The Buffalo Bills played an extremely physical game against a tough Minnesota Vikings team, and it wasn’t the prettiest win at all. However, they managed to score the most points on this Vikings defense as they will walk out of Minnesota with a 23-6 win in primetime.
We knew that this game was not going to be easy. The Vikings have the best defense in the league and they showed early on that they came to play. Unfortunately, the Vikings have a massive problem at quarterback which is the main reason why the Vikings failed to reach the endzone.
It was close up until the 4th quarter, and then the Bills pulled away to take away any chance of the Vikings making a near-impossible comeback. With that, there are 6 immediate takeaways from this game that fans should be aware of.
Takeaways from Bills' hard-fought win over Vikings
1.) James Cook deserves a lot of love
For the first time this season, Cook had over 30 carries and he didn't fumble it once which was amazing to see. He finished this game with 31 carries for 107 yards and he got into the endzone to extend Buffalo's lead later on in the 4th quarter to essentially give the Vikings no chance.
Cook took a lot of hits and even though he only managed to average 3.5 yards per carry, him rushing for over 100 yards just shows how much of a physical runner he is. He is arguably the offense's MVP from this game.
2.) Bills' defense stood their ground again
I get it, this is now the second week in a row where the Bills' defense did not play a full game against their opponent's starting quarterback. At the same time, this is the NFL and it's a next man up league.
The old Bills team would have made this a game with careless play and let an opponent hang around even though they had no business. The Bills' defense gave up just 6 points and 178 total yards. They also forced 3 turnovers and only gave up 9 first downs all game long. Defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard deserves some praise for this win.
3.) Bills' offensive line definitely missed Dion Dawkins
Both Dion Dawkins and Alec Anderson were ruled out before kickoff which meant that the Bills were set to go up against this Vikings' defense without their starting left side of their line. Backup Tylan Grable, who had filled in for Spencer Brown when he was out earlier this season, started at left tackle for Dawkins and it was an absolute nightmare performance from him.
He had multiple penalties and gave up a good amount of pressure that led to Josh Allen feeling the pressure and also getting sacked. Dawkins doesn't miss a lot of games, but him missing this game was definitely noticed.
4.) Dorian Williams had the turning point play
Going into the second half, the Bills were up 10-6 and the Vikings had the chance to double dip. After Terrel Bernard was called for a pass interference to give Minnesota a first down on third down, his running mate Dorian Williams made up for it with an interception when Carson Wentz was looking for T.J. Hockenson.
Williams made the play deep in Buffalo territory and he essentially saved the Bills from falling behind against the Vikings.
5.) Penalties, penalties, penalties
Can we go a game where the Bills don't have a good amount of penalties? I guess not.
The Bills haven't had less than 5 penalties in a game this season, and they added on 8 more penalties for 62 yards. This is a Joe Brady problem and he needs to fix it immediately because it's getting ridiculous.
6.) Bills' offense made more plays than Vikings' defense
This was the biggest matchup that everyone had their eyes on. There is no doubt that Minnesota's defense made Buffalo's offense feel the pain and made their lives absolutely miserable.
At the same time, it all comes down to making one more better play and that is where Buffalo was better. Buffalo's offense may not have scored 30+ points, but they put up the most points on the Vikings that they have given up this season. If that doesn't say something about Joe Brady as a playcaller, I don't know what does.
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