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The football gods giveth, and the football gods taketh. Sometimes, that happens over the course of 32 seconds in a game.
The Buffalo Bills fell to the Arizona Cardinals in heartbreaking fashion in Week 10. Arizona scored their final touchdown with two seconds remaining to give them the 32-30 victory and send the Bills into their bye week thinking of what could have been.
The game started off in style for the Bills. Buffalo continued its tradition of starting strong, this time driving down the field on a seven-play drive culminating with a Josh Allen touchdown. However, it was Allen on the receiving end, as Isaiah McKenzie took the handoff and then reversed course, passing to Allen running a route out wide. Allen did the rest on the 12-yard score.
Buffalo’s defense kept the Cardinals at bay in the first half, allowing only three first-half field goals to Arizona. Conversely, Buffalo’s offense also stalled several times against the Cardinals defense, settling for three long field goals by Tyler Bass. Bass hit from 54, 55, and 58 yards to give Buffalo a 16-9 lead going into halftime.
Arizona made some adjustments that the Bills were slow to address in the second half. The Cardinals put more pressure on Buffalo’s defense by turning Kyler Murray loose. This opened up other portions of the game for Arizona’s offense. Running backs Kenyan Drake and Chase Edmonds moved the ball well on the ground. The Cardinals ended the day with 217 rushing yards.
While Buffalo’s defense attempted to force Murray into a thrower, keeping Murray in the pocket, it was largely a struggle, as Murray escaped pressure all afternoon. Even with the Bills three sacks, Murray’s movement to break out of the pocket put the Bills on their heels.
The Bills were slow to address the changes on offense as well. While Buffalo scored two touchdowns in the second half, it was the four punts and two interceptions that prevented the Bills from getting some distance from the Cardinals.
Still, Buffalo clawed back and took the lead with 34 seconds remaining in the game. It looked like another fourth-quarter comeback for Allen, as he led the offense on a 12-play drive that finished with a perfect pass to Stefon Diggs.
One would have thought it would’ve been a bit much for the Cardinals to score with such little time on the clock. This was a faulty thought.
Murray escaped the Bills’ pressure and kept the offense moving down the field on a quick four-play drive. Finally, the quarterback pulled a Houdini and made it toward the sidelines to his left after escaping a sack from Mario Addison. Murray fired a rope to the end zone. DeAndre Hopkins elevated above three Bills starting defenders and hauled in the pass.
The improbable occurred, and the Bills were left stunned.
There was a lot to like about this game for the Bills. Their fight through the fourth quarter was admirable. Once again, Allen cemented why coaches have such strong confidence in him. In addition, it reaffirmed why the Bills made such a move for Diggs in the offseason. John Brown and Cole Beasley have become stellar secondary options within the Buffalo offense. Buffalo’s defense seemed to have a beat on Murray, even though the rushing numbers were not a great look for the Bills defensive unit.
Still, the defense, a unit which was relied upon for the first part of McDermott’s tenure in Buffalo, figuratively dropped the ball when they needed to perform at its best.
It was not enough Sunday afternoon, although it doesn’t mean the Bills are off track for the playoffs. It’s going to be a disappointing trip back to Western New York for the Bills on Sunday evening, though.
They have the bye week to get things sorted out, as they face a tough stretch of games going into the playoff run. A lot will be learned from this performance, in all facets of the game: offense, defense, special teams, and coaching. Let’s see how well they move forward from the fallout from this game.
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