Tag: Bills defense

How the Bills’ defense stopped Patrick Mahomes with the perfect game plan

The Bills’ defense had a prove-it game against Patrick Mahomes after a rough 2020. This time, they proved greatness beyond all argument.

Last season, Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs faced the Buffalo Bills twice — once in Week 6, and again in the AFC Championship Game. In those two games, Mahomes completed 50 of 64 attempts for 550 yards, five touchdowns, and no interceptions. The Chiefs won both games, and the Bills were left to wonder, as good as they were, what they had to do to get past this guy.

Fast-forward to Sunday night in Week 5 of the 2021 season, and it was clear that Bills head coach Sean McDermott and defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier had the answers to the test. The Bills came in as the NFL’s best defense by far in Football Outsiders’ metrics, though FO’s opponent adjustments haven’t fully kicked in yet, and naysayers could say that in facing the Steelers, Dolphins, Washington, and the Texans, that defense hasn’t really been tested.

We can now throw that story away. In a 38-20 thrashing, the Bills limited Mahomes to 272 passing yards on 54 attempts and 34 completions, and while Mahomes threw two touchdown passes, he also threw two interceptions, and his yards per attempt average of 5.04 was the lowest of his career. His 70.9 passer rating was the second-lowest of his career, behind the 62.8 he put up in 2018 against a Jaguars defense worlds better than it is now, and his Adjusted Yards per Pass Attempt of 4.11 was also the lowest he’s ever posted for a single game in his NFL career.

One season after being dominated by Mahomes twice, the Bills came back with a fire and fury their defense had not shown before against this esteemed opponent.

“I think Leslie Frazier and the staff do a really good job,” McDermott said after the game. “The players buy in every week. They come in hungry whatever day they are first in the building. They embrace the game plan and they really play together. It is fun to watch them play because they are a very unselfish group and they work hard during the week. Their successes are by no accident.”

(Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports)

The Bills were able to present Mahomes with a heavy dose of two-high safety coverage, because when they do so, they can also stop the run, and running against two-high coverage is generally the best way to stop defenses from putting it out there. It’s also something Mahomes would prefer never to see — through the first five weeks of this season against Cover-2, 2-Man, Cover-4, and Cover-6, per Sports Info Solutions, Mahomes had completed 38 of 61 passes for 522 yards, 349 air yards, one touchdown, four interceptions, and a passer rating of 67.8.

Against defined single-high coverage — Cover-1 and Cover-3 — Mahomes had completed 23 of 28 passes for 302 yards, 182 air yards, three touchdowns, no interceptions, and a passer rating of 147.3. No NFL quarterback had been more efficient than Mahomes against single-high coverage this season, so the Bills were going to ensure that he saw as little of it as possible. And when he did see it, he wasn’t going to like it.

It was a naturally horrid matchup for Mahomes anyway, because through the first five weeks of the season in two-high coverage, the Bills had allowed 17 completions in 36 attempts for 166 yards, no touchdowns, four interceptions, two more dropped interceptions, and an opponent QBR of 21.1. To put that in perspective, the Chargers had allowed the second-lowest opponent QBR through the first five weeks at 56.6. Two weeks before, the Chargers kept Mahomes in check by playing far more man coverage than was usual for them; the Bills’ response was to stick with their script and execute at a high level.

Mahomes made this point after the game, when he was asked about miscommunications with his receivers.

“It’s just we’re seeing different defenses that we’ve seen in the past,” Mahomes said. “We have a lot of stuff, we read coverages and run routes to different spots and we’re just not on that same page. I have to trust in these guys that we’ll figure that out if that’s me knowing what they’re thinking and them knowing what I’m thinking and that’s what makes our offense so good. It’s something I don’t want to lose, it’s just about us practicing and going to work every single day and being on that same page.

“We recognize coverages as we run routes, That’s what has made us so good over the past few years. Teams can have the right coverage called, and we can run a routes a certain way. The guys are seeing coverages differently than I am. They’re different coverages — I don’t think anyone has faced coverages like we’ve faced over these last few games.”

That was Step 1 in stopping Mahomes. Step 2 was refusing to blitz him under any circumstances. On Sunday night, the Bills didn’t call a single blitz on any of Mahomes’ 63 dropbacks, but they still pressured him on 16 of those dropbacks and 12 passing attempts, sacking him twice.

Not that the Bills had been a heavy blitz defense before — they’ve brought extra defenders on just 16% of their defensive snaps this season, seventh-lowest in the league — but their decision to not blitz Mahomes at all was against type in a general sense, though certainly not in a specific sense.

