That. Just. Happened. The Buffalo Bills destroyed the Minnesota Vikings in their own building on Sunday and it was a coming out party for the 2018 edition of the team. After two consecutive beatdowns, the Bills delivered their own in Week 3 to one of the two teams from last year’s NFC Championship.
Here are our five takeaways from the game, a season-defining game for Buffalo:
Josh Allen’s welcome to the NFL game
Holy cow. Josh Allen went up and over the Vikings today. He was in control of the offense from the moment he stepped on the field and if it wasn’t for some drops, his stat line would be even better. He had 200 yards passing but his highlights were running the ball, diving for the pylon for a touchdown and hurdling a defender for a first down toward 38 yards rushing and two touchdowns on the ground. He added a passing touchdown, too. He had 172 yards through the air in the first half before Buffalo took their foot off the gas.
Tre’Davious White is such a stud
We haven’t heard his name much this year, and it’s because other teams aren’t going at him. White was called for a penalty today on a tackle, but it looked like a pretty good hit. He had a few pass breakups today but the dude needs some props. No one is testing him and now he’s shut down two very, very good receivers in consecutive weeks.
The defense has turned a corner
The Chargers scored three points in the second half last week. It took the Vikings 57 minutes to score their first points on Sunday. Jerry Hughes, Kyle Williams, Lorenzo Alexander, and Matt Milano were all over the place on Sunday, sacking Kirk Cousins and forcing turnovers. Lelsie Frazier was backing calling plays today after Sean McDermott took over last week. Even with the shaky cornerback position, Buffalo stepped up.
Jerry Hughes needs his own heading
Hughes lived in the backfield today. Milano had a fumble recovery, interception, and sack but Hughes was in the backfield constantly harassing Kirk Cousins and LT Reilly Reiff. He had a strip-sack and another sack and was a disruptive force.
Receivers are a problem
It’s difficult to bring negativity to this postgame column, but the receivers didn’t do Allen any favors today. Kelvin Benjamin had multiple drops. Robert Foster let a perfect bomb go through his hands. Zay Jones was invisible. Charles Clay dropped a potential touchdown on a perfectly placed ball. This is 100% going to be an area of focus for the team this offseason.