Stock report following Buffalo Bills’ 17-10 Week 15 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The Bills topped the Pittsburgh Steelers 17-10 in Week 15 to secure a spot in the postseason dance. Buffalo sits at the No. 5 seed, the AFC’s first Wild Card spot, with a 10-4 overall record.
To get there, the Bills beat the team right behind them at the No. 6 seed and in front of a national audience.
With that audience in mind, here’s Bills Wire’s weekly stock report following the Bills’ win over the Steelers on Sunday Night Football:
Stock up
Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen. Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
QB Josh Allen
In no way did Buffalo quarterback Josh Allen have a great overall game. He rarely does. Allen finished the game 13-for-25 passing for only 139 yards in the air with a passing score and interception. His interception went off a receiver’s hands. On the ground, Allen added another 28 yards and a rushing score.
But when it mattered most, Allen was there to increase his stock. On Buffalo’s game-winning drive in the fourth quarter, Allen was 2-for-4 passing, which included a 40-yard strike to John Brown down the sideline and a 14-yard touchdown to tight end Tyler Kroft to put his team ahead. Allen is not a complete product, but he’s tied with Seattle’s Russell Wilson for the NFL lead in game-winning drives this year. They both have five. This is a good thing.
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.
Buffalo Bills snap counts vs. the Baltimore Ravens, NFL Week 14.
The Bills hung tough with the Baltimore Ravens before falling 24-17 in the end.
It was a lackluster game from the offense until late and the defense led the way for Buffalo.
Who took charge in both that good and bad of the game? Here’s a full depth chart breakdown via snap counts for the Bills against the Ravens in Week 14:
Buffalo Bills running back Devin Singletary. (AP Photo/John Munson)
Offense
Notes:
With Ty Nsekhe out, rookie Cody Ford played every offensive snap for the third-straight game at right tackle, and the entire offensive line played every snap in what was a tough game for the unit.
RB Frank Gore played in a season-low 19 percent of snaps, he had four carries for six yards. Rookie RB Devin Singletary saw a career-high 81 percent of snaps and had 89 yards rushing.
After playing in a season-high 42 percent of snaps last week, WR Robert Foster dipped down to 25 percent vs. the Ravens. WR Isaiah McKenzie played in 45 percent of snaps last week, after playing in 74 and 77 percent in Weeks 11 and 12. He was back to 72 percent of snaps vs. the Ravens.
WRs Cole Beasley and John Brown both played in 97 percent of snaps. While often the 1-2 punch, Brown typically plays in a few more snaps for the Bills each game.
Stock report from Buffalo Bills’ 24-17 loss to the Baltimore Ravens, NFL Week 14.
The Bills mustered together a late last-ditch effort against the Baltimore Ravens in Week 14, but ultimately fell 24-17 to the AFC leaders.
A loss brought the Bills to 9-4 overall on the year, which puts Buffalo still in a prime position for the postseason. But the loss, at times, was ugly.
With that, here’s the latest stock report on the Bills following their loss to the Ravens:
This one goes with an asterisk, of sorts. Defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier has a part in the Bills defense, but so does head coach Sean McDermott. We’ll give Frazier the nod here because McDermott was questionable with clock management in the game, and we have Frazier calling the plays. Man, did he call a heck of a game.
The Bills defense did what many haven’t this year, shut down quarterback Lamar Jackson. Jackson did have three touchdown passes, but he had his first interception since Week 5, only 145 yards passing and 40 yards rushing, his lowest total in a complete game played this season. Frazier might get head coaching sniffs this offseason, we’ll see. He deserves another crack at it.
Six storlyines for the Buffalo Bills vs. Baltimore Ravens during the NFL’s Week 14 slate.
The Bills and Baltimore Ravens will get after it in Week 14 at New Era Field. It’s not just your run of the mill game, though.
