ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — Here are my five takes from the Buffalo Bills’ 31-10 victory against the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday at Highmark Stadium:
1. The Bills had two major accomplishments with this win.
One, of course, was keeping their chances to reach the playoffs alive and thriving. The Bills maintain a firm grasp on their postseason destiny and continue to build momentum to run the table.
The other accomplishment was putting the rest of the NFL on notice with a decisive triumph against one of four teams that began the day with a league-leading 10-3 record. Counting the previous week’s win at Kansas City, that puts the Bills in the conversation as a heavyweight despite the fact they’re still on the fringes of the playoff picture.
The Bills dominated the Cowboys in every way possible. They overpowered them on both sides of the line. They shut down their league-leading offense. They tore through their vaunted defense. They also put on a coaching clinic in all phases of the game.
“Man, I think we definitely found ourselves as a team,” defensive tackle Ed Oliver said. “We started to play with a lot of swagger, a lot of juice, especially when we get teams in here at home and it gets loud. I mean, it gets crazy.”
This is all you need to know about the kind of day it was: Josh Allen was replaced by Kyle Allen with 10:37 left. And Allen didn’t have to do anything all that special while he was on the field, at least for him. He completed 7 of 15 passes for 94 yards and a touchdown.
"I felt like the kid that didn't do anything in the class project, but got an A," Allen said. "But, again, I'll do this 10 times out of 10 times, man."
Allen also ran for 24 yards and a score. Oh, and the Bills also had ONE penalty to the Cowboys' five.
“We’re getting better as the season goes on,” Allen said. “I think that’s kind of what we’re built for, games like this, and finding ways. Our defense went out there against a fantastic offense and did their thing. It was a complete team win.”
It isn’t going overboard to say, at 8-6, the Bills look every bit the part of the elite team they were expected to be before their season went off course enough to force them to have to win out to ensure a place in the postseason.
2. James Cook had an eye-popping performance that has opened the door to a dimension the Bills have not had in a long time.
He was, by far, the best player on the field, overshadowing everyone — including Josh Allen. Cook ran 25 times for 179 yards, an average of 7.2 yards per rush, and a touchdown.
He tore through, around, and over Cowboy defenders as if they weren’t there, consistently ripping off long gains on the ground. Cook also caught two passes for 42 yards and another TD.
He showed remarkable patience and instincts in finding holes and blazing speed in the open field. He made members of the Cowboys’ defense look as if they were running in mud.
Asked what Sunday’s game did for his confidence, Cook said, “I mean, it’s been there, you know? I just let it rip when I get my opportunity.”
Offensive coordinator Joe Brady continues to do a masterful job of making the running game a significant element of the Bills’ offense. That has done wonders to help deep defenses off-balance.
“I applaud Joe for sticking with it,” Allen said of the Bills running 49 times for 266 yards, an average of 5.4 yards per carry, and three touchdowns. “Obviously, our O-line played fantastic today. Our running backs ran the ball well.”
For an offensive line, even one that blocks for one of the NFL’s best quarterbacks, a run-based approach is nirvana.
“Josh is a playmaker and our offense runs through him,” center Mitch Morse said. “To have that opportunity to not give that defensive front, that defense in general, the ability to hunt the passer was a tremendous force.”
With Cook running as effectively as he did Sunday, Brady undoubtedly will be encouraged to keep feeding him the ball. Even if the Bills’ run game doesn’t overwhelm as it did against the Cowboys, it will help make the passing game more dangerous.
“You need to be able to play that way down the stretch, because of weather or they’re taking away your fastball,” McDermott said. “I just think, philosophically, holistically, you’ve got to be able to show that you can do that, be a two-dimensional offense or, in this case, a one-dimensional offense via the run. It just helps the whole football team. It keeps their explosive offense on the sideline with their explosive players. It’s just a mindset, too, and you’ve got to be able to do that.”
3. The Bills’ defense was simply amazing.
These were the Cowboys who the Bills smothered by holding them to a mere 195 yards to the Buffalo’s 351. Dak Prescott, who has been viewed as a solid league MVP candidate, was limited to 134 passing yards. The Bills intercepted him once and could have easily picked him off at least two more times.
From the very start, the Bills made it clear the Cowboys’ offense wasn’t going to find any appreciable success through the air or on the ground. Buffalo’s pass rush constantly harassed Prescott, who was sacked three times and repeatedly forced to scramble. The Bills’ secondary blanketed CeeDee Lamb and the rest of the Prescott’s receivers, adding to the quarterback’s discomfort in the pocket.
The Cowboys, who were limited to 89 rushing yards, were never able to give the Bills’ D a reason to feel the least bit threatened.
4. Sean McDermott had his best coaching since adding defensive coordinator to his duties before the season.
He was always a step ahead of Cowboys coach and offensive guru Mike McCarthy. McDermott used various fronts, games, stunts and coverages to keep Prescott guessing. His game plan was all about attacking rather than concentrating so much on not allowing the big play that the Cowboys could keep the sticks moving with short and intermediate passes.
It was clear that the Bills were thoroughly prepared for whatever the Cowboys showed offensively. Combine that with Buffalo’s ability to manhandle the Cowboys’ offensive line and you had the perfect recipe for making what had been the NFL’s red-hot scoring machine disappear.
5. Now, it’s all about taking care of business through the next three weeks.
Beyond a catastrophic occurrence, there’s almost no reason to think the Bills will fall short of the 3-0 finish that should punch their ticket to the postseason.
They are playing their best football at the right time. If they remain mostly healthy and keep their foot on the gas, they will blast through the remaining games against the lowly Chargers and Patriots, as well as the Dolphins, who the Bills dominated in Week 4.
“We’re not in the playoffs right now,” Oliver said. “But the main thing is just having that juice, that swagger that, when we go out there, we’re all as one and we know what to expect from everybody. And everybody knows that everybody is going to do their job and everybody’s on the same page.
“We playing like that? That’s how you get into the playoffs … That swag is contagious. We’ll be in the playoffs before long, but as long as we keep playing with that swag, it makes it just fun playing on Sunday.”