Complete coverage: Buffalo Bills fall to Minnesota Vikings 33-30 in painful loss

The last time Minnesota Vikings cornerback Patrick Peterson had two interceptions in a game was on Nov. 9, 2014, when Josh Allen was the quarterback at Reedley College.

In the almost exactly eight years since, Allen went from Reedley to Wyoming to Buffalo. And Peterson's frequency of picks slowed, as opposing quarterbacks often avoided him, but he still prepared and prepared. 

The Buffalo Bills live by the 24-hour rule.

Win or lose, the team gets exactly that much time to either celebrate – or in the case of Sunday – try to exorcise what happened on the field.

Fourth and 18.

That’s when the Buffalo Bills’ game against the Minnesota Vikings started to feel like it might end tragically for the home team.

Over four minutes and 39 seconds, as he tried to dissect another turnover-plagued loss in which he did things that have suddenly and shockingly become the norm, Josh Allen never lifted his head.

Still in full uniform after the Bills’ come-from-ahead, 33-30 overtime loss to the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday, he stared down at the interview table in front of him.

Grading the Buffalo Bills in their 33-30 overtime loss to the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday at Highmark Stadium …

RUNNING GAME: B-

Three questions on our mind after Sunday’s all-time meltdown against Minnesota at Highmark Stadium:

Q: Where does this loss leave the Bills in the AFC?

Bills wide receiver Stefon Diggs and Vikings receiver Justin Jefferson always will be linked.

The Vikings used a first-round pick that they acquired when they traded Diggs to Bills to select Jefferson.

Here is the transcript an interview with NFL Senior Vice President of Officiating Walt Anderson done by pool reporter, Lindsay Jones, of The Ringer, regarding several replay issues in the Bills-Vikings game Sunday. 

Question: “Why was there no review initiated on the Gabe Davis catch from Buffalo on the final drive in regulation?”

It was a game the Buffalo Bills didn’t deserve to win … so they didn’t.

Turnovers, allowing an 81-yard touchdown run, no ground game when it was required and no answers for Minnesota Vikings receiver Justin Jefferson turned a 17-point lead late in the third quarter into a 33-30 overtime loss Sunday at Highmark Stadium.

Bills quarterback Josh Allen has thrown two interceptions in consecutive games – all four in the red zone – and has just one touchdown in those losses to the New York Jets and Sunday’s 33-30 overtime loss to the Minnesota Vikings.

“Losing sucks. Sucks this way even worse,” a frustrated Allen said Sunday in the postgame news conference. “Horrendous second half. I’ve got to be better.”

When snowflakes briefly began falling at Highmark Stadium in the second quarter Sunday afternoon, Fox play-by-play announcer Joe Davis said, “this is great TV, this is sweet.”

He was talking about the beauty of the wintry pictures going into the nation’s living rooms, one of the things that the NFL loves about a team being in Buffalo.

The Buffalo Bills’ run of second-half dominance has come to an emphatic end following the team’s bye week.

In their six games before the break, the Bills outscored opponents by a whopping 84-17 in the second half as part of a 5-1 start to the season. That included the defense pitching four shutouts.

It remains anyone’s guess as to when Tre’Davious White will make his season debut with the Buffalo Bills.

White, the team’s All-Pro cornerback, was inactive Sunday for the second straight game since being activated to the 53-man roster. His absence was especially felt as Vikings receiver Justin Jefferson torched the Bills’ secondary on the way to 193 receiving yards during a 33-30 overtime victory by Minnesota.

The Buffalo Bills aren’t in a big hurry to involve Nyheim Hines in their offense.

Hines, who was acquired in a trade with the Indianapolis Colts on Nov. 1, played just six offensive snaps during Sunday’s 33-30 overtime loss to the Minnesota Vikings at Highmark Stadium. He finished with one catch for 9 yards. In two games with the Bills, Hines has played just 10 offensive snaps.

The Buffalo Bills saw three second-half drives stall Sunday when they failed to convert on short-yardage situations against the Minnesota Vikings.

It’s a continuing problem for the offense.

With the Minnesota Vikings depleted by injuries at cornerback, the Bills stuck with the three-receiver (11 personnel) grouping most of the game Sunday.

The Bills used running backs James Cook and Nyhiem Hines together on two plays, a 1-yard loss by Cook and a 9-yard gain by Hines. Devin Singletary ran to extra tackle Bobby Hart’s side on his 5-yard TD run. Josh Allen’s fumble at the goal line came with two receivers and the extra lineman on the field.