Buffalo beat Cleveland on Sunday in its final road game of the 2025 season. The Bills are on a four-game win streak, which started back in Week 13 against Pittsburgh. They head back to Highmark Stadium for the final two games of the season, coming off a 23-20 victory against the Browns.
Here is what the Bills said of their Week 16 performances:
Buffalo's offensive line manages Myles Garrett
Defensive end Myles Garrett was 1.5 sacks away from setting a single season record in NFL history. Michael Strahan and J.J. Watt hold the record with 22.5 sacks, and Garrett hoped to either tie or break that on Sunday.
The Bills' offensive line was the only thing standing in Garrett's way in Week 16, and it did so successfully. Garrett had half a sack Sunday, meaning he's still a half-sack from tying the record and a full sack from breaking it.
Left tackle Dion Dawkins was tasked with fending Garrett off, though Buffalo double-teamed him at times, giving quarterback Josh Allen more time to work with.
"Our job is to protect 17," Dawkins said. "I had [Garrett] with me the whole game. So, I'm thankful that I'm able to compete, and I'm thankful that [Garrett] is who he is to make us compete at a high level. I respect that guy, I really do."
One of these times was on the Bills' second drive of the game. After a completion to running back Ray Davis for 14 yards, the double-team on Garrett gave Allen time to escape and run outside the pocket for a second time. He completed a pass to tight end Jackson Hawes, who took it to the Cleveland 28-yard-line. Buffalo eventually scored on this drive, going up 13-7 in the second quarter.
In preparation for Garrett, Dawkins' week of practice was cut short. The tackle was out on Wednesday and Thursday due to illness, only logging practice on Friday ahead of the game.
"I'm thankful that everything happens the way it does," Dawkins said. "Deal with what you can deal with and go out there and play … I feel great now. We got a dub."
Dawkins and the Bills' offensive line held Garret to one tackle and the previously mentioned half-sack.
Greg Rousseau has first multi-sack game since 2024
Defensive end Greg Rousseau last multi-sack game was in Week 1 of 2024. On Sunday, he had 2.5 sacks for a loss of 19 yards against the Browns.
His first sack of the game was against quarterback Dillon Gabriel. With starter Shedeur Sanders tending to a finger injury on the sidelines, Gabriel was put in on third-and-four at the Buffalo four-yard-line. Rousseau grabbed Gabriel by his ankles, bringing him down for a loss of two yards and forcing the Browns to try for a field goal on fourth down. This kept the Bills in the lead, 13-10 after the successful attempt.
In the fourth quarter on fourth-and-two, Cleveland worked against the clock at its own 44-yard-line with just over five minutes remaining. The pocket closed in on Sanders, but he was too late to fully escape as Rousseau broke free and almost immediately took the quarterback down before he got the ball out of his hand. The loss of 13 also put Buffalo's offense at the Browns' 30-yard-line.
"Playing fast, doing my job," Rousseau said. "It's all about working on each other up front. There were other guys that were rushing well, [Sanders] had nowhere to go except for out the back."
Once Cleveland got the ball back, Rousseau quickly killed its chance of taking the lead. He and safety Jordan Poyer combined for a sack, pushing Sanders back eight yards. On second-and-18, Rousseau moved Cleveland back even deeper in its own territory.
While it wasn't ruled a sack since Sanders got the ball out of his hand before hitting the ground, Rousseau forced him to throw the ball away and pick up an intentional grounding penalty on the quarterback hit. The penalty moved the Browns to their own one-yard-line, and they punted the ball back to the Bills. Buffalo ran the rest of the clock out once it regained possession.
"Good coverage, [Sanders] was holding the ball, so they were locking them up down the field and then up front," Rousseau said. "We were all pushing the pocket back, he had to retreat backwards. So, that's what made it happen."
The Bills' run game got going before Cleveland found an answer
Cleveland's defense came out in the second half prepared for Buffalo's run game. However, it gave too much to running back James Cook III in the first two quarters of the game. Cook had 100 yards on the ground in the first half and two touchdowns.
Starting the afternoon, Cook weaved his way around the field for a 44-yard score, tying the game 7-7 and sparking the run game early. The drive took five plays and 80 yards. The running back was responsible for three of those plays and 67 rushing yards. He also scored Buffalo's last touchdown of the game – a three-yard run where he extended his arm through the plane to put the points on the board before his body hit the ground.
In between Cook's two touchdowns, running back Ty Johnson also got some love from Allen. On a drive that started at the end of the first quarter and ended at the start of the second, Allen handed the ball off to Johnson three times. Johnson was close to a first down on the first run, carrying Cleveland defenders with him before he was brought down one yard shy of the line of the gain. He pushed forward for the first down on the next play, picking up five yards and planting the Bills at the two-yard-line. On the next handoff, Johnson had no issue walking into the end zone for the touchdown.
The second half, however, was a different story. The Browns held Cook to just 17 yards, maintained Allen's running abilities and kept Johnson quiet as well. Ray Davis was the third running back getting involved on Sunday, tallying three carries for 14 yards, all of which were in the second half.
