The Bills are playoff bound after their victory of the Pittsburgh Steelers. It was a victory where the Bills relied on their stout defense.
Buffalo, you can party like it’s 1999 because the Bills are sitting at 10-4, clinching just their second playoff appearance this century.
The game was an ugly, hard fought battle that saw seven turnovers between themselves and the Pittsburgh Steelers, a game which the Bills won 17-10.
Ultimately, Buffalo’s offense made more plays down the stretch that gave them the victory. It wasn’t a stellar performance from Josh Allen and company though.
With that, here’s how the Bills graded out in this week’s report card following their win over the Steelers:
Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)
Quarterback: C
Josh Allen had a tough game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, he completed just 52 percent of his passes for 139 yards. He struggled throughout the game, missing some wide open receivers, his interception was a perfect example of these errant throws. Allen had a clean pocket, and threw a pass to the outstretched arms of receiver Cole Beasley, that bounced off the hands of Beasley and into arms of the Steelers defensive back. The interception doesn’t fall on the shoulders of Allen alone, but a better pass could have been caught by Beasley.
The quarterback did have his moments of brilliance, mainly coming in the fourth quarter with the game on the line. He hit a massive 40-yard strike to John Brown that help set up the game winning touchdown. Speaking of the game winning touchdown, he found tight end Tyler Kroft on third down, sealing the victory for Buffalo.
Allen also had 28 yards on the ground, and one rushing touchdown that opened the scoring for Buffalo.
It hasn’t been bad, but it hasn’t been perfect for Bills tight end Dawson Knox during his rookie season.
It hasn’t been bad, but it hasn’t been perfect for Bills tight end Dawson Knox during his rookie season.
Knox has had some issues with drops, but when he does grab the ball, they’ve been exciting plays. His effort after the Bengals earlier this year is still in contention for the catch of the season for the Bills.
While Knox, and everyone else wants him to cut the drops out, those drops have inadvertently made him believe Buffalo is a good place for him to be.
After struggles, Knox has bounced back. He gives credit for his bounce-back efforts to his teammates around him, he told NYUP.com this week. Last week against the Ravens, there was a drop. Later in the game, there was a great catch. Knox mentioned everyone but himself as to why he was resilient.
“Having guys like (Cole Beasley), Lee Smith, Tyler Kroft – I feel like it’s a really special place to be here,” Knox said.
Following the Bills’ loss to the Ravens, Beasley told reporters he got in Knox’s ear and told him to keep his head up, his team will need him later. Beasley was right, and Knox delivered.
The teammate-building efforts in the Bills locker room is something you can’t teach a player. Picking each other up is a trait the Bills front office of general manager Brandon Beane and head coach Sean McDermott have coveted in players. In this case, it’s paid off. Even offensive coordinator Brian Daboll thinks so, as he reflected on Knox’s play earlier this week.
“It’s not always going to be perfect. You’re going to have to fight through some things, whether it’s a young player or old player. And Dawson in this case – he’s a strong-minded guy,” Daboll said. “I have a lot of confidence in him. Just play the next play.”
With three games left, Knox has 26 catches for 344 yards with two scores this year. He’s a raw rookie prospect who hadn’t scored a touchdown since high school. All things considered, those are some decent numbers then. The Bills will hope Knox continually improves on his numbers over the years, but they can also count on Knox learning the proper way to be a teammate years down the road thanks to the current crop of Bills vets.
In a classic AFC slugfest, the Ravens came away victorious over the Buffalo Bills at New Era Field to clinch a playoff birth.
The Bills received plenty of national attention after their Thanksgiving victory over the Dallas Cowboys, and with the national media watching two weeks in a row the team fell flat. The Bills offense was smothered by a dominate Ravens defense in Week 14 at New Era Field as the visitors took a 24-17 win.
While Buffalo’s defense had a stout performance they couldn’t stop MVP front runner, Lamar Jackson for four quarters.
A fourth quarter touchdown did make the final few minutes interesting, but it was too little too late.
