The Buffalo Bills left Minnesota with a victory on Monday Night Football, and while the scoreboard may suggest a comfortable night, that wasn’t the case for most of the evening. The Minnesota Vikings hung around far longer than they should have, but Buffalo pulled away late and flew home with the win, 23-6.

So who stood out, and who left something to be desired? Here are the Bills’ winners and losers from Monday night.

Bills winners on the defensive side of the ball

Let’s start with Greg Rousseau, who continues to put together a dominant 2026 season. The Bills edge rusher picked up another sack and gave Vikings quarterback Carson Wentz trouble all night, along with Max Brosmer once Minnesota made the switch late. Rousseau has been one of the more terrific pass rushers in the league, and that didn’t change under the bright lights.

Linebacker Terrel Bernard also deserves a ton of credit. With Buffalo holding a 6-point lead, Bernard picked off Wentz, and that interception effectively killed any hope of a Vikings comeback. You could feel whatever wind Minnesota had left go right out of its sails.

Dorian Williams joined the party with an interception of his own. In reality, the Bills were reading Wentz like a book. In my opinion, it was one of the worst quarterback performances I have ever seen, but Buffalo still had to do its part, and it did.

That brings us to defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard, who called a fantastic game. His unit was all over the field and buzzing around the football from start to finish. Wentz is a veteran quarterback; this is a Kevin O’Connell offense, and Justin Jefferson is still out there alongside other weapons. Even so, Minnesota’s offense looked like a JV showing.

Leonhard had his players in the right spots, and more importantly, he shut down the Vikings’ run game. Minnesota didn’t want to throw the football, and thanks to Leonard, it couldn’t run it either.

View on Threads

Bills winners on offense and special teams

Speaking of the run game, James Cook went over 100 rushing yards and found the end zone. His yards per carry weren’t the highest he has posted, but Cook did exactly what needed to be done, and he put the offense in scoring position multiple times.

Credit for that goes to head coach Joe Brady, who is another winner from Monday night. Brady is an offensive-minded head coach, and he has Josh Allen, arguably the best quarterback and the best player in the NFL. Naturally, he wants to throw the football and match wits with a Brian Flores defense.

But Brady didn’t let the game get away from him. He knew how bad the offense on the other side was, he called what was working, and he stuck with the run. That shows a lot of maturity and discipline as a head coach, and more specifically as a play caller. For a coach who loves to air it out, that kind of restraint is a big deal.

The final winner is kicker Tyler Bass. He went 3-for-3 on field goals and 2-for-2 on extra points, and he was phenomenal all night long.

The lone loser for the Bills

Buffalo had only one real loser on Monday night, and that was the passing game.

Allen threw what was an atrocious interception. To be fair, he’s good for one or two of those every game, and he makes up for it because he’s one of the best quarterbacks we have ever seen in this league. Still, the passing attack never found any rhythm. Throws weren’t fluid, a lot of things were forced, and there weren’t many answers.

Much of that is a credit to the Vikings’ defense and Flores. It’s also why Brady belongs in the winners column. The passing game wasn’t there, and he didn’t force it.

The Bills won a game they were supposed to win, even if it took longer than expected. The defense was suffocating, the run game carried the load, and the head coach showed he can win a game without leaning on his superstar’s arm. That’s a good sign for Buffalo.