Coming off back-to-back losses against the top of the AFC food chain, the Bills headed to the Meadowlands on Sunday in desperate need of a win against the bottom-dwelling Jets. I’ve said it many times, road wins are never easy to come by in the NFL. So, take what you can get but Buffalo’s 18-10 was far from a confidence booster.
Will the real Josh Allen please stand up? Through the first month of the season, he was in the MVP conversation with the elite QBs of the league like Russell Wilson and Patrick Mahomes but over the next two games he came crashing back down to earth, more reminiscent of his 2018-2019 growing-pains seasons. Sunday’s matchup with the Jets was his chance to get back on track. Allen went 30/43 (70%) for 307-yards and he seemed to recognize the value of his run threat as he led the team in both carries (11) and yards (61). Ideally, we don’t want him leading the team in rushing but the dual-threat is so incredibly difficult to defend as we saw highlighted in the Sunday Night Football matchup between the Seahawks and Cardinals. Despite the 368-yds of total offense for Allen, he didn’t throw or run for a touchdown of any kind. In fact, the entire Bills’ offense didn’t score a TD. That’s worrisome, to say the least.
Allen actually fumbled (his 4th of the season) on their second drive of the game, as the Bills had driven down to the Jets’ 14-yd, which led to a New York TD. The fumble put the Bills’ struggling defense back on the field and Tre White and Micah Hyde picked up pass interference penalties to move the drive along for NY. The run defense was still shaken from 245-yards KC hung on them last week and La’Mical Perine capitalized with the 5-yd score to give the Jets a 10-0 lead. While the total damage on the ground was mitigated in the long run, Frank Gore and Perine both had effective days and combined for 4.5-yds/carry. Considering the kind of off-season moves BUF made to address run defense inefficiency, they still have a lot of work to do. It’s fair, at this point, to start having serious concerns about the Sean McDermott-Brandon Beane agenda of funneling ex-Panthers to the Bills.
Bills’ kicker Tyler Bass has a monster leg but hasn’t been the ace-in-the-hole the organization had hoped heading into Week 7. He was 6/9 on the year heading in and his missed 45-yd FG on Buffalo’s opening possession didn’t serve to quiet any concerns. However, in a game where the offense couldn’t score a TD, Bass would be called upon to be the difference-maker. After the initial shank, he settled in and made his next four in a row from 53, 48, 46, and 37-yds. He missed one more from 37-yds early in the 4th quarter but came back with two more from 29 and 40-yds to put BUF up 18-10.
It looks like the defense was still shaky and questioning themselves in the 1st quarter, but they clamped down towards the end of the first half and came up with a big interception inside the two-minute warning to give their offense a chance. Bass converted one of his FGs to cut it to 10-6 with Buffalo getting the 2nd half kickoff. After a great kick return by Andre Roberts to start the start the 3rd quarter, they got down to the 20-yard line before a needless reverse on 1st down got blown up for an 11-yard loss. There a couple of designed sweeps and reverse plays for Isaiah McKenzie that work nicely when set up in short-yardage situations, but you can’t just run it exposed in the open field. Then a false start made it 2nd & 26 and the Bills had to settle for a field goal again. I didn’t like what I saw from the offense but there were some positive takeaways.
Zack Moss looks poised to take over as the lead back as he averages 6.7-yds/carry on 7-touches. The Bills need to threaten on the ground on early downs and short-yardage plays without forcing Allen to shoulder it all and Moss looks like the one best suited to do that. Cole Beasley had himself a game too with 11-grabs for 112-yds and he’s the one who primarily kept the Bills out of trouble. An illegal procedure penalty nulled a Gabriel Davis TD in the 3rd quarter and that was basically the tone for the day.
As the Jets made one last-ditch effort to tie the game, Micah Hyde obliterated Breshad Perriman to break up a pass down the sideline and was flagged for a hit on a defenseless receiver. It was full-speed and it was violent but, while the hit was high, Hyde didn’t lead with his helmet and didn’t target Perriman’s head either. The penalty cost the Bills 15-yds but the replay showed the contact was shoulder to chest, so that would mean any contact with the receiver there would be illegal under the “defenseless” criteria. Perriman was injured on the play and I don’t want to see anyone get hurt, I’m just trying to get a better understanding of the application of the rules. I don’t’ think it was a dirty play but it was certainly a huge momentum play as NY got flagged for holding on the next play, then Sam Darnold got sacked on the next, and eventually Jerry Hughes came away with the INT to seal the victory. The defense ended the day with 6-sacks, 11-QB hits, 10-tackles for loss, 6-passes defended, and 2-INTs. Overall a good day.
Performance Grade: B-
The Bills (5-2) host the Patriots (2-4) the day after Halloween with the ability to put a stranglehold on the AFC East. The Pats haven’t looked good at all in their last two outings and Cam Newton has been at the bottom of the league in all the relevant QB metrics and even got benched vs the 49ers in Week 7, but it’s a must-win game for NE and desperation is dangerous. The Bills are the better team and they’re at home; they are supposed to win. However, Bill Belichick’s team has only lost to Buffalo something like three times in 20 years, so it’s not going to be a cakewalk. If Buffalo can contain the rush and force Cam to try and win it, I like the Bills’ chances.