Of course, it should have been easier, even for a team that insists on doing things the hard way. The 3-12 Browns are inept. Still, the better team came out on top.
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — Here are my five takes on the Buffalo Bills’ 23-20 victory against the Cleveland Browns on Sunday at Huntington Bank Field:
1. Of course, it should have been easier, even for a team that insists on doing things the hard way.
The 3-12 Browns are inept. They’re terrible in almost every facet. So, when a better team struggles to beat them, everyone directly or emotionally connected with that squad comes away feeling a bit hollow. Especially the hypercritical fans counting on a low stress viewing experience for a change.
Still, the better team did come out on top. In the long run, how the Bills got there won’t matter.
“It wasn’t the prettiest way we can win,” Josh Allen quickly acknowledged at the start of his postgame news conference. “We’ve got some stuff to clean up, but we’ll take a victory.”
The 11-4 Bills will take becoming the fifth team in NFL history to reach 11 wins in six consecutive seasons. They’ll take having a chance to clinch a wild-card playoff spot with an Indianapolis loss or tie against San Francisco on Monday night. They’ll also take still being alive for a sixth consecutive AFC East championship.
By the time the playoffs begin, there’ll be little, if any, discussion about Allen’s mediocre showing against the Browns. It was a day to forget, as he threw for a mere 130 yards, with no touchdowns, and ran seven times for only 17 yards, also with no scores. There also was that ridiculous 22-yard sack Allen took right before halftime, running all the way back to the end zone, falling and barely stretching out his arm to get the ball over the goal line to avoid a safety.
Adding injury to insult, he hurt his right foot on the play and seemed noticeably ginger in his walk to the dressing room before the first half ended with his cleat removed from the foot. However, the Bills said X-rays were taken on his foot and he was medically cleared to return. Allen didn’t appear to have any problems moving in the second half and sealed the outcome with a two-yard run on third-and-one from the Cleveland 40 with 1:27 left and the Browns out of timeouts.
“They get paid, too, on that side to make adjustments and make plays,” Allen said. “I feel like, starting with me, we just didn’t make enough plays, starting in that second half. Taking the boneheaded sack there right before half, not giving us a chance to double dip (by scoring then and at the start of the second half). A lot to learn from, but we’ll take it.”
The Bills did produce a touchdown on their first possession and would take a 20-10 halftime lead. However, they would only produce 62 total yards and score only three points in the second half. Meanwhile, the Browns managed to cut the deficit to 23-20 with 8:46 remaining and had a shot at either tying or winning the game in the late stages.
“Offensively, I thought we started well; second half, not so much,” Sean McDermott said. “Defensively, we didn’t start as well. We came back in the second half and did some things to help us win the game. Obviously, toughness overall, the football team, good to see. But still plenty to work on. … got a lot of work to do as we move forward this week.”
2. In keeping with a season-long trend, the best part of the Bills’ offense was the running of James Cook.
He ran for a game-high 117 yards on 16 carries, averaging 7.3 yards per attempt, and a pair of touchdowns (including a 44-yarder to cap the Bills’ first series). Cook leads the NFL with 1,532 yards, the most by Buffalo ball-carrier since O.J. Simpson in 1975. Here’s an even more telling stat about his impact: The Bills are 11-1 in games when Cook runs for 100 or more yards.
“I don’t know how awards shake out, but he should be in the running for every award,” Allen said. “He’s an absolute stud. We love having him. And he makes our offense go.”
This, from the NFL’s reigning MVP. Though Sunday’s performance won’t necessarily help his cause, Allen remains in the conversation for that honor this season. So does Cook, who also should get strong consideration for NFL Offensive Player of the Year (as MVP almost always goes to a quarterback).
Oddly, after carrying nine times for 100 yards and two TDs in the first half, Cook only had seven more carries for 17 yards in the final two quarters.
3. The Bills’ defensive performance was a story of two halves.
The first was shockingly bad and conjured all sorts of troubling memories of what set up the need for multiple comebacks, including the one last week at New England. The Browns took the opening kickoff and marched effortlessly 69 yards to a touchdown, which came on a 13-yard Shedeur Sanders pass to Harold Fannin Jr.
In the second half, the Bills showed their signature resilience on defense. They leaned heavily on Greg Rousseau, who finished with 2½ sacks (his first multi-sack game of the season) and a career-best seven quarterback hits.
He made his biggest impact in the fourth quarter, when he had three of his QB hits, all coming in the final 5:08. Rousseau’s two biggest plays came when he sacked Sanders for a 13-yard loss on fourth-and-2 from the Browns’ 44 with 5:02 remaining. With two minutes left, he pressured Sanders into an intentional-grounding penalty that pinned Cleveland at its 1.
“We needed that from Greg,” McDermott said of Rousseau’s play. “We believe that he can do that. He can impact the game. So, it’s good to see him get back in that kind of mindset. The grounding call was huge, forcing that late in the game, backing them up. And then being able to win the game in four-minute on the offensive side.”
The Browns’ offensive line has been plagued with injuries that have forced nine different combinations this year.
“We felt like we had a chance to get after their O-line; they had some guys out,” McDermott said. “But having said that, it takes the physicality in one’s rush and it takes all four guys to do that as well. But (Rousseau’s) production (Sunday) was certainly significant and needed and felt, as you saw down the stretch there.”
4. The Browns’ lone bright spot entering the game was the prospect of Myles Garrett breaking the NFL record for single-season sacks, shared by T.J. Watt and Michael Strahan at 22.5.
Garrett finished with only a half-sack, giving him 22 for the season. And it was dubious at best, with Garrett touching Allen’s foot while Browns teammate Alex Wright also got a hand on Allen after the QB had fallen into the end zone just before halftime.
Dion Dawkins and the rest of the Bills’ offensive line deserve plenty of credit for mostly containing Garrett. So does the scheming and play-calling of offensive coordinator Joe Brady, who minimized passes that would require Allen to hold the ball long, and the strategic work of O-line coach Aaron Kromer.
“Yeah, they did fantastic,” Allen said of his offensive line. “The game plan going into it, getting some hands on him early, giving him different looks. So that’s a credit to the offensive staff and our offensive line.”
5. Sean McDermott hit a career milestone Sunday that can’t be overlooked.
He got his 97th regular-season victory, surpassing Hall-of-Famer and Browns co-founder and coach Paul Brown for most victories by a head coach in his first nine seasons.
No, it wasn’t pretty. At times, it was extremely ugly.
But it says something about the Bills’ character. The team has proven repeatedly it can weather the worst of storms. On Sunday, it flirted with what would have been an embarrassing loss against an NFL bottom-feeder.
That the Bills didn’t allow that to happen speaks volumes about the makeup of the team, which in turn speaks volumes about McDermott. General Manager Brandon Beane does the picking and signing, but the coach sets the standard for the kind of players who comprise his roster.
McDermott also wasn’t about to allow the understandable questions he received about the many flaws in the Bills’ performance Sunday – including another underwhelming game by the wide receivers – take away from an important victory at a crucial stage of the season.
“You celebrate a win, especially this time of year,” McDermott said. “A lot to be grateful for. That said, there’s plenty … of things we’ve got to work on, and the guys know that. So, we go back to work and trying to make sure that we improve in the areas as need to.”
The ability to stay positive, while also being realistic, is a quality that has served him well since arriving in Buffalo in 2017.