The Bills defeated the Vikings 23-6 on Monday Night Football, and did so against a Minnesota defense that entered Monday allowing an NFL-low 13.3 points per game.
It was a statement win for Buffalo, who gutted out early offensive struggles to ultimately dominate time of possession on offense, dominate the Vikings on defense, and put up 23 points and a win on the NFL’s No. 1 defensive unit.
This matchup pitted that top defending unit against Josh Allen and the the league's top scoring offense (33.3 points per game) entering Week 9. They squared off against a familiar foe in former Patriots and Dolphins coach and current Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores' No. 1 scoring defense.
Head coach and offensive play caller Joe Brady knew it was going
to be an uphill battle.
“Yeah, look, we we knew it wasn't going to be pretty,” he said during his postgame media availability. “That's as good as defense gets, and they make you earn every single play, and on the road it's as loud as can be.”
Minnesota’s defense did in fact limit Allen and the Buffalo offense to 13 points as well through three quarters.
Buffalo broke through in the fourth quarter, however, to score 10 more points to finish with more than the Vikings had given up all season.
“I thought that that was impressive for our guys,” the head coach and offensive play caller continued. “There's no panic, early in the game when things weren't going our way. Obviously, our defense was outstanding, which allows us to kind of play that type of game. But really proud of that. Really proud of the locker room coming on the road in this environment and not blinking and coming out with a victory.”
The 2024 NFL MVP and veteran quarterback who has seen his fair share of tough defenses over the years during his career, talked about how even a good game plan only prepares you so much for what you face under center and in the pocket.
“You can be as prepared as possible, but those guys on that side of the ball are coming fast,” Allen said about the Vikings defensive attack. “They’re so smart in the back end. They’re able to read and flow with their eyes. That backside corner makes the pick on the ball to DJ [Moore]. I wish I could have gotten some more into that instead of lobbing it up there, but he makes a heck of a play and from there on out, we were better with ball security, but it’s a tough defense.”
Allen was mostly contained and ran only six times for 15 yards in the win, and was picked off once and sacked four times, though he did break loose on a broken play to thread a dart near the sideline down the field to tight end Keleki Latu for a 25-yard touchdown for a touchdown and finished with 234 passing yards.
“Our offense wasn't perfect tonight but I'm so proud of how they battled, how they attacked this week gives me a lot of trust in them,” Allen added. “To go in there against this type of defense and play the way they did, very proud of those guys.”
His head coach expressed similar feelings about the team’s effort and the offense after the win.
“Really proud of really proud of that locker room, to go on the road in the environment without two of your starting your starters and be able to run the football, be able to possess the ball kind of speaks to the depth that we have and the confidence that we have in those guys.”
This article originally appeared on Bills Wire: Bills' Josh Allen details what makes Vikings defense so difficult to face
