Cole Beasley completed his first pass in a football game in 13 years Sunday.
Beasley’s trick-play throw to Gabriel Davis went for a 20-yard touchdown in the Buffalo Bills’ 27-17 victory over the Los Angeles Chargers.
Beasley was a star option quarterback for Little Elm High School in the Dallas, Texas, area. As a senior in 2007, he rushed for 1,184 yards and 12 touchdowns and passed for 1,570 yards and 12 touchdowns in leading the Lobos to the playoffs.
But Beasley never threw a pass in college for Southern Methodist University. And he was 0 for 2 on pass attempts during his seven-season tenure with the Dallas Cowboys.
Here’s a review of some of the big plays in the Bills’ win, starting with Beasley’s big throw:
Bills wide receiver Cole Beasley connected with receiver Gabriel Davis for a 20-yard touchdown as the Bills took a 14-6 lead.
Fake bubble screen: After taking a lateral throw to the right from Josh Allen on what looked like a wide receiver screen pass, Beasley threw a perfect spiral to a wide-open Davis.
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Beasley didn’t give his throw the best review:
“My feet weren’t set right,” he said. “It was really ugly, but it got there. I’ll take it.”
Davis was kinder.
“It was great,” the rookie receiver said. “I knew it was going to work. We run a lot of those bubble screens.
“So as soon as I seen 25, shoot, I knew the ball was coming to me,” Davis said, referring to slot cornerback Chris Harris, who charged toward Beasley. “Cole was able to put a dart. He said he threw it kind of hard to get it in there, but it was a softball. It was an easy catch, and I was glad we could make that connection.”
Stefon Diggs ran a post pattern from the right slot. Davis sold the play screen by faking as though he was going to block Tevaughn Campbell, the outside cornerback. Campbell bit, thinking he’d need to tackle Beasley, and Davis blew by him.
“They sell it more than I do,” Beasley said. “They sell it with the blocks. They give like a three count and then they go. I was trying to get them to come up and thinking it was a bubble screen. I just had to have eyes on the safety, make sure he’s not coming over back there.”
It was the second game in a row that Bills offensive coordinator Brian Daboll dialed up a trick-play TD. Receiver Isaiah McKenzie completed a 12-yard throwback option TD pass to Josh Allen in Arizona.
“It’s great because a lot of people put plays in like that and really won’t run them because they’re scared they won’t get the right look,” Davis said. “Dabes is a great play caller and when he puts in plays like that, he’s ready to run them.”
Defensive play of the game: Tre’Davious White intercepted a Justin Herbert pass for tight end Hunter Henry at the Buffalo 35 with 5:17 left. The Bills were clinging to a 24-17 lead. The turnover led to a field goal that gave the Bills a cushion.
It was an empty formation on a third-and-6 situation. Keenan Allen ran a hook route from the right slot and was covered underneath by Tremaine Edmunds and from behind by Micah Hyde.
Henry ran an over route from the left slot. White, in zone coverage on the back side, outside of Allen, undercut the throw for the pickoff.
“They were trying to attack our weak hook and basically running overs, really all day,” said safety Jordan Poyer. “We had seen the same formation, the seam route, a couple times. Tre saw a key. He was able to make a play on the ball and make a huge play for our team. Tre played outstanding today.”
It helped that Herbert made a hitch and stared down Henry.
Key run stop: Trailing, 24-14, the Chargers faced a third-and-1 play from the Buffalo 7.
Herbert ran a toss from the shotgun to running back Joshua Kelley wide left. But defensive end Mario Addison got penetration to force a quick pitch. Linebacker A.J. Klein shrugged off a block attempt from left tackle Sam Tevi and tackled Kelley near the sideline for a 3-yard loss. The Chargers were forced to settle for a field goal.
“We were playing a single-high man,” Klein said of the coverage. “The back was in the pistol, and we knew that one of their go-to plays in gotta-have-it situations is the speed option out of the back side.
“I was actually walking from the B gap pretty good,” Klein said, referring to the gap between the guard and tackle, “and I was lucky enough that a tackle couldn’t pin me. Mario, who was playing our right defensive end, did a great job slowing down the quarterback and made him pitch it, which gave me time to run it down. It was a great job by Mario. If Mario wouldn’t have done what he did, I don’t know if I make that play.”
Allen goes deep early: Allen’s vastly improved deep accuracy was on display early when he threw deep for Diggs on the opening drive. Chargers deep safety Rayshawn Jenkins was protecting deep to Diggs side – as Los Angeles did most of the game. But Diggs ran by him, and Jenkins made an obvious foul by pushing the receiver. It was a 47-yard pass interference penalty, and it would have been a touchdown because Allen’s throw was perfect.
Allen goes deep late: The Bills’ QB made another on-target throw deep down the left sideline with 9:55 left in the game. It went for 44 yards to the Chargers’ 22.
Again, Allen put enough air under the ball to allow Davis to outleap Campbell for the ball.
“They jumped offsides, so we got a free play,” Davis said. “I saw Josh rolling to my side and I knew he was going to throw the ball. I just knew I had to make the play when he put the ball in the air. As soon as I saw it, I knew I had good leverage. I knew it was me or nobody, and I was able to make the play. ... I caught it, tried to turn and score but he got my foot.”
Allen fumbled the snap on the next play, and the Chargers recovered.
But the long pass flipped the field, and the Bills’ defense forced a three-and-out series on the Chargers’ next drive.
Cole Beasley’s trick-play throw to Gabriel Davis went for a 20-yard touchdown in the Buffalo Bills’ 27-17 victory over the Los Angeles Chargers.
