ORCHARD PARK - If it’s true that clothes make the man, then we have as logical a reason as any to explain why the Buffalo Bills’ offense played as poorly as it did Sunday afternoon at Highmark Stadium.
Wearing their cement gray nickel city uniforms, which I for one would argue is the worst getup they have ever worn, the Bills appropriately enough committed a nickel’s worth of turnovers, yet somehow, some way, still managed to defeat the Los Angeles Chargers 24-16 in a game that Joe Brady will want to purge from the hard drives at One Bills Drive.
Five turnovers, not to mention 10 penalties for 88 yards, most of those committed by the offense, turned this game into an eye sore that a gallon of Visine wouldn’t soothe, but when the final gun sounded,
the Bills walked off the field with a 3-0 record and are two games clear of both the Patriots and Jets in the AFC East.
“You're not going to win very many games turning the ball over that much,” said Josh Allen who, for the most part, played one of his worst regular-season games in quite some time as he threw two interceptions, lost a fumble, and took four sacks for 30 yards in losses. “We won, but we got a lot of smoke detectors going off right now. We got to clean a lot of stuff up.”
Never mind smoke detectors, Brady said.
“The house was on fire today,” Brady said. “That’s unacceptable. That’s purely a reflection of me. You turn the ball over five times in a game, you’re not going to win many games. The fact that we were able to still find ways to win a football game speaks to the character in that locker room and not pointing fingers, staying together and continuing to put the ball down. It’s never easy to win in this league, and I’m never going to apologize for winning. There’s going to be a lot for us to clean up. Finding a way to go 1-0 is everything. I’m so proud of those guys.”
Here are a few of my observations:
CJ Gardner-Johnson saved the day
Allen lost a fumble on the first play of the fourth quarter, giving the Chargers the ball at the Buffalo 28 already leading 13-10. This was an opportunity to put the Bills in a deep hole, especially the way Allen and the offense had been playing.
Instead, Justin Herbert either made a bad decision trying to hit Marquez Valdes-Scantling down the seam near the goal line, or he just didn’t see Gardner-Johnson who stepped in front of the pass and picked it off, then made a great return of 41 yards to the Bills’ 42.
It was the clear cut turning point of the game because the Bills proceeded to drive to the go-ahead touchdown and rather than being down 20-10, were up 17-13.
“Absolutely,” Allen said, agreeing that the interception changed the game. “Not just the interception, but the return, too. He catches that and goes down and we’re in a backed up situation, but he gets it out quite a bit and allows us to, I think we ended up scoring on that next drive, scored a touchdown. Huge play for him. He's been in the league a long time, and he's gonna continue to make plays for us.”
It was the first interception for the defense in the new stadium, the highlight of a game in which a defense that had allowed eight touchdowns in the first two games yielded just one, and none over the final 55 minutes.
“I'm used to this, I've been in two Super Bowl bowls, conference championships,” Gardner-Johnson said. “It ain't nothing new. Teams like (the Chargers), that ain't really been to the top, they don't know how to finish as well. And we got playmakers over here that know how to finish. So no disrespect, just that's what it is.”
That was a shot fired at the Chargers who, yes, have had a nasty habit for many years of failing to close out games, and this was such a prime example of that. They call it Chargering, and it’s real.
Consider this: They forced five turnovers and still lost. Buffalo had not won a game in which it suffered five or more turnovers since 1997, the famous Todd Collins game when the Bills fell behind the Colts 26-0 and rallied to win 37-35.
James Cook bounced back very well
Cook’s fumbling issues are problematic, there’s no other way to put it. He led the NFL in fumbles last season, he nearly lost a critical fumble in Week 1 at Houston but was rescued by O’Cyrus Torrence, and he put it on the ground on the first play of this game and the Chargers recovered.
That set Los Angeles up for a short field 47-yard drive that ended with Herbert flipping a push pass one-yard touchdown to Keaton Mitchell.
“I mean, it's football, we all made mistakes,” Cook said. “As long as you get the job done and win the game, that's all that matters. I'm RB1. I'm the starting running back, so you know, all that confidence I showed already, I just kept chopping wood.”
