Last week I mentioned that the Bill The performance against the Green Bay Packers was their least inspiring of the season, Well, instead of coming out and fixing the issues that led to that poor performance, he double-downed on his sloppy effort and ended up upset with the New York Jets 20-17 on Sunday.
While we take stock of the win and what it means to perform on the field for the rest of the season, we’ll dive into the second edition of Studs and Duds.
As a reminder, this column looks at performance in the most recent week, identifying who stepped up and struggled, and what those performances could mean for the Buffalo Bills going forward. Some heroes will only have great one-time play while some conflicts may indicate major issues, so we’ll figure that out together here.
Let’s get the bad news out of the way first.
josh allen
It’s been two weeks in a row that Allen has appeared as an idiot and six quarters in a row that he played really bad football. Yes, Allen has had two rushing touchdowns in that period, and was able to get 86 yards on nine carries against the Jets, but he is the quarterback and has had four interceptions and no touchdowns in his last six quarters. It will not work.
It’s not just that Allen has thrown four interceptions in that span, it’s about how bad those interceptions have been. His two picks against the Jets were legitimately correct on New York’s defenders.
Maybe he’s frustrated that teams are playing a high cover-2 against him and he’s trying to do too much, but it’s the old, impatient Josh Allen we’re looking at. He’s not taking what the defense is letting him down, and he feels uncomfortable in the pocket, almost if he doesn’t trust his offensive line (more on that later).
To top it all, Allen appeared to hurt his elbow during the dismissal on the final drive, and while he said he was in “slight pain”, there is some concern that he suffered a UCL injury. As he endured in 2018. His recovery will definitely be worth watching this week.
The quarterback was accountable for his performance after the game., adding that he played “like sh-t”, and that his teammates remained completely behind him. We’ve seen Allen rebound from bad parts before, but with the 7-1 Vikings on deck it will have to be done quickly.
Stephen Diggs plus wide receiver
When Buffalo lost Emmanuel Sanders and Cole Beasley in the offseason it was no big deal as Gabe Davis was a breakout star, re-signed Isaiah Mackenzie, and signed off slot receiver Jameson Crowder from the Jets. .
Well, nine weeks into the season, none of this is as convincing as Biles fans thought over the summer.
Crowder is out indefinitely with a broken ankle, and Mackenzie simply hasn’t stepped into his stead. The former Gadget player has just 20 catches for 182 yards and 30 goals for three touchdowns. He has a catch rate of just 66.7% and seems to make some significant mistakes in one game.
Davis has played a few big games this year, but has disappeared in everyone else. He has only 18 catches in this season. Yes, it’s gone for 451 yards and four touchdowns, but Davis has a catch rate of just 47.4% mainly because he seems too big of a home run threat. The bills require him to open more frequent routes on his intermediate routes, but he has so far proved unable to do so. At the start of the year, it was easy to blame his ankle injury, but now his consistent lack of production is becoming worrisome.
Now that Nyheim Hines will have a full week of practice with his new team, it will come as no surprise to Buffalo that he’s broadening him as a slot receiver to give Josh Allen more options below. divide by.
Ken Dorsey
But it will require some creativity from first-year offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey, whom I have criticized a lot this year.
While Buffalo’s offense was lukewarm at the start of the year, it was easy to let some of his relatable tendencies skip a running game altogether or try to be overly difficult when it wasn’t necessary. Notably, Dorsey has struggled with playcalling in the Red Zone, where Josh Allen continues to outsmart him with his scrambling abilities.
Over the season, the Bills have only 53.6% touchdowns on red zone trips, 19th in the NFL. Last year, they topped the league with a 66.3% success rate. Dorsey needed to figure out a different strategy to counter the team’s inability to score touchdowns.
He doesn’t even need to continue riding Alan’s arm too much. It was clear Josh Allen was in the middle of a bad game on Sunday, but Dorsey still called up just four quick plays in the second half. This was with bills that were tied at or below three points. Dorsey needs to find creative ways to use his back as Devin Singletary, James Cook, and Nyhame Hines are capable of creating drama.
run defense
For the second week in a row, I am going to criticize the run defense. After covering 208 yards against the Packers, I predicted the Jets would adopt a similar strategy. He did, and it worked, as the Jets ran for 174 yards at 5.1 yards per carry.
On his game-winning drive, he ran the ball eight times in a row, and Buffalo still couldn’t stop it, even though they knew what was coming. It was very similar to Blizzard’s game against New England last year, but it’s clear that all the money this defensive line has invested this off-season just isn’t going to heal itself. This is an issue that needs immediate attention.
Terrell Bernard
Part of that issue was also that stud linebacker Matt Milano was out, and the Bills had to start third-round rookie Terrell Bernard, who was high for the most part of the game. He was often thrown out of plays or unable to knife through the line to make a play. They clearly don’t have Milano tendencies, but the Bills need to perform better deep behind their stars as Bernard and Jacen Johnson, who were filling in for Jordyn Poore, were both giveaways at times on Sunday.
Now for the good news.
von miller
Von Miller has been worth every penny for the bills. After Greg Russo ruled out an ankle injury early against the Jets, Miller had to play a 77% snap in the second half, which the Bills don’t like to rotate their defensive line. Still, Miller came up with a big sack and fumble recovery against Zach Wilson in the third quarter. It’s a shame that Buffalo delivered the ball right back.
However, with Miller’s lead on defense, it’s easy to remain confident in this unit. After the game, he claimed that Buffalo would fix his run defense issues, and after all that he has done in his career, I think Miller has earned enough confidence to believe he can help make it happen. could.
Stephen Diggs
Diggs showed off another stellar game on Sunday, taking five catches for 93 yards. He also took a brilliant toe-tapping grab on the final drive, which was overturned by a questionable holding call on Dion Dawkins.
Diggs looked great, Burning stud rookie cornerback Sauce Gardner at the start of the game, but when the Jets switched to their cover-2 zone, their goals all dried up. This is not acceptable, and Josh Allen said as much after the game. Diggs has proven he can beat any defensive look, and the Bills need to rely on him to do so, but as I mentioned above, they need some help from him too.
Maybe he comes across as an Odell Beckham Jr.? After Sunday’s game, it would be wise to make a very tempting offer to Buffalo.
