Bills Pull Off Historic Upset Of Vikings
Buffalo Bills rookie quarterback Josh Allen led his team to the biggest upset of the current century thus far.
The winless Bills went into Sunday’s game against the Minnesota Vikings as 17-point underdogs, ESPN.com reported. That didn’t stop them from jumping out to a 27-0 halftime lead, en route to a 27-6 victory in Minnesota.
“[The spread didn’t affect us] at all,” said Bills cornerback Tre’Davious White. “Like I said earlier this week when y’all interviewed me, I think ever since I’ve been here, every game I’ve been in, we’ve been the underdogs. It’s nothing new to us. We just go out and play.”
While there have been fifteen upsets in games with spreads of 17 or more points in the Super Bowl era, the previous time the feat had been accomplished was on Dec. 3, 1995, when the Washington Redskins beat the Dallas Cowboys 24-17 as 17.5-point underdogs.
Allen was 15-22 in passing, with 196 yards and one touchdown pass in only his second career start. He also ran for two additional touchdowns, including a 10-yard touchdown run five minutes into the game that gave the Bills a 7-0 lead, their first lead of the season.
On the other side of the ball, Minnesota attempted only six rushes the entire game, the fewest runs they’d attempted since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger.
The Bills were a 17-point underdog entering the game.
They're walking out of Minnesota with a huge win. pic.twitter.com/6lcLR9HAdQ
— ESPN (@espn) September 23, 2018
Minnesota’s six points were also the fewest scored by a team favored by at least 17 points in the Super Bowl era.
The Bills are no strangers to pulling off huge upsets. Two of the four largest upsets in the Super Bowl era were also Bills wins, beating the New York Jets in 1968 as 20-point underdogs, and the New England Patriots as 18.5-point underdogs in 1977. They’re also responsible for the largest comeback in NFL history, beating the Houston Oilers in a 1993 playoff game after being down by 32 points.
A couple of gamblers lost their shirts following the Bills victory. One bettor lost $18,000 on a money-line bet which would have netted him $1000. Another lost $9000 that would have netted him $450. On the other hand, one Bills bettor won $10,000 on a $1000 money-line wager.
“The analysts can pick whoever they want, but we gotta go out and play,” said White, who was heard yelling “You like that?!” at the end of the game, a mocking nod to Vikings’ quarterback Kirk Cousins’ catchphrase when he ran the Washington offense.
“[A]t the end of the day, it’s all just football,” White continued. “We executed a little bit better today.”
