As we all wait with bated breath to hear the latest injury update on Josh Allen’s arm, there was a lot more going on in their 20-17 loss to the Jets at the Meadowlands on Sunday. I wish it were that simple.
I talk about bad omens often and when the Jets botched the opening kick and the Bills went from 1st & 10 at the Jets’ 13-yard line to Josh Allen throwing an absolutely terrible pick on the following play. I knew it was going to be one of those days. I didn’t expect them to lose at that point, but I knew it was going to be a struggle.
Fortunately, the Bills do have a pretty good defense and they got the ball right back on a quick 3 & out. Buffalo mixed things up well on their second drive, involving Devin Singletary quite a bit and, all the way down to the Jets’ 12-yard line. This time it was Allen getting sack-fumbled and the Bills were lucky to retain possession, but it was clear to see that the feng shui was off. Allen made a big play that should have been a score but was overturned. However, he converted on the next one to put the Bills up 7-0 and it, again, seemed like everything was going to be okay.
The Jets were able to answer with a long field goal after a decent drive and the trams traded punts before the Bills’ next score. Singletary was, once again, heavily involved in the play calling on this 9-play 93-yard TD drive but it was, once again, Allen who punched it into the end zone. On a 3rd & 2 from the Jets’ 36-yard line, Buffalo Offensive Coordinator Ken Dorsey sent in a designed QB run that picked up all the right blocks and sprung Allen to the house for the long score. It hadn’t been the prettiest, but Buffalo was up 14-3 and in good shape.
Once again, the Jets responded with a score. This time a 13-play 75-yard TD drive that featured a Zach Wilson keeper conversion on a 3rd & 1 and a 4th & 1 conversion to the tight end C.J. Uzomah. It was a steady drive of run commitment and rookie WR Garrett Wilson, but Michael Carter got the 6-yard TD.
The Jets were going to get the second-half kickoff so that score was big for them but the blow could have been softened. Buffalo got a couple of quick strikes to Gabriel Davis and Dawson Knox and wound up in long FG territory but within range for Tyler Bass. Wouldn’t you know it, he missed the 55-yarder as the half expired. There was a similar situation in the loss to Miami where he missed a FG in a close game. The result of the game isn’t his fault, just something I remembered.
I am not sure what was going on in the respective lockerrooms at the half but energy is important and the Jets had it. Buffalo…not so much. New York went right down the field to start the second half, mostly by just moving the chains. They forced the Bills to respect the run threat and won their key matchups on the outside when they needed conversions, so credit to them. They would have added a FG, at the least, if not for Von Miller coming away with the strip sack on Wilson which A.J. Epenesa recovered.
While it was a big play at the moment, the Bills’ offense hadn’t taken a snap in a while and Allen got sacked for a huge loss on 1st down. Basically forced to throw on the next one, Allen double-clutched and threw into a bad spot for his second pick of the day on the next play. He and Davis weren’t on the same page there and his frustration was evident as he left the field.
The Jets were set up with a short field and they turned that into a 4-play TD drive to take the lead on a James Robinson reception. There were 4 minutes left in the 3rd quarter at that point so it wasn’t the end of the world, but it was an important shift that allowed New York to play a run-dominant style of game. They obviously saw what the Packers did to the Bills’ defense and wanted to replicate that but it requires playing with the lead which the Packers never held.
Buffalo responded with a FG drive to tie the game but that drive sputtered near the end on back-to-back deep incompletions. I think he threw one of them away but what I talked about on the podcast was a lack of intermediate stuff. As the Bills forced another punt early in the 4th quarter, despite the struggles, the game was right there for them to win. That drive also came to an end thanks to a sack on first down and deep incompletions to Diggs on 2nd & 3rd down, forcing a punt.
