LAS VEGAS - In the zaniness of the play that resulted in his touchdown flip to Keon Coleman, Josh Allen didn’t really know what happened.
He had Bills Mafia to thank for that.
“It's so hard in these away games, which feel like home games, once you hear the crowd go crazy, you're like, ‘I don't know if it's a touchdown, I don't know if it's an interception,’” Allen said with a smile Sunday night following the Buffalo Bills’ latest nutty victory, a 33-30 shootout over the Las Vegas Raiders.
Oh, it was a touchdown, one of the highlight plays of a season that is already filled with them for Allen and the Buffalo offense.
“That was a show, for sure,” Bills center Connor McGovern said. “That was one of those, I stopped, I was like, holy (crap), he just did that.”
On a third-and-8 from the 12, Allen dropped back and was under the gun so he stepped up into the pocket when no one was open and it looked like he was going to run. He sensed Malcolm Koonce bearing down on him and he was able to deftly sidestep him to avoid a sack, and then, with three other Raiders including Maxx Crosby converging for the kill, he saw Coleman flash open in the end zone.
One problem: The only way to get the ball there was to push it out backhanded, not that it was a problem for Allen who makes plays like this in his sleep. Coleman, doing what you’re supposed to do in the scramble drill, found open space and he was wide open to make the catch which enabled the Bills to extend their lead to 23-13.
“I saw him, but once it comes out, you kind of get hit and tumble around,” Allen said. “I was just trying to make a play. Kind of stepped up in the pocket, felt somebody coming from the left side there, stepped back and again, quick eyes, saw our guy open and gave him a chance.”
This was not a vintage Allen performance, certainly not on the level of last Monday night when he eviscerated the Los Angeles Rams with his arm and his legs. But as always, when the Bills needed Allen to guide them to victory, he did it, in the face of another rough day for the overwhelmed Buffalo defense.
“Josh Allen is is freaking insane,” left tackle Dion Dawkins said. “It was another crazy game, but we said that we were going to come out here to the West Coast and leave with two wins, and we're leaving here with two wins. Now we have a bye week so my kids will be happy to see me, and daddy will be happy for the rest of the week.”
Here are a few of my observations:
The Bills have a CJ Gardner-Johnson problem
Brandon Beane knew there was always a risk involved with signing the free agent safety, but he chose to believe the Bills could indoctrinate him into their winning culture and help him get his career back on track after bouncing around the NFL like a pinball the last few years.
At his best, Gardner-Johnson is a playmaker who could have helped a young Buffalo defense in its transition. At his worst, well, you saw it in Las Vegas.
First, he started the game terribly as he missed two open-field tackles that cost the Bills 25 yards after the catch, and then late in the first half, on a play where Davison Igbinosun handed the Raiders a first down with his second penalty of the game, Gardner-Johnson made matters worse when he spit on Raiders center Tyler Linderbaum, and that got him tossed out of the game.
“I’ve got to be a better player,” Gardner-Johnson said after the game. “I let my emotions get the best of me, and I hurt my team. I’ve got to be able to play in big games like this. I’ve got to be better and control my emotions. You just have to take it on the chin like a grown man. You can’t be doing (crap) like that in a game. No matter how passionate I am, I can’t be doing (crap) like that in a game. I cost my team.”
Now, realistically that was probably a good thing because outside of his interception against the Chargers, he’s been terrible all season. However, it also cost the Bills a player and forced Damar Hamlin into the game full time (45 snaps) as well as rookie Jalon Kilgore (11).
“The discipline of our football team has to improve, and that sure as hell can't happen,” Joe Brady said. “The team is bigger than that, the situation is bigger than that. Everything is bigger, and it can't happen. It definitely has to be addressed.”
It was just such a dumb, selfish thing to do by a player who has that very reputation. Can the Bills cut him over the bye? They should, but they’d need to find a replacement because Hamlin should not be a starter.
Confidence in James Cook was clear
Brady was asked in the CBS production meeting what he was going to do with Cook because of his rampant fumbling problem and he had a succinct answer.
“I was like, 'I’m gonna hand him the football,’” Brady said. “I didn't get to standing right here (as a head coach) without James, and it's the confidence I have in him, and not making it anything bigger than it needs to be, and trust that he's going to correct it and clean it up. He was again outstanding today.”
Cook rushed for 95 yards and a touchdown and caught three passes for 58 yards, once again helping to drive the Buffalo offense to the heights it needed to win another high-scoring game.
“He's a pro, man, and mistakes happen,” Dawkins said of Cook, who now has 627 yards on the season, a cool 104.5 per game. “And as we've seen today, he came out there and he did what pros do and he did his thing, and he's leaving with the game ball.”
Dalton Kincaid no longer on a milk carton
The tight end came home to Las Vegas riding a three-game drought where he’d caught only four passes for 52 yards, and both Allen and Brady remarked during the week that they had to find ways to get Kincaid involved.
“The more touches that we get him, the better,” Allen said after targeting Kincaid eight times and seeing him catch seven, though they went for just 38 yards. “Even just the focus the defense has to put on him, sometimes it's going to be the underneath stuff and it allows other guys to get open behind him. Sometimes he's going to be running the deep stuff, and it allows other stuff to get underneath him. Made it a point to get him involved today, and we're going to continue to do that.”
Kincaid’s most impactful play would have been his touchdown reception in the second quarter but it was wiped out by a holding penalty on O’Cyrus Torrence. That left his biggest play to come in the fourth quarter with the score tied at 23-23 when he caught a 14-yard pass to the Raiders’ 36.
That was his only catch that resulted in a first down and it was a big one because a few plays later, Cook was in the end zone and the Bills had the lead for good.
Defense is still a mess
The Bills continue to slap lipstick on a pig with this defense. This time, 38-year-old Kirk Cousins, facing almost no pass rush pressure, threw for 313 yards and two touchdowns, though the Bills did pick him off once, that by linebacker Dorian Williams.
Three Raiders had at least 70 yards - tight end Michael Mayer had 95, receiver Tre Tucker had 97 yards and both Cousins TDs, and tight end Brock Bowers had 70 - because too often they were running free in the secondary.
“Obviously, we didn't play up to our standard on defense,” linebacker Terrel Bernard said, though one has to wonder what that standard is. “We know we gotta get it fixed, but at the end of the day, find a way to win the game, that's what it's about.”
There were plenty of ugly moments, but there were some good ones, too, and perhaps that’s something defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard can build on during the bye week when self scouting is going to be a laborious chore.
Buffalo forced three series that were three-and-out, none bigger than in the fourth quarter right after the Bills had taken a 30-23 lead. A penalty on the kickoff pushed Las Vegas back to its 18 and on first down, Greg Rousseau batted down a Cousins pass, then he missed Bowers over the middle, and on third down rookie Jalon Kilgore broke up a ball intended for Tucker.
The Raiders punted with 4:08 left and Buffalo proceeded to drive to the clinching field goal.
“We come out and get a couple stops early (after halftime), but we got to finish better,” Bernard said, thinking about Tucker getting behind the defense for a 44-yard TD with 1:32 remaining. “I feel like that has been a recurrent theme, we just haven't been able to put teams away, finish games. So we'll go back and look at it, situational football, and get better.”
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: 4 takeaways as Josh Allen dazzles but Bills defense disappoints in win over Raiders