Week 15 of the 2023 NFL season brings us ever-so-close to the postseason, and the Dallas Cowboys find themselves on top of the NFC East.
There isn’t much left to say about the dominating 20-point victory over the Philadelphia Eagles.
Dallas’ 33-13 win was a big flex to the rest of the NFL, signaling that the Cowboys have arrived, and are here to stay.
All season long we have heard fans of that green team tell us that the Cowboys had not defeated anyone with a winning record.
Is beating your 10-2 team enough for ya?
With Philadelphia in the rear view mirror, the Cowboys move forward to a trip Northeast for a matchup with the Buffalo Bills (7-6).
The Bills are coming off of a huge win over the Kansas City Chiefs to keep their playoff hopes alive.
Despite their record, the Bills are a dangerous team capable of putting up points in bunches.
Plus, their defense has improved greatly over the past few weeks, and they are always a tough out in their home stadium.
Today I would like to review three head-to-head matchups between Dallas and Buffalo, including the only matchup with Josh Allen as the Bills’ quarterback.
Josh Allen Spoils Thanksgiving
When: November 28, 2019
Where: AT&T Stadium, Arlington, TX
Result: BUF 26, DAL 15
This game is on the list for two reasons.
First, it was the last matchup between the Cowboys and the Bills.
Second, it’s the only matchup so far between quarterbacks Dak Prescott and Josh Allen.
The Cowboys started this game strong, driving 75 yards in nine plays, and ending the drive with an eight-yard touchdown pass from Prescott to Jason Witten.
Dallas even turned right around and forced Josh Allen and the 8-3 Bills into a punting situation to get the ball back for the offense.
That success would be short-lived, however.
The Cowboys next eight offensive drives failed to end in points: punt, punt, interception, fumble, blocked field goal, missed field goal, turnover on downs, and turnover on downs.
Meanwhile, the Bills scored 26 unanswered points for an insurmountable 26-7 lead with just over eight minutes left in the game.
Former Cowboy Cole Beasley torched the Dallas secondary for 110 yards and a touchdown on eight receptions.
Another Bills’ wide receiver would break the game open on a trick play that resulted in a touchdown.
Speedy John Brown took a handoff on what appeared to be an end-around, but he then tossed a 28 yard touchdown to RB Devin Singletary for a lead Buffalo wouldn’t relinquish.
Dallas would finally get back on the board in their final drive after a Prescott touchdown pass to WR Ventrell Bryant.
The two-point attempt would be successful, bringing the final score to 26-15.
Aside from the offense playing below their standards, the defense was overwhelmed by Allen’s athleticism.
He constantly escaped the pocket and found open wide receivers, completing 80% of his passes for 259 yards and two total touchdowns.
Dallas did not have nearly the same amount of talent on either side of the ball as they have today, which brings some hope to the Cowboys’ prospects on Sunday.
Tony Romo Shines
When: November 13, 2011
Where: Cowboys Stadium, Arlington, TX
Result: DAL 44, BUF 7
There was a 2015 matchup between these two teams that I excluded from this article.
It was a Cowboys loss, but starting QB Tony Romo was lost for the season to a twice-broken collarbone, and the 15-6 loss came with Kellen Moore under center.
Before 2015, the Cowboys last played versus the Bills in November of 2011, and it was a game Dallas won handily.
Romo would finish the game with what ended up being his fourth-highest quarterback rating of his career (148.4) when taking the majority of the snaps.
Dallas received the opening kickoff and never looked back.
Romo led the Cowboys to touchdown drives on their first four drives, taking a 28-7 lead into halftime.
Forced into a one-dimensional plan of attack after halftime, the Bills crumbled.
Their second half possessions ended as follows: turnover on downs, punt, interception, fumble, interception (returned for touchdown), and interception.
Romo would lead the offense to three field goals in the second half, but his damage was done in the first half.
He finished with 270 yards passing and three touchdowns while completing 23/26 passes (88.5%) to notch the second highest completion percentage of his career.
Terence Newman had a career day, intercepting two passes and returning one of them 43 yards to paydirt.
That would end the scoring for the day with the final score of 44-7.
Cowboys Overcome 6 Turnovers
When: October 8, 2007
Where: Ralph Wilson Stadium, Orchard Park, NY
Result: DAL 25, BUF 24
This is the game that all die-hard Dallas Cowboys fans can’t ever forget.
The game was filled with so many head-shaking moments, mainly from Tony Romo, but ended with one of the most incredible comebacks in NFL history.
Romo threw a whopping five interceptions and added a lost fumble on top of those interceptions.
The football gods were with Romo and the Cowboys that night because a negative five turnover margin almost always results in a loss.
After all the chaos, Dallas found themselves trailing 24-16 at the start of the 4th quarter.
The Bills’ defense kept their foot on the Cowboys’ throat, keeping them out of the endzone until less than a minute to play in the game.
Romo hit Patrick Crayton for a touchdown from four yards out, but the two-point attempt was ripped from WR Terrell Owens’ grasp.
Cowboys’ K Nick Folk trotted out for the onside kick with 20 seconds left in the game, and Dallas was able to recover.
A few stressful plays later, Folk again went out onto the field. This time for a 52 yard game-winning field goal.
Folk put the kick right down the middle, but the whistles blew because Buffalo HC Dick Jauron called a timeout right before the snap.
No bother. Folk calmly hit his second attempt just as well as he booted the first try, and Dallas escaped with an improbable win.
If this Sunday’s game is anything like the 25-24 thriller, we are in for a treat.