Here’s how the Bills graded out in this week’s report card following their loss to the Ravens:
Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen. (AP Photo/Adrian Kraus)
Quarterback: D
Josh Allen had an atrocious first half, let’s not kid ourselves.
He was 8-for-17 passing, threw for just 39 yards, and was constantly hounded by a ferocious Baltimore defense. His production increased in the second half, which gave Buffalo an opportunity to tie the game in the fourth quarter but he couldn’t produce on the final throw of the game.
While the Bills kept it close throughout the game, Josh Allen simply wasn’t good enough during the first three quarters. Allen missed on a majority of his deep shots, which resulted in drives stalling out, or stopping before they could even start. He also missed on some of his shorter throws, with most of his misses sailing over the head of his intended receiver.
Allen’s final stat line was 17-for-39, 146 yards, and one touchdown, and one successful two-point conversion throw. Frankly, this may have been Allen’s worst game of the season and it couldn’t have come at a worst time.
Thanksgiving Day started with a 75-yard touchdown pass from David Blough, watched the 622 sideline views of Jason Garrett looking progressively more nervous and ended with the Falcons not only recovering the ultra-rare onside kick but doing it twice in a row.
Dallas Cowboys head coach – They haven’t beaten a winning team this year and they were embarrassed at home in from of a national audience yesterday. As was mentioned during the telecast, the Cowboys are the only team with the same coach they had in 2011 and they have not been to a Super Bowl. They lost 26-15 in a game that they were favored by seven points. And naturally, the calls for HC Jason Garrett to be fired are no longer a low roar. In jumps Las Vegas with the odds of a new coach.
Urban Meyer already lobbied for the job. Josh McDaniels seems like a lock to step in and run the Patriots whenever Bill Belichick steps down. Lincoln Riley would be in the vein of hiring a successful college coach and that worked out pretty well with Jimmy Johnson. I doubt they change anything during the season and they are still atop the NFC East. But as Jerry Jones said, the Cowboys have too much talent to be a 6-6 team.
David Blough – The undrafted 24-year-old rookie was a four-year player at Purdue who was originally signed by the Browns but was traded to the Lions. He became the first quarterback since Matt Ryan (2008) to throw a touchdown on his first NFL pass. Blough was called to start when Jeff Driskel’s hamstring had not healed enough. The rookie threw for 280 yards and two scores with one interception on his final pass. But that was 205 yards and one touchdown after his first pass. He found Kenny Golladay for 158 yards on four catches with the opening-play touchdown. No other receivers did much.
Tight Ends to watch – Most tight ends do very little as a rookie but the better ones tend to break out in their second season. Here’s a quick list of the rookies drafted this year that are more likely to see a notable increase in 2020:
T.J. Hockenson (1.08 DET – Current stat line: 32-367-2) Noah Fant (1.20 DEN – Current stat line: 30-374-2) Irv Smith Jr. (2.18 MIN – Current stat line: 27-261-1) Dawson Knox (3.32 BUF – Current stat line: 25-307-2)
Their production is all close. All but Knox are playing in the first year of their offensive coordinator and that should help them grow with their offense. Each leads their team’s tight ends except for Smith and Kyle Rudolph.
Christian Blake – The undrafted second-year player from Northern Illinois was signed to the practice squad, released, re-signed and so on until October 23 when he was brought up to the active roster. He was only catching one or two passes per game after Mohamed Sany left. Justin Hardy and Russell Gage also saw more work. Yesterday, Blake ended with six catches for 57 yards in the loss to the Saints – more than either Hardy or Gage though he scored once on his five catches for 52 yards. The Falcons are trying out other players and that’ll make the unit harder to predict unless one of them steps up more. With Julio Jones gone, both Gare and Blake saw nine targets, only one less than Calvin Ridley.
