It certainly wasn’t pretty, but the Bills scored an important road win that kept them atop the AFC standings, outscoring the Vikings in a 23-6 slugfest that won’t be featured in any late-season highlight reels for either team.
Buffalo struggled to move the ball against the Vikings’ elite defense before eventually breaking through. A lackluster performance from Carson Wentz, who was filling in for an injured Kyler Murray, certainly helped the Bills’ cause. The master’s support missed several opportunities to stake Minnesota’s first-half lead and eventually gave up the game to a chorus of cheers at home.
From there, it was only a matter of time before Josh Allen put the game away.
Here are my suggestions:
Barring a trade at the deadline, quarterback Kyler Murray’s job is safe. But the Vikings should really consider making a trade for a quarterback on Tuesday if they want to save their season — or just give their fans an offense worth cheering for.
It’s no exaggeration to call Wentz’s performance one of the worst we’ve seen from a quarterback in recent history. The Vikings defense tried to keep Minnesota in the game with timely stops, only to see Wentz immediately give the ball to Buffalo.
It was a long night at the office for Carson Wentz. (Photo by Kevin Sabitus/Getty Images)
Wentz’s swings got progressively worse as the night went on. He was charged with a fumble after sailing a perimeter screen pass to Justin Jefferson, who was set up as a winger under review. He sabotaged a promising second-half drive with a dropped pass at the seam that linebacker Dorian Williams picked off. And then he followed that up with another pick after throwing the ball right to linebacker Terrell Bernard.
Outside of those plays, Wentz was wildly inaccurate. He missed a couple of straight throws in the first quarter and never recovered from there, finishing 8-for-25 for 81 yards and two interceptions before being benched for third baseman Max Brosmer in garbage time.
Murray’s performance this season looks solid compared to what we saw Monday night, but with veteran options like Kirk Cousins and Geno Smith potentially available on the trade market, the Vikings front office should seriously consider a trade. It would be an insult to defensive coordinator Brian Flores’ unit not to.
Minnesota has a Super Bowl-caliber defense that proved itself once again against the league’s top-scoring offense. However, for the second week in a row, the defense buckled under the pressure of the failing offense. Allen eventually found a groove in the second half and scored enough points to put the game out of reach.
2.
Josh Allen moderates the NFL’s best defense
Like most teams, the Bills did not find success on the ground against a strong Vikings front. Typically, having a one-dimensional game against Minnesota is a recipe for disaster, but not when you have Josh Allen.
While Allen didn’t put up a great stat line — throwing for 234 yards and just one touchdown — he carried the Bills’ offense with his plays. He threw the first touchdown of the game after breaking out of the pocket, buying overtime and dropping a deep ball over the Vikings secondary to backup Keleki Latu in the back of the end zone.
In the first half, it looked like creating Allen out of formation was the only way Buffalo would move the ball, but the cracks in Minnesota’s pass coverage eventually showed the longer its defense stayed on the field. Allen began hitting passes in rhythm, causing the Vikings to adjust and give more space to the running game.
Running back James Cook was bottled up most of the night, averaging just 3.5 yards per carry, but was the engine in the 15-play drive that put the game away.
Allen did not escape the game without a mistake. He was picked off in the first quarter after dropping a deep ball on third-and-23. The ball hung in the air long enough for Vikings cornerback Bryon Murphy to loosen his coverage on the opposite side of the field and run under the ball.
It was more of a bad throw than a bad decision, but we can’t write this off as a “winged throw” as it cost the Bills a field goal chance. However, not many quarterbacks have fared as well against this defense as Allen did on Monday night.
3.
Buffalo’s defense looked better, but needs improvement
Buffalo has given up just 16 points in its last two games. It would be easier to celebrate that accomplishment if those games weren’t against the Ravens’ backup quarterbacks and Wentz.
The Bills defense is showing some signs of improvement. The pass rush created pressure on 41.2% of Minnesota’s downs, according to Next Generation Stats. However, permit coverage is still a concern. There were a good number of open shots to be made; Wentz just wasn’t able to do them.
Whether or not Buffalo can keep this up against top competition, the secondary could use an addition at the deadline. The team has been linked to Cardinals safety Budda Baker, and with the Jaguars trading for Jessie Bates on Monday, the Bills may be the only contending team in the market for a safety.
A trade for a cornerback would also help, and with several veteran options including Riq Woolen, Donte Jackson and Nashon Wright available, the price for an upgrade shouldn’t be too high.
3 ½. What’s next?
After escaping Minnesota and its terrible one-win defense, Buffalo gets a relatively easy two-week stretch before a brutal five-week stretch against the Chiefs, Patriots, Packers, Bears and Broncos. The Bills have the inside track on the AFC’s top seed, but they’ll need to be on top of their game during the holiday season to keep it.
Things aren’t going to get any easier for a Vikings team desperate for an answer to its quarterback problem. They will travel to Green Bay next week for an important divisional game against the Packers, then head to Mexico City to face the 49ers. Win those games and Minnesota could be back as an NFC contender. Lose them and the Vikings could fall out of the playoff race.
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Here are the latest rankings after the Bills’ win over the Vikings.