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While the Bills faithful have had their grudges with Pro Football Focus in recent memory, the football analytics outlet is now throwing some huge praise on the Buffalo Bills as of late.
In all fairness, while PFF has caught much flake from Western New York for mostly calling quarterback Josh Allen average-at-best until very recently when calling him “an anomaly,” … but the outlet has actually been consistent towards Buffalo’s wide receivers. Coming into 2020, PFF said the Bills have a wideout grouping among the NFL’s best.
Now, they’ve upped that to… the best.
Following the Bills’ Week 4 30-23 win over the Las Vegas Raiders, PFF said through four games, Buffalo’s wideouts are on top of the NFL.
Here’s how PFF broke down the Bills’ playmakers:
After their outing against Las Vegas in Week 4, the wide receiver unit as a whole has generated 22 targets of 10 or more yards downfield in which they had open separation (more than a couple of steps), tying for the most in the NFL. Thanks to that separation prowess, Allen has had to throw into a tight window on just 15.2% of his passes (removing anything behind the line of scrimmage). That’s the fourth-lowest rate in the NFL and more than 7 percentage points better than the league average.
Diggs can also go toe-to-toe with just about any defensive back on a contested target if he fails to create an open target. He did this routinely in Minnesota, and it was on display for Buffalo on Sunday:
Leading the way for the Bills is certainly Diggs, but for the first time, the Bills consistently had playmakers contribute from all over their roster to start the season. In Week 4 alone, Allen targeted 10 different players. That Diggs “trickle-down effect” has been in full force this year, as John Brown, Gabriel Davis and Cole Beasley are finding their way against easier coverage while opposing defenses try to slow down Diggs.
And it comes as no surprise that Allen is having a breakout season of his own while his team’s playmakers are considered among the NFL’s elite. But as the Bills now enter the second quarter of their 2020 season, a few more bigger tests come via the Titans, Chiefs and Patriots. Can Buffalo’s offense preform against a tougher path?
Oh, then there’s the Jets mixed in there, too…
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