Bills snap counts: Depth chart breakdown vs. Steelers

Buffalo Bills Week 15 snap counts against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

In front of a lot of eyes, the Buffalo Bills clinched a playoff berth with a 17-10 win on Sunday Night Football.

It was a defensive showcase for most of it, but when needed in crunch time, the Bills offense ended up with more numbers on the scoreboard than the Steelers when it was all said and done.

Who took charge in both the good and bad of the game? Here’s a full depth chart breakdown via snap counts for the Bills against the Steelers in Week 15:

Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen. (AP Photo/Don Wright)

Offense

Notes:

Only Jon Feliciano, who briefly went down with injury, did not play in 100 percent of snaps along the Bills’ offensive line.
For the fourth-straight game, rookie Cody Ford played in every snap. Ty Nsekhe (ankle) was still injured and missed the game.
WR Robert Foster did not play a snap on offense. In Week 14 against the Ravens, he saw 25 percent of snaps on offense. The Bills used less 11 personnel, likely to help with blockers, as Isaiah McKenzie only played 46 percent of snaps after seeing 72 percent last week.
Over the past three games, respectively, WR Cole Beasley played in 99%, 89% and 81% of snaps. Against the Steelers, he only saw 69 percent of snaps.
OL Spencer Long filled in for Feliciano and played seven snaps in the game.
TEs Dawson Knox and Lee Smith both played in 48 percent of snaps, likely to help with blocking. Knox was playing in more than 72 percent of snaps over the past four-straight games prior to facing the Steelers.

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Matt Milano thinks Bills could face Ravens in playoffs

The Bills fell 24-17 to the Baltimore Ravens in their lone scheduled game against each other in 2019. Buffalo linebacker Matt Milano thinks another could be en route, though.

Despite the loss, at 9-4 the Bills and 11-2 Ravens are both in the fast lane to the playoffs. With that in mind, Milano said following the game he can envision a scenario where his team gets a second crack at beating Baltimore in the playoffs.

“Just keep building, put it behind us. Collect the tape tomorrow, come in, get that watched, and then, probably face them again later in the season,” Milano said.

While Milano was the latest victim of an incredble juke by Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson, the defense played extremely well overall. Aside from a 59-10 win over the Dolphins on opening day which Jackson only carried the ball three times and was yanked early in the blowout, the playmaker had his lowest rushing-yard total of the year, only 40 yards.

In the end, it was mostly the Bills offense that wasn’t impressive. With the 59-point outing for the Ravens in mind, the Bills held them to only 24 points. Buffalo’s offense still had a chance at the end thanks to the defense, but eventually fell.

If facing the Ravens does happen again, the Bills offense knows they have to better. Offensive lineman Jon Feliciano called the Ravens the best team in the NFL after seeing what they can do first hand.

“I couldn’t tell you who the number one is right now. They were definitely physical up front. Real good team, coached well. They believe they’re the number one team, and they showed it,” Feliciano said.

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At 9-3, the Bills are ready for some respect

Following their biggest win in recent history, the Bills feel it’s time people take notice.

Entering Thursday’s Thanksgiving showdown vs. the Dallas Cowboys, the Bills were not receiving any respect.

Despite being 8-3, the Bills were 7.5-point underdogs to start the week against the 6-5 Cowboys, and the talk was mainly surrounding their weak schedule and unimpressive wins vs. bad teams.

Following their 26-15 win on the national stage, that saw the Bills improve to 9-3 for the first time since 1996, several players on the Bills felt it was time people start paying them their due.

As the clock wound down on one of the biggest wins in recent Bills history, defensive end Shaq Lawson had plenty to say on the sideline.

“Bills back. If we don’t got y’all respect now, we got this [expletive] for real,” Lawson said.

“They gonna respect Bills Mafia.”

Lawson wasn’t alone. As the team made it’s way down the tunnel towards the locker room, following the victory, passion was oozing out of the players.

“You don’t like us, but we’re winning!” Jerry Hughes shouted.

Jon Feliciano directly behind him added, “are not you entertained?!”

While being the underdog provides a certain ‘chip on your shoulder’ that drives players, at some point everyone wants acknowledgment for their hard work and success.

“The film spoke for itself today,” Bills defensive tackle Jordan Phillips told reporters. “We came out and did our thing. Showed the world what we got. Put the world on notice. We were the worst 8-3 team in the NFL, now hopefully we get a little respect. We’ll see how that goes.”

Bills safety Jordan Poyer was asked if this win can be classified as a statement win for Buffalo.

“I believe so,” Poyer said at his locker. “The world believed that we couldn’t come in here and do what we did today and you know, we showed what we could do. Everybody doubting us. Everybody, but the people in this locker room, believing that we couldn’t win… but the guys in this locker room, the coaches in this locker room, the organization, we believed that we were going to come in here and win and it showed today. ”

While many players and coaches on the Bills are often tight lipped regarding their feelings towards being disrespected by those outside the organization, Thanksgiving felt different.

Many of the players on the team shared pictures to their Instagram accounts of network analysts picking the Cowboys to win, adding fuel to the growing sense of being disrespected.

In many ways Week 13 felt personal. Perhaps it was being on national TV, it being Thanksgiving, or just the fact that after 12 games the Bills have the third-best record in the conference and have no control over who they face on their schedule. All they can control is beating the teams they face.

Next up, the Bills get to take on the hottest team in the NFL, in the Baltimore Ravens. If they find a way to get that win, then absolutely no one will be denying the Bills the respect that they feel they deserve.

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What we learned from Bills’ Week 12 win over Broncos

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:

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