 of 6 conversions on third down, 89 total yards and 3 points during a tepid first half from a unit that entered the game averaging 32.4 points per game. Dallas quarterback Dak Prescott, who was at the forefront of the MVP conversation coming into the Week 15 matchup, finished the first two quarters 6 of 13 passing for just 43 yards passing. Prescott finished the game 21 of 34 passing for 134 yards, his lowest yardage total of the season, and was sacked 3 times. Dallas gained just 195 total yards in defeat.’
Seven Takeaways: James cooks, Floyd flourishes as Bills romp Cowboys, continue trek toward postseason
‘Josh Allen took a backseat to Bills running back James Cook, who ran all over Dallas en route to a significant Buffalo victory. Cook recorded a career-high 179 yards rushing and 221 total yards from scrimmage, which was his fourth consecutive game with 100 or more scrimmage yards. Allen finished the game with a season-low 15 pass attempts, of which he completed 7 for 91 yards, including an 18-yard touchdown pass to Cook, which increased Buffalo’s lead to 14-0 with 12:52 remaining in the first half. From then on, Buffalo never looked back, recording 266 total yards rushing en route to victory, which is the most recorded by the Bills since McDermott was hired in 2017.’
James Cook, Bills prove they don’t need to be quarterback-centric by gashing red-hot Cowboys
‘Rousseau says Cook is a legend in Florida. Well, it’s taken a little while for everyone else to come around, including the Buffalo Bills. But both the Bills and the Cowboys were educated about Cook Sunday.’
Sabato: Once unreliable Bills defense is suddenly stifling with the season on the line
‘Two months ago, it wouldn’t have been a surprise. Two weeks ago, that result would have seemed stunning.’