Nobody thought prior to the season that this one could have home field advantage implications taking part in the festivities, but alas, here we are with the 10-2 Ravens visiting the 9-3 Bills.
With that, here are six storylines to follow during the Bills’ Week 14 game against the Ravens:
That’s the question nobody has had an answer for yet in the NFL and the most obvious storyline heading into this game for the Bills. Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson hasn’t been stopped at all this season. Yes, the Ravens have two losses, but they’re on an eight-game winning streak currently.
Jackson’s talents of a dual-threat quarterback are much like the ones the Bills have in Josh Allen, but Jackson’s elusiveness as a playmaker while running the ball are next level. With 977 rushing yards already this year, he’ll top 1,000 yards against the Bills. But exactly by how much is the real question.
And even then, Jackson has two games this season where he’s tossed five touchdown passes in a single game. Like Allen, his arm is questioned a little bit in comparison to his running skills, but to a much lesser extent since… did we mentioned Jackson has tossed five touchdowns in a single game two times this year?
Eight things to know about the Buffalo Bills’ Week 14 opponent, the Baltimore Ravens.
The Bills have an upcoming clash that might be the highlight of the NFL’s next slate of games in Week 14.
Not many predicted the Bills (9-3) and Ravens (10-2) would have the records that they have heading into this game.
Alas, here we are, potentially battling for the top spot in the AFC at New Era Field. With such an important matchup in mind, let’s update ourselves on the opponent.
Here are eight things to know about the Bills’ Week 14 opponent, the Ravens:
The easiest place to start on the Ravens is exactly where everyone’s mind is. Quarterback Lamar Jackson.
Like Buffalo’s Josh Allen, Jackson is a dual-threat quarterback but in a much flashier sense. Both players are tough to bring down. Allen has the big body while Jackson has the elusiveness of Michael Vick. With those skills, Jackson leads the Ravens in rushing this season with 977 rushing yards, to go along with 2,532 passing yards. In total, Jackson has 25 passing touchdowns, seven rushing scores, six fumbles and five interceptions. It will be the first Lamar-Josh meeting at quarterback, too.
It’s hard to put into words how good Jackson is. He’s the current frontrunner for the MVP race and the Ravens are the only offense in the NFL to have scored more than 400 points (406) so far this season. Yes, that is good and yes he did this just last week:
Sep 15, 2019; Landover, MD, USA; Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Michael Gallup (13) runs after a catch against the Washington Redskins during the second half at FedExField. Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports For the first time since 1996, …
Sep 15, 2019; Landover, MD, USA; Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Michael Gallup (13) runs after a catch against the Washington Redskins during the second half at FedExField. Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports
For the first time since 1996, the Buffalo Bills are 8-3, and for the first time since 1994, they are playing football on Thanksgiving. Dallas has been a regular host of the Thanksgiving Day series since 1966, and the Cowboys have a rich history against the Buffalo Bills. It is one of the most anticipated games of Thanksgiving this year.
Here is everything that you need to know about the history of the Cowboys and Buffalo Bills, including their respective Thanksgiving Day stats:
The Bills and Cowboys first met on September 17, 1971, in Buffalo. The Cowboys won that game 49-37.
They met in two Superbowls, 27 and 28, with Dallas winning both encounters.
Their most recent encounter took place on December 27, 2015, and the Bills won that encounter 16 – 6.
The Cowboys lead the all-time series, including the two Super Bowl games, 8 games to 4 and have outscored Buffalo 280-181 over those 12 encounters.
The Cowboys played their first Thanksgiving Day game on November 24, 1966, defeating the Cleveland Browns 26-14.
Dallas would hold that tradition annually, with the exception of 1975 and 1977, in an effort to help out the St. Louis (Arizona) Cardinals boost stadium ticket sales.
Dallas is 31-18-1 on Thanksgiving.
Buffalo started playing Thanksgiving Day games while in the AFL. They played their first against the New York Titans (Jets) in a 21-14 loss.