As Next Gen Stats also points out, the Bills have blitzed Mahomes at a third the rate (10%) than they have blitzed all other quarterbacks (30%). There’s a reason for that — through his career, Mahomes has a passing EPA of +151, which leads the league over that period of time.

How did the Bills lock Mahomes up this time when they couldn’t before? From front to back, it was a not only a perfectly aligned performance, but also one the Chiefs did not expect from a schematic perspective.

Taron Johnson’s ‘franchise altering play’ leads Bills to AFC title game

The big pick-6 puts the Bills one win away from the Super Bowl.

The Buffalo Bills are one win away from the Super Bowl… no, that is not a typo.

After beating the Baltimore Ravens, 17-3, on Saturday in Orchard Park, the Bills advanced to the AFC Championship game. They’ll take on the winner of the Chiefs vs. Browns divisional round game on Sunday.

While Buffalo’s offense has carried the team for most of the season, the defense, and cornerback Taron Johnson in particular, came up huge.

After the Bills had scored a touchdown coming out of halftime to take the 10-3 lead, Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson were driving down the field, looking to even things up, when Johnson made the biggest play of the Bills season.

Johnson intercepted Jackson and took the ball 101-yards to score a TD for the Bills:

Buffalo never looked back.

Johnson was asked if he thought about taking a knee in the end zone after intercepting the ball.

“That’s exactly what I was thinking,” Johnson said via Zoom. “I caught the ball and kinda looked down, but then I looked up and just seen a bunch of green grass to the right side. So I figured if I could race over there… and if I got leading blockers, I feel like I could take it.”

Take it he did, all the way to the end zone.

Johnson’s teammates were quick to compliment him after the win. It was, perhaps, the biggest play off the season after all.

“I tell Taron he’s the best nickel in the league & I believe that in my heart,” Safety Jordan Poyer said. “He tackles well, he covers well… that play changed the game… it gives us momentum and confidence… we’re gonna keep fighting for every grain of grass.”

While Johnson’s teammates on defense were directly involved in the play, the guys on offense were just trying to figure out exactly what was happening.

“Honestly when the play happened I didn’t know what was going on,” Left tackle Dion Dawkins told the media after the game. “All we saw was the last name Johnson running down the field. I could barely see and I was like TJ just scored. It was a game changer, a momentum changer.”

Dawkins wasn’t done with his praise.

“It’s a special team. There’s so many guys here that are due for greatness. Taron’s been making plays all year and he just continues to come up and I’m happy for whatever is next for him,” he added.

While Johnson himself said the magnitude of the moment somewhat struck him in the middle of the play, quarterback Josh Allen perhaps summed up just how much the play meant after the game.

“Just an unbelievable play… just one of those plays that’ll be remember for a really long time. A franchise altering play,” Allen said.

Good teams and good players find a way to make big plays in big moments. That is exactly what Taron Johnson did during that interception.

Whether it’s the Chiefs, or the Browns next week, the Bills will need more big plays like that if they hope to advance and play for the Lombardi Trophy in the Super Bowl.

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No Hail Mary repeat as Bills stop Colts’ last-second attempt

Micah Hyde insured the Bills weren’t getting burned on a last second play again.

The lowest point of the Buffalo Bills season, was perhaps back in week 10, when a last second Hail Mary by the Arizona Cardinals handed the Bills a 32-30 loss heading into the BYE week, dropping them to 7-3.

In fact, that was the last time the Bills have lost a game period.

While the play, then coined the ‘Hail Murray’ was plastered all over the Internet and TV nationwide, only adding to the heartache of Bills fans, the team took that moment and grew from it.

Fast forward to the first round of the playoffs and the Bills were faced with an eerily similar situation, only this time it ended with a victory.

Speaking to the media after the game, Bills left tackle, Dion Dawkins, said he was “less stressed” this time around because of how often he sees Buffalo’s defense working on that play in practice.

“Micah went up there and tomahawked the thing like he was a starter on a volleyball team,” Dawkins added.

In a piece published this week in The Players Tribune, Dawkins touched on how that low moment against Arizona propelled the Bills down the path they are on now:

We saw Arizona celebrating on the field, after the Hail Mary. And it was just something about it, man. It was the way they were running around, hooting and hollering, like they’d won the damn Super Bowl. It was something about that. I think for whatever reason, that just struck this chord with us. Not because we were annoyed with them or anything. They won, they can celebrate how they want. Nah. It was more like: We looked at them. And then we looked at us. And I think we just had this moment of, Alright — hold up. If they’re fired up like they won the Super Bowl….. why aren’t we upset like we lost the Super Bowl?

