Bills’ dismantling of Cowboys proves Buffalo is a legitimate playoff threat — for more reasons than Josh Allen

In a resounding win against the Dallas Cowboys, the Buffalo Bills reminded the NFL why playoff opponents should fear them.

Buffalo didn’t just beat a Cowboys team on a five-game win streak and hold the league’s most explosive scoring attack (32.4 points per game) to a mediocre day. Rather, the Bills thoroughly gouged the Cowboys’ run defense and smothered their offense to the tune of a 31-10 win.

The victory improved the Bills to 8-6, their record belying the postseason threat they’re clearly capable of inflicting.

The Cowboys, meanwhile, fell to 10-4 and second place in the NFC East. While Dallas clinched a playoff berth this weekend — they can thank the Detroit Lions for winning, and the Atlanta Falcons and Green Bay Packers for losing — the team’s unraveling reflects one of its biggest obstacles to playoff success: beating a good opponent on the road.

The Cowboys fell to 3-4 on the road, contrasting their 7-0 home record. Their home playoff game outlook doesn’t look promising.

The Bills trail the Miami Dolphins by two games in the AFC East but seem less travel-averse. While their road record is worse at 2-4, Buffalo has beaten the Kansas City Chiefs and taken the Philadelphia Eagles to overtime on the road in the last month.

The Bills also showed Sunday that they can ride more than one recipe to victory. They’re gathering momentum at the right time, and they know it.

Buffalo flips script for winning recipe

Quarterback Josh Allen has long threatened Bills opponents with his sometimes-risky but always-dual-threat style of play.

Sunday’s win over the Cowboys continued that trend as Allen scored via quarterback sneak and with an 18-yard off-platform throw to running back James Cook in the first half. Allen became the first quarterback to score by air and by ground in 10 different games in a single season in NFL history, per ESPN.

But Allen’s big arm didn’t drive this win. In fact, his 94 passing yards were his fewest in a game since 2019, a span of more than 60 contests.

“I felt like the kid that didn’t do anything in the class project but got an A,” Allen said. “But again: I’ll do this 10 times out of 10 times, man. Just keep going.”

Buffalo’s capacity to win by 21 points with such little reliance on the passing attack should concern the NFL. Because a blanketing defense and gritty run game will position the Bills well for winning in the cold, windy and/or wet weather that the playoffs could bring.

Buffalo’s 10th-ranked attack had averaged 122 rushing yards per game before the group demoralized the Dallas defense to the tune of 266 yards by ground.

Cook, whose previous career-best marks were 122 rushing yards and 159 from scrimmage, collected 179 on the ground and 221 total. He tied his career high with two touchdowns from scrimmage.

“They’re a great defense, so once you get the ball, you can’t hesitate,” Cook said. “You just got to go.”

Cook did, while Dallas’ defense hesitated with what seemed to be concern that Allen would barrel through the Cowboys at any moment.

Cook eluded defenders up the left, middle and right to set up rushing touchdowns for Latavius Murray, Allen and himself over the course of the game. He wore down Dallas defenders as he fought for yards, beginning from the first drive.

Take Cook’s second carry, when Cowboys defenders were within grasp of him after about 2 yards past the line of scrimmage and made contact at around 4. No matter: Cook continued to carry a hoard of Dallas players with him until he’d tracked 10 yards on the carry.

It was a fitting visual for a player who would soon carry his own team.

“I felt like I was watching the same play: 10-yard gain,” defensive tackle Ed Oliver said. “Ten-yard gain every time. Ten-yard gain? I said, ‘Man, all right. Go ahead then, Cook.’”

Cook ripped off six different explosive plays, more than the entire Dallas offense, capped off by a 24-yard race through the right side of the Cowboys' defense for a game-icing touchdown with 12:36 to play in the fourth. He somersaulted into the end zone as the Bills’ lead widened to 28 points.

From the sideline, head coach Sean McDermott celebrated a style of win that will translate beyond a single December game. Buffalo’s defense was routinely fresh after the long periods of respite during which Buffalo took chunk after chunk in the run game, neutralizing the Cowboys’ pass rush in the process.

The Cowboys managed a season-low 195 total yards of offense, including Prescott’s season-low 134 passing yards and 57.7 passer rating (second-worst). He threw no touchdowns while taking consistent hits and throwing seven deflected passes, including one interception.

The Bills’ victory was never in doubt.

“You need to be able to play that way down the stretch because of weather or they’re taking away your fastball,” McDermott said of the run-heavy attack. “I just believe in that. Just philosophically, holistically, you’ve got to show that you can do that: Be a two-dimensional offense or, in this case, a one-dimensional offense via the run. It just helps the whole football team. It keeps their explosive offense on the sideline.

“And it’s just a mindset, too.”

Bills more dangerous playoff threat than they look

With their eighth win, the Bills currently slot ninth in the AFC and outside playoff contention by record and tiebreaker alone.

But The New York Times’ playoff predictor, which projects outcomes based on likelihood a team wins each game rather than by current record alone, pegs the Bills’ chance of advancing to the postseason at 70%. Even more interesting: The Times’ number-cruncher calculates the Bills’ chance at making the Super Bowl at 8%, third-best in the AFC behind the Baltimore Ravens (19%) and Kansas City Chiefs (10%).

Put another way: While the Bills’ record may rank them ninth in the conference right now, their capacity to win ranks them third by a meaningful metric.

Buffalo is peaking at the right time.

“We’re getting better as the season goes on,” Allen said. “I think that’s kind of what we’re built for, games like this. Finding ways. Our defense went out there against a fantastic offense and did their thing. It was a complete team win today.”

Allen has shown he can contribute more to a game when he needs to, like his superb performance in the overtime loss against Philadelphia when Allen compiled 420 yards and four touchdowns from scrimmage. He’s shown his arm can power a win, like in a 320-yard, four-touchdown passing performance over the team currently pacing his division: the Miami Dolphins, who fell to Buffalo 48-20.

But the Bills’ aren’t aiming to be the best at one type of game plan and hope that works. They instead adapt to their competition, Allen saying he “wouldn’t say” such run reliance “was really our game plan going into it,” but valuing how it became the right game plan on a rainy afternoon.

Don’t overlook how the Bills can find that right game plan in January and February; and how their players have routinely executed that plan in hostile environments against the teams they’re likely to face.

“When your back’s against the wall, you find a way to get out of there,” Allen said. “The confidence that the team has right now I’d say is pretty high. But we’ve got to go out there and prove it.”