The modern iteration of the Buffalo Bills have never hosted a Thanksgiving Day game, but played in five during their AFL years when no team had that home game guaranteed.
The Bills are 3-4-1 on Thanksgiving.
2019 So Far
Coming off of a 10-6 season and winning the NFC East for the second time in three years, the Cowboys are having a interesting year to say the least. Dallas lost in the Divisional Round of the playoffs to the Los Angeles Rams, and there were very high expectations coming into this season.
The Cowboys are currently 6-5, narrowly sitting atop the NFC East with Philadelphia only one game back at 5-6. As close as the race for the NFC East has been, both Philadelphia and Dallas are not being viewed as very competitive amongst the entire NFL, and are currently the worst team by record in the NFC Playoffs. A rather disappointing year that has many of the Dallas fan base calling for Jason Garrett’s removal as head coach, again.
2019 has been rocky from the start, as star running back Ezekiel Elliott held out for a bigger contract, a few years short of the expiration of his rookie deal. Considering the workload that has been put on “Zeke” over his very young NFL career, it was relatively fair, considering the toll that running back’s endure. However, the hold out led to some awkward moments and uncomfortable statements between Owner Jerry Jones and Elliott.
Also, a looming question heading into 2019 was quarterback Dak Prescott’s contract situation. Prescott has played relatively well in his tenure, sporting a 38-21 record as a starter with 14,309 yards passing, 88 touchdowns and 35 interceptions. He will most likely be extended with Dallas, as he’s given stability at his position that the Cowboys didn’t have during the latter years of Tony Romo’s career. Whether or not Dak has performed well in clutch moments, has been the question of his biggest detractors, and that is an area that he has lacked in.
Dallas began the season with three straight wins, defeating the New York Giants, Washington Redskins and Miami Dolphins. A great start, and Dallas looked like a top tier team and a definite Super Bowl contender, granted the strength of schedule. Prescott was having some of his best numbers, and the team, as a unit, was a well oiled machine.
However, it was the three games after that win streak that gave the Cowboys a stigma for 2019 that they “couldn’t beat good teams”. Losing to the New Orleans Saints 10-12, Green Bay Packers 24-34, and even a massive upset by the New York Jets, left Dallas feeling like an average team that couldn’t compete against the class of the division.
Since then, they’ve defeated the Eagles 37-10, completed the sweep of the Giants by winning 37-18, lost to the Minnesota Vikings 24-28, beat Detroit 35-27 and fell to the New England Patriots 9-13.
Dallas currently ranks first in “Team Offense” earning 4,767 yards over their first 11 games. They are the number one passing offense as well, with 3,339 passing yards. They are the eighth ranked rushing offense with 1,428 rushing yards, nearly 1,000 yards behind the Baltimore Ravens who sit at first.
Dak is currently the number one passer in the NFL, with 3,433 yards passing, tied at fourth in passing touchdowns with Kirk Cousins at 21 and tied for fifth in interceptions at 10 with Jimmy Garoppolo, Matt Ryan, Sam Darnold and Ryan Fitzpatrick.
“Zeke” is ranked seventh in rushing with 919 yards on the ground and tied at seven rushing touchdowns with Nick Chubb, Josh Jacobs, Todd Gurley and Bills QB Josh Allen. Dak Prescott has 197 rushing yards to his credit, good enough for 60th in the NFL, as well as three rushing touchdowns of his own.
Amari Cooper comes in at sixth in receiving, amassing 886 yards and he’s tied for fifth with touchdown receptions, at seven. Michael Gallup is the next best receiver, sitting at 21st in the NFL with 733 receiving yards. Randall Cobb at 39th with 581 yards.
As a defense, Dallas sits sixth in the NFL, allowing 3,503 yards against them and the seventh most points scored against them at 210. They are sixth in passing defense, giving up 2,350 yards by air and 12 touchdowns. The weakest aspect of their defense is against the rush, with 1,153 yards ran against them, good enough for 15th in the NFL.
