The Buffalo Bills needed to make a stop from their own 1-yard line against the New York Giants to prevent them from winning with a touchdown Sunday night – and they did just that, holding off the late-game surge from their opponent to win, 14-9, in a low-scoring thriller.
The Giants were down 14-9 when Tyler Bass missed his first field goal attempt of the season on a 53-yard try late in the fourth quarter. Backup quarterback Tyrod Taylor, who was in for injured Daniel Jones, worked his way down the field to the point where tight end Darren Waller interfered on the final play of regulation, which led the ball to be placed at the 1-yard line for one final play to determine it all.
The Giants snapped the ball and Waller was the intended target again for Taylor, who lofted it high for only him to reach it, but cornerback Taron Johnson had terrific coverage on Waller and forced the incompletion to end the game.
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This game wasn't supposed to be a close one, as the Giants were 14-point underdogs heading into Highmark Stadium, but the Bills started off very slow and the Giants' defense played a big part in that in the first half.
Josh Allen was able to get things going in the second half, though, and it started with a 17-play touchdown drive that sparked everyone in Buffalo.
Starting from their own 11-yard line, the Bills methodically worked their way down to the Giants’ 3-yard line, where Allen found Deonte Harty for a nifty 3-yard score to finally get on the board in a 6-6 game.
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The Giants, led by Taylor (a former Bills quarterback), went 79 yards on the ensuing drive and opted for the field goal on fourth-and-inches from Buffalo’s 11-yard line to retake the lead, 9-7.
Once more, though, the Bills charged downfield, going 75 yards this time where Allen found tight end Quintin Morris for a 15-yard strike on the run, splitting two Giants defenders to find the big man in the end zone.
New York would turn the ball over on downs, but the Bills breathed life into the Giants’ sideline when Bass missed the field goal – the first miss of the season for the veteran. Fortunately for Buffalo, that miss didn't come back to haunt them at the end of the game.
On the other hand, a moment at the end of the first half certainly came back to haunt the Giants, as they had a blunder that ultimately cost them the game.
With 14 seconds left in the half, Barkley, making his return to the field for the first time since Week 2 after dealing with an ankle sprain, rushed for no gain on the Bills’ 1-yard line.
However, with no timeouts left, the Giants couldn’t stop the clock and the half ended without any points. Head coach Brian Daboll, who served as the Bills' offensive coordinator before making the move to the Giants last season, was livid on the sidelines as he made his way to the locker room.
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Also in the first half, a scary moment unfolded that had all of Highmark Stadium, and fans watching from home, collectively holding their breath after Bills running back Damien Harris needed to be put in an ambulance by stretcher after being hit on third-and-inches.
It didn’t seem like a serious hit from the Giants defender, but nonetheless, Harris was laying down in pain when Bills trainers rushed onto the field to help him. Buffalo obviously had a moment last season that was similar when safety Damar Hamlin suffered a cardiac arrest on the final regular season game of the 2022 season.
Harris showed a thumbs up to the crowd once he was moved from the turf to the ambulance, which was at least a good sign that he was conscious and stable.
In the box score, Taylor was the better quarterback on the night in terms of yards, throwing for 200 flat on 24-of-36 through the air, while Allen went 19-of-30 for 169 yards. Allen threw two touchdowns to Taylor’s zero, though he did have an interception on a tipped pass.
Stefon Diggs, his top target, finished with an even 10 catches for 100 yards on 16 targets.
For the Giants, Darius Slayton led the way with 69 yards on four catches, while slot receiver Wan’Dale Robinson shined again with eight catches for 62 yards.
