CLEVELAND, N.Y. (WKBW) — Two words perfectly summarize the Buffalo Bills' 23-20 win over the Cleveland Browns on Sunday afternoon.
Crisis averted.
From their offensive struggles to Josh Allen’s foot injury, everything about Sunday’s game felt like the Bills flirting with disaster but ultimately escaping with a win. And at the end of the day, that’s ultimately what’s most important, especially with a slim chance at winning the AFC East still in play.
“We feel like we're in playoff mode now,” Allen said. “It's just finding a way to win a football game. It wasn't obviously the prettiest way we can win. We’ve got some stuff to clean up, but we'll take a victory.”
“We’ve just got to finish. That's it,” running back James Cook said. “We were just beating ourselves. (We’ve) just got to finish the game, but the defense came through and we got the win. That's all that mattered.”
some quick thoughts pic.twitter.com/FrrtrTKWfL
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In the second half, the offense struggled to get anything going. They scored just three points, and even those points were gift-wrapped thanks to the Bills' second interception of the day. There was an overthrow from Josh Allen to Khalil Shakir that would’ve been a huge gain on a crucial third down. Then there was a drop from Brandin Cooks on a perfectly thrown ball from Allen. And the worst was a fourth-down drop from Dawson Knox on an easy touchdown that would’ve sealed the win.
"Well, they get paid too on that side to make adjustments and make plays and I feel like starting with me just didn't make enough plays,” Allen said. “Especially in that second half, taking the boneheaded sack there right before half. Not giving us a chance to double dip. So, a lot of stuff to clean up, a lot to learn from, but we'll take it.”
As for Allen’s injury, after the win he downplayed it’s significance and said it didn’t impact him in the second half.
“I just tweaked my foot a little bit,” Allen said. “It just flamed up on me a little bit. Pain subsided, so we're good.”
“Unless he's dead, he's going to be out there,” center Connor McGovern said. “So we knew he was going to be good, and we had full trust in him.”
“He's one of those guys that's not gonna stop playing until his foot falls off,” Dion Dawkins added.
Luckily for the Bills' offense, this was a win where the defense really stepped up. They intercepted Shadeur Sanders twice and finished the game with three sacks, with 2.5 coming from Greg Rousseau.
"We love when it's tight in the fourth quarter,” Rousseau said. “So being able to go out there and get stops, it was big for our defense.”
“The last drive with all him,” defensive tackle DaQuon Jones said. “I mean, he got back there every single play. So I mean it was cool to see and cool to be out there with him on the field while he's out there having that success and hopefully that's kind of just the building block for next week.”
“We believe that he can do that,” head coach Sean McDermott said of Rousseau’s big game. “He can impact the game. So it's good to see him get back in that kind of mindset.”
So was it the prettiest win? Absolutely not. But there’s something to be said about just finding a way to win on the road. Especially when you look back at some of the losses this season. They aren’t all going to be blowouts, and this felt like a day where the Bills were able to still get a win despite countless mistakes.