He certainly did. Against a Chargers defense that came into the game No. 1 in yards allowed per rushing play at 2.7 with only three runs of 10 yards or more, Cook shredded them for 154 yards on 24 carries, a 6.4 average that included gains of 23, 15 and 15 yards.
“That's just who he is,” Allen said. “The last play doesn't matter. Just keep going, and he did such a good job of running the ball tonight. And I know it's play one that can put you in the tank, but he's been around this league long enough where it didn't faze him.”
Chargers wasted chances to pull away
Had the Chargers been competent in any way, they should have won this game easily, but coach Jim Harbaugh’s conservative approach — or perhaps it was offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel — cost them.
With the Bills throwing up all over themselves in the first quarter, the Chargers had a golden opportunity to take firm control but blew it. They went three-and-out on their second possession of the game, and after Allen threw his first interception to Genesis Smith, giving the Chargers a drive start at the 43, they drove to the 20 and then got conservative with runs on second and third down and settled for a Cameron Dicker field goal that made it 10-0.
After Allen’s second interception, Herbert drove the Chargers from their own 10 to the Bills 34, but again the drive stalled and this time Dicker missed a 45-yard field goal so the score remained 10-0.
And it happened again in the third quarter. They took the kickoff and chewed up 8:48 off the clock on a 13-play, 69-yard drive, but after getting to the 1, two false start penalties killed their chance for a touchdown and they again settled for a Dicker field goal and a 13-10 lead.
"I think everybody should be pissed off,” wide receiver Ladd McConkey said. “Sitting at 0-3 with three games that I feel like we could have won. Had every opportunity. Defense played great. We got to score more points."
Young secondary stepped up
The biggest play was made by the most veteran of the DBs, Gardner-Johnson, but the Bills’ youngsters also came through in some key moments.
The Bills lost their best cornerback, Christian Benford, to a toe injury in the third quarter so that meant their boundary corners were Max Hairston and rookie Davison Igbinosun. It could have been trouble, especially against a quarterback like Herbert, but both players did a nice job and the Chargers managed just two field goals in the second half.
Hairston had a pass breakup in the end zone on Los Angeles’ first possession, though he should have made the interception and because he didn’t, the Chargers eventually scored. Otherwise, he held up great and according to Pro Football Focus did not allow a completion in his coverage area.
Igbinosun made a beautiful breakup on a deep sideline pass intended for Quentin Johnson in the third quarter and though he was charted for two completions on three targets, they totaled just three yards and he was also in on five tackles.
“Had some opportunities, some critical plays getting off the field,” Brady said. “We’ve been saying all along, just getting those guys opportunities and there’s going to come a time when we’re going to need that. As you guys are learning, IGB, that guy definitely doesn’t blink. He’s as confident as can be and I love that about him. Max is going to want that first drive back, the one in the end zone, but just keep working.”
Greg Rousseau is on a heater
The outside linebacker enjoyed his third consecutive game with two sacks, something no Bills player as ever done, and with six sacks he tied Mark Gastineau (1984) and Kevin Greene (1998) for the most by an NFL player through three games to start a season.
Rousseau had seven pressures in the game and now 23 this season, about as dominant a start as you could have. He is clearly reveling in Jim Leonhard’s defense, being able to stand up, get wide, and use his speed and athleticism to affect the quarterback.
“He’s playing a little different position, he has eyes in the backfield,” Brady said. “He’s able to get in a two-point stance as opposed to a three. Little things and he’s confident right now. With any player, once you get a little taste of success, you think, ‘Hey, it’s coming.’ I think that’s where he’s at right now and it’s only going to open up more opportunities for other people.”
Sal Maiorana has covered the Buffalo Bills for more than four decades including 37 years as the full-time beat writer/columnist for the D&C. He has written numerous books about the history of the team, and he is also co-host of the BLEAV in Bills podcast/YouTube show. He can be reached at maiorana@gannett.com, and you can follow him on X @salmaiorana and on Bluesky @salmaiorana.bsky.social.
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: 5 things stood out as Bills got lucky against desperate Chargers team