And I think that’s when it hit us. It hit us that things are different now.

It hit us that this team, our team, these Buffalo Bills — we’ve moved on to a different place. Like, with all due respect to the Cardinals: I think they’re in a similar spot now to where we were these last few seasons. Just trying to claw and make the playoffs with an up-and-coming roster. Whereas, for us? It’s not like that now. We’re taking the long view. Every game isn’t the Super Bowl for our team.

The Super Bowl is the Super Bowl for our team.

Bills safety, Micah Hyde, who was directly involved in the Hail Mary against Arizona, wasn’t shy about having another shot this time around.

“I love that I was able to do that again,” Hyde said after the game.

“…it was a big play obviously. The game sealing play. As soon a I saw, you know, four seconds left, they had to go for the endzone, I just backed up in the endzone and said, ‘there ain’t no way this is happening again.’ I got a running start to go up there and get it. Looking back on it, I wish I would’ve done it in AZ, but hey, you win some, you lose some and when you lose, you learn along the way.”

Bills head coach, Sean McDermott, was seen pointing to the sky for a prolonged period of time after the Hail Mary was batted down and the clock hit zero.

“Looked like it was well executed by our defense,” McDermott told reporters. “I liked the look in their eye when they took the field for that last drive.”
While we will never know what would have happened had the Bills knocked the ball down in Arizona, we do know that going 13-3 and winning in the playoffs is a whole lot better than going 14-2 and losing.
Perhaps as Dawkins and Hyde both stated, that moment needed to happen for the Bills to learn from and get to where they are today… which is heading to the divisional round after getting their first playoff victory since 1995.
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Bills’ Sean McDermott post-Chargers: ‘That’s the defense I expect’

Sean McDermott: ‘that’s the defense I expect. I expect that every week.’

Following the Bills’ 27-17 win over the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday, Buffalo improved to 8-3, but this win was unlike others we have seen in 2020.

For most of the year, the Bills offense has carried the team, (or special teams if you count the Week 7 Jets game,) but in Week 12, Buffalo’s defense showed up when they were needed most.

Entering halftime, the Bills held a 17-6 lead, and from there, the offense only managed to add 10 more points, while also turning the ball over three times. The Bills had two fumbles lost and an interception.

The defense, while not perfect, held the Chargers’ fourth-ranked offense to only 17 points and forced rookie quarterback Justin Herbert to have one of the worst games of his young career. While perhaps a surprising effort to observers of the team, their coach said he saw what he is accustomed to seeing from this defense against the Bolts.

“That’s the defense I expect. I expect that every week,” Buffalo head coach Sean McDermott said via video conference following the game. “I think that it just goes back to… fundamentals, technique, spending time in the film room together. All those things is a big part of earning the right to win and they did that.”

The Bills managed to takeaway the ball just once, on a Tre’Davious White interception, but Buffalo pressured Herbert and cause him to miss throws that he doesn’t usually miss.

Essentially McDermott thought it was a full defensive effort from his team. He also hopes that it’s potentially momentum building one.

“I thought that was very impressive… I thought [defensive coordinator] Leslie (Frazier) and his staff did a great job during the week taking a good game-plan with good communication and the players embraced it.” McDermott said. “They spent a lot of time this week, that’s a good offense… they’ve been hot with weapons all over… and then to get that group back was a big jolt for them, in a good way and our guys rose to the challenge, so that’s what we’ve got to do every week.”

While there is still work to be done on both sides of the ball, having your defense show up in crucial moments, especially when your offense and quarterback are struggling, is imperative.

Leading that clutch defense for the Bills was another good effort from AJ Klein. His 14 tackles, three for loss and 1.5 sacks all led Buffalo, the linebacker still knows that it was a full unit effort by the Bills as well.

“Playing four downs of football and trying to create negative plays and I think we did that. We got a big turnover by Tre, we got pressure in Herbert’s face, so overall I thought we played really well,” Klein said via video conference. “It was good to see us respond.”

In the end, the win was not the prettiest, however, you don’t get style points in the NFL. 8-3 is 8-3 regardless of how you get there.

“It’s hard to win this league… it’s good to be 8-3,” McDermott added. “We came off the bye and got a win.”

As we come down the final stretch and head towards the playoffs, the Bills will hope to see more of this defense and not the defense that too often left us scratching our heads during the first half of the season.