How they match up with Buffalo?
There is certainly some intrigue with this game. Both Dallas and Buffalo are teams with stigmas. They can beat who they are supposed to beat, but can’t get the job done against winning teams. It rings true, as Dallas has not yet defeated a team with a winning record as of Week 13. The only team that Buffalo has defeated with a winning record currently, is the Tennessee Titans.
The Bills rush defense is at great risk this week, although it has improved the last few weeks. Ezekiel Elliott is one of the best running backs in the game, and an excellent pass-catching back. We all watched the defense that New England brought forth on Dallas last week, limiting the best passing offense to no touchdowns. The Bills have a tough defense as well, and it will be interesting to see if the Bills can duplicate or come close to New England’s performance.
Offensively, the Bills moved the ball effectively against Denver, who is ranked in the Top 10. Smart, calculated football to keep moving the chains with more usage for Singletary and Gore. The Cowboys weak rush defense should be a target for Buffalo in this game. Also, Cole Beasley is making his big return to the team where he had spent many years at. Beasley was excellent in the short to mid-range passing game last week, and it would be a good idea to continue to build off of that.
The Cowboys obviously have home field advantage on their side, and that typically bodes well with teams on short weeks. Traveling teams are 5-7 on the year, which aren’t terrible odds for the Bills.
Enjoy this game, and the other two throughout the day, with family and friends, the best way to enjoy football. Happy Thanksgiving from myself and the rest of the Billswire staff to you and yours!
Eight stats and numbers to know from the Buffalo Bills’ 20-3 win over the Denver Broncos.
Week 12 saw another inferior opponent pay a visit to New Era Field.
The Bills, for the second week in a row, turned in a dominating performance en route to a 17-point victory – this time a 20-3 thumping of the Denver Broncos.
While at a lowly three wins, the Broncos have a stout defense, but you wouldn’t know from the way Buffalo’s offense came to play.
With that, here are eight stats to know from the Bills win over the Broncos in Week 12:
15,289
It feels inappropriate to start with anything else. Running back Frank Gore rushed for 65 yards on 15 attempts, which brings his career total to 15,289 yards – bypassing Barry Sanders (15,269) for third all time.
In his first season in Buffalo, the 36-year-old Gore has amassed 541 yards through the team’s first 11 games. He is now 1,437 yards behind Walter Payton (16,726) for second-most all-time.
106
From one ground game accomplishment to another. Rookie Devin Singletary tallied his first-ever 100-yard game in Sunday’s victory over Denver, going for 106 yards on 21 carries.
Singletary is up to 490 yards on 84 attempts in eight games as a pro, and is averaging 5.8 yards per carry.
171
Josh Allen’s streak of passes thrown without an interception ended at 171, when his first-down pass was intercepted by Justin Simmons.
Allen redeemed himself nicely after the errant throw, finishing with 185 yards, two touchdowns and an interception on 15-of-25 passing – highlighted by a 34-strike to John Brown with 11:14 to go in the fourth quarter to all but put Denver away. The QB also rushed for 56 yards on nine carries.
39
John Brown saw his streak of 11 games with at least five receptions and five yards come to an end Sunday; he finished with two receptions on four targets for 39 yards and a score, while primarily going up against Denver’s All-Pro cornerback Chris Harris.
On the other side, Denver’s break-out receiver Courtland Sutton was held to just one reception on eight targets for 27 yards against Tre’Davious White.
White got the best of the matchup, snagging his fourth interception of the year. That ties a single-season career-high for him.
134
Buffalo held Denver to just 134 yards of total offense, including just 49 net passing yards with their four sacks of Broncos QB Brandon Allen combined.
The Bills defense held Broncos running back Phillip Lindsay to 57 yards on 13 carries. As a team, Denver only had 14 rushing yards after the first quarter. It was another impressive performance from the third-ranked Buffalo defense that’s needed to, and gotten, improved from their run defense.
