Tag: Buffalo Bills

By The Numbers: 6 important figures to know from Bills’ win over Dolphins

Six numbers to know from the Buffalo Bills’ Week 11 win over the Miami Dolphins.

So you wanted a statement game? You wanted style points? Done and done.

The Buffalo Bills played their best game of the season – led by what was arguably quarterback Josh Allen’s best game as a pro in a 37-20 thumping of the Dolphins at Hard Rock Stadium on Sunday in Week 11.

The win bumps Buffalo’s record to 7-3, its best mark after 10 games since 1999.

Here are six numbers to know from the win:

117.1

For better or worse, this team will go as far as Allen can take them. Despite having a borderline elite defense, it’s going to be the second-year signal caller that is going to determine whether or not Buffalo’s hunt for the postseason is a success.

On Sunday, Allen did nearly everything right. He threw for 256 yards and three touchdowns on 21-of-33 passing and ran for 56 yards and a score on seven carries – all without a turnover. His 117.1 passer rating was the highest of his career.

Detractors are going to say he failed to hit the 300-yard passing mark, or that it was a muted performance based on the opposition, but Allen was downright exceptional in South Beach.

137

The beat just goes on and on for John Brown. Brown turned in his best game as Bill, hauling in nine receptions for 137 yards and two scores. He extended his streak of consecutive games with at least five receptions and 50 yards to 10 games and is now at 56 receptions for 817 yards and four touchdowns on the season.

Brown is on pace for 90 receptions, 1307 yards and six touchdowns. His three-year, $27-million contract is looking more and more like a steal.

16

Fans have been pleading to get running back Devin Singletary more involved in the offense. The Bills did just that Sunday; Singletary led the team with 75 rushing yards on a team-high 15 attempts and finished with 16 total touches and 79 yards of total offense. It was the fourth-straight game in which Singletary led the team in rushing attempts.

Frank Gore finished with 11 carries for 27 yards, and the changing of the guard that Buffalo fans have expected may finally be upon us.

0

Robert Foster’s season-long struggles continued Sunday; he failed to see the field in the victory. While Brown, Cole Beasley and Isaiah McKenzie each played at least 78 percent of Buffalo’s offensive snaps, and Andre Roberts seeing nine snaps, Foster was the odd man out after playing just 16 snaps a week ago.

In seven games this season, Foster has just one reception for 20 yards – signaling the Bills are likely moving on from the second-year receiver.

7

Buffalo’s defense recorded a season-high seven sacks and tallied 14 quarterback hits. While the lone turnover Buffalo forced came via an Allen Hurns fumble, the Bills were equally disruptive against the Dolphins ground game — holding Miami to just 23 rushing yards.

-5

After two straight games away from home, Buffalo returns to New Era Field in Week 12 to take on Denver. The Bills opened as five-point favorites over the Broncos (3-7), who squandered a 20-0 lead in a 27-23 loss to Minnesota Sunday.

Buffalo is 6-3-1 against the spread, but just 2-3 ATS at home, while Denver is 6-4 against the spread and 3-2 ATS on the road.
The Over/Under is set for 36.5; Las Vegas expects the Bills to grind out a close, low scoring game.

[lawrence-related id=48895,48740,48886,48695]

Stock up, stock down following Bills’ win over Dolphins

Stock report for Buffalo Bills Week 11 win over the Miami Dolphins.

The Bills had their way with the Miami Dolphins for most of their Week 11 meeting as Buffalo secured a 37-20 victory.

All three phases of the game for the Bills made an impact in this one – mostly for better, but at times for worse.

With that, here’s Bills Wire’s Week 11 stock report following Buffalo’s win:

Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen. Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

Stock up

QB Josh Allen

Still no 300-yard outings for the Bills quarterback. Allen finished with 256 yards passing against the Dolphins, but he undoubtedly had a heck of a day. Overall, Allen was 21-for-33 passing with three TD passes, plus another rushing score. He also had 56 yards rushing.

Somehow, the Bills should convince Allen he’s playing the Dolphins every week. In his brief career, he’s brought some of his best stuff against them. And while opening this with a 300-yard joke, Allen would surely hit that mark, perhaps even consistently, if he treated every team like the Dolphins. Aside from a quick series that saw him toss three straight incompletions, there was a lot of good from the QB in Week 11. Allen continues to not turn the ball over as well, as he hasn’t tossed a pick in 163 straight passes.

WR John Brown

Allen’s successes wouldn’t have been there if it wasn’t for Brown, though. In his best game with the Bills, Brown caught nine passes for 137 yards and two touchdowns against the Dolphins. Brown had 14 targets as well, so Allen was certainly looking for him a lot.

Brown’s 82.9 overall grade from Pro Football Focus gave him the team’s highest grade on the day and he’s in line to be one of the team’s most consistent playmakers in about two decades. No one expected that when he signed on the dotted line, but no one is mad about it, either.