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Bills CB Dane Jackson calls NFL debut interception ‘surreal’

Buffalo Bills CB Dane Jackson on his first-career interception.

The Buffalo Bills defeated the New York Jets in Week 7, 18-10, thanks to a career effort by kicker Tyler Bass and 300-plus passing yards from quarterback Josh Allen.

But football is three-phase game and in the second half, heroics came via the Bills defense. Pass rusher Jerry Hughes stole the headlines, but underneath the surface there was another big performance that helped get the Bills across the finish line. The one from cornerback Dane Jackson. 

The overlooked seventh-round rookie had a pass breakup and his first-career interception in what was his NFL debut. Following the game, Jackson described what happened in an expected manner, but also credited his teammates for his performance, saying the veteran guys provided him with plenty of motivation. 

“I felt good, it felt kind of surreal out there,” Jackson said. “I went out there with a lot of confidence thanks to the older guys.”

With Josh Norman (hamstring), Levi Wallace (ankle) and Cam Lewis (wrist) out with injuries, Jackson was one of four players who were called up from the practice squad on Saturday prior to kickoff. Buffalo head coach Sean McDermott, like many, probably didn’t have high expectations for a player making his first start. But as it turns out, Jackson was solid.

“That was huge, for any rookie to contribute like that, especially coming off the bench the way he did. That’s our team, you know, next man up mentality,” McDermott said. “It’s a great lesson for the rest of the young players on our team that when your number’s called you better be ready.”

Naturally the highlighted moment that Jackson won’t soon forget was his first pick. Late in the first half, Darnold tossed a funny looking pass thanks to Buffalo’s pass rushers which Jackson jumped in front of while in zone coverage.

“I was in the right place at the right time,” Jackson said. 

A strong day during his first time at the office is certainly a big-time confidence booster for Jackson and something that his team could certainly use moving forward. On Sunday, Buffalo continues their season against the Patriots, however, their two games after that, the Bills will need all the confident defensive backs they can get with the Seahawks and Cardinals also en route. 

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Sean McDermott makes it clear: Time for ‘moral victories’ is over

McDermott promises the Bills will take their loss to the Chiefs hard.

Another week, another tough loss to a top-tier team on primetime for the Buffalo Bills.

Following last week’s loss to the Titans, the Bills dropped their second game of the season to the Kansas City Chiefs, 26-17. Granted, both were against good teams, one of which being the defending champs. But despite the talent across from his team over the course of their last two outings, Buffalo head coach Sean McDermott said after the game that a loss is a loss, period.

“The minute losing gets easy, it’s not a good deal,” McDermott said. “We take it hard. There are no moral victories. We have to be truthful with ourselves at what needs to be corrected.”

One of the more glaring issues this season has been the Bills defense. Something we are not use to under McDermott-led teams. Against the Chiefs, the run defense was gashed for 245-yards despite KC missing two of their starters along the offensive line. But was that by design?

“You have to pick your poison,” McDermott said.

He went on to explain how when you have an explosive offense and a quarterback like Patrick Mahomes, you have to decide if you’re going to focus on shutting down the pass, or the run, because doing both is not realistic.

In focusing on thwarting the pass, McDermott explained that the Bills, at least, were in the game at the end as compared to other teams who were getting blown out after getting thrown all over.

Mahomes was asked about this very philosophy after the game.

“If teams are going to play us like this, you’re going to see us running the football, and we have the guys to do it,” Mahomes said.

McDermott made clear that despite back-to-back losses, beating the best is still what this team strives to do.

“I think the competition out there is elite,” McDermott said. “This is high standard, high quality football. We’ve come up short in these last two games and we’ll go back to the drawing board.”

While the Bills get a break from playing a top-ranked opponent when they head to New Jersey to face the 0-6 Jets next Sunday, their schedule still has its fair share of tough matchups remaining with games vs. the likes of the Seahawks and Steelers, just to name a few.

At the end of the day though, the Bills are 4-2 and in first place in the AFC East. While there is plenty that needs to be corrected on both sides of the ball, the season is far from over… even if after the last two games, it feels like it is.

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Josh Norman shines in Bills debut: ‘I’ll do it, I’ll make a play’

Activated just yesterday, Norman certainly made his presence felt almost immediately.

During the offseason, the Bills added depth to their secondary by signing veteran cornerback Josh Norman.

Many had written Norman off after a less than spectacular tenure in Washington, but Norman decided to come to Buffalo and attempt to prove the doubters wrong. In signing with the Bills, Norman joined Buffalo head coach Sean McDermott, who Norman had his greatest success under back in Carolina with the Panthers.

