The Bills allowed another Hail Mary, giving up a long, late bomb for the second consecutive game.
This time, Chargers rookie quarterback Justin Herbert took a shotgun snap on fourth-and-27 and heaved a 55-yard completion to Tyron Johnson, who was surrounded by five Bills as he came down with the ball and moved forward to the 2-yard line with a minute to play.
“I felt like I had the ball in my hands,” safety Jordan Poyer said later, echoing his comments from the nightmarish end to the Cardinals game two weeks ago, when DeAndre Hopkins snatched the game-winning touchdown in the final seconds. “We’ve got to find a way to get it out.”
But this time, the Bills’ defense had already done enough to ensure the maddening miscue wouldn’t cost them a win, delivering a series of critical stops to secure a 27-17 victory against the Chargers on Sunday at Bills Stadium. Buffalo allowed just three points in the fourth quarter, despite its offense committing three turnovers in a span of seven plays.
The triumph allowed the Bills (8-3) to maintain a one-game lead over the Dolphins (7-4) in the AFC East with five games remaining in the regular season, and harkened to a year ago, when Buffalo often leaned on its defense as the offense flailed.
After disappointing results most of the season, the rushing attack found the type of performance it has been searching for, writes Jay Skurski.
“It’s obviously a sign of a good team when one side of the ball’s not doing their job, the other side can pick it up,” quarterback Josh Allen said. “It’s a three-phase game, and I think we won two of those phases today. I wouldn’t say we lost on the offensive side, but there’s plenty of opportunities that we had that we didn’t take advantage of.”
The Chargers (3-8) failed to take advantage of numerous opportunities, as well, racking up a game-high 367 yards of total offense, but failing to make the Bills pay for sloppy ball security and converting just 3 of 16 third downs.
That’s a testament to what the Bills’ defense was able to accomplish, and a sign this group might be returning to its elite ways.
Herbert had thrown 20 touchdowns in his last seven games, including multiple scores each week, but was limited to just one touchdown pass Sunday.
The Chargers, meanwhile, had scored at least 21 points in their last seven consecutive games, eclipsing 30 points in four of them. Their 17 points Sunday were the fewest the Bills allowed this season to any team other than the winless Jets.
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“The defense was making plays in the second half and that’s what we needed,” safety Micah Hyde said. “As you can tell, it was closer than what it needed to be toward the end of the game. Once again, the ball’s in the air, we’ve got to find a way to knock it down.
“But we were able to escape with a win.”
The third quarter ended with Hyde stuffing running back Austin Ekeler for no gain on third-and-1 from the Buffalo 25.
The fourth quarter began with the Chargers, led by former Bills coach Anthony Lynn, opting to go for it on fourth down, rather than kicking the field goal to make it a one-score game. Taron Johnson and Jerry Hughes dropped Josh Kelley for a loss on fourth-and-1, preserving Buffalo's 24-14 lead.
But the defense had hardly caught its breath when it was sent back on the field again and again and again, as the Bills’ offense did its best to give the game away.
“It was kinda crazy,” left tackle Dion Dawkins said. “It was like turnover, we’re on the sideline, a couple of plays later, turnover and we’re back. And it’s like, ‘All right, guys, c’mon. Let’s fix it.’ Turnover, sideline. And then we were back. It’s just ball. It’s the NFL. And we just have to continue to stay positive through it, because it could be really easy to just tank and just go into bad energy when bad things happen.”
The defense continued to rise to the challenge.
“We take pride in being able to handle sudden-change situations,” Poyer said.
Two plays after taking over on downs, Devin Singletary fumbled. It was recovered by safety Nasir Adderley at the Buffalo 47.
Buffalo had a chance to get off the field when Herbert's pass fell incomplete on third-and-8, but Ed Oliver was flagged for roughing the passer, giving the Chargers a first down at the Bills' 16-yard line. Then Oliver's neutral zone infraction gave the Chargers first-and-5 at the 11.
L.A. faced third-and-1 at the Buffalo 7 when Kelly was pushed out of bounds for a three-yard loss by A.J. Klein. This forced the Chargers to settle for a 27-yard field goal, trimming the Bills' lead to 24-17 with 10:20 to play.
The Bills had led by as many as 18 points.
Here is Mark Gaughan's quarter by quarter look at the Buffalo Bills' 27-17 win against the Los Angeles Chargers at Bills Stadium on Sunday.
“There are things that we talk about as a linebacker group, our objectives every week going in, and obviously we want to make plays,” said Klein, who led the team with 14 tackles, three tackles for loss and 1 1/2 sacks. “But the overall objective and goal is to have fun and when you have fun, those plays come. I think we’re starting to see the results of that.”
The Bills again fumbled two plays into their next drive, when Allen couldn't field the snap from Mitch Morse.
Joey Bosa recovered at the Chargers 22.
“Speaking defensively, all we can do is go out there and try to get some takeaways,” Hyde said. “That’s it. No matter what the offense is doing. Whatever they’re doing on that side of the ball, we’ve got to go out there and we’ve got to make stops. We’ve got to put them in good position and not give up points.”
L.A. faced third-and-5 at its own 27 when Oliver burst through the line and strip-sacked Herbert, who recovered. But the Chargers had to punt.
This time, the Bills' offense turned the ball over on its fourth play, with Allen's deep pass intended for Stefon Diggs intercepted by cornerback Michael Davis at the Chargers 44.
Three plays later, Tre’Davious White jumped in front of tight end Hunter Henry for his second interception of the season at the Buffalo 35 with about 5 1/2 minutes to play.
“We left a lot out there. We know that,” Allen said. “We’ve got to do better and I’ve got to be better at taking care of the football. It’s simply what it comes down to. But our defense had our back today.”
The Bills’ offense finally kicked into gear and tacked on three more points for a bit of breathing room, driving 40 yards in six plays to set up Tyler Bass for a 43-yard field goal, which gave Buffalo a 27-17 lead with 3 1/2 minutes remaining.
The two-score cushion made the Chargers’ late Hail Mary irrelevant.
But after Johnson came down at the 2-yard line with a minute to play, the Chargers failed to get into the end zone, despite running three plays.
“That’s the defense I expect,” Bills coach Sean McDermott said. “I expect that every week. And I think it just goes back to – and you’ve got to start every week – fundamentals, technique, spending time in the film room together. All those things (are) a big part of earning the right to win, and they did that.”
But he acknowledged that the turnovers could have been far more costly.
“It doesn’t sit well with me, and the great part about it is it doesn’t sit well with our team, the players and the coaches,” McDermott said. “It’s one thing for me to get upset about it, but at the end of the day it’s about clear expectations and our players have a great understanding for what we want and honestly what wins in this league. And you can’t do that to yourself.
“You can’t do that and expect to win games. You’re living dangerously.”
Buffalo Bills cornerback Tre'Davious White (27) looks over Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert (10) in the fourth quarter at Bills Stadium in Orchard Park, Sunday, Nov. 29, 2020.