Pages: Page 1, Page 2, Page 3, Page 4, Page 5, Page 6

PODCAST: 3 takeaways from Bills’ dominant win over Dolphins

Kyle Silagyi is joined by Rich Kowalski and McKenna Middlebrook to discuss three takeaways from the Buffalo Bills’ Week 11 win.

The Buffalo Bills took care of business in their Week 11 matchup with the Miami Dolphins.

The prospective playoff team was supposed to dominate its lowly division rival. The struggling defense was supposed to refind its form, making it difficult for Miami’s offense to make any sort of progress. Quarterback Josh Allen was supposed to pick the Dolphins’ 29th ranked defense apart, leading the team to a ‘statement’ game that would reaffirm its status as a legitimate contender.

In untypical Buffalo fashion, all of these events played out as planned, as the Bills dominated Miami en route to a 37-20 victory. On this episode of The Kyle Silagyi Variety Hour, host Kyle Silagyi is joined by BillsWire staff writers Rich Kowalski and McKenna Middlebrook to discuss their three takeaways from the Bills’ Week 11 victory. They also talk about the Los Angeles Chargers’ rumored move to London.

Subscribe:

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Google Podcasts

RadioPublic

RSS

[protected-iframe id=”0062c8fd43fa01d1967c787cd1c6b163-105974704-98603886″ info=”https://embeds.audioboom.com/posts/7427647/embed/v4″ width=”100%” height=”300″ frameborder=”0″ style=”background-color: transparent; display: block; padding: 0; max-width: 700px;” scrolling=”no”]

[lawrence-related id=48740,48814,48715,48721]

What we learned from Bills’ Week 11 victory over Miami

What we learned, Buffalo Bills vs. Miami Dolphins, NFL week 11

Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

With questions starting to creep in about the Bills and the overall outlook of their 2019 season, a comfortable, yet fun win, in Miami, was just what the doctor ordered for Sean McDermott’s team.

The Bills rebounded from a tough loss in Cleveland and got back on the winning track by lighting up the scoreboard at Hard Rock Stadium. Buffalo produced its highest-scoring output of the season in a 37-20 trouncing of the Dolphins.

The Bills offense got up off the canvas after a week of taking punches in the form of criticism from fans and local media for numerous subpar performances since September. Any offensive shortcomings the Bills have been experiencing this season were forgotten for most of the day Sunday as the Bills posted 424 yards of total offense and seven different scoring drives.

It was a big day for quarterback Josh Allen. Allen had his best outing of the season, completing 21 of 33 passes for 256 yards and three touchdowns. He also added 56 yards rushing and a rushing touchdown. Meanwhile, receiver John Brown had his biggest and best day yet for Buffalo with nine catches for 137 yards and two touchdowns.

The Buffalo defense had an overall strong day, even though Ryan Fitzpatrick passed for 323 yards. The Bills sacked Fitzpatrick seven times and produced a takeaway for the first time since October. The run defense rebounded in a huge way by allowing Miami just 23 rushing yards. It was a major change for a run defense that had been gashed in recent weeks.

The Bills now sit at 7-3 and have to feel a bit more comfortable than they did last week about their playoff outlook. They can get to 8-3 this coming week back at home against the 3-7 Denver Broncos before they make their Thanksgiving trip to Dallas.

Here are four things we learned from the Bills’ win Sunday in South Florida:

Pages: Page 1, Page 2, Page 3, Page 4, Page 5

John Brown sets 3 Bills records in win vs. Dolphins

John Brown’s big day saw him grab nine catches for 137 yards with two touchdowns. 

The Bills have gotten a heck of a season from wide receiver John Brown and after a heck of a game from him in their 37-20 win over the Dolphins, he’s continuing to set team-records in his breakout season.

Brown’s big day saw him grab nine catches for 137 yards with two touchdowns.

After that outing, Brown holds three team records.

His 817 receiving yards is the most in team-history for any player after 10 games. His consecutive 50-plus yard games (10) is also the most in team history.

In those 10 games, he’s also had at least four passes, another record for Brown.

As one of the NFL’s most consistent targets this year, Brown current sits as the No. 8 wide receiver in terms of receiving yards this year in the entire league.

The Saints’ Michael Thomas leads the NFL with 1,141 yards already, but Brown ranks ahead of guys such as Seattle’s Tyler Lockett (793), Houston’s DeAndre Hopkins (745), New England’s Julian Edelman (716) and Cleveland’s Odell Beckham Jr. (692).

[lawrence-related id=48841,48695,48721,48653]

The good, the bad and the ugly from Dolphins’ 37-20 loss to Bills

Which Miami Dolphins showed up this week to play against the Buffalo Bills? And who failed to provide the needed performances?

