Massive underdog Bills pillage, plunder Vikings
Buffalo’s quarterback poised, Minnesota’s anything but
MINNEAPOLIS — Josh Allen played with the poise of a well-seasoned quarterback,hustlingtogivebuffaloanearly lead in his first NFL road start.
Then, the Bills turned their defense loose on Kirk Cousins and delivered a stunningly lopsided victory over the Minnesota Vikings.
Allen accounted for three touchdowns, making Cousins look like the raw rookie as the Bills beat the Vikings 27-6 on Sunday as 17-point underdogs.
“This is a tough place to play. That’s a good Vikings defense,” said Allen, who became the first Bills rookie quarterback to record at least one rushing and passing score in his first career road start. “It just solidifies the trust that I have in my teammates.”
Cousins had three turnovers. He lost a fumble on a third-down sack inside Minnesota’s 20-yard line on each of the first two possessions, and Buffalo turned those recoveries into 10 points. The Bills built a 27-0 lead by midway through the second quarter as the crowd at U.S. Bank Stadium, where the Vikings had won 10 of their last 11 games including the playoffs, began booing with increased intensity.
“Great defense, well-coached, great scheme,” Cousins said. “They have legitimate players at a lot of different positions.”
The Vikings (1-1-1) allowed the Bills (1-2) to become only the sixth 16-pluspoint underdog winner in the NFL’S last 81 point spreads of that size. According to ESPN research, the last such winner was Washington over Dallas on Dec. 3, 1995.
“I don’t think we took them too lightly,” Vikings coach Mike Zimmer said. “I think they came out and kicked our butts.”
After being outscored 75-9 over their first six quarters of the season, the Bills have enjoyed a 41-9 advantage over the last six periods.
“We really don’t really pay attention to what people think about us,” linebacker Lorenzo Alexander said. “It’s all about internal belief and confidence. If you listen to outside noise, we’d never win a game because nobody respects Buffalo at all. We have to continue to go out and earn that respect.”
Allen certainly earned some with this performance.
The seventh overall pick in the draft out of Wyoming who took the job earlier than expected in relief of a struggling Nathan Peterman in the opener, completed 15 of 22 passes for 196 yards. That included a 26-yard touchdown pass to wide-open tight end Jason Croom.
Vikings at Rams (-6½), 5:20 p.m. Thursday; Bills at Packers (-10½), 10 a.m. Sunday.
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