Bills Defeat Browns, 31-23, in Neutral Site Game
DETROIT – (Staff and Wire Service/Field Level Media Report) – Buffalo quarterback Josh Allen passed for 197 yards and one touchdown and Tyler Bass matched his career best with six field goals to help the host Bills record a 31-23 victory over the Cleveland Browns in a game played in Detroit due to the historic snowfall in the Buffalo area.
James Cook rushed for a career-high 86 yards and Devin Singletary also rushed for 86 yards and tacked on a score for the Bills (7-3), who halted a two-game losing streak. Stefon Diggs caught a touchdown pass for Buffalo.
Jacoby Brissett passed for 324 yards and three touchdowns for Cleveland (3-7), which lost for the sixth time in the past seven games. Amari Cooper caught eight receptions for 113 yards and two touchdowns, but Nick Chubb was held to 19 yards on 14 carries for the Browns.
The game was moved to Detroit due to the epic snowstorm that hit the Buffalo area. On Saturday upon leaving their complex for the airport, the Bills said there were 77 inches of snow on the ground at Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park, N.Y.
Bass matched the franchise record of six field goals for the second time in his career. The original mark was set in 1996 by Steve Christie.
Diggs had four receptions for 48 yards to top 1,000 yards for the fifth straight season. He has 1,033 this year.
The Bills led by three at halftime before Bass expanded the lead to 16-10 with a season-long 56-yard field goal with 9:42 left in the third quarter.
The Browns went for it on fourth-and-1 from the Buffalo 27 on their next drive but Brissett’s quarterback sneak was stopped for no gain. Buffalo took over and went 73 yards on four plays with Singletary scoring from the 5. A two-point conversion run failed.
Bass kicked fourth-quarter field goals of 49 and 28 yards to make it 28-10. Brissett pulled Cleveland within 12 by hitting Cooper on a 7-yard aerial with 4:11 left in the game before Bass tacked on a 39-yarder with 1:56 remaining.
Brissett tossed a 2-yard touchdown pass to Donovan Peoples-Jones with 19 seconds left.
Buffalo took its first lead of the game at 13-10 on Allen’s 5-yard scoring pass to Diggs with 14 seconds left in the half.
The Browns struck on the opening drive of the game on Brissett’s 25-yard touchdown pass to Cooper. Bass got the Bills on the board with a 42-yard field goal with 3:32 left in the first quarter before Cleveland’s Cade York restored the seven-point margin with a 32-yard field goal early in the second quarter.
Buffalo started slow and recorded its initial first down nearly 22 minutes into the game. That drive culminated in Bass’ 36-yard field goal with 4:54 left in the half.
–Field Level Media