BUFFALO, NY (WTAQ) – It was more gallant than London, Lambeau and the nation’s capital but it still wasn’t enough for the Green Bay Packers to spring the upset against the mighty Buffalo Bills at Highmark Stadium Sunday night in front of a national audience.
The Bills (6-1) grabbed control of the game with five straight scoring possessions into the third quarter and held off the Pack (3-5) 27-17.
Trying desperately to bandage up a wide receiver corps and keep an offensive line intact, the Packers were determined to run the ball, staying committed to it even down 24-7, piling up 208 yards on the ground. Aaron Jones racked up 143 on 20 carries with a long of 32. A.J. Dillon averaged 5.4 a carry on his 10 totes. There just wasn’t enough of an answer in the passing game outside of a circus, highlight reel, twisting 19 yard touchdown catch from rookie Romeo Doubs that cut the 14-0 Buffalo lead in half and a fine route adjustment from fellow rookie Samori Toure late for his first NFL scoring grab that covered 37 yards with 6:32 left. After missing two weeks with a hamstring injury, Christian Watson returned but only for the opening series, taking a middle screen for 12 yards and getting led to the sidelines with a game ending concussion. It forced the Packers to juggle the receiver rotation even more with Allen Lazard (shoulder) and Randall Cobb (ankle) out of service. Veteran Sammy Watkins caught the first pass thrown by Rodgers for three yards and wasn’t targeted the rest of the night.
It’s not like there weren’t any other scoring opportunities. A first drive fizzled on a 4th and 3 call at the Buffalo 38 when the offensive line was overwhelmed. Elgton Jenkins was a late scratch, not because of his knee, but with a foot injury. David Bakhtiari was back at left tackle and rookie Zach Tom made his second NFL start at a second position, left guard. He struggled early in protection.
On the opening drive of the third quarter, the Packers had to settle for three only after Robert Tonyan’s 10 yard touchdown catch was wiped out with an offensive pass interference penalty on the tight end. It looked like he simply disengaged from contact and when the defender stumbled down, the flag came out.
Another 4th and 1 snap at the Buffalo 26 early in the fourth quarter had no chance when Jones was buried for a loss of 1.
The defense showed feistiness early. Jaire Alexander was seen jawing with Stefon Diggs coming out of the tunnel before the opening kickoff. They got an encouraging three and out to start the game with Alexander breaking up second and third down passes. It got too chippy in the second quarter when down 14-7, rookie Quay Walker chased former Alabama teammate James Cook out of bounds and after he thought he was shoved off the field of play, he rose up and pushed a Buffalo practice squad player that not only drew a flag, but a game disqualification. The Bills cashed in the drive for a 21-17 lead.
There was another unexplained issue before that. Eric Stokes was pulled from the game on the final play of the first quarter. On the opening snap of the second, Rasul Douglas took his spot at outside corner and he promptly gave up a 29 yard touchdown to Diggs that made it 14-0.
Josh Allen sparked the entire scoring sequence with a 20 yard run on third and 14 where Darnell Savage gave a feeble effort at a tackle short of the sticks. On the next play, Allen broke pressure and with Preston Smith bearing down, he flipped the one yard scoring strike to a wide open Dawson Knox.
Buffalo was able to run effectively, Devin Singletary picking up 67 of the team’s 153 yards. Isaiah McKenzie’s 7 yard jet sweep run put the Bills up 21-7. Yet even with a lead, they still threw plenty. Allen was held to 218 yards in the air, 53 on another deep shot to Diggs, a Packer killer since his Minnesota days. But late, the defense also picked him off twice in a wild turnover sequence. Douglas made a nice reaching interception in the 4th but on the next snap, Rodgers had the ball tipped and Matt Milano chased it down. On third and goal from the three, Allen got flushed from the pocket and Jaire Alexander plucked a low pass off the turf for his second interception of the year.
Another big catch from Doubs for 26 set up Toure’s touchdown grab, a nice route adjustment that got him loose from back up safety Damar Hamlin, playing for an injured Jordan Poyer.
The Packers got one last stop, got a 22 yard catch from Amari Rodgers but Mason Crosby’s 55 yard field goal attempt was wide left and short after a low snap from Jack Coco.
While the game could have easily gotten out of hand, it never did, but that wasn’t about to satisfy Head Coach matt LaFleur.
The Packers actually outgained the Bills 398-369 but the big plays titled in Buffalo’s favor. Rodgers finished 19 of 30 for 203 yards, two scores and the one pick for a rating of 91.4. He was sacked twice, both in the first half, two others were negated by penalties. Speaking of which, 8 more were accepted for 58 yards against the Pack. The worst of which was Walker’s. LaFleur said he has “zero tolerance” for those types of plays. As for Rodgers, he did have high praise for Doubs, plagued by drops in a catch-less game in Washington, coming up with two very big plays and he wasn’t alone, but it wasn’t enough:
Aside from Watson, linebacker De’Vondre Campbell had to leave the game in the second half with a knee injury. With Walker’s ejection, the Packers were left with Isaiah McDuffie and street free agent Eric Wilson to finish at inside linebacker. The inactive players were Lazard, Shemar Jean-Charles, Jonathan Garvin, Jenkins, Luke Tenuta and Jonathan Ford.
After losing 10 regular season games in his first three years, LaFleur has now dropped 5 this season. The Packers are also saddled with their first four game slide since 2016 when with a similar looking 4-6 record, Rodgers confidently predicted they could run the table. They almost did, coming up short in the NFC title game that year. A conference championship, much less a playoff appearance looks a lot more unlikely considering the injuries, the passing game limitations and a still, well below expectation defensive unit even with a trip to 1-6 Detroit looming to finish off a disappointing month of football.
