Against all odds, Bills destroy Vikings in stunning fashion

• The Bills improved to 1-2 on the season while the Vikings dropped to 1-1-1.

MINNEAPOLIS – Two weeks ago in Baltimore, the appropriate one-word description of the Bills’ performance was “deplorable.”

Last week, “embarrassing” was sufficient when you combine another one-sided defeat with the fact that a player quit on the team at halftime, rendering the Bills a national joke.

Sunday afternoon, there were many words you could have used, but let’s settle on this one: “Magnificent.”

The Bills, written off as one of the worst teams in the NFL through two weeks, and deservedly so, put together one of their most impressive performances of the 21st century as they strutted into U.S. Bank Stadium and put a stunning 27-6 beat-down on the Minnesota Vikings.

Buffalo entered the game as a 16.5-point underdog, the highest September NFL spread coming out of Las Vegas since 2013, and then proceeded to make the Vikings look like they should have been the massive underdog.

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As bad as the Bills looked in their first game and a half when they were outscored 75-6 by the Ravens and Chargers, during the first half Sunday, the Vikings outdid Buffalo. By a lot. And what was so shocking is that Minnesota is considered a true Super Bowl contender in the NFC. People may have to re-think that one.

The Vikings could not have been more awful in every phase, and the Bills took advantage thanks to some outstanding game-planning by offensive coordinator Brian Daboll, execution by rookie quarterback Josh Allen, and a shockingly dominant performance from the defense.

Add it all together and the Bills ran off the field at halftime with an eye-bulging 27-0 lead, while the Vikings skulked to their locker room to the sound of vociferous boos from the home crowd. 

Daboll apparently realized this past week that he had to figure out a way to get Allen into the rhythm of the game, and that short, quick passing was the way to do it. The result was three touchdowns, two via the rush by Allen and one through the air as Allen completed 12 of 19 for 172 yards in the first 30 minutes.

On the first possession of the game, the Bills appeared to go three-and-out, but the Vikings’ Linval Joseph was flagged for initiating contact with his helmet while sacking Allen, and that 15-yard penalty seemed to open the floodgates.

Buffalo drove right downfield and took a 7-0 lead, Allen scrambling 10 yards for the touchdown to cap the 75-yard march.

Three plays after the kickoff, Trent Murphy sacked his old Redskins teammate, Kirk Cousins, and Lorenzo Alexander recovered his fumble at the Minnesota 15. Although the Bills didn’t punch it in, Stephen Hauschka kicked a 30-yard field goal to make it 10-0.

Three plays after the next kickoff, Cousins coughed it up again while getting sacked. This time it was Jerry Hughes blowing by his man to jar the ball loose, and Matt Milano recovered at the Vikings 25. 

Here, on second-and-11 from the 26, the Vikings completely blew a coverage and tight end Jason Croom was alone by a country mile to haul in Allen’s touchdown pass for a 17-0 lead just 9:51 into the game.

They call it the Purple Haze here in Minnesota, but Purple Daze would have been more suitable. To say the sellout, purple-geared crowd was stunned would be an understatement. Pretty soon, anger was the prevailing emotion as the Vikings continued to stink the joint out and the Bills were happy to roll up the score.

Following a Vikings punt, Allen went right back to work. He scrambled to pick up a third-and-9, and after taking a sack, he avoided pressure, rolled out to the right, and found Chris Ivory all alone behind the linebackers and Ivory had acres of turf in front of him. The play, the last one of the first quarter, covered 55 yards to the Minnesota 6.

From there, it became 24-0 as the Vikings hurt themselves with a horse collar tackle on Allen that gave Buffalo an automatic first down. Eventually, Allen plunged over the goal line from the 1 on fourth down, a gutsy call by Sean McDermott who was clearly smelling blood, even this early in the game.

More Vikings ineptness followed as they punted yet again, and that led to a 50-yard field goal by Hauschka as the Bills overcame three penalties to come away with points.

At halftime, the Bills had a 13-2 advantage in first downs thanks to 21 minutes of possession time, they outgained the Vikings 245-46, and most importantly, were ahead 27-0. 

Thereafter, the Bills played it close to the vest on offense, continued to play ferocious on defense, and the Vikings never had a chance to get back into it.

In the second half, Allen attempted only three more passes and he finished 15 of 22 for 196 yards for a rating of 111.2. In LeSean McCoy's place, Chris Ivory gained 56 yards on 20 carries and had three catches for 70 yards, while Marcus Murphy had 33 yards rushing on eight attempts. 

They finally broke the shutout – something that happened to them in a home game since 1962 – late in the fourth quarter with a 13-play, 92-yard garbage time drive that ended with Cousins hitting tight end Kyle Rudolph with a three-yard TD pass.

With the win, the Bills improved to 1-2, and now they get ready for another huge test next Sunday in Green Bay. The Vikings fell to 1-1-1.

MAIORANA@Gannett.com