The way the Bills beat the Cowboys shows that they are a real playoff threat, and not just because of Josh Allen.
The Buffalo Bills showed the NFL the reason playoff opponents should be afraid of them with a big win over the Dallas Cowboys.
After the win, the Bills’ record went up to 8-6, showing that they are a real threat for the playoffs.
Buffalo didn’t just beat the Cowboys, who had won five straight games, and hold the league’s best scoring offense (32.4 points per game) to a bad day. Instead, the Bills beat the Cowboys 31–10 by going after their run defense and stopping their attack.
The Cowboys, on the other hand, lost all 10 games and placed second in the NFC East. Dallas made the playoffs this weekend thanks to the Detroit Lions beating the Atlanta Falcons or Green Bay Packers.
However, the team’s collapse shows one of the biggest problems it faces when trying to make the playoffs: beating a good team on the road.
The Cowboys’ record on the road dropped to 3-4, while their record at home was 7-0. It doesn’t look good for their home playoff game.
On Sunday, the Bills also proved that they can win with more than one strategy. They know that they are gaining speed at the right time.
The Bills are two games behind the Miami Dolphins in the AFC East, but they don’t seem as afraid of getting on the road.
Even though Buffalo has a worse 2-4 record on the road, they have won at Kansas City and played the Philadelphia Eagles to extra time on the road to the last month.
Dak Prescott, Dallas’ star quarterback, also didn’t do well in this game, just like Allen. It cost the team a lot of points because the 30-year-old quarterback only completed 21 out of 34 passes, gaining 134 yards.
Prescott had a lot of speed going into this one. The Cowboys star has been one of the favorites to win the MVP award this season, but in Week 15, his case took a big hit.
On the other hand, San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy enjoyed another great game in a big win over the Arizona Cardinals. This gave him a little more time to catch Prescott in the MVP race.
Dallas already had a bad game, but Josh Allen didn’t play well during this one either. The quarterback, who had been to two Pro Bowls, only completed seven out of fifteen passes, gaining 94 yards with one score and no interceptions.
Cook made six big plays, which was more than the whole Dallas offense. He ended the game with a 24-yard run through the right side the Cowboys’ defense for a score that ended the game with 12:36 left in the fourth. As he somersaulted into the end zone, the Bills’ lead grew to 28 points.
Head coach Sean McDermott celebrated from the bench a style of win that will last longer than just one December game.
During long breaks, Buffalo’s defense would often be ready to go again because they had been able to focus on the run game and protect the quarterback.
The Cowboys’ offense had the fewest yards all season, with only 195 yards. Prescott threw for 134 yards, which was also the season low, and his passer rating of 57.7 was the second-worst.
He took a lot of hits and threw seven deflected passes, like one interception. He didn’t score any goals.
But The New York Times’ playoff forecast, which looks at how likely it is that a team will win each game instead of just looking at the record, says that the Bills have a 70% chance of making it to the playoffs.
More interestingly, the Times’ number-cruncher says the Bills have an 8% chance of making it to the Super Bowl. This is third best in the AFC, behind the Ravens of Baltimore (19%) and the Kansas City Chiefs (10%).
Allen has shown that he can make a bigger difference in a game when it’s needed. For example, he had a great game in overtime against Philadelphia, rushing for 420 yards and four touchdowns.
His arm has helped him win games before, like when he threw for 320 yards and four touchdowns against the Miami Dolphins, who are currently in first place in his division but lost 48–20 to Buffalo.
The Bills don’t just want to be the best that one type of strategy and hope that it works. Instead, they change based on what their opponents do.
Allen said that relying on runs “wasn’t really our game plan going into it,” but he liked how it turned out to be the right plan on a rainy afternoon.
Don’t forget that the Bills can come up with a good game plan in January and February and that their players have often carried out that plan in tough situations against teams they’ll likely face.