The Bills Blog

The Buffalo Bills have defeated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 44-32

It was a thrilling victory in Orchard Park, as the Bills and Bucs traded punches all day before Buffalo pulled away in the 4th Quarter. This was an absolute, can’t lose game for Buffalo, and thankfully they did enough in all three phases to win the game.

The Bills offense started the game on the wrong foot and Josh Allen threw a careless interception that felt reminiscent of last weeks nightmare in Miami. As Allen attempted to avoid a safety in his own endzone, he shovel passed the ball into the hands of the Bucs defender, surrendering the ball at their own 7 yard line. Thankfully, Buffalo’s defense was able to hold Tampa to just a field goal, limiting the damage. From there, the Bills got going and Josh Allen put on his Superman cape. He led the team down the field and ran it in for his first score of the day.

The Bills defense struggled to get stops all day, and Baker Mayfield quickly responded by running in a touchdown of his own. From there, it was a shootout. Both offenses were firing on all cylinders, trading big plays and scoring almost at will. The Bucs were extremely effective running the ball and back up RB Sean Tucker had a career day notching 3 scores. It further emphasizes Buffalo’s inability to stop the run this year, something that will plague them down the stretch if they are unable to fix their mistakes.

This was a vintage Josh Allen game. Anytime the Bucs scored, Josh responded by putting the team on his back and made some of his best plays of the season. On the Bills second score of the day, Josh scrambled in the pocket, evaded pressure and stepped up to launch a 43 yard bomb to WR Tyrell Shavers. He wasn’t perfect however, as he had a few uncharacteristic missed throws that even he acknowledged postgame. Additionally, he tacked on another interception on a tough 4th down play where he tried to squeeze in a throw to TE Dawson Knox.

Other than a few mistakes, Josh was phenomenal. He finished the game with 6 total TD. 3 rushing and 3 passing. This is the second time in his career that he’s totaled 3 rushing and 3 passing touchdowns and only the 3rd time in NFL history that it has ever been done.

Another bright spot in this one, was an Interception late in the 3rd quarter by second year safety Cole Bishop. It was a huge momentum swing for the Bills and the Defensive unit as a whole. The Bills had settled for a field goal on their previous drive and were down 2. Bishop’s INT quickly lead to a 1 play Bills touchdown that gave them the lead back and a bit more juice defensively.

In the NFL, it is known that it takes all 3 phases to win games. The Bills special teams unit was noticeably improved and had their best game of the year returning kickoffs. There were multiple big returns that gave Josh and the offense short fields which they turned into points. Recently signed WR Mecole Hardman made his Bills debut and made an impact returning kicks before fumbling on a punt return. Despite that key blunder, the Bills special teams unit looked much improved.

There’s a lot to takeaway from Sunday’s win. A revitalized offense, that wasn’t perfect but still dominant. A new crew of receivers filling in for Keon Coleman indefinitely. A defense that bent a ton but did not break. A much needed win at home to hopefully get this team back to being dominant.

The Bills look to continue their success on the road, Thursday night against the Houston Texans.