Buffalo Rumblings
The Buffalo Bills were a big road favorite on Sunday over the Cleveland Browns, and when they had the football with less than two minutes to go in the first half, a 10-point lead, and a double-dip opportunity in front of them, I felt like a blowout was coming. However, neither of Buffalo’s possessions around either side of halftime amounted to points, and the Bills allowed a three-win Browns team to hang around, making a 23-20 victory something much more uncomfortable than it could have been.
The 2025 vintage of the Buffalo Bills has been a roller coaster ride of sorts, and they’ve had a nasty habit of allowing inferior opponents to hang around in games for far too long. Unlike head-scratching losses at the Miami Dolphins and Atlanta Falcons, however, the Bills were able to do enough on Sunday to pull out a much-needed 11th win of the season.
It wasn’t a perfect day for the Bills, and our five players to watch were a hit-and-miss bunch, as well. However, they all played a big part in the game, even if their individual performances weren’t all roses.
Here’s how our five players to watch fared on Sunday.
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QB Josh Allen
If you started Allen in your fantasy playoffs, you were likely expecting a big game. After all, Allen is the No. 1 quarterback in ESPN standard scoring and the No. 2 player overall. However, Allen scored just 6.9 fantasy points this past weekend, which is a far cry from his 22-point average for the season.
Snapping back to reality, it wasn’t a clean game for Allen despite him avoiding a costly turnover for the day. Allen was on the move for much of the game, as offensive coordinator Joe Brady made it a point to move Allen and the pocket away from All-World defensive end Myles Garrett. Allen gifted Garrett half a sack on Buffalo’s last possession of the first half, as he scrambled wildly and lost 20 yards on a second-down sack that nearly resulted in a safety. It also led to Allen injuring his foot, something that didn’t cause him to miss any game time, but briefly caused all of our heart rates to spike as he limped to the locker room before the half had expired.
Allen only attempted seven passes in the first half, and he completed six of them for 86 yards. Buffalo didn’t need to throw, as they ran the ball to devastating effect in the early going. In the first half alone, running back James Cook III gained 100 yards on just nine carries, scoring two touchdowns in the process. Ty Johnson had three carries for 16 yards and a touchdown of his own in the first half, as well. Allen added four first-half carries for 17 yards. Buffalo had missed some chances, but they scored 20 points in the first half, and they looked like they’d be able to add more.
After Allen injured his foot, though, the offense looked...
