The Buffalo Bills were back at home Thursday night in a game that saw Buffalo win 24-18 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Bills quarterback Josh Allen shined, completing 31 of his 40 pass attempts for 324 yards and two touchdowns, as well as an interception.
The dual threat quarterback also recorded
seven carries for 41 yards and a rushing touchdown as well. Allen has now recorded a rushing touchdown in five of his last six games, with the only exception being their Sunday night contest against the New York Giants.
Second year running back James Cook also contributed to the rushing attack, adding 67 yards on 14 carries in the game, as the Bills rushing game recorded 115 yards on the evening.
In the receiving game, rookie tight end Dalton Kincaid scored his first career touchdown and wide receiver Gabe Davis quietly had a good game catching nine passes for 87 yards and a touchdown.
The Bills offense as a whole got back on track, tallying 427 yards of total offense, their highest total since week two, and second highest mark of the season.
Further, the offense also scored 17 points in the first half, which was the total number of points the unit had in the first half of their last three games combined.
On the other side of the ball, Buffalo’s defense also played well, allowing just 10 points through the first three quarters of this one.
The unit allowed Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield to complete 25 of his 42passes for 237 yards and two touchdowns, compared to zero interceptions.
However, the Bills defensive line held Tampa Bay to just 78 total rushing yards, and recorded three sacks in the victory as well.
The unit also forced the Buccaneers to punt the ball six times in the contest as well, adding to what was already an impressive game.
Overall, the Bills defense finished the night allowing 302 total yards of offense and 18 points, which was good enough for the team to come out with a victory.
Recap
Despite the score, Buffalo would end up dominating most of the game. The Bills would force a punt on the Buccaneers opening drive, and take their first drive down the field to take a 3-0 lead on a 37-yard field goal from Tyler Bass.
Shortly after, the Bills would end up blocking Buccaneers kicker Chase McLaughlin’s field goal and receive good field position for their second drive.
On this drive the Bills would take the ball all the way down the field and would have a fourth and goal from the one-yard line. Josh Allen would attempt to throw a pass Dalton Kincaid, but the pass would be knocked away, resulting in a turnover on downs.
Backed up deep in their own end, Tampa Bay wouldn’t be able to move the ball, and would have to punt for the second time.
Buffalo’s kick returner Deonte Harty would end up returning the kick deep into Buccaneers territory, giving the Bills yet another short field.
On second down and 12, Josh Allen would improvise, taking the ball up the middle for a 13-yard rushing touchdown to give the Bills a 10-0 lead.
Tampa Bay’s offense would get the ball back for the fourth time, and the unit would finally start to break through, driving down the field quickly. However, yet again the Buccaneers offense would stall, settling for a 57-yard field goal from Chase Mclaughlin to narrow their deficit to seven.
On the first play of their next drive, the Bills offense would end up turning the ball over, as Josh Allen’s pass would be tipped up into the air and intercepted, giving Tampa Bay’s offense a chance to tie the game.
That is exactly what they would do, needing just two plays as Mayfield found his receiver Chris Godwin for a three-yard touchdown pass, tying the game at 10.
On the following drive, the Bills would return the favor, driving the ball down field before being met with a third down and 12. Josh Allen would roll out to his right and find rookie tight end Dalton Kincaid for a 22-yard touchdown, that was also the rookies first of his NFL career.
This would give the Bills the lead again, this time 17-10. The Buccaneers would get one last drive before halftime and after coming up short on third and 15, they would punt the ball back to Buffalo, who would take a kneel down and send the game to halftime 17-10.
2nd half
The Bills would receive the second half kickoff, and drive the ball down the field, and on second and goal from the three-yard line, Allen found Gabe Davis for a touchdown, further extending the Bills lead to 24-10.
After both teams traded punts, the Buccaneers would get the ball back deep in their own territory trying to cut into the Bills lead.
The Buccaneers would be stopped on third down on multiple occasions, but were bailed out by defensive penalties on the Bills. After back-to-back fourth downs converted through penalties, the Buccaneers were again forced to fourth down.
On the play, quarterback Baker Mayfield would find receiver Mike Evans for a 24-yard score. Tampa Bay would then make the curious decision of going for a two-point conversion and were successful, bringing them within six late.
However, the Bills would get the ball back and run the clock down under 40 seconds before punting it back to Tampa who would get one last chance to pull off the upset.
After a few short passes, the Buccaneers were left with just four seconds from their own 45-yard line and after a Mayfield hail mary attempt fell incomplete, the Bills would win by a final score of 24-18.
Takeaways
Overall, the Bills offense looked great for their first time in weeks. Despite failing to convert on a few occasions, the unit still put up 24 points, and got the victory.
This was in large part thanks to Josh Allen, who had a three-touchdown performance, playing his first complete game since week fours victory against Miami.
Further, the defense played extremely well, forcing Tampa to punt six times over the course of the game, as well as allowing just 18 points.
With the victory, Buffalo now moves to 5-3, as they try to stay in the running for the division with the rival Miami Dolphins.
They now travel to Cincinnati for a Sunday night matchup with Joe Burrow and the 3-3 Bengals.
