'We Hate It, But ...!' Josh Allen, Buffalo Bills Avoid New York Giants Upset, Win 14-9
Fans looking toward Sunday Night Football for a matchup of two healthy teams trending in the right direction would be disappointed to find out Sunday’s contest will feature the Buffalo Bills and the New York Giants. ... but the Bills got healthy in one way with a way-too-close 14-9 win.
"It's an ugly win, but it counts the same as a pretty win," Bills QB Josh Allen told NBC's Melissa Stark after the game. "Our defense, man, they bailed us out. ... Offensively, we've got to be better. So we'll take the win. We hate that it came down to that last play, but we'll take the win."
There was indeed a lot to "hate'' here. How did the Bills finally arrive at a win? Our chronological look at the night ...
The top storylines coming into the one are two-fold: the Giants have a bit of a homecoming in Western New York with general manager Joe Schoen, head coach Brian Daboll, and quarterback Tyrod Taylor all being welcomed back to Highmark Stadium. Each spent critical time with Buffalo and played a role in the development of superstar quarterback Josh Allen.
Giants head coach Brian Daboll makes his return to Buffalo.
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Secondly, these are two teams badly beleaguered by injuries. New York will be without starting quarterback Daniel Jones, and if running back Saquon Barkley is given the green light, it will be clear he’s not at 100%. Edge rusher Azeez Ojulari and offensive linemen Matt Peart, Andrew Thomas, and John Michael Schmitz have all been ruled out.
It’s no cakewalk for the Bills, either. The last few weeks have seen stars at every level of the defense suffer severe injuries, especially linebacker Matt Milano, tackle DaQuan Jones, and corner Tre’Davious White. It cannot be understated how impressive those first two have played in the early weeks of 2023.
Watching how this defense reacts in real-time to a less-than-stellar Giants offense should give a preview of what the next stretch of games could look like. Allen and the dynamic offense may be forced to bear more of the burden than they have so far, forcing them into unfavorable positions that reared their head back in Week 1.
Getting away from complementary football would mean getting away from the key to their three blowout victories. With such an unfortunate batch of injuries thrown the Bills’ way, it may simply not be their fault.
Don’t be surprised if New York keeps this one closer than the spread suggests.
WHAT: Buffalo Bills (3-2) vs. New York Giants (1-4)
WHERE: Highmark Stadium, Orchard Park, NY (71,608)
WHEN: Sunday, Oct 15th, 2023 at 8:20 p.m. ET
TELEVISION: NBC
RADIO: WGR 550
ODDS: Bills -15.5 (-110), -1613 Moneyline, Total: 43.5 (o -118/u -110)
Live updates will appear after kickoff.
FIRST QUARTER
Bills First Drive: The Giants won the toss and deferred to the second half.
Offsetting personal fouls wouldn't move the yardage off of the touchback, but got things started in an interesting manner. Quarterback Josh Allen started his game with a quick completion to receiver Stefon Diggs. On the next play, he returned to Diggs, but it was incomplete.
On third down, receiver Gabe Davis and a New York defensive back fell to the ground, but no flag was thrown, forcing Buffalo to punt.
Giants First Drive: Receiver Darius Slayton caught Taylor's first pass of the day, followed by a Barkley rush for four yards. On third down, Barkley was immediately stuffed.
Bills Second Drive: Running back Latavius Murray started the second drive with a short run. The first big play of the game came on the next snap when Diggs was hit in stride over the middle of the field.
Running back James Cook earned his first touch of the game, a two-yard rush. A quick hitch to receiver Gabe Davis for a first down. Another no-call enraged Bills fans, and a deep pass fell incomplete. On the next play, Davis fumbled and Giants linebacker Micah McFadden recovered it.
Giants Second Drive: Barkley got the ball to start the drive, rushing for three yards. Slayton caught a 30-yard slot fade to put them in Buffalo territory.
Receiver Wan'Dale Robinson caught a short pass to move the chains on third down.
The Bills have stopped the run incredibly well, stopping Barkley in the backfield multiple times. An unnecessary roughness penalty on tackle Ed Oliver, however, would give them a new set of downs inside the 10-yard line.
Taylor was sacked by edge rusher Leonard Floyd on first down. After a wacky illegal motion penalty on the "cheat motion" that is taking over the league, kicker Graham Gano gave New York the game's first lead.
The Bills trail 3-0 with 3:19 remaining in the first quarter.
Bills Third Drive: Allen hit digs for a 29-yard completion to start the drive. Murray then ran for a first down, and Giants corner Adoree' Jackson seemed to suffer an upper-body injury.
Diggs caught yet another pass but failed to gain yardage, creating a third-and-10. Allen scrambled and flicked a pass to tight end Dawson Knox -- it was incomplete. On the subsequent punt, New York called a fair catch at the 10-yard line.
Giants Third Drive: Two Barkley rushes started the drive and on third down, the Bills kept the recent weeks' momentum going, at least for the pass rush, and generated a sack. They will be forced to punt.
The Bills trail 3-0 at the end of the first quarter.
SECOND QUARTER
Bills Fourth Drive: Buffalo opened yet another drive with a quick pass to Diggs, again to no avail.
He would also be targeted on second down for an incompletion. A somewhat embarrassing false start from Diggs before the next snap would set them back to third-and-14.
Allen was forced out of structure and targeted Diggs downfield, and a good play from cornerback Deonte Banks forced a punt.
Giants Fourth Drive: Taylor targeted rookie receiver Jalin Hyatt for a 43-yard catch, but a questionable ineligible man downfield on tackle Evan Neal rendered it non-existent.
