The Buffalo Bills are 3-0 after beating the Los Angeles Chargers 24-16, but this was hardly the kind of win that sends everyone home feeling comfortable. Buffalo turned the ball over five times, while heading into the game with zero turnovers, and fell behind 10-0. The Bills did not take their first lead until the fourth quarter.
The defense made sure there was still a game to win. Afterward, head coach Joe Brady handed out two game balls, both to defenders: Greg Rousseau and C.J. Gardner-Johnson.
Game ball: Greg Rousseau
Groot is making a habit of showing up in this section. Rousseau sacked Justin Herbert twice, giving him two sacks in each of Buffalo’s first three games and six on the season. Only the 3rd player in NFL history to open a season with three straight games of at least two sacks.
His impact went well beyond the sack total. Rousseau finished with four tackles for loss and three quarterback hits, constantly making life difficult for a Chargers offense that had plenty of chances to take control. He accounted for both Buffalo sacks on Sunday.
Rousseau was already turning heads after his first two games. With another two-sack outing, he gave Buffalo a disruptive presence it could count on even when the offense kept putting the defense back on the field.
Game ball: C.J. Gardner-Johnson
Gardner-Johnson nearly had two interceptions. A flag wiped out his first, but he made certain the second one counted, stepping in front of Justin Herbert’s pass near the goal line in the fourth quarter.
The timing could not have been bigger. Josh Allen had fumbled at his own 28 yard line just three plays earlier. The Chargers had a chance to turn Buffalo’s fifth giveaway into the lead. Instead, Gardner-Johnson gave the ball back to the offense, and Allen ended the ensuing drive with the touchdown that finally put the Bills ahead.
Gardner-Johnson played 68 of 69 defensive snaps. That interception was the moment the defense’s persistence became a game changing play.
Honorable mentions (yes, even on offense)
Let’s be honest: this was not a game that required a lengthy debate over honorable mentions… especially on offense. Five turnovers, four sacks allowed and 10 penalties have a way of thinning the pool of potential players to highlight. Still, two players earned their way onto the list.
James Cook is the tricky one. He fumbled on Buffalo’s very first play, helping the Chargers jump out to a lead. You cannot just erase that because of what came later. But what came later was 24 carries for 154 yards and a touchdown, including 95 rushing yards in the second half. His touchdown gave the Bills a two possession lead in the fourth quarter. The opening mistake counts; so does the way he responded to it.
DJ Moore caught six passes for 67 yards on a team-high 10 targets. It was not a highlight-reel afternoon for Buffalo’s passing game, but Moore gave Allen an option when the Bills needed to sustain drives, including the third-down conversions Allen mentioned in his post game interview afterward. On this particular day, that is more than enough for an honorable mention.
A win with warning signs
Allen did not try to dress up the performance afterward. He credited the defense for giving the offense another chance, Cook for running hard and DJ Moore for moving the chains on third down. But his assessment of the turnovers was blunt: “A lot of smoke detectors are going off right now. We got to clean a lot of stuff up.”
That’s the right way to leave this one. The Bills found a way to win despite five giveaways, and the two game balls went to players who made that possible. The defense deserves its moment, even as Buffalo knows it cannot keep asking for this kind of rescue.