Mo Ali-Cox – Eric Ebron landed on injured reserve and that leaves Doyle and Mo Alie-Cox as the starters. Ebron totals 31 catches for 375 yards and three scores this year after posting 13 touchdowns in 2018. He was catching four or five passes for the last three games so his absence will be felt. Alie-Cox is an undrafted third-year player who was a basketball player in college (6-5, 267 pounds). Chances are that Doyle will see an increase in work more than Alie-Cox becomes a common target. Watch this week when they play the Titans because, in Week 14, they face the Buccaneers No.31 defense versus tight ends.
Those Team Defenses – We all say defenses are too hard to call so why draft them early? Some of us don’t, some of us just cannot resist taking that first or second defense far earlier than everyone else. Last year – the Bears were the defense-I-have-to-have. Here’s where that stands between the top ten drafted defenses and where they currently rank.
The Bears are barely average and in a 12 team league haven’t been worth starting most of the time. The Rams did well though it never feels like it. Six of the top ten ended up below average.
And here is what we should have done.
Yeah, I’ll try to hold off on the Patriots next year. Bet someone else won’t.
The Bills came out swinging against the Dolphins, who took an early lead and never looked back.
The Buffalo Bills continued their strong road performances this season with 37-20 win over the Miami Dolphins. The Bills are now 7-3, sitting pretty for a wild card spot.
After their loss against the Browns, the Bills offense was called into question by both their fans and the media. The Bills responded by pouring on 37 points against a poor Miami defense.
The Bills defense also came out and stopped the run, as well as getting pressure to the quarterback. It wasn’t a perfect game from Buffalo, but a step in the right direction after the disappointing loss to Cleveland.
After the victory in Miami, here’s how the Bills graded in this week’s report card:
Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)
Quarterback: A-
This was possibly the best performance by Josh Allen in his young career. Allen started the game strong, but on the first two drives he couldn’t create touchdowns, only field goals. On the third drive Allen found receiver John Brown for a 40-yard touchdown strike. Allen hit Brown who was streaking down the sideline, and Brown bumped off a defender before heading into the end zone.
After a drive that led to just a field goal, Allen worked some red zone magic and found tight end Dawson Knox who shrugged off a defender after the catch to walk in for the score on an all-out blitz from the Dolphins defense. In the third quarter Allen had an eight-yard scramble where he used his speed to reach the outside and hurdle for the score.
It wasn’t a perfect game for Allen, he didn’t complete many deep shots, and had some head scratching throws. Ultimately, Allen had one of the best games of his career. He completed 21 out of his 33 passes, a 63.6 completion percentage, he threw for 256 yards, three touchdowns, and zero interceptions.
According to the team’s injury report, rookie tight end Dawson Knox and defensive end Jerry Hughes both appeared on team’s injury report.
The Bills have been extremely healthy for this time of year.
It’s 11 weeks into the regular season and they opened up their first injury report ahead of facing the Dolphins with nobody on it. That changed on Thursday.
According to the team’s injury report, rookie tight end Dawson Knox and defensive end Jerry Hughes both appeared on it. Both of those players were listed to have knee and groin injuries, respectively. Knox practiced in a limited capacity while Hughes did not practice at all.
Neither player appeared on the injury report a day prior, so one can assume the injuries took place in practice on Thursday.
While chatting with reporters following Thursday’s practice, Buffalo head coach Sean McDermott said he’s expected Knox to practice on Friday.
“It’s nothing to be worried about,” the coach said. “Some knee soreness.”
In this week’s stock report, we explore how a few players were still able to perform favorably which several are seeing people hit the “sell” button on them.
The Buffalo Bills 19-16 loss to the Cleveland Browns was a good old-fashioned soul-crushing ‘L’, as the performance of the defense seemed to be enough to help the team squeak out another victory.
Instead, the Bills gifted the Browns with a victory to help eradicate the weeks of struggles that Cleveland faced. The script was similar to every other game this year, as the defense kept the Bills afloat while the offense failed to find any sort of consistency. Add in a couple of missed field goals in a close game, and it’s a recipe for a tick in the loss column.