There were still about 8 minutes left in the game but New York had more or less what they wanted. The Jets ran the ball on 8-straight plays to start the drive the possession and it wasn’t little gains either. Robinson gashed them for gains of 9, 7, & 16 before Carter got involved with runs of 17, 4, and 15. In a very long blink, the Jets were well within FG range and had taken a huge chunk of the remaining clock with them. They also converted a key 3rd down which was the only pass attempt on the drive. Buffalo was fortunate to hold to a FG but they burned all their timeouts to make it happen and give themselves a chance.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, all I want is a chance to win the game at the end and the Bills had that. Allen connected with Diggs for a big gain to start the drive but it was called back on a suspicious holding call that we never saw the replay on. Allen found Davis to get most of that back, but on a 2nd & 2, Allen got into trouble looking deep again and got sacked, fumbled, and nearly ended the game if Rick Bates hadn’t fallen on it. I was a 9-yard loss, and to make matters worse, this was the play where Josh injured his throwing arm as the defender made contact mid-swing. Facing 3rd & 21, he was incomplete to Diggs again and left with a 4th & 21 heave. This ball did get launched and should have been caught as it hit Davis right in the face. So, hopefully, that means the arm injury isn’t too bad. However, the pass was incomplete at that was the game.
After the game, Allen said it’s tough to win when your QB plays like shit and that’s true. It’s also hard to win when your offensive line can’t protect, when your receivers are dropping passes, when you don’t establish a run game, and when your defense can’t stop the run game. I love that Josh takes responsibility and is accountable when he doesn’t play up to his own standards, but it’s not all on him.
Matt Milano was sorely missed as was Jordan Poyer. Both are integral pieces of the run defense and one of the primary reasons the Bills can play nickel all the time is because of the talent they have on the field. Damar Hamlin played well but Jaquan Johnson missed some big tackles in this one filling in for Poyer, including making the same pursuit mistake twice and getting burned both times. Rookie LB Terrel Bernard played in place of Milano and did okay but didn’t have a single tackle for loss. No disrespect to him, but I wanted to see Tyrel Dodson in that role.
How Leslie Frazier wants to handle the run defense moving forward is going to be interesting because, even with rebuilding the defensive interior, the defense has been run over the last two weeks. Technically a lot of that is happening outside the tackles too, but you get my point. Rest assured every other team in the league is looking at that and Buffalo has Dalvin Cook and Alexander Mattison coming to town next week.
Buffalo Rushing
| CAR | YDS | TD | LONG | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| J. Allen | 9 | 86 | 2 | 36 |
| D. Singletary | 8 | 24 | 0 | 5 |
| J. Cook | 4 | 15 | 0 | 6 |
| I. McKenzie | 1 | 9 | 0 | 9 |
| TEAM | 22 | 134 | 2 | 36 |
New York Rushing
| CAR | YDS | TD | LONG | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| M. Carter | 12 | 76 | 1 | 25 |
| J. Robinson | 13 | 48 | 0 | 16 |
| Z. Wilson | 5 | 24 | 0 | 13 |
| T. Johnson | 2 | 17 | 0 | 12 |
| G. Wilson | 1 | 7 | 0 | 7 |
| A. Davis | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| TEAM | 34 | 174 | 1 | 25 |
In looking at their relationship to the run game, Ken Dorsey needs to reevaluate things as well. Buffalo RBs had just 12 carries in this game where the QB accounted for 9 carries and was throwing the ball at barely above 50% completions. If there were ever a time to find a run game, that would have been it. The Jets did a nice job of discouraging it early, but the Bills didn’t even look to make that a factor when they did have the 14-3 lead.
It’s one of those time-to-look-in-the-mirror kinds of games. Everything the Bills want to accomplish is still right there for the taking but they have to get out of their own way. When Allen got away with the two picks last week vs Green Bay, my concern was always about instilling bad habits and that’s a lot easier to do when you win. When you lose a close division rivalry because of hubris, it’s time to make some changes. I have confidence that the Bills are well-coached and skilled enough on both sides of the ball to make that happen effectively.
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