ORCHARD PARK – Thanks to what happened Saturday, the Buffalo Bills head into Sunday afternoon’s showdown against the red-hot Dallas Cowboys sitting in a slightly better AFC playoff position, but still on the outside looking in as the No. 9 seed.
Saturday would have been a great day if the Vikings hadn’t melted down in numerous situations before eventually losing to the Bengals 27-24 in overtime.
That victory, which seemed out of reach for Cincinnati almost all day until, of course, it wasn’t, improved the Bengals to 8-6 and they still hold a head-to-head tiebreaker over Buffalo. They are now 3-0 without star QB Joe Burrow and are currently the sixth seed, just ahead of the No. 7 Colts who whipped the faltering Steelers Saturday.
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The good news for Buffalo was that both Denver and Pittsburgh lost so they fell to 7-7 and behind the Bills in the conference standings.
If 7-6 Buffalo can defeat Dallas, it could climb past Houston and into the No. 8 spot if the 7-6 Texans – who are playing at Tennessee without QB C.J. Stroud and its top two receivers – lose to the Titans.
This story will be updated throughout the day so check back regularly.
That was a beatdown. James Cook’s 221 yards from scrimmage are the most by a Bills player since 2010. Cook ran for 179 yards and a touchdown on 25 carries and added 42 yards and a touchdown on two receptions. Josh Allen completed 7 of 15 passes for 94 yards and a touchdown. Dak Prescott went 21 of 34 for 134 yards with an interception and the Bills held the Cowboys to 89 yards rushing. Buffalo allowed just 195 yards of total offense and sacked Prescott three times.
The Bills rushed for 266 yards, the most of the Sean McDermott era.
Buffalo improves to 8-6. Dallas falls to 10-4.
Dallas got in the end zone with 2:48 left in the game. The Cowboys went on a 15-play, 80-yard touchdown drive and CeeDee Lamb took a handoff for a 3-yard touchdown run.
Josh Allen’s day is done and Kyle Allen is in the game. With 10:37 remaining. Against the Cowboys.
Buffalo had been dominating all game without forcing a turnover. Until now. On fourth-and-5 from the Cowboys’ 48, Dak Prescott airmailed a pass and it was picked off by cornerback Christian Benford. It’s Prescott’s first interception in 199 pass attempts.
James Cook has 227 yards from scrimmage and has been the X-factor in Joe Brady’s offense. Cook ripped off a 24-yard touchdown run for the knockout punch. He has 179 rushing yards.
Dallas went three-and-out and was sacked again. On third-and-9, Prescott was sacked for a 9-yard loss by Jordan Phillips. Bryan Anger punted 62 yards and Deonte Harty returned it 11 yards to the Bills’ 33. Dallas has 92 total yards of offense.
The Bills are gashing the Cowboys’ run defense. James Cook got two straight carries for a total of 9 yards and Josh Allen took a quarterback sneak for a first down. Three plays later, Allen ran for 4 yards to convert a third down. Cook went off tackle for 10 yards and another first down to the Cowboys’ 36. Ty Johnson’s 9-yard carry for a first down moved the ball to the Dallas 23-yard line. Johnson rushed for 11 yards to set up first-and-goal from the Cowboys’ 10. Cook couldn’t hang onto a third-down pass and Tyler Bass made a 23-yard field goal. The Bills chewed up 8 minutes, 22 seconds of game clock.
Dallas started from its 20 after KaVontae Turpin took the second half kickoff out of the end zone. Dak Prescott completed to Brandin Cooks for 8 yards, Tony Pollard ran for 1 yard and fullback Hunter Luepke rushed for 3 yards and a first down. Tight end Jake Ferguson made his first catch of the game for 7 yards and Tony Pollard went up the middle for 2 yards to set up another third-and-1. Prescott was dropped by Tyrel Dodson and Greg Rousseau for a 10-yard sack. Bryan Anger punted 61 yards but Deonte Harty returned it 20 yards to the Bills’ 30.
Buffalo overpowered Dallas in the first half. James Cook has more yards of offense (146 yards) than the entire Cowboys team (89). Cook has 104 yards on 15 carries and 42 yards and a touchdown on two receptions. Josh Allen is 5 of 11 for 73 yards and a touchdown and added a rushing touchdown. He set an NFL record with his 10th game of the season with a passing and rushing touchdown. Dak Prescott has completed 6 of 13 passes for 43 yards for the Cowboys.
Dallas gained one first down and Dak Prescott threw three straight incompletions. Bryan Anger punted 56 yards to the Bills’ 5 before halftime.
The Bills offense is literally cooking so far and James Cook is the gas. The running back is already over 100 yards rushing and he has 146 yards from scrimmage with a touchdown catch as the Bills have pulled into a 21-3 lead.