They wouldn't be able to generate any further offense and punted it away.
Bills Fifth Drive: Cook started the drive with a 14-yard rush. It coming between the tackles is encouraging given the current state of the run game. He followed it up with another 14-yard rush, putting Buffalo in Giants' territory.
Allen's next pass was tipped by linebacker Bobby Okereke and thus incomplete. His third-and-7 pass was overthrown, setting up a 52-yard field goal from Tyler Bass. He pushed it -- no good.
Giants Fifth Drive: Robinson saw another touch to start the drive. Tackle Joshua Ezeudu was ruled out for the rest of the game.
After a completion to tight end Darren Waller, Robinson found a new set of downs on the next third down.
A penalty would set them behind the sticks in a manner they could not recover from. Gano's second field goal attempt of the day was good.
The Bills trail 6-0 with 5:08 remaining in the second quarter.
Bills Sixth Drive: An offensive holding penalty on guard Connor McGovern was a hopeless attempt to contain tackle Dexter Lawrence. A false start for offensive tackle Spencer Brown set them back further -- to first-and-25.
Buffalo was bailed out on an egregious roughing the passer call, though Allen was taken off the field for a concussion evaluation. He was replaced by the similarly-named Kyle Allen for less than a series.
Running back Damien Harris took a third-and-short carry to just about the sticks, but he took a hard hit. He suffered a scary injury and a stoppage would ensue. Harris was eventually taken off the field in an ambulance. Truly a terrifying scene, especially for this community. Thankfully, he was able to give a thumbs-up before leaving the field.
Once play resumed, Allen would throw an interception to McFadden.
Giants Sixth Drive: Slayton made a splash play for another 30-yard catch, giving New York an opportunity to strike.
Rookie running back Eric Gray took a carry on third down and moved the chains.
UPDATE: Harris has movement in all of his extremities.
Taylor targeted Slayton in the end zone, but a flag on corner Kaiir Elam put the ball at the one-yard line.
Barkley was stopped short of the end zone after Taylor (potentially) checked into a run at the line of scrimmage. Time would expire before New York could run another play.
The Bills trail 6-0 at halftime.
THIRD QUARTER
Giants Seventh Drive: After a Taylor scamble made it second-and-3, Barkley moved the chains on the ground.
He would scamper again on the next second down and hit Robinson out of empty for a first down.
Taylor would fumble the ball and recover it himself to set up third down, but the Giants would not convert.
Bills Seventh Drive: At least Cook looks good. He started Buffalo's half with three rushes for 17 yards.
After a 10-yard Knox catch, it was Murray's turn to run -- twice for eight yards.
Diggs hauled in a chain-mover that preceded a Murray 12-yard rush, putting them firmly in the red zone. He would plunge forward again to make it first-and-goal before a scuffle broke out. The penalties offset.
After a couple of Murray rushes couldn't get in the end zone, the quarter came to a close.
FOURTH QUARTER
On third down, receiver Deonte Harty caught a pass out of the backfield to put Buffalo on the board.
The Bills lead 7-6 with 14:54 remaining in the fourth quarter.
Giants Eighth Drive: Barkley had his longest rush of the night, a 19-yard rush. On the very next play, he set that mark again -- with a 34-yard rush.
After running back Matt Breida gave a snap of relief, Barkley ran for five yards. Soon after, a defensive penalty would put New York in the red zone.
He would rush again for eight yards.
On fourth-and-inches, the Giants opted for a field goal.
The Bills trail 9-7 with 10:35 remaining in the fourth quarter.
Bills Eighth Drive: A defensive holding on an Allen scramble would add insult to the injury of a Buffalo third-down conversion.
Soon after, he would find Diggs for a miraculous out-of-structure completion. The Giants just can't seem to tackle him.
Diggs caught another pass on third down to put Buffalo in the red zone. He's up to 10 catches and 100 yards on the night.
Allen was forced out of structure again but third-string tight end Quintin Morris caught a laser for a touchdown.
The Bills lead 14-9 with 3:48 remaining in the fourth quarter.
Giants Ninth Drive: Taylor started a potentially game-winning drive with a completion to Robinson for five yards. After a fruitless Barkley rush, Waller was found on third down to keep the chains moving.
Waller would make another catch on a drag route on the next play. Buffalo came up with a huge tackle for loss to send the game to the two-minute warning.
Taylor aired it out on third-and-8 to no avail. With 1:52 remaining they went deep again, but it was broken up to turn the ball over on downs.
Bills Ninth Drive: Murray's first run went for no gain. His second-down run gained just two yards.
On third down, they threw a changeup and ran a play-action pass, but Knox couldn't haul it in.
Tyler Bass' missed field goal gave New York the ball with one timeout and 1:25 remaining.
Giants Tenth Drive: Two of Taylor's first three completions of the drive went to Barkley for a single first down.
The Giants used their final timeout with 45 seconds remaining. A Waller reception would precede a spike 13 seconds later.
He would hit a quick out to Slayton on the next snap. After a quick throw to Barkley, Hyatt made a huge catch over the middle. With nine seconds they got another spike off.
Taylor scrambled out of bounds for a short gain, leaving two seconds on the clock. The Giants are inside the 10-yard line.
His next throw was incomplete, but a defensive pass interference penalty set New York up at the one-yard line.
BALLGAME! Taylor's next toss to Waller fell incomplete.
The Bills beat the Giants, 14-9, to advance to 4-2.
