The Buffalo Bills played host to the New York Giants on Sunday night, and narrowly defeated their in-state rival in thrilling fashion by a final score of 14-9.
The game started with a lot of tension on both sides, and this would only increase as the game continued.
The Buffalo Bills offense looked very sloppy for most of the game, committing two turnovers over the course of the night.
Additionally, they scored zero points in the opening half which hadn’t happened since 2019 against the New York Jets.
However, the offense finally found their groove in the fourth quarter, scoring two touchdowns to take the lead late in the game.
Quarterback Josh Allen completed 19 of his 30 passes for 169 yards and two touchdowns, with the downside of an interception.
As for the rushing attack, James Cook led the way with 14 carries for 71 yards. Backup running back Latavius Murray also ran for an additional 45 yards on 12 carries, as the Bills offense ran for 128 yards on the night.
Another terrible injury happened for the Bills. This time to running back Damien Harris. Harris received a carry on third down and one and took a massive hit that left him motionless on the field.
After several minutes, the Bills running back was taken to a nearby hospital for further evaluation.
This injury is now added to a list that already includes Tre’Davious White, Matt Milano, and DaQuan Jones.
Even with all of the adversity they faced, the Bills offense combined for 297 yards, but still scored just 14 points.
On top of the two touchdowns they scored, the offense was able to get into field goal range for kicker Tyler Bass twice, but the young kicker missed both field goal attempts from 52 and 53 respectively.
Despite only putting up 14 points, Buffalo was able to win. This was in large part thanks to their defense.
Even though they didn’t record a turnover, the Bills still held the Giants to just nine points.
They gave up 185 passing yards, and 132 rushing yards, for a total of 317 yards in the contest.
The Bills defense was also able to make key stops over the course of the game as well. These stops included two goal line stands that were crucial for the Bills.
The first goal line stand took place right before halftime, when Giants running back Saquan Barkley was stopped short of the goal line.
Because the Giants had no timeouts remaining, they had to spike the ball, but couldn’t do so in time resulting in no points and a frustrated head coach Brian Daboll.
The second stop occurred right at the end of the game. With a five-point lead, the Bills offense had the football with one last chance to end the game.
After two runs to start the drive, the Bills opted to throw the ball on third down, which would result in an incompletion.
This would prove to be very important, as Bills kicker Tyler Bass would miss the ensuing 53-yard field goal, giving the Giants one last chance to retake the lead.
The Giants slowly started to march their way down field, wasting no time as they looked for a last second victory.
With two seconds left on the clock, quarterback Tyrod Taylor threw a pass to Darren Waller that fell incomplete as the clock hit triple zeroes.
However, their was a penalty flag thrown on the play, and Bills defender Terrel Bernard was flagged for pass interference.
This not only gave the Giants one more chance to score, but also put the ball on the one-yard line since the foul occurred in the endzone.
That meant that the game would all come down to one play with the Giants offense and Bills defense trying to win the game for their respective teams.
On the last play, with everyone expecting a run, the Giants decided to throw the ball to the back of the endzone to tight end Darren
Waller and the pass was broken up by Bills defensive back Taron Johnson giving many Bills fans a sigh of relief.
Takeaways
For the Buffalo Bills, the game did not go according to plan. They started slow for the second straight week and committed too many turnovers.
As for the defense, they played great. It may not have been against the best offense in the league, but they did do very well holding the Giants to just nine points.
Further, they were able to make significant stops when it counted and should be happy with their effort without key playmakers on defense.
Despite all of this, a win is a win in the NFL and the Bills will certainly take one when they can get it.
With this win the Bills now move to 4-2 on the season, which is good enough for second in the AFC East behind the Miami Dolphins at 5-1.
They now look ahead to their week seven road contest against the division rival New England Patriots, who enter the game at 1-5 on the season.
