Bills rally to hold on against Cardinals

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (WROC) – The Cardinals won the toss and took the ball. Their first six plays were all to James Conner. Four rushers and two passes went for 60 yards. Kyler Murray then found Greg Dortch to convert a 3rd and six.

A Greg Rousseau tackle for a loss forced Arizona into third and long. Murray scrambled and slid well short of a first down, but the Cardinals were bailed out by a personal foul against Ja’Marcus Ingram. The call seemed indefensible. Ingram left his feet to attempt a tackle, but went over the top of Murray and made minimal contact. Three plays later, Arizona cashed in the giant break with a five yard TD pass from Murray to Michael Wilson.

The Bills first regular season touch of the year was a 53 yard kick return from newcomer Brandon Codrington through a gigantic hole in the kick return. The Bills moved the ball inside the red zone, but Roy Lopez got behind Josh Allen and knocked the ball away as Allen tried to scramble. Arizona recovered the fumble to snuff the first Bills drive.

The Cardinals got a 24 yard catch and run on third and four to jumpstart their second drive. Arizona sniffed the end zone, but Rasul Douglas stoned Demarcado leaking out of the backfield to stop the Cardinals at the Buffalo 11. Arizona kicked a field goal and took a 10-0 lead.

Buffalo’s next drive got their first points of the season. James Cook’s first five carries netted 37 yards. A 23-yard hookup with Dawson Knox was in the middle of that. It looked like Allen had a walk in TD from the four to finish, but O’Cyrus Torrence had a handful of facemask on the play. The 15-yard flag took the touchdown off the board and forced Buffalo into a 37-yard field goal try. Tyler Bass split the uprights with ease and the lead was down to 10-3.

Arizona answered with an impressive 13-play march that ended with a short Conner TD run. Murray converted a pair of third downs on the drive. One with his legs after a good Von Miller rush applied pressure. The other was a 14-yard throw to Greg Dortch after Arizona picked up a Buffalo blitz. Tre McBride had two receptions on the drive and Arizona took over seven minutes off the clock. They had a 17-3 lead.

The first Bills TD of the year followed after an uneven drive that featured two Bills false starts and a sack that was overruled by a questionable roughing the passer. Allen had to get the drive moving with a scramble third and six conversion to Khalil Shakir and Shakir added about 10-12 yards bouncing off what seemed a sure tackle. Zaven Collins had a sack that would have stuck Buffalo in 2nd and 19 at midfield, but apparently was flagged because his hand grazed the bottom of Allen’s facemask making the tackle. Keon Coleman made his first Bills catch on the next snap for a 12 yard gain and Allen finished the drive with a pair of seven yard runs.

Murray took a knee to end the half and the Cardinals went to the locker room with a 17-10 lead.

Buffalo opened the second half with the ball and immediately faced a 3rd and 11 thanks to a Dion Dawkins holding penalty. Allen escaped a blitz and threw a dart on the run to a wide open Cook that went for 25 yards. Ray Davis got his first two NFL touches later on the drive and converted both into first downs with a 14-yard catch and a 13-yard run. Allen converted another third and 11 to finish the drive, drilling Mack Hollins in good position over the middle from a spread formation. The Bills were back even at 17-all.

Two quick run stops and a Rousseau sack–his second of the game–forced Arizona into a three and out that put a punter on the field for the first time in the game. The Bills could do no better and followed with a three and out of their own when Allen could not connect with an open Marquez Valdes-Scantling deep down the middle of the field on 3rd and six.

Rousseau came up with a third sack after the punt and, this time, forced a fumble with it. Dorian Williams recovered and set the Bills up at the Arizona 21. Allen needed to convert a 4th and less than one with a QB sneak, but found Shakir on the next snap for an 11 yard catch and run that found the end zone. Shakir had to shake a tackle and fell onto another player near the goal line that kept him off the ground long enough to reach the ball across the goal line. The Bills had their first lead of the season at 24-17.

Murray hit a 29 yard scramble to convert a third down on Arizona’s next drive. Conner followed with a 20-yard run, but the Bills stopped back to back runs inside their 15 yard line and forced Arizona into a 31 yard field goal that cut Buffalo’s lead to 24-20.

Allen found Valdes-Scantling with his first catch for the Bills that moved the ball 19 yards to the Arizona side of the field. Allen scrambled later to convert a 4th and 2. Coleman followed with an impressive catch near the sideline with a defensive back all over him. He used his body to shield the DB and kept his feet in for a 28-yard catch that got Buffalo to the six yard line. Two plays later, Allen launched himself into the end zone on a scramble and the Bills were in front two scores at 31-20.

The celebration in Orchard Park was shortlived. Deejay Dallas ran the kickoff back 96 yards for the first TD in NFL history using the new dynamic kickoff rule. Conner ran in the two point conversion and the Cardinals were back within three.

Allen injured his left wrist on the diving TD and came back out on the field with a large tape job on his left wrist. He missed a third and six to Ty Johnson that might not have converted for a first down anyway and the Bills had to punt.

The Bills D held thanks to Von Miller’s first sack in two seasons. Miller shoved the offensive tackle near Murray and Murray tripped on his teammate’s foot as he scrambled away. Miller touched Murray down and forced a punt

The Bills got the ball back, but the drive stalled at the two-minute warning, before Tyler Bass kicked a 39-yard field goal into the wind.

The Cardinals started the final drive at their 40-yard line when the Bass kickoff rolled out of bounds. They moved to the Bills 30 before facing fourth-and-seven with 32 seconds left. Murray’s pass fell incomplete just short of the end zone.

The Bills offense came back on the field in victory formation to seal the win, 34-28.

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