6 takeaways from Bills’ resilient Week 1 win over Cardinals

Here are six takeaways from the Buffalo Bills' come-from-behind Week 1 win over the Arizona Cardinals.

Kyle Silagyi | Sep 8, 2024

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The Buffalo Bills never make it easy, but they were ultimately able to triumph over the Arizona Cardinals and win their 2024 season opener by the score of 34-28. Buffalo stumbled out of the gate and got itself into an early hole, but it displayed resiliency and bounced back to exit Highmark Stadium with a 1-0 record.

Here are six takeaways from the Bills’ season-opening win.

Growing Pains

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Buffalo ultimately rallied and found a way to win, but the start of the contest was far from ideal. Arizona quarterback Kyler Murray picked through the Bills' defense throughout the first two quarters, finishing the first half 16 of 19 passing for 130 yards and a touchdown. He frequently had long stretches to throw as Buffalo struggled to generate consistent pressure throughout the first two frames, with the Bills' defenders having difficulty tackling after Murray found his open targets. Buffalo’s defense allowed points on all of Arizona’s first-half drives and allowed the Cardinals to convert on five of seven third downs, their struggles complemented by the offense’s inability to get much of anything going consistently outside of running the ball with James Cook.

The Bills found themselves down 17-3 ahead of their final drive of the half, a series on which both teams took several costly penalties. Josh Allen found paydirt on that drive and brought Buffalo within a score entering the second half, and the Bills looked generally better in the third and fourth quarters. The improved second half and ultimate win will prompt some members of the Buffalo faithful to forget the slow start, but it needs to be mentioned; the Bills were beaten by both themselves and the Cardinals in the first half, taking five penalties for 40 yards in addition to being out possessed by a 2:1 raito. It’s, again, not the end of the world, but it's also not great for a team kicking off their season in front of a raucous home crowd.

Josh Allen is one of one

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This won’t come as a shock to any Buffalo fans, but Josh Allen is pretty dang special. His first series of the season concluded with a lost fumble, but he ultimately overcame this with four total scores (two passing, two rushing). He constructed several of his trademark otherworldly plays, including one where he bought time and rolled out to find a wide-open Cook for a big gain. His most impressive play of the day was a six-yard touchdown scamper in the fourth quarter in which he leaped over an Arizona defender to widen the Bills’ lead. The 28-year-old finished the game 18 of 23 passing for 232 yards and two scores, picking up another 39 yards on nine rushing attempts. It was a stellar start to the season for the Buffalo signal-caller, setting the stage for what is gearing up to be another incredible season for the former All-Pro; national naysayers may focus on his turnover, but Bills fans will take a 4:1 touchdown-to-turnover ratio any day of the week.

James Cook starts strong

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James Cook broke out in his sophomore campaign as he finished sixth in the NFL in scrimmage yards, and he continued his strong play into the 2024 season as he rushed for 71 yards on 19 attempts. A 3.7 average won’t stick out on the scoresheet as extravagantly impressive, but he generally showed strong vision and burst as he kept the team’s offense moving early. He also caught three passes for 32 yards, allowing him to finish the game with 103 total yards; it wasn’t a game that will make him a talking point on SportsCenter, but it was still an incredibly promising outing that suggests he’s set to maintain his offensive role and production from a season ago.

Greg Rousseau shines

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Greg Rousseau was one of Buffalo’s most impressive defenders throughout the summer, particularly flashing in a preseason contest with the Pittsburgh Steelers in which he looked flat-out dominant in a 2.5 sack outing. His strong summer carried over into Week 1, as he finished the win with a career single-game high of three sacks, his most impressive being a third-quarter strip-sack that set up a Khalil Shakir touchdown. Rousseau has always been a solid player—a strong run defender with occasional pass-rushing upside—but fans have always wanted to see a bit more from him in terms of sack production; his three-sack Week 1 outing was a heck of a way to kick off his fourth professional season.

Special teams gaffes

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Kicker Tyler Bass has been a popular talking point in Western New York in recent weeks given his struggles at both the end of last season and throughout the summer. He was perfect from a scoring perspective on Sunday, going two-of-two on field goals and four-of-four on extra points, but he did see a late kickoff go out of bounds to give Arizona the ball at its 40-yard-line while down just six points with two minutes to go. Bass cannot be solely blamed for this as the wind was quite fierce inside Highmark Stadium on Sunday, but it’s still far from ideal, especially considering Buffalo’s earlier special teams gaffe that allowed Deejay Dallas to return a kickoff 96 yards for a touchdown. The team will likely credit the special teams struggles to the new kickoff rules, weather, and it being Week 1, but this is something that needs to be cleaned up sooner rather than later.

Injury Report

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Reigning second-team All-Pro nickel defender Taron Johnson left the game early in the first quarter with a forearm injury; he quickly went to the locker room and was ultimately ruled out at halftime. He was primarily replaced by Cam Lewis, who didn’t look necessarily out of place as he tallied nine tackles. The University at Buffalo product's most impressive play came in the fourth quarter when he stopped James Conner for no gain on a third-and-four; the Bills’ brass trusts Lewis to play in a pinch, but the team cannot afford to lose Johnson for an extended stretch, especially considering linebacker Matt Milano’s injury. Josh Allen and running back Ty Johnson also picked up wrist and knee ailments, respectively; Allen did not miss any time with his injury.

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