424
Buffalo racked up 424 yards of total offense in the victory, matching its season-high – albeit only a week prior – from Nov. 17 at Miami. The Bills converted 50 percent 8-of-16) of their third downs in the win.
While Buffalo moved the ball and sustain drives against Denver’s eighth-ranked defense, penalties were again an issue. The Bills were flagged 12 times for 90 yards. Buffalo is tied for the seventh-most penalized team, having been flagged 85 times for 669 yards through 11 games.
1996
This one, you already know. Buffalo is 8-3 for the first time since 1996, and just the fifth-time overall. The Bills are 3-2 all-time in this spot, with wins coming in 1974 and in 1996.
Buffalo went on to win at least 10 games in all but one season after starting 8-3, with 1974’s 9-5 regular season record coming in a 14-game schedule.
+7
The Bills make their 2019 national television season debut on Thursday, squaring off with the Cowboys at AT&T Stadium in Arlington. Buffalo opened as seven-point underdogs ahead of the Thanksgiving Day battle with Dallas (6-5).
The Bills are 7-3-1 against the spread this season, while Dallas is 7-4 ATS. Buffalo is 4-0-1 against the spread on the road, while Dallas is 3-2 at home against the number. The over/ under is set for 45.
What We Learned, Buffalo Bills vs. Denver Broncos, NFL Week 12
The Buffalo Bills find themselves in unfamiliar territory heading into Thanksgiving: comfortably in a playoff position with one of the best records the AFC.
The Bills improved to 8-3 for the first time since 1996, Jim Kelly’s final season with the team, with a workman-like 20-3 victory over the Denver Broncos. It took a while for the Bills’ offense to get going, but once they did they were able to pull away from a Denver team that never seriously threatened Buffalo in this game. The Bills racked up over 240 yards rushing and Josh Allen tossed a pair of touchdown passes, including a 34-yard rainbow to John Brown that should satisfy fans who have been calling for Allen to deliver on a deep ball.
Meanwhile, the Buffalo defense was dominant, holding Denver to just nine first downs and 134 total yards. Young Broncos’ signal caller Brandon Allen tallied just 82 passing yards on 25 attempts. The Bills also sacked him four times, and the yardage from those sacks brought Denver down to just 49 net passing yards for the day. The run defense also held Phillip Lindsay and company to just 85 yards on the ground.
There was little to criticize from a complete effort from this Bills’ team as they find themselves in strong position heading into the final stretch of the regular season. The schedule does get considerably tougher beginning on Thanksgiving Day Thursday in Dallas.
Here are four things we learned as the Bills won for the second week in a row to continue their playoff push:
With that, here’s our latest stock report on the Bills following their win over the Broncos:
The Bills took an important 20-3 AFC win against the Denver Broncos in Week 12 which saw an all-around effort from both the offense, and certainly the defense.
With that, here’s our latest stock report on the Bills following their win over the Broncos:
A week after a suspect outing for Tre’Davious White, which saw Dolphins receiver DeVante Parker muster up 100-plus yards against Buffalo’s defense, things were completely locked down. The secondary, as a whole, played well and was led by White. He had an interception and while following Courtland Sutton around at times, White shutdown the No. 1 wideout. On eight targets, Sutton had one catch for 27 yards on the Broncos’ opening drive. It looked like there was supposed to be some help over the top and the Broncos happened to find an opening in Buffalo’s zone defense. They didn’t find many more after.
DE Shaq Lawson
For the second time in his career, Shaq Lawson had a two-sack outing. His speed around the edge gave him an open look for his first takedown of Denver quarterback Brandon Allen, while his second came via a move to the middle of the Broncos’ offensive line. Lawson is now up to five sacks this season, a single-season career-high for him. He’ll look to continue adding to that as the season progresses, which will help him build his resume as free agency approaches for him.