The Miami Dolphins entered Week 11 riding a two game win streak and left with a hefty serving of humble pie. This surely wasn’t the way the Dolphins envisions their second go around with the Buffalo Bills going — but yet here we are. The Dolphins could hardly stop Buffalo on defense, the Bills exploited shaky pass protection with uncharacteristically aggressive blitz calls and the game itself was even more lopsided than the final score would indicate.

It was easy for a moment to forget that this Dolphins’ team doesn’t really have a lot of talent that will be fixtures for years to come. Let this serve as the reminder.

And in the aftermath of yesterday’s loss, it’s fairly easy to paint an ugly picture. We’re going to try to paint a complete one.

The Good

QB Ryan Fitzpatrick

Fitzpatrick has done his best in recent weeks to make the best of the offensive situation in Miami. And against the Bills, “Fitz” kept plugging away — 45 pass attempts for 323 yards and no turnovers. Fitzpatrick has played surprisingly within himself in recent weeks, with just 1 turnover over the Dolphins’ last three games combined. There have still been peaks and valleys and with 18 sacks taken over the last four contests, Fitzpatrick continues to be challenged by the situation around him. But he played well with all things considered against the Bills.

WR DeVante Parker

Parker went off for 7 receptions for 135 yards and what would have been a receiving touchdown if Mike Gesicki had the anticipation to peel back and throw a block. Parker has really come on and is making the most of his second chance with the Dolphins — putting up a big performance in his second game against the Bills this season serves as further evidence that Parker is a long-term fixture for this team.

CB Nik Needham

Needham played a scrappy football game. He got busted in zone coverage playing Cover 2 against WR John Brown and was constantly tested, but you have to admire Needham’s ability to bounce back and how he was able to make some plays on the ball. This UDFA has the look of a guy who will hang around for quite some time.

WR Jakeem Grant

Grant had his best game of the season and made an impact play in the return game. It was great to see him get some room to run, open up his strides and show the electric qualities that earned him a contract extension with the Dolphins.

The Bad

The Pass Rush

…what pass rush? Exactly. The Dolphins left QB Josh Allen unbothered in the pocket all day and the end result was the second year quarterback dissected the Dolphins defense. Miami needs to get much more dynamic on the edge and also sorely missed DE Taco Charlton’s presence as a pass rusher.

LB Raekwon McMillan

Boy, did the Dolphins miss Raekwon McMillan on Sunday. There’s nothing bad that McMillan did — he was just injured and unavailable to play. But the eye opening reveal was just how poorly Miami’s run defense played without him on the second level. The silver lining? McMillan’s value to this team is further reinforced by how they played without him on Sunday.

TE Mike Gesicki

As previously noted, Mike Gesicki cost DeVante Parker a touchdown on Sunday — we hope he sends drops Parker an apology card in his locker or something!

We’re not really sure what Gesicki was seeing or thinking on this play. But when contributing 4 receptions for 18 yards, you’d sure help your team a lot more by throwing a block in the open field.

The Ugly

The offensive line and RB Kalen Ballage

7 sacks. 23 rushing yards. It was about as ugly as you could possibly imagine. The offensive line struggled with their calls and protection and they also struggled to reset the line of scrimmage thanks to lateral quickness by the Bills’ defensive front.

Ballage? He managed to scrap out a touchdown against Buffalo, but he again struggled to find room to run in the backfield and had another ugly drop on a screen pass early in the game. His struggles are frustrating — but not surprising based on his body of work this season.

[protected-iframe id=”6e8b8892e9038fd158063dda352df4de-105974726-152780023″ info=”https://art19.com/shows/e34d7967-9a7d-4b90-9a57-ec61905a7e96/embed?playlist_type=playlist” scrolling=”no”]

 

Report: Jags sign Nick O’Leary after injuries at TE position

The Jags sustained another big injury at tight end and has signed former Florida State TE Nick O’Leary.

[jwplayer 6Q40ShvH-ThvAeFxT]

With the Jacksonville Jaguars taking several hits at the tight end position, the team has decided to bring in some help. Per NFL insider Ian Rapoport, they signed former Florida State alum Nick O’Leary Monday.

O’Leary, 27, was drafted by the Buffalo Bills in the sixth-round of the 2015 NFL Draft and was with the team until 2018. Afterward, he was with the Miami Dolphins from September of 2018 to October of this year. While with both organizations, he managed to accumulate 44 catches for 596 yards and three touchdowns.

The Jags entered Week 11’s game with just two tight ends active in Josh Oliver and Ben Koyack. However, Seth DeValve was amongst the team’s inactives after sustaining an oblique injury in practice. To make matters worse, Oliver sustained the back injury mentioned by Rapoport while hauling in his only reception of the day.

