Top 3 things we learned from Bills at Vikings | MNF Week 9

Nov 10, 2026 at 11:27 AM

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Minnesota Vikings vs Buffalo Bills, Regular Season, November 09, 2026 at U.S. Bank Stadium.

The Bills improved to 7-1 and won their fourth consecutive game Monday night, overcoming an early defensive battle before pulling away for a 23-6 road victory over the Vikings. From offensive adjustments against one of the NFL's most aggressive defenses to a ground game that took control in the fourth quarter, here are three things we learned from Buffalo's Week 9 win in Minnesota.

1 — Buffalo absorbs Minnesota's best punch, counters with its own

The Buffalo Bills possessed the ball for over 42 minutes during Monday night's road win against the Vikings. At times, it was a frustrating spectacle, particularly early on as the Bills failed to capitalize on positive field position.

12 of the team's first 15 plays were run in Vikings territory, yet no points were put on the board. QB Josh Allen was sacked four times, three of them coming in the first half, and RB James Cook averaged 2.2 yards per carry on his first 15 carries.

"We knew it wasn't going to be pretty in terms of that's as good as the defense there gets," Bills head coach Joe Brady said. "They make you earn every single play."

Without left tackle Dion Dawkins and left guard Alec Anderson in the lineup due to injury, the Bills had to get creative with their game plan. At first, Buffalo opted for max protection calls, bringing in running backs and tight ends into their pass protection calls.

The Bills ran 20 first half pass plays with at least one additional blocker aside from the offensive line, including 13 plays with at least seven players in protection. The results were less than desirable as Buffalo gained 3.9 yards per play and Allen sacked three times. Minnesota created havoc at the line of scrimmage, blitzing over 60% of the time in the first two quarters.

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"You can be as prepared as possible, but those guys on that side of the ball, they're coming, they're coming fast. They're so smart in the back end," Allen said of Minnesota's defense.

But a shift in how the Bills attacked the Vikings D became noticeable at the end of the first half. On Buffalo's go-ahead touchdown drive before halftime, the Bills had an eight-play drive where they were in shotgun formation on seven of those plays (two runs, five passes) and went exclusively no-huddle after the two-minute warning.

The ball got out of Allen's hand quickly on that drive, as the QB had an average of 2.54 seconds per throw, save for the 25-yard touchdown throw to TE Keleki Latu where Allen got outside the pocket and fired the ball into the back of the end zone to his open target. That sequence lasted six seconds.

Buffalo had seven-man protections on just three plays that drive, and when they did, Allen got the ball out in under two seconds each time, picking up gains of 10, 10 and 12. The QB went 6 for 6 passing and 71 yards on the scoring drive.

"I think it's just a mindset of going out there and not being result driven, going out there and being process driven and understanding what they're trying to do," Allen said. "At the end of the day, having fun playing the game of football. Bad play early on, wipe it, next drive, let's go."

The shift carried over into the second half as Buffalo relied less on max protection and more on getting the ball out quickly and staying in favorable down and distances. Allen was sacked just once after halftime. Brady called 12 pass plays in the second half (compared to 26 runs) and only used a seven-man protection just once.

Buffalo averaged 5.2 yards per play in the second half compared to 3.5 yards in the first half.

"I don't think we were very efficient in the first half. I thought in the second half we wore down on them and skipped some third downs, especially in that last drive and gave us some good opportunities that calmed them down," Allen said.

2 — The Bills made Minnesota play a game it didn't want to play

During the pregame festivities, ESPN's Monday Night Countdown crew did part of their preview of the matchup from on the field during player warmups, including grabbing quick interviews from both teams.

One of Joe Brady's mantras for the Bills this season has been "they have to play us" — a mentality that the opponent has to be wary of what Buffalo brings to the table. That's exactly what Brady said to ESPN’s Pat McAfee when he was asked about the challenges Minnesota presents.

The Vikings defense had their moments, but it was the Bills who ultimately dictated the style of play late in the game. For much of the night, the game was either tied or a one possession affair. Though the Bills never trailed, the window remained open for Minnesota to exploit at any moment.

That was until Buffalo landed the knockout punch and went on a 15-play drive in the fourth quarter, taking over 8:30 off the clock. It was the longest possession of the season for Buffalo, both in plays run and time elapsed. With the score 13-6, the Bills got the ball with 14:49 remaining.

The next time the Vikings touched the ball, the score was 20-6 with just over 6 minutes left in the game.

"Anytime you have a time of possession with 42 minutes, you hope that that's tough on [their defense]," Brady said. "It's tough on offense too, but eventually you end up making it a game that they weren't willing to play."

Both Allen and Brady felt that Buffalo's advantage in time of possession and plays run throughout the night wore down Minnesota's aggressive defense, allowing Buffalo to dictate how the game was played.

"I mean, how can you not?," Allen said when asked if he believed the Vikings got worn down. "I think that 42 minutes time of possession… it's a long time for a defense to be out there. It's a lot of plays."

On the drive that put Buffalo up two scores and sealed the victory, the offense rushed on 12 of 15 plays, averaging over 5 yards per carry.

Running back James Cook put the finishing touches on the victory with a 5-yard touchdown run, his eighth rushing score of the season and the 40th of his career. He and Allen became the first pair of teammates in NFL history to eclipse 5,000 career rushing yards in the same game.

"That's James Cook," Allen said. "It was awesome to sit back and watch him run, especially late in that drive and making guys miss and finding his way into the end zone. The more times we can get James Cook the ball, the better we're going to be as an offense."

A Minnesota turnover on downs on the following possession resulted in a Tyler Bass field goal, extending the lead to 23-6, the most points allowed by the Vikings this season.

3 — Another three takeaway day for the defense

A week after forcing three turnovers in a 36-10 win over the Ravens, the Bills defense was back at it again on Monday night. Buffalo's unit picked off Vikings QB Carson Wentz twice and also recovered a backwards pass.

The Bills took advantage with two field goals off their three takeaways.

"There's no panic early in the game when things weren't going our way. Our defense was outstanding, which allows us to play that type of game," Brady said. "Really proud of the locker room coming on the road in this environment and not blinking and coming out with a victory."

The Bills inside linebacker duo of Dorian Williams and Terrel Bernard put together arguably their most complete showing of the season as a pair with both players recording an INT.

"It gives us a lot [of confidence]," Williams said. "We got to go out there and prove it next week as well and just keep growing on these performances."

Though the Bills have faced backup quarterbacks in consecutive weeks, the unit still has to execute at a high level in order to string together positive performances. Williams believes the defense has prepared well during the week coming out of their bye.

"Communication, the intentionality of practice, walkthroughs. I think everybody's on the same page," the linebacker said.

Outside linebacker Greg Rousseau recovered a backwards pass in the first half, allowing Buffalo to convert a short field into its first points of the game.

Rousseau was on the stat sheet in multiple facets. He ended the night with a sack, three QB hits, one batted pass and a fumble recovery. He became the 4th Bills player with consecutive games with at least 1.0 sack and 1 pass defensed since the beginning of the century.

One more sack this year and the sixth-year player will set a new career high for a single season.