Bills vs. Packers score, takeaways: Josh Allen fends off Aaron Rodgers as Green Bay drops fourth in a row

The Bills moved to 6-1 on the season after taking down the Packers on Sunday night, 27-17. Buffalo entered this game as a double-digit favorite and made quick work to show why jumping out to a 24-7 at the half and it was off to the races from that point forward. Meanwhile, this loss brings Green Bay down to 3-5 on the season, as the Packers have now lost four straight. 

Out of the gate, it looked like Green Bay may be able to give the Bills a game as it forced Josh Allen and the offense into a rare three-and-out on their opening possession. After failing to convert on fourth down on their first offensive series, however, the Packers watched as the Bills piled up 24 points and scored on each of their final four possessions prior to the break. Aaron Rodgers was able to find Romeo Doubs on an impressive 19-yard touchdown catch, but that counterpunch was sandwiched in-between two touchdown drives for Buffalo, which kept the Packers at arms length. 

Green Bay was able to run the ball effectively, but the passing game still proved to be a work in progress. Because their best chance of moving the football came on the ground, it was simply too difficult to keep pace with Buffalo’s high-flying offense and chewed plenty of valuable time off the clock. 

In the second half, both quarterbacks turned the ball over. In fact, there were three consecutive drives that resulted in an interception, including Allen tossing picks on back-to-back possessions. After Allen’s second pick, the Packers were able to drive 95 yards down the field to cut the lead to 10 points thanks to a 37-yard touchdown catch by Samori Toure. However, that’s as close as they’d get to sniffing a win.

Allen completed 13 of his 25 passes for 218 yards, two touchdowns and a pair of interceptions in the win. He also rushed six times for 49 yards. As expected, Stefon Diggs was his go-to target in the passing game, catching six of his eight targets for 108 yards and a touchdown. On the other side, Rodgers was 19 of 30 passing for 203 yards, two touchdowns and a pick. Aaron Jones rushed for 143 yards and added four catches for 14 yards to his totals as well. 

For a more detailed breakdown of how this game unfolded, check out our takeaways below. 

Why the Bills won

Buffalo continued to be one of the most dangerous offenses in the NFL that strike fear into opposing defenses whenever Allen drops back to pass. On any given play, it felt like Allen was capable of blowing the game wide open with a flick of his wrist and he flashed his MVP ceiling in this win. On the Bills’ first scoring drive of the night, Allen’s skill set was on full display. He rushed for a 20-yard gain to put Buffalo on the 1-yard line. Just two plays later, he used his mobility to keep the play alive and eventually find Dawson Knox for a floater touchdown pass. 

Allen was particularly strong in the face of pressure on Sunday night. According to Next Gen Stats, Allen was pressured on 40.7% of his dropbacks, which is the third-highest rate of his career.  When pressured, he completed six of his nine passes for 166 yards and two touchdowns. 

Specifically, the connection between Allen and Diggs was superb as they connected on a number of key passes, including a 26-yard touchdown that helped build Buffalo’s early lead. He also had a 53-yard reception just prior to halftime to set up a Tyler Bass field goal and cap off a first half where they outscored Green Bay 24-7. 

As Allen and Diggs were making waves through the air, Devin Singletary ran the ball well early on in this win and James Cook continues to flash his potential as a game-breaker in the backfield as well. As a team, Buffalo rushed for 153 yards and averaged 5.7 yards per carry. 

Defensively, Buffalo had no real answer for the Packers running game, but their offense was putting up points in such a quick fashion that it didn’t seem to matter, especially with Green Bay not having much consistency going in the passing game

Why the Packers lost

As has been the case throughout the season, the inability to have consistent production in the passing game was evident in this loss. Despite finishing with 203 yards passing, Rodgers was held under 100 yards passing for a large majority of this game. With Allen Lazard and Randall Cobb inactive and Christian Watson leaving this game in the first half due to a concussion, it was clear that Rodgers didn’t have a rapport with a lot of his pass catchers. 

That was particularly notable in the final stages of this game as the Packers were trying to get within a field goal by running a two-minute offense. That unit didn’t seem to have the wherewithal or the practice reps required to run a two-minute drill effectively and too much time was chewed off the clock and made any thought of a comeback pretty unrealistic. 

The only way the Packers consistently moved the football was on the ground. However, that avenue was taking too long to produce results. For example, it took them 12 plays and 8:38 to travel 80 yards on their first touchdown drive of the day and was spearheaded by a ground attack. Meanwhile, the pass-heavy Bills needed just eight plays to travel the same distance and score a touchdown on the very next possession. It also took them essentially half the time to do it (4:21). With the passing game really nonexistent on a consistent basis, it really didn’t matter that Green Bay put up 208 rushing on a 6.7-yards-per-carry clip. 

Turning point

After the Packers cut the Buffalo lead to just seven points thanks to a 12-play touchdown drive in the second quarter, the Bills eliminated any realistic shot of this becoming a game with their next two possessions just prior to halftime.

They traveled 80 yards in just over four minutes and capped off their first drive with an Isaiah McKenzie touchdown to bring the lead back to double digits. After forcing Green Bay to punt after a brief possession that lasted 61 seconds, the Bills retained possession with less than a minute to play and traveled 56 yards down the field to set up a 42-yard field goal by Bass to to extend the lead to 17 by the break and cap off a 10-0 run. 

That field goal drive was sparked by a 53-yard reception by Diggs on the very first play. 

That 10-point outburst in the span of just over five minutes created enough cushion that the Bills could be outscored by the Packers in the second and and it really didn’t make much of a difference. 

Play of the game

Down by 14 and facing a second-and-12 from just inside the red zone, Rodgers tossed a pass to Romeo Doubs in the right corner of the end zone. With a defender draped over him, the rookie wideout spun his body all the way around, secured the ball, and maintained possession as he went down to the ground for the touchdown. 

With both Allen Lazard and Randall Cobb inactive for this game due to injury and fellow rookie receiver Christian Watson leaving this game early due to a concussion, Doubs was a main target for Rodgers in the passing game. He saw a team-high seven targets, which he turned into four catches for 62 yards and that score.  

What’s next

From here, the Bills will gear up for a trip to East Rutherford as they’ll visit the Jets for a Week 9 matchup at MetLife Stadium. As for the Packers, they’ll finish up their two-game road trip when they take on the Lions in Detroit on Sunday in their first matchup of the season with their NFC North foe.