Heading forward, it appears the Jags may be in a bind at the tight end position because they’ve simply had bad luck there. Earlier in the season, the team placed both Geoff Swaim and James O’Shaughnessy on injured reserve, and if Oliver has to join them, the Jags will be left relying on whatever free agent they can find down the road.

WATCH: John Brown tosses pass to fan wearing his jersey

Video of Buffalo Bills WR John Brown throwing ball to fan in crowd wearing his jersey.

The Bills won in front of their own fans on Sunday in Week 11, sort of, and wide receiver John Brown appreciated one of them for wearing his number.

Down in Miami against the Dolphins, Bills Mafia made their presence known. There was a lot of red, white and blue in the crowd.

Brown highlighted the day for the Buffalo’s offensive output with nine catches for 137 yards and two touchdowns. Maybe his next trick is to get his arm involved, he looks the part.

WIVB-TV caught a video of Brown celebrating one for his catches against the Dolphins. To celebrate, he shared the moment that fan wearing his number and he drilled the target. Swoosh. Between the numbers. However you want to put it.

Pointing to a group of Bills fans, Brown tossed the ball. This fan wasn’t in the first row, though. He was pretty deep into the crowd but… Brown’s pass found him.

Check out the arm on the Bills’ No. 1 receiver:

[lawrence-related id=48814,48695,48735,48653]

 

Bills playoff picture: Damien Williams rejoined Chiefs ahead of Mexico trip

Buffalo Bills playoff picture: It appears the Chiefs will have the services of running back Damian Williams against the Chargers on Monday Night Football in Mexico City. 

It appears the Chiefs will have the services of running back Damien Williams against the Chargers on Monday Night Football in Mexico City.

NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport said Williams, who was listed as questionable coming into Week 11’s final game, made the international journey down south with his teammates.

Williams missed the Chiefs’ practices on Friday and Saturday due to personal reasons. In Week 10 during a Chiefs loss to the Titans, Williams was their starter. Former Bill LeSean McCoy was actually a healthy scratch.

Per Chiefs Wire, Kansas City head coach Andy Reid cited McCoy’s age and workload for the decision to make McCoy inactive. McCoy has also struggled with ball security with KC. Williams had a costly fumble in the Chiefs’ loss to the Titans, too. Other than the fumble, Williams had a productive game, averaging 4.1 yards per carry (77 rush yards) while adding another five catches for 32 yards.

Even Chiefs Wire admits that there’s “no telling” which of those two will be the starting back on Monday Night Football.

The upcoming game against the Chargers on Monday is a big one for the Chiefs and Bills in regards to the AFC playoff picture.

If the playoffs started today, the 7-3 Bills – the first wild-card team – would face the 6-4 Chiefs, who lead the AFC West and hold the fourth seed in the conference.

But the Chiefs have the Raiders right on their backside, who also sit at 6-4.

An added nugget as well: If the Chargers lose this game, their playoff hopes are likely done as well as they enter the game at 4-6.

All three of the aforementioned AFC West squads will be teams the Bills scoreboard watch the rest of the 2019 season. Buffalo has no meetings against any of them down the stretch.

[lawrence-related id=48814,48806,48695,48653]

Bills snap counts: Depth chart breakdown vs. Dolphins

Buffalo Bills snap counts, notes, vs. Miami Dolphins in Week 11.

The Bills offense had their best showing of the season in Week 11 against the Miami Dolphins. The scoreboard is the litmus test and Josh Allen & Co. put up 37 points against Miami, a season-high.

The Dolphins managed to stick around throughout certain points of the game, but the Bills defense never really broke against the Fins, either.

Special teams were a different story, though.

Here’s a full depth chart breakdown via snap counts for the Bills vs. the Dolphins in Week 11:

Buffalo Bills wide receiver John Brown. Credit: Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports

Offense

Notes:

  • Cody Ford played in 72 percent of snaps at right tackle. Ty Nsekhe was down to 28 percent after leaving the game on a cart due to an ankle injury.
  • After taking two penalties in 18 snaps in Week 10, tight end Lee Smith saw his snap total drop to only seven against the Dolphins.
  • Devin Singletary continues to be the Bills’ feature back, appearing in 72 percent of snaps. Frank Gore played in 26 percent.
  • Dawson Knox appeared in 71 percent of snaps, far and away ahead of Tyler Kroft, who was the No. 2 tight end at 33 percent.
  • Isaiah McKenzie played in a season-high 78 percent of snaps on offense. After being scratched in Week 8, McKenzie has played in 68 percent, 54 percent and 78 percent of snaps, respectively, over the last three games.
  • Robert Foster did not record a snap at wide receiver on offense for the Bills.
  • John Brown paced wide receivers once again and played in 99 percent of snaps, a season-high. Cole Beasley also played in a season-high 90 percent of snaps vs. the Dolphins.
Pages: Page 1, Page 2