The Buffalo Bills remain clearly on the playoff course after the 34:24 victory over the San Francisco 49ers. Quarterback Josh Allen showed an outstanding performance and was unstoppable by an overwhelmed defense of the 49ers.
The game at Arizona State Farm Stadium, which will be home to the 49ers this week and next due to Covid restrictions in Santa Clara, got off to a curious start. Both teams penetrated to the opposing goal line, but were stopped there on the fourth attempt.
After the goal line stop of the Bills, however, rookie running back Zack Moss lost a fumble on the way out of his own end zone, which the Niners conquered. They then said thank you and took the lead with a 3-yard touchdown pass from Nick Mullens to Brandon Aiyuk.
The Bills then increased the number of strokes and put down an impressive drive over 77 yards in just five plays. In the end, Josh Allen found wide receiver Cole Beasley for a 5-yard touchdown pass. At the end of the quarter tight end Dawson Knox gave Buffalo the lead, while kicker Tyler Bass even increased it to 17: 7 with a 37-yard field goal seconds before the break.
In the second half, the home side shortened with a field goal and later even a touchdown catch from fullback Kyle Juszczyk, but Buffalo always had an answer. Allen found Isaiah McKenzie for a well-designed 23-yard touchdown pass, then Gabriel Davis caught a 28-yard touchdown in the final quarter.
49ers: Red Zone interception ends comeback hopes
But then San Francisco also increased the pace and penetrated deep into the Red Zone. But from the 5-yard line, Mullens threw an interception to Tre’Davious White, Mullens’ second pick in the game. The Niners then scored a touchdown, but the result didn’t end there.
Thanks to the success, the Bills maintain their lead over the Dolphins in the AFC East and are heading for their first division success since the 1990s.
San Francisco 49ers (5-7) – Buffalo Bills (9-3)
Result: 24:34 (7: 0, 0:17, 10:10, 7: 7) BOXSCORE
49ers vs. Bills – the most important statistics
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For Allen, this was the fourth game this season with 300 passing yards and 3 touchdowns. That’s the majority of such games in a season for a Bills quarterback. Only Hall of Famer Jim Kelly in 1991 and Drew Bledsoe in 2002 had achieved this three times.
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The secret hero of the game for the Bills was Cole Beasley, who set a career best with 130 yards (9 REC, TD). Even at break he came to 113 yards. His previous career high for an entire game was 112 receiving yards.
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Allen accomplished the feat in this game of throwing a touchdown pass in all pass depth levels (behind the line of scrimmage, short, intermediate, deep). Most recently, the deep ball succeeded on Davis, in which the receiver had 8.6 yards separation from the next defender at the catch. This was the sixth largest distance to a defender in a deep ball touchdown this season, according to Next Gen Stats.
The Star of the Game: Josh Allen (Bills)
In the end, Allen did what he wanted and emphatically confirmed positive trends this season. It remained extremely effective against zone coverage, and, as usual, it was hardly to be stopped during rollouts to the right and generally with passes out of motion. What is also remarkable for him is that he again did not consider it necessary to run himself. Instead, he relied almost exclusively on his arm and receiver and remained largely flawless. In the end, he had 375 passing yards and four touchdowns.
The flop of the game: Defensive front of the 49ers
The really dangerous defense of the 49ers remained ineffective. Above all, they failed to put pressure on everyone. It wasn’t until late in the game that a sack succeeded at 3rd Down, but apart from that, the front had hardly any access and actually always followed the Bills.
Analysis: 49ers vs. Bills – the tactics board
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After initial problems on both sides in the Red Zone, both play callers reached deeper into their bag of tricks and showed great creativity in their play designs. When Aiyuk touched down in the first quarter, for example, the Niners went for play action after two rather conservative runs through the middle. The defense took a bite and Aiyuk was open on a slant route in the end zone. The fact that the Niners suddenly switched to no-huddle and drastically increased the pace from one play to the next also contributed to the confusion.
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On the opposite side of the Knox touchdown, the tight end went from the left in motion parallel to the line of scrimmage to the right before the snap. The snap then blocked the entire offensive line to the left and thus also steered the defense into the side facing away from play, so that Knox was open in the flat and finally got a good cut block from Diggs in front of the end zone.
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The big hit was Allen’s 28-yard touchdown pass to McKenzie, in which the receiver started a jet motion from the right before the snap and then ran the equivalent of a wheel route towards the end zone. But that wasn’t enough, because the Bills also played play action and the receiver Davjs on the left pulled cornerback Verrett into the middle after the snap and blocked Safety Moore’s way to McKenzie in the infight with the corner, so that McKenzie could catch the ball unmolested could. An outstanding play design by Brian Daboll!
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