The Buffalo Bills season ended a few weeks ago in the AFC Championship game. But with Super Bowl LV between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Kansas City Chiefs finally over, the dust finally feels… fully settled.
Since we’ve now completely crossed the finish line of the 2020 season and are now full steam ahead into the offseason, here are six takeaways & thoughts on the Bills:
Playoff Lenny
“Playoff Lenny” was pretty fun to watch if you paid attention in the postseason, right? What Leonard Fournette did with the Bucs is essentially what the Bills will be looking to do with their running game in 2021… and what they had hoped to get in their own recent postseason run.
Tampa Bay was not a good team rushing the ball during the regular season. In fact, they were the fifth-worst team in the league at doing so, averaging 94.9 yards per game. That’s the same as the Jaguars. But when they needed it, they got it from Fournette, who averaged 4.69 yards per carry in the playoffs.
Buffalo general manager Brandon Beane already said at his end of season press conference that he wants to make improvements in the rushing attack this offseason. What he’s looking for is what the Bucs got. It might involve a different type of running back than Fournette, but being able to count on a running game appeared to pay dividends
Pass rush need is real
The final two games (at least for the Bills) this season put a huge spotlight one thing: Their pass rush.
On defense, the Bills never really consistently generated one. Buffalo did have 38 sacks which was better than 16 teams… but if you want a Super Bowl title, you have to be a… better than average team, right? That’s what the Bills’ pass rush was in 2020… average.
In terms of Buffalo’s own final game, a complete onslaught by the Chiefs’ front-seven caused Bills quarterback Josh Allen to have his worst game of the season against pressure, according to Pro Football Focus.
As if the light on that issue wasn’t bright enough, the Super Bowl saw the Chiefs allow 29 pressures on Patrick Mahomes compared to the Bucs’ offensive line letting only four up on Tom Brady. The results were apparent, and changes might be coming to the Bills in this area. Names to watch: Mario Addison, Vernon Butler and Quinton Jefferson.