INGLEWOOD, Calif. - The only thing that gave me any pause about what might happen Saturday night when the Buffalo Bills took the field at SoFi Stadium was the level of compete the Los Angeles Chargers would exhibit.

They are out of the playoff picture and they’re playing without four of their star players, so that should have been enough to think the Bills would roll to a victory that they desperately needed to keep their push to the postseason moving forward.

However, I wondered how the Chargers would play after their embarrassing 63-21 beatdown at the hands of the arch rival Raiders their previous time out. And beyond that, they were playing for a new head coach, Giff Smith, who replaced Brandon Staley who was fired after that Raiders debacle.

Those are two factors that could not be ignored, and what I thought might happen, did. The Chargers were a completely different team, one that was fired up from the very start and hellbent on making amends and they gave the Bills a mighty fight before finally succumbing 24-22.

And in the year of the backup quarterback in the NFL, no one should have been surprised that Easton Stick rose up and delivered a quality performance that gave his team the chance to deliver to Buffalo a blow that would have been seismic. The only thing that was missing for Stick was an ability to put the ball in the end zone as the Chargers settled for five field goals and that ultimately was what cost them the game.

Look, any game on the road is tough in the NFL, so the Bills finding a way to win on a night when they were certainly not at their best was impressive. But they’re going to need to be better than this, and yes, that includes against the Patriots on New Year's Eve if they hope to go to Miami with a chance to win the AFC East.

Here are my observations:

1. It was good news that Khalil Shakir didn’t score

It sounds crazy to say that it was a good thing the Khalil Shakir touchdown was taken off the board with 2:29 left to play, even though it gave the Bills the lead, but it was.

Here’s why: Had the TD stood, the Chargers would have had all that time, with one timeout and the two-minute warning to work with in their pursuit for the winning touchdown. Instead, by changing the call following an instant replay review that determined he was down by contact, the Chargers had to call their last timeout.

Thereafter, the Bills ran Leonard Fournette once which took the clock down to two minutes, and on the other side of that stoppage they handed to James Cook once and then Josh Allen kept on third down. That melted the clock down to 31 seconds and Tyler Bass came on to kick what ended up being the game-winning 29-yard field goal.

Yes, the Chargers only needed a field goal to win, but time was no longer on their side, especially when Stick got drilled by Ed Oliver on first down which pretty much ended all hopes for the Chargers.

2. That was a worrisome start for the Bills

Before the Chargers did what they so often do, which is find a way to lose tight games, the Bills were doing their best to keep Los Angeles not only in the game, but feeding its pursuit of an upset.

And that’s something that is worrisome with the Bills because a start like that against a good team in a playoff game might not be so easily reversed. They were playing the Chargers, who are now 5-10, minus four of their very best players in QB Justin Herbert, WRs Mike Williams and Keenan Allen, and edge rusher Joey Bosa. And yet, Buffalo found a way to get down 10-0, and then fall behind 22-21 with 5:26 left to play.

Inconsistency has been an issue all season for the Bills, as has playing down to the level of the competition: See Jets, Patriots, Broncos, Giants, Buccaneers. Of course, maybe that’s a favorable trend because if the Bills do get to the postseason, there won’t be a team there that they would play down to the level of.

3. Leonard Fournette really is a member of the Bills

Fournette was signed Halloween Day but had not dressed until Saturday, and that only happened because third-string running back Ty Johnson was unable to go due to a shoulder injury. That's how it always was going to be; he'd play is someone got hurt.

Fournette was deep on kickoffs which was a bit of a surprise because he has never returned a kickoff (or punt for that matter) in his NFL career. And he got one chance in the first quarter and was credited with 17 yards after the Bills got dinged for 10 yards due to a holding penalty on Baylon Spector.

The Bills brought Fournette on for the second offensive series and he carried once for three yards, and then he was back out there for the final drive of the first half and had back-to-back rushes that totaled 14 yards and moved the ball to the 2 from where Allen scored the go-ahead touchdown. He also had the one carry on the last drive of the night to finish with 20 yards.

4. Good to see Gabe Davis come out of witness protection

This has been a weird, weird year for the player who is supposed to be the Bills’ No. 2 wide receiver. He was in the midst of a stretch where he had zero catches in four of the last six games including none in the last two games. That seems almost impossible for a player who is on the field about 85-90% of the snaps in every game.

But Davis played a critical role in getting this game turned around after the Bills played so poorly in falling behind 10-0. Buffalo had done nothing with its first three offensive possessions, all of which ended in punts, and it was Davis, with some help from Allen, who made the play that roused the Bills from their slumber.

On first down from the Buffalo 43, Allen was pressured and had to scramble out to the right side. Davis saw his QB in trouble so the scramble rules went into effect and his role was to take his man deep. It just so happened that man was linebacker Kenneth Murray who was not going to keep pace with Davis.

Sure enough, Davis got a step and Allen was able to loft a perfect throw on which Davis made an excellent outstretched catch, and then he was able to drag Murray to the end zone to complete the 57-yard touchdown. At the half Davis had three catches for 94 yards and the Bills were up 14-10.

And then Davis was back again with a huge play late in the third quarter when the Bills were once again in need of one. He had one-on-one coverage against Michael Davis and just flat out beat him down the left sideline and then did a great job of getting both feet in bounds to complete a 36-yard gain to the 6. That gave him four catches for 130 yards.

From there, Allen scored on a QB sneak three plays later to make it 21-13.

5. Is it time to start worrying about Stefon Diggs?

The Bills’ No. 1 receiver is in a funk unlike any he’s ever had in his four seasons with the Bills. He hasn’t had a 100-yard game since Oct. 15 against the Giants and in his last six games he has just 26 catches for 236 yards and a touchdown.

Against the Chargers he caught a pass on the first play which went for zero yards, and then he didn’t catch another until midway through the third and that went for only four yards, though it did convert a third down to keep alive the drive that led to Allen’s second TD. Diggs had three catches for 10 yards before the final drive, but then made two key receptions that helped the Bills go on their 13-play, 64-yard, game-winning drive.

Diggs has faced some stiff competition during this stretch, but that wasn’t the case against the Chargers whose outside cornerbacks are Asante Samuel Jr. and Michael Davis. Samuel is a decent player, but Davis is a mediocrity yet Diggs just couldn’t find a way to make an impact.

Sal Maiorana can be reached at maiorana@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @salmaiorana and on Threads @salmaiorana1. To subscribe to Sal's newsletter, Bills Blast, which comes out twice a week during the season, please follow this link: https://profile.democratandchronicle.com/newsletters/bills-blast

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Bills escape Chargers with ugly win, control own destiny for playoffs