Getty Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen looks downfield against the San Francisco 49ers.
If there were any doubters left, the Buffalo Bills silenced them on Monday night with a dominant 34-24 win over the San Francisco 49ers to improve to 9-3 for the second straight season.
Josh Allen answered the bell, completing 32 of his 40 passes for 375 yards and four touchdowns, Cole Beasley had a historic night with nine catches for 130 yards and a touchdown.
The Buffalo defense also picked off 49ers quarterback Nick Mullens twice, made a goal line stop on their first drive of the game, and limited the 49ers to just 86 rushing yards.
Throughout this season, the Bills had struggled in the national spotlight as their first two losses this season, to the Tennessee Titans and Kansas City Chiefs, came on national television. But the Bills proved they were capable on Monday night and they did it with a complete team effort too.
The Bills were clicking in all three stages of the game. The 49ers offense had success early as their first drive spanned 13 plays and 97 yards. But, it was extended by a questionable defensive pass interference call and it concluded with a goal line stop by the Bills.
The 49ers scored four plays later after Zack Moss coughed up his first fumble of the season to give them prime field position. After that drive, the 49ers only had one more drive that was longer than eight plays. Two of them ended with an interception and two ended with a punt.
The Bills tried to get the running game going early, but after their first drive stalled out on the goal line and Moss fumbled on the next, they leaned on Allen and the passing game and the offense started to explode as the game carried on.
Their next six drives concluded in points and they didn’t punt until there were 3 minutes, 25 seconds remaining.
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How They Scored
The 49ers got on the board first.
After the Bills stopped San Francisco on the goal line on their first offensive drive, Moss fumbled and the 49ers took over inside Buffalo’s five-yard line. Three plays later Mullens found Aiyuk for a two-yard score.
Shortly after, the Bills abandoned the run game and Allen marched his team 77 yards on five plays and capped it off with a five-yard hitch pass to Cole Beasley. Towards the end of the second half, Allen found tight end Dawson Knox for the second straight game for a four-yard touchdown pass to go up 14-7.
With 1:05 left in the half, the Bills took over on their own 10-yard line and Allen stitched together a seven-play, 71-yard drive to set up rookie kicker Tyler Bass for a 37-yard field as time ticked off the clock.
The 49ers got their scoring started in the second half with a Robbie Gould 45-yard field goal. Buffalo responded almost immediately as they put together an 11 play, 75-yard drive that concluded with a 23-yard touchdown pass to Isaiah McKenzie. Buffalo’s defense gave the ball right back to the offense two plays later as Micah Hyde picked off Mullens.
Bass hit a 28-yard field goal four plays later to go up 27-10.
San Francisco scored five plays after when Mullens hit Kyle Juszczyk for a six-yard touchdown pass. Allen capped off Buffalo’s scoring with a 28-yard pass to Gabe Davis to go up 34-17.
With 49 seconds left in the game, Mullens hit Jordan Reed with a five-yard touchdown pass.
What’s Next For Buffalo
After another big victory, the Bills will face a Pittsburgh Steelers team that suffered their first loss of the season on Monday with a 23-17 loss to the Washington Football Team.
The two teams will face on in Buffalo on Sunday Night Football at 8:20 p.m. next Sunday. They faced off last season on Sunday Night Football in Pittsburgh and the Bills put together a signature win before they dropped their final two games of the season and earning their second playoff appearance in three years.
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