This makes five games in a row that he’s done that, the longest streak for a Bills running back since LeSean McCoy did it five straight games in 2016.
The Bills overcame a second-and-19 situation thanks to a personal foul penalty on Dallas’ Jayron Kearse against Khalil Shakir. And from there, Cook had runs of 4, 9 and 20 yards to position Josh Allen for a one-yard QB sneak. That capped an 11-play, 76-yard drive.
Rookie kicker Brandon Aubrey made his 31st consecutive field goal to start the season, extending his ongoing record.
Dallas finally put together a nice drive but after they had second-and-1 at the Bills’ 11, they went backwards as the Buffalo defense stood tall with Taylor Rapp making a tackle on Tony Pollard for a three-yard loss and then Ed Oliver deflecting Dak Prescott’s third-down pass.
The Cowboys got into position for the score when Prescott hit CeeDee Lamb for 16 yards to the Buffalo 32 on a third-and-4 play. The drive was also aided by a 15-yard personal foul penalty on Tyrel Dodson for a helmet to helmet hit on Prescott.
The Cowboys are killing themselves with big penalties and the Bills have taken full advantage.
Buffalo as forced to punt but Sam Williams roughed punter Sam Martin and the 15-yard penalty gave the Bills a first down at their own 41 and it didn’t take long before it was 14-0.
James Cook is having maybe the game of his NFL career as, in quick order, he took a short pass and turned it into a 24-yard gain, broke an 8-yard run, and then made an excellent catch to reel in Josh Allen’s 18-yard TD pass.
The Bills have the Cowboys on the ropes, and Dallas’ high-powered offense has done nothing with three possessions.
Eight-time Pro Bowl guard Zack Martin was injured with 2:59 left in the first quarter. He was able to walk on the sideline before going into the blue medical tent. Martin is questionable to return with a quadriceps injury.
Dak Prescott was nearly intercepted by Christian Benford, who had the ball hit him in the chest, on first down. Prescott threw two more incompletions and Bryan Anger punted 52 yards to the Bills’ 14.
The Bills didn’t have the same success on their second possession. Ty Johnson picked up 7 yards on a first-down carry but Josh Allen threw incomplete for Gabe Davis on Stefon Diggs couldn’t reel in a pass on third down. Sam Martin punted 46 yards to the Cowboys’ 34.
Dallas took a shot early. Dak Prescott overthrew an open Brandin Cooks on second down. Prescott scrambled for a first down on third down. Prescott completed to CeeDee Lamb for 15 yards to cross midfield. The Cowboys then went backward with an offensive holding penalty. Rico Dowdle was dropped for a 2-yard loss by Greg Rousseau and Prescott was sacked for a loss of 9 by Leonard Floyd. Facing fourth-and-23, Bryan Anger punted 43 yards to the Bills’ 13.
Dallas won the opening coin toss, deferred, and the Bills said thank you very much and drove 75 yards kin 12 plays to Latavius Murray’s two-yard TD run for a quick 7-0 lead.
James Cook had two big runs of 10 and 12 yards and Josh Allen fired an 18-yard laser to Stefon Diggs, a play that put Diggs over 1,000 yards receiving for the season.
The Bills then caught a huge break as the drive stalled inside the 10, but Dallas’ DeMarcus Lawrence was flagged for a really dumb personal foul penalty on Allen long after he had thrown incomplete on third down.
It wound up being a four-point penalty as Murray scored two plays later.
The Bills’ defense took another couple big hits this week as A.J. Epenesa and Micah Hyde were both hurt against Kansas City, and neither is ready to play against the Cowboys. They were deemed out on Friday by coach Sean McDermott.
As for the other inactive players for Buffalo, it’s the usual suspects: Defensive tackle Poona Ford, and offensive linemen Germain Ifedi and Alec Anderson.
With Hyde out, it would appear that Taylor Rapp is going to start and Rapp has not had a good first season for Buffalo. That’s an immediate concern against this Dallas passing game. As for Epenesa, his snaps will be absorbed by a combination of edge rushers including Greg Rousseau, Von Miller, Leonard Floyd, Shaq Lawson and maybe Kingsley Jonathan.
The Cowboys are also missing a starting safety as Malik Hooker is inactive, and they’re down a solid defensive tackle in Jonathan Hankins.
The weathermen were right. Rain moved into Orchard Park about an hour ago and while it’s not pouring, it looks like it’s going to be a day-long nuisance.
Maybe this is a good thing for the Bills. Dallas has been exceptional in perfect conditions at home this season, but it hasn’t ventured outside into inclement weather so maybe that will slow down their NFL-best offense. That might be wishful thinking, but it’s possible.
