Buffalo’s fast start and solid defense ground the Cardinals in the 33-18 win.
Buffalo Bills Insider Chris Brown provides the exciting details. Here is his report:
Regular season records: Buffalo (1-2), Arizona (1-2)
In a nutshell:
The Bills defense was suffocating early and the offense turned in a handful of big plays to help stake Buffalo to a 17-0 first half lead. Rex Ryan’s team not only made the lead stand up, they expanded it. A 20-yard touchdown run by Tyrod Taylor and a 53-yard fumble return for a touchdown by Aaron Williams in the third quarter put the game away.
Buffalo’s running game resurfaced in a big way as they rolled up better than 200 yards on the ground under new offensive coordinator Anthony Lynn. LeSean McCoy rushed more over 100 yards and had a pair of touchdowns in the victory, while Taylor rushed for 79.
The Bills third down defense gave the Cardinals offense fits with a very unique 1-3-7 formation with seven defensive backs that flooded the coverage lanes in the pass game and also blitzed to get pressure on Carson Palmer.
Palmer in an effort to try and bring the Cardinals back threw four fourth quarter interceptions for the first four turnovers of the season for Arizona.
With the win Buffalo improved to 1-2 on the season.
How it went down:
-The Bills put points on the board first when a 49-yard run by Tyrod Taylor, followed by a 17-yard run by LeSean McCoy set up first and goal at the Arizona nine. Buffalo couldn’t punch it over the goal line so they settled for a 19-yard field goal from Dan Carpenterwith three minutes left in the first quarter (3-0).
-Buffalo put together their most impressive drive of the first half. After Robert Woodspulled in a controversial 24-yard pass to the Arizona 24, LeSean McCoy followed with a 24-yard touchdown run to put the Bills up by 10 late in the first quarter.
-McCoy capped a six-play 52-yard drive with a five-yard touchdown run, his second of the game with 10 and a half minutes left in the half.
-Arizona finally found the end zone with just over a minute to go in the first half when David Johnson took a four-yard run and stretched the ball over the goal line to make it 17-7 after the extra point at halftime.
-Buffalo would get six of those seven points back when Tyrod Taylor saw daylight to his right on a pass play and ran 20 yards to the end zone for a touchdown. Dan Carpenter however, pushed the extra point attempt wide right. (23-7).
-After being unable to reach the end zone from inside the Bills 10-yard line, Arizona long snapper Kameron Canady launched a field goal snap over holder Drew Butler’s head. The loose ball went all the way out to midfield where Aaron Williams scooped and scored on a 53-yard return for a touchdown late in the third quarter (30-7).
-On the ensuing possession the Cardinals marched 83 yards on just six plays with David Johnson pounding out the last 22 for a touchdown run to cut the Bills lead to 17 (30-13) with under a minute to play in the third quarter.
-Arizona then added an improbable 60-yard field goal by Chandler Catanzaro to make it a two-score game (30-16) with 10 minutes left in regulation.
-Dan Carpenter pushed it back to a three-score game with a 45-yard field goal with five minutes left in the game.
-LeSean McCoy was tackled in the end zone for a safety by Arizona to make it 33-18 with three minutes left, but they were the final points of the game.
Subplots:
-Tyrod Taylor was 14-25 passing for 119 yards and an interception. He had 79 yards on the ground including a 20-yard touchdown run.
-Taylor had the longest run by a quarterback in team history in the first quarter when he took a read option keeper 49 yards into Arizona territory on the team’s first touchdown drive.
-Stephon Gilmore (2) and Corey Graham posted the first three interceptions of the season for the Bills. Corey White had a fourth. All of them came in the fourth quarter. It was the first multi-interception game of Gilmore’s career.
-LeSean McCoy had a pair of touchdown runs in the game. His first was the 50th of his NFL career. He is the sixth active running back with 50 (Adrian Peterson, Frank Gore, Deangelo Williams, Chris Johnson, Arian Foster).
-Absent Sammy Watkins and Greg Salas, Robert Woods was the team’s leading receiver with six catches for 51 yards.
-Zach Brown led the team in tackles with 12.
-Corey White started in place of the injured Ronald Darby. He had nine tackles in the game and an interception.
Inactives:
QB Cardale Jones, S Colt Anderson, WR Sammy Watkins, WR Greg Salas, CB Ronald Darby, C Patrick Lewis, OT Cordy Glenn.
Up next:
The Bills travel to Gillette Stadium to take on the division rival New England Patriots on Oct. 2 for a 1 pm kickoff in Week 4.