The Buffalo Bills are heading into a divisional matchup against the New England Patriots this Sunday, and they are looking to advance to 4-0. However, you could make the argument that the Bills should be 2-1 going into this game considering how the offense performed in Week 3 against the Los Angeles Chargers.
Even though the Bills made a comeback in the 4th quarter to eventually win by eight points, it came with a major struggle. The Bills turned the ball over 5 times. Josh Allen had three himself, and then Dalton Kincaid and James Cook each had a fumble as well.
However, the Bills' defense, who had struggled a bit in the first two games, showed up big time despite being put into tough positions from the offense's turnovers.
Bills defense showed up despite disadvantages
Off of those 5 turnovers, the Chargers only managed to score 10 points which says a lot about how Jim Leonhard prepared for this game, and on the fly during the game. I get it, the 5 turnovers by the offense is the biggest storyline. However, this game showed more about what the defense is capable of when the offense is struggling.
The biggest play of the game for the Bills came in the 4th quarter when C.J. Gardner-Johnson made the momentum changing interception in the 4th quarter, that eventually helped the Bills take their first lead of the game in the middle of the final quarter.
Even this defense shined in a game that they needed to, it's being left out by ESPN's Ben Solak, who recently wrote about how the trust for Bills will never be there in his recent piece on his overall NFL thoughts going into Week 4.
"Buffalo would have lost Sunday were it not for the Chargers' gross incompetence and apparent decades-long hex to lose such games. The Bills fumbled three times. One was a classic Josh Allen gaffe in the pocket in which he overestimated his own strength. Another was a concerning continuation of a trend for James Cook III, who -- as my colleague Bill Barnwell noted-- now has eight fumbles in his past 19 games." said Solak.
"Buffalo got away with it this time. The Bills can even get away with it against superior opponents -- they have before, because Allen is that special. But this is the sort of game that puts the heebie-jeebies in me when I consider a potential postseason run." Solak added.
Bills' defensive outing being left out from Week 3 analysis leaves out whole picture
The Bills' defense showed the NFL that when Josh Allen and the offense can't get things going, they have the ability to carry the team. For many years now, Allen has been the one carrying the Bills and it's frustrated people. Now, the defense steps up big time in a trap game, but it's being ignored? That doesn't make sense at all.
Greg Rousseau is playing like the best edge rusher with his league-leading six sacks through three games. Deone Walker has been extremely disruptive in the middle of the trenches. Lastly, we saw Gardner-Johnson's playmaking ability that we know he brings and it helped the Bills advance to 3-0.
The Bills will have the chance to clean up their Week 3 messes as they head into Sunday's matchup where the New England Patriots come to town for a thrilling AFC East battle.
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