5 stats you'll want to know from Bills' Week 1 win over Cardinals

The Buffalo Bills defeated the Arizona Cardinals in their 2024 season opener. Here are five stats that stand out from the performance.

Greg Vorse | Sep 9, 2024

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The Buffalo Bills defeated the Arizona Cardinals 34-28 at Highmark Stadium on Sunday afternoon to kick off their 2024 campaign. The win featured several highlight-reel plays on both offense and defense and propels Buffalo to a 1-0 record after Week 1. There were a lot of entertaining stats to come from this contest; here are five that fans will enjoy seeing.

Josh Allen.

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During the offseason, I wrote that Josh Allen was on a trajectory to be the greatest dual-threat quarterback of all time, and he didn't disappoint in Week 1 with a pair of rushing and passing touchdowns. The four total scores put Allen at 225 career touchdowns just one game into his seventh season. That number ties him with Dolphins legend Dan Marino and Colts/Broncos Hall-of-Famer Peyton Manning for the second most all-time through seven seasons. They only trail Patrick Mahomes, who has 231 total touchdowns in seven seasons.

Mahomes has begun his eighth year, so Allen needs just seven more touchdowns this year to take the lead in this race. The two rushing scores also give the Bills' signal caller 55 career scores on the ground, which puts him just ten behind Thurman Thomas for the most in the Bills' history.

Josh Allen is now 10 rushing touchdowns behind Thurman Thomas for the most in #Bills history.

Yes, #BillsMafia, you read that correctly.
— Greg Vorse (@GregVorse) September 8, 2024

Everyone Has A Plate

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A lot was made this offseason about how the Bills would replace the production of Stefon Diggs and Gabe Davis, who both left Orchard Park this spring. 'Everyone has a plate' was the motto, meaning that all targets would have a chance to eat. The Bills accomplished that in Week 1, with ten different players seeing a target and nine of them hauling in a reception. Allen also didn't favor a specific part of the field, with six attempts going left, seven coming down the middle, and ten going to the right.

Gotta Keep 'Em Separated

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According to Next Gen Stats, the Bills' pass catchers were finding space in the Cardinals' defense. Khalil Shakir led the way with an average separation (defined as the distance between the receiver and nearest defender at the time of the catch) of 5.21 yards. That's almost 16 feet! Marquez Valdes-Scantling was second on the team at 3.37 yards of separation, and both Mack Hollins (2.8) and Keon Coleman (2.66) were over the two-yard mark.

I Am Groot

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Greg Rousseau was a monster for the Bills on Sunday; his three sacks tied a franchise record for most sacks in a season opener. Going back to Next Gen Stats, "Groot" had two of the ten fastest sacks in Week 1 before Monday Night Football. His sack time of 3.04 seconds is the third fastest, and 3.26 seconds is the tenth fastest.

Murray Magnet

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Sticking with the Bills' defense, they were all over Kyler Murray on Sunday. Rousseau had an average separation (distance between pass rusher and quarterback at time of throw/sack) of 4.21 yards. Ed Oliver (4.25), AJ Epenesa (4.35), and DaQuan Jones (4.37) were all under the league average, which currently hovers around 4.5 yards, per Next Gen Stats.

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