As for the Bills, like the Cowboys they are built to play in nice weather, but they did just score 34 points against the Eagles in a day-long rain a few weeks ago so they’ve had some time on task in that regard.
As for the wind, at 2:30 p.m. it doesn’t appear to be too strong, but that could change as the game goes on because, after all, we are in Orchard Park.
What time is the Bills vs Cowboys game?
∎ Date: Sunday, Dec. 17
∎ Time: 4:25 p.m.
∎ Place: Highmark Stadium
Who is favored to win Bills vs. Cowboys game
∎ Tipico betting line as of Sunday: Bills -2
∎ Over-under: 49
∎ Money line: Bills minus-130 (bet $130 to win $100) and Cowboys plus-110 (bet $100 to win $110).
Who is announcing the Bills vs. Cowboys game
∎ Play-by-play: Kevin Burkhardt
∎ Analyst: Greg Olsen
∎ Sideline reporters: Erin Andrews, Tom Rinaldi
How to watch Buffalo Bills vs Dallas Cowboys game on TV, streaming
∎ Cable/Network TV: FOX. The game will be available locally via the following stations: WUHF (Channel 12, Rochester), WUTV (Buffalo area), WSYT (Syracuse area), WFXV (Utica area), WYDC (Elmira area), WXXA (Albany area), and WICZ (Binghamton area).
∎ Online streaming services: You can watch games on NFL.com and the NFL mobile app, and you can subscribe to NFL+, the league’s own streaming service, though you can’t cast the games to your TV – you must watch on your phone or tablet.
∎ TV streaming: You can also stream if you have subscriptions to Spectrum, DirecTV, fuboTV, NFL+, Sling, Vidgo, Hulu + Live TV, and YouTube TV.
On the radio: How to listen to the Bills vs Cowboys game
You can listen on SiriusXM satellite radio on Sirius channel 82 and XM channel 227 (Bills feed) and Sirius channel 139 and XM channel 382 (Cowboys feed), and on traditional radio, the Bills Radio Network has stations all across the state. Chris Brown has the play-by-play, Eric Wood is the analyst, and Sal Capaccio is the sideline reporter. The network includes:
- Rochester (WCMF 96.5 and WROC 950 AM)
- Buffalo (WGR550, 550 AM)
- Syracuse (WTKW 99.5/WTKV 105.5)
- Binghamton (WDRE 100.5FM)
- Ithaca (WIII 99.9/100.3 FM)
- Bath (WVIN 98.3 FM)
- Newark (WACK 1420 AM)
- Dansville (WDNY 93.9 FM)
- Elmira (WNGZ 1490 AM)
- Auburn (WAUB 98.1 FM/1590 AM)
- Geneva (WGVA 95.9 FM, 1240 AM)
Bills vs. Cowboys prediction
Sal Maiorana: Bills 27, Cowboys 24
This is a really tough one to call. I think the Cowboys, top to bottom, are the better team, but they’re also the road team here and they haven’t been nearly as good away from Jerry World. They lost to the Cardinals, Eagles and 49ers (42-10), barely beat the Chargers (in what was essentially a home game given the crowd dynamics at SoFi Stadium), and now they have to come up to face the Bills at Highmark Stadium which is no picnic for any road team.
As I explained above, the game is big for Dallas, but it’s bigger for Buffalo and I think the Bills have a little juice right now after beating the Chiefs in Kansas City. They came together as a team after an emotional and distracting week and might be ready to run the table and make the postseason for the fifth straight year.
- Mon. Sept . 11, Jets 22, Bills 16 (OT)
- Sun., Sept. 17, Bills 38, Raiders 10
- Sun. Sept. 24, Bills 37, Commanders 3
- Sun. Oct. 1, Bills 48, Dolphins 20
- Sun. Oct. 8, Jaguars 25, Bills 20
- Sun. Oct. 15, Bills 14, Giants 9
- Sun. Oct. 22, Patriots 29, Bills 25
- Thur. Oct. 26, Bills 24, Buccaneers 18
- Sun. Nov. 5, Bengals 24, Bills 18
- Mon. Nov. 13, Broncos 24, Bills 22
- Sun. Nov. 19, Bills 32, Jets 6
- Sun. Nov. 26, Eagles 37, Bills 34 (OT)
- Sun. Dec. 3, Bye week
- Sun. Dec. 10, Bills 20, Chiefs 17
- Sun. Dec. 17, vs. Cowboys, 4:25 p.m.
- Sat. Dec. 23, at Chargers, 8 p.m.
- Sun. Dec. 31, vs. Patriots, 1 p.m.
- Sun. Jan. 7, at Dolphins, TBD
