The Arizona Cardinals had allowed only three points for most of the first half in Sunday’s game against the Bills, but the game turned after they took a 17-3 lead with 2:40 remaining.
Despite a possession that had three false starts but also included a questionable roughing the passer penalty on linebacker Zaven Collins, the Bills scored on a Josh Allen touchdown run with 19 seconds remaining and then outscored the Cardinals 24-11 in the final two quarters en route to a 34-28 loss.
Following are takeaways from the defense and special teams.
Some believe Allen is overrated
Really? That’s hard to fathom. All Allen did was pass (two) and throw (two) for four touchdowns, while rushing for 39 yards on nine attempts and completing 18-of-23 passes for 232 yards and a 137.7 passer rating.
He did cough up the ball up a strip-sack by defensive lineman Roy Lopez, but usually escaped pressure and his 6-yard scoring run gave the Bills a 31-20 lead in the fourth quarter.
Good and bad from two TD drives in 17:49
There were good plays in the Bills possessions that tied the game at 17. However, the two drives at the end of the first half and start of the second totaled 135 yards on 17 plays and took only 7:49 off the clock.
Safety Jalen Thompson had a tackle to keep Allen from scoring on the first one, but he ran for a touchdown on the next play. Safety Budda Baker made a great read and dropped running back James Cook for a 2-yard loss in the second one and linebacker Mack Wilson Sr. batted down an Allen pass to force a third-and-10.
However, Allen hit wide receiver Mack Hollins for an 11-yard touchdown pass on the next play.
On the first drive, rookie cornerback Max Melton hit wide receiver Khalil Shakir on a completion but failed to even try to wrap him up and Shakir got about an extra 10 yards.
In the second drive, linebacker Owen Pappoe had a chance to sack Allen, but missed and the play resulted in a 25-yard pass to Cook.
Tackling downfield
Stopping the run was an Achilles heel for the Cardinals last season and it was again Sunday at times. Linebacker Kyzir White (11 tackles, 5 solo), Baker (10/4), Wilson (9/8) and Collins (9/5) totaled 39 tackles (22 solo), but too many were after productive runs. They each did have one tackle for loss.
Cook (19-71), rookie Ray Davis (3-13) and Ty Johnson (2-7) combined for 91 yards on 24 carries. Including Allen’s 39, the Bills rushed for 130 yards.
Special teams a mixed bag
The highlight was obviously the 96-yard kickoff return by running back DeeJay Dallas that kept the Cardinals in the game after they had fallen behind 31-20 in the fourth quarter. That came on the part of the field where the wind affected kicks and kept them from reaching the end zone.
In the first quarter, Bills cornerback Brandon Codrington returned a kickoff 53 yards to the Cardinals 45-yard line, but the Allen sack/fumble occurred four plays later.
Punter Blake Gillikin inexplicably had a 28-yard punt with the wind at his back that gave Buffalo the ball at Arizona’s 42-yard line with 4:30 remaining in the game. The defense did come up big and stopped the Bills from potentially taking a two-score lead after they reached the 21. Wilson and Thompson stopped Cook for one yard on second-and 3 and that was followed by White dropping Allen for a 1-yard loss on third-and 2.
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