Orchard Park, N.Y. (WBEN) - Despite a bit of a slow start for the Buffalo Bills on Sunday, the team was able to bounce back and earn a Week 1 victory over the Arizona Cardinals, 34-28, at Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park.
The Bills found themselves trailing 17-3, at one point, in the second quarter before the offense found its groove and the defense began clamping down on the Cardinals, putting together a formula to come away with the season-opening win in front of a sold-out crowd.
While it wasn't pretty to start, Bills fans were certainly happy to see their favorite team come away with the first win of the season.
"I was really concerned the first half, and I thought that some of the refs' calls were undesirable. But I was really happy they pulled it out. The second half was so much better. The defense came alive in the second half," said Bills fan Theresa from Rochester after the victory.
"We came out flat for sure, but I had faith all the way," added Bills fan Alex coming up from New York City. "When you've got Josh Allen, 17 out there, I think you've always got a good chance to win."
Bills fan Brian from Orchard Park also felt the Bills bounced back from a sluggish start in order to earn the win in the season opener.
"They really turned it on in the back half of the second quarter, and came out swinging in the second half. Did what they needed to do to get a win in Week 1," said Brian with WBEN.
While Bills fan Tom from Buffalo was pleased to see the offensive output in the opening week, he was wanting to see more from the Buffalo defense.
"Offensively, I thought we played pretty well. But defensively, I do believe we miss a couple of the players that aren't playing right now. Hopefully by next week, we get that straightened out," said Tom in an interview with WBEN.
Tom also didn't feel the special teams play was up to par to begin the 2024 campaign.
"I thought they should have kicked it out of the end zone, especially when they had the lead. I know the kickoff is a new thing, but I did not like that it obviously got returned on them," Tom said.
Part of Buffalo's success in Sunday's win was the play of quarterback Josh Allen, who accounted for four total touchdowns on the day - two in the air, as well as two on the ground. Without the leadership of Allen on the field, it might have been a different outcome for the Bills in Week 1.
"I think that Josh Allen just needs to keep running over players and doing Superman into the end zone, and we'll be fine," said Bills fan Ashley from Florida.
"I liked how Josh Allen played to multiple people, and of course, he did his thing by running. It was just an all-around good offensive [performance]," added Theresa.
Brian knows very well that the Bills go as Allen goes in a given day. If Allen is playing on top of his game, there's little stopping the Bills.
"Josh is our leader, Josh is our guy. And when he's on, we're going to win a lot of football games," Brian said. "I would like to see him not taking so many hits, but Josh is Josh, and Josh scores a lot of touchdowns, whether it's running or passing. I'd say the Bills and our success ride with No. 17."
What else stood out from Sunday's win for the Bills?
"I would say we need to move the ball in the air better in the first half. I think I was looking at the stats, [Allen] was 2-for-2 with two minutes ago in the second quarter. I think this offense needs to be spread out, maybe go five-wide and just put the ball in the ball in the air a little bit more, keep the defense guessing," Brian said. "I think there's a lot of weapons on offense that were underutilized today that could be better utilized going forward."
Meanwhile, Alex felt part of Sunday's win was "Bills Mafia" bringing an added element to help the Bills to victory.
"The electricity, we fought back. I think the ability to come back and win, we haven't always been able to see that, but I think it's a step in the right direction," Alex said.
Up next for the Bills is a Thursday night matchup with the Miami Dolphins in South Florida. It'll be the first divisional test of the season for Buffalo in a hostile environment that is Miami.
Fans like Tom believe that the Bills will need to clean up certain elements of their game if they expect to come away with another victory over the Dolphins.
"I think they have to play clean. I think they need to play mistake free. It's got to be our best game against our best game. If they play like we did today, they're not going to beat them. I honestly believe that," Tom said.
Since Allen has entered the NFL with the Bills, he has helped Buffalo to some dominating performances over the Dolphins. In 12 career games, Allen is 10-2 against Miami, while completing 66.4% of his pass attempts for 3,363 yards, 33 touchdowns and seven interceptions.
"Josh owns the Dolphins, not concerned. The Bills will be ready," Brian said.
"Very confident. Very, very confident. I think the Dolphins are the most overrated team in the NFL. I think Buffalo's got it," added Alex.
The Bills and Dolphins will kick things off on Thursday at 8:15 p.m. ET.
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