In this week’s stock report, we explore how a few players were still able to perform favorably which several are seeing people hit the “sell” button on them:
Stock up
Buffalo Bills cornerback Tre’Davious White. (AP Photo/David Richard)
Tre’Davious White
Tre’Davious White took on the task of tracking Odell Beckham throughout the afternoon, and cornerback won most of the battles, a week after doing the same against the Redskins’ stud rooke wideout Terry McLaurin.
Beckham caught five of his 12 targets for 57 yards. White had an impressive pass breakup in the end zone on a fade pass to Beckham during an early goal line stand which included White taking a penalty a few plays prior. One of two penalties White was flagged for. The third-year pro ended the day with four pass breakups. It put him on display as one of the top cornerbacks in the game.
Bills goal line defense
Oh my goodness. Buffalo’s defense seemed to be getting carved up once again, as Browns running back Nick Chubb was having his way weaving through the unit. Once Cleveland found its way into the shadow of the Bills goal line, Buffalo shut it down. On two drives in the first quarter, the Bills negated the Browns’ progress on 12 plays. Cleveland only came away with a field goal on those two drives, and were going to go for it on a second fourth down until a flag was thrown on them.
With a competent offense, these plays would have been game-altering drives. Instead, the defense’s effort was merely good enough to keep the Bills in striking distance throughout the afternoon.
Nevertheless, the Bills defense did something special in closing the door at the goal line.
Browns had eight chances to score from the goal line…
Buffalo Bills snap counts vs. Cleveland Browns in Week 10, 2019.
Buffalo Bills tight end Dawson Knox. Credit: Scott R. Galvin-USA TODAY Sports
The Bills fell is another gross game against the Cleveland Browns in Week 10, 19-16.
Buffalo falls to 6-3 on the year and with the loss and news around the league, the loss looks like a big one.
Who played the biggest and smallest roles in Buffalo’s defeat?
Here’s a full depth chart break down via snap counts for the Bills vs. the Browns in Week 10:
Offense
Notes:
The rotation at right tackle resumed with a health Cody Ford (elbow) in the lineup. Veteran Ty Nsekhe played in 61 percent of snaps while the rookie saw 41 percent.
Tight end Lee Smith took two penalties in only 18 snaps played vs. the Browns.
Rookie running back Devin Singletary was the No. 1 in terms of snap counts playing in 67 percent of snaps as opposed to Frank Gore’s 33 percent, but Singletary only have eight carries in the game.
Rookie tight end Dawson Knox played more snaps than veteran Tyler Kroft for the second-straight week, 58 percent to 43 percent.
In terms of snap counts, Isaiah McKenzie saw another big role for the Bills. He played in 66 percent of snaps last week, second-most amongst his position. Against the Browns, he played in 54 percent, trailing Cole Beasley’s 67 percent and John Brown’s 93 percent.
The Buffalo Bills fall to 6-3 after their loss to the Cleveland Browns. Offensive coordinator Brian Daboll will be called into question.
The Buffalo Bills and the Cleveland Browns had a slug-fest on Sunday, where the Browns won 19-16 It was an ugly game where both defenses played physical, and forced mistakes.
Neither offense looked impressive, but the *outcome* did enough to give the Browns a victory.
The Bills fall to 6-3 on the year, and here’s how Bills Wire graded things out for Buffalo in Week 10:
Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen.. (AP Photo/Ron Schwane)
Quarterback: C-
Josh Allen had 41 passing attempts on Sunday, and completing just 53 percent of his passes. That is not very good. Allen throughout the game looked flustered, which lead to plenty of throws going over the heads of his receivers or landing at their feet.
Allen had some moments where he was elusive in the pocket making defenders miss, but he couldn’t find the right the pass in those crucial moments. Allen finished the game with a respectable 266 yards, and didn’t throw an interception but, he didn’t throw a touchdown, either. He was effective with his legs in the redzone though, scoring twice.
Ultimately, Allen had an underwhelming performance that cost Buffalo the victory in Cleveland. Bills fans will be looking for Allen to bounce back next week in Miami.