After an injury caused him to end up on the injured reserve list to start the season, Norman told the media via video conference. “I was up in a box, pissed off.” Activated just a day prior to the game, due to the new COVID-19 rules, Norman certainly made his presence felt almost immediately.

When cornerback Levi Wallace had to leave the game with an ankle injury early, it was Norman’s time to shine.

With the Bills leading by only seven points in the fourth quarter, Norman made perhaps the defensive play of the game, knocking the ball out of TE Darren Waller’s hands and recovering his own fumble:

“Coach told us somebody needed to make a play,” Norman said. “So I told myself, I’ll do it, I’ll make a play.”

The Bills ended up feeding off of that momentum and driving down the field to score a touchdown that ended up being the difference in the game.

In his own interesting way, Norman described his excitement to finally being able to help the Bills defense.

“Guys really invited me to the party,” Norman said. “It was one of those things, they was having a pizza party and I was like, ‘Shoot I’m knocking on the door, y’all not gonna let me in?’ So I had to kick it down.”

Norman’s teammates were also thankful for his return to the field.

“I don’t know if we win the game without him,” wide receiver Cole Beasley said.

Running Devin Singletary also explained how excited the team was when Norman was able to jar the ball loose for the fumble, telling the media that everyone was, “crunk” on the sideline.

Sean McDermott seemed to agree with Beasley’s assessment of Norman’s importance.

“Josh Norman brings the same dog mentality (Stefon) Diggs does,” McDermott said after the game. “It affected the defense in a major way in the second half of this game.”

While the offense has certainly been the story through the first four games of the season, despite their struggles, the defense headlined by Norman was a big part of getting the job done on Sunday vs. the Raiders.

Norman concluded his media availability by telling reporters that he has a new appreciation for the game since arriving in Buffalo.

“I’m just glad to be apart of this,” Norman said. “We’re 4-0 and you can’t have a better feeling than this.”

While the Bills have one all-pro CB in Tre’Davious White, perhaps a career resurgence for the 32-year old Norman, isn’t as farfetched as some had originally thought.

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By the numbers: 6 key stats from Bills’ playoff-clinching win over Steelers

Six stats to know from the Buffalo Bills’ Week 15 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Style points? Who needs ’em. Weak schedule? So what. Streaky quarterback play? No argument here.

Say whatever you like, nitpick all you want; the Buffalo Bills are postseason bound. This team wins ugly, sure, but it wins. 

Buffalo was on-brand Sunday night, outslugging the Pittsburgh Steelers 17-10 in a defensive standoff at Heinz Field to punch their ticket to the postseason on Sunday Night Football.

Here’s a look at how they got there with six key stats from the win:

Five

It’s been a common theme throughout the season for the Bills: it starts and ends with defense.

Buffalo’s five takeaways established a new season high, after picking off Devlin Hodges four times and recovering a fumble off a botched wild cat rushing attempt. The Bills are now plus-five in turnover differential on the season and their 21 takeaways has them tied for ninth in the league. New England leads the league in both turnover differential (+24) and takeaways (36).

715

What would be prove to be Tyler Kroft’s game-winning touchdown in the fourth quarter Sunday came 715 days after his last touchdown – on Dec. 31, 2017– against the Baltimore Ravens as a member of the Cincinnati Bengals.

That game, as you likely recall, helped Buffalo end a 17-year playoff drought, as the Bengals stunned the Ravens 31-27 to end Baltimore’s season and send Buffalo to the postseason.

Sunday’s 14-yard score was Kroft’s first as a Bill and the ninth of his NFL career. It was his second score against the Steelers, both of which came at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh.

1,007

John Brown snapped a three-game streak of failing to reach 50 yards receiving in style Sunday night.

Brown hauled in seven passes for 99 yards – including a season-long 40-yard reception in the fourth quarter to set up the game-winning score. Over his past three games combined, Brown had 91 total receiving yards.

Brown eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark on the season in the victory, and now sits at 1,007 yards and five touchdowns on 71 receptions. He is the first Bills receiver to surpass 1,000 yards in a single season since Sammy Watkins had 1,047 yards in 2015.

Nine

It was a lukewarm performance in the passing game for Josh Allen Sunday, as he threw for a season-low 139 yards, a touchdown and an interception on 13-of-25 passing.

While Allen was relatively unproductive through the air, he kept pace on the ground, notching his ninth rushing touchdown on the year. His nine rushing touchdowns ranks 8th in the league among all players and first among quarterbacks. Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson and Houston’s Deshaun Watson each have seven rushing touchdowns.

Four

Sitting at 10-4, the Bills have clinched a playoff berth. To date, Buffalo has shown itself to be steady and resilient, going 4-0 following a loss.
In the four games following a loss, the Bills have outscored opponents 92-46 and have held their opponents to 10 or fewer points three times.

+6.5

There isn’t a tougher game on Buffalo’s regular season schedule than a late-December date with New England at Gillette Stadium thi supcoming Sunday.

That’s exactly what the Bills are up against this week, as they take on the division-leading Patriots with Buffalo’s slim AFC East title hopes on the line.
The Bills opened up as a 6.5-point underdog against a Patriot team who has won the last six games in the match-up; Buffalo’s last win in New England came in 2016, when the Bills shut out the Jacoby Brissett-led Patriots 16-0 in Week 4.

The Bills (10-4) are 9-4-1 against the spread, while the Patriots (11-3) are just 8-6 against the number.

Buffalo is 6-0-1 ATS on the road; New England is 1-6 ATS at home.
The over/ under is set for 38.5.

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By the numbers: Important stats to know from Bills’ loss to Browns

Numbers and stats to know from the Buffalo Bills’ 19-16 loss to the Cleveland Browns in Week 10.

This type of loss, the optimism turned gut-wrenching, was all-too familiar.

The Bills had a chance to pull even, at the very least, in the waning moments of a 19-16 loss to the Browns.

There was more to the loss than questionable play-calling, a few poor reads from the quarterback and a lackluster afternoon for the kicker. It’s easy to pile on – we’re all guilty of it – but there’s plenty of blame to go around.

As the dust settled, here are important stats and numbers to know from the Bills’ Week 10 loss to the Browns:

116

In what’s becoming a bit of a trend here at By The Numbers, the Bills rushing defense is garnering (negative) attention. Cleveland running back went for 116 yards on 20 carries – the second straight week in which Buffalo has allowed a 100-yard rusher. The Browns rushed for 147 yards as a team on 26 carries, good enough for 5.7 yards per carry.

The Bills rank 21st in the NFL, allowing 115.6 rushing yards per game. The troubling trend has worsened in recent weeks; Buffalo has allowed an average of 164 yards per game over the last three games; only Carolina (172 per game) ranks worse.

Zero

Buffalo’s defense had a golden opportunity to wreak havoc against Baker Mayfield and the Browns Sunday. Mayfield entered the afternoon with 12 interceptions, tied for most in the league with Jameis Winston. Arizona picked off Winston twice, while the Bills failed to generate a turnover.
Instead, Buffalo allowed Mayfield to throw for 238 yards and two touchdowns on 26 of 38 passing and a season high 102.7 quarterback rating.

Missed opportunities have become too much a trend of late, as the Bills have forced just one turnover over their last three games and three since the bye week. Prior to the bye, Buffalo forced eight turnovers in five games.

23

Ed Oliver played just 23 of 70 defensive snaps (33 percent) Sunday. Oliver saw the field on fewer plays than his counterparts Jordan Phillips (50 snaps) and Star Lotulelei (49). Newly acquired Corey Liuget played 17 snaps.

Oliver, Buffalo’s first round pick in 2019, has not started either of the last two games and has played 50 percent or more of the defensive snaps just once since the bye week. He failed to record a stat of note Sunday – marking the first such occasion of his career.

62.7 percent

Everyone wants to talk about Stephen Hauschka. The 34-yard miss was unforgivable, granted. You’ll get no argument there. For his career, prior to the miss from 34, Hauschka converted 96.5 percent (85 of 88) of his kicks between 30 and 39 yards. That was brutal.

As for the 53 yarder he missed on Buffalo’s last drive, it’s a bit more excusable. Prior to the fateful miss, he hit on 64.3 percent (27 of 42) of his kicks from 50 yards or more. The miss drops Hauschka to 62.7 percent – hardly gimme range. In his three years in Buffalo, he is now 11 of 19 from kicks from 50 yards or further.

-6.0

Buffalo will wrap up a two-week road trip with a trip to Miami in Week 11 to take on the Dolphins. Miami is riding a two-game winning streak and just knocked off Colts in Indianapolis.

The Bills, who opened as six-point favorites, will be eyeing the first sweep of the Dolphins since 2017.

An impressive road win would be a reprieve of sorts heading into the home stretch of what should still be a playoff-caliber season. On the other hand, a loss might signal the wheels falling off the wagon.

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