The Bills took to the national stage on Thanksgiving and beat the Dallas Cowboys 26-15.
The Bills took to the national stage on Thanksgiving and beat the Dallas Cowboys 26-15. A win that was so impressive, the Bills’ Week 15 game was flexed into Sunday Night Football.
Get ready for the nation’s eyes again.
But before that, here’s a full depth chart breakdown via snap counts for the Bills against the Cowboys in Week 13:
Buffalo Bills wide receiver Robert Foster. (AP Photo/John Munson)
Offense
Notes:
At RT, rookie Cody Ford played every single snap with the offensive line for the second-straight week and only second time in his career.
Rookie RB Devin Singletary played in 78 percent of snaps to Frank Gore’s 22 percent.
Heavy 11 personnel continued for the Bills, but Isaiah McKenzie’s snap counts took a hit. After playing in 77 and 74 percent of offensive snaps the past two weeks, respectively, McKenzie played in only 45 percent vs. the Cowboys. Robert Foster played in 42 percent, a season-high.
Rookie TE Dawson Knox tied his career-high snap percent at 78. He set that same mark last week.
TE Tyler Kroft played in only 18 percent of snaps vs. the Cowboys. For games he played in, that was a season-low.
The Buffalo Bills played lights out against Dallas on Thanksgiving to move to 9-3 on the season.
“Well, well, well…” is what BillsMafia is saying to the collective national media, who counted out the Buffalo Bills on their Thanksgiving clash with the Dallas Cowboys, 26-15.
On the national stage, the Bills had their pie and ate it too. The Bills played their most complete game of the season in Dallas showing off to the nation what many in Western New York already knew. The Bills are legitimate playoff contenders.
With that, here’s how the positional groups graded in the Bills’ Week 13 win on Thanksgiving:
Josh Allen played like a true franchise quarterback on Thursday, using both his legs and arm to make plays down the field. Allen showed that he can beat a team with his arm, he can improvise in the pocket, and turn a seemingly dead play into something positive. This is something Bills fans have seen all season, but never against a quality opponent on this big of a stage.
Allen completed 79 percent of his passes on 19-for-24 passing with 231 yards, and one passing touchdown. Allen also used his legs to rush for 43 yards and the game sealing touchdown in the third quarter.
He also showed improved decision making and better ball placement and he was making it easy for his receivers to make big plays. This type of game is something the Bills franchise has been looking for since the days of Jim Kelly.
The Buffalo Bills face the Dallas Cowboys on Thanksgiving in an important game that have potential playoff implications for both teams.
The Bills will be facing the Dallas Cowboys for a Turkey Day clash, and will be looking to pull an impressive upset on the big stage. Dallas sits at 6-5 and are coming off a poor loss to the New England Patriots, while the Bills are 8-3 and are coming off an important victory vs. Denver.
Both teams are jockeying for playoff positions before the homestretch of the season. With that being said, here are five important matchups to watch on Thanksgiving:
Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott. Credit: Tim Fuller-USA TODAY Sports
Ezekiel Elliot vs. Tremaine Edmunds, Matt Milano
Ezekiel Elliot is one of the best running backs in football and has the burden of carrying Dallas’s offense. In four of the Cowboys losses this season Zeke was held to under 100 yards, which means that the entire Bills defense needs to be on the top of their game to stop the Pro Bowl running back. If Buffalo wants a shot at winning they will need to hold Zeke to under 100 yards.
Holding Elliot to under 100 yards is easier said than done though. On his 215 rushing attempts this season he has 919 yards and seven rushing touchdowns. Elliot averages 4.9 yards per carry, while the Bills defense allows 4.4 yards per attempt which is 20th in the NFL. Luckily for the Bills, Elliot has only managed 3.1 yards per carry in his past three games.
The leaders of the Bills defense, Tremaine Edmunds and Matt Milano will be spearheading the rush defense to prevent Ezekiel Elliot from dominating Buffalo. In the past two weeks, Milano and Edmunds have been sent on more blitzes on crucial downs which has led to the two making blowing up plays in the backfield.
Milano and Edmunds have combined for 153 tackles this season, with 17 of them coming in the backfield. If Edmunds and Milano want to prevent Elliot from dominating the game, they will need to make plays in the backfield and at the line of scrimmage.
Buffalo Bills depth chart breakdown via snap count for their Week 12 meeting against the Denver Broncos.
Offense, defense, special teams, don’t matter. The Bills whole clan showed up against the Denver Broncos in Week 12 en route to a 20-3 win at New Era Field.
The Bills (8-3) had an all-around effort against the Broncos, but who played the biggest part in that effort?
Here’s a full depth chart breakdown via snap counts for the Bills against the Broncos in Week 12:
Buffalo Bills offensive tackle Cody Ford (AP Photo/John Munson)
Offense
Notes:
For the first time in his career, rookie OL Cody Ford played 100 percent of snaps in a game. OL Ty Nsekhe missed Week 12 due to an ankle injury. Those two have rotated in weeks prior.
Rookie RB Devin Singletary played in 71 percent of snaps to Frank Gore’s 29 percent. Those two rushed for 106 and 65 yards, respectively.
The Bills continued with plenty of 11 personnel again against the Broncos as WR Isaiah McKenzie played in 76 percent of snaps. McKenzie has played in at least 76 percent of snaps over the past two games.
Rookie TE Dawson Knox played in a career-high 78 percent of snaps, well ahead of Tyler Kroft’s 31 percent.
WR John Brown played in 99 percent of snaps for the second-straight week. Although, he does typically play in 90-plus percent of snaps anyway.
WR Robert Foster played in 10 total snaps but injured his hamstring against the Broncos. In Week 11, Foster was limited to only special teams duties and did not play against the Dolphins on offense.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Buffalo Bills podcast following Week 10 loss to the Cleveland Browns.
The Buffalo Bills failed to defeat the Cleveland Browns, falling 19-16 in Cleveland to fall to 6-3 on the season. While at first glance, it’s easy to point the finger at kicker Stephen Haushcka for missing a game-tying field goal, the problem is much deeper, yet obvious.
For months, many of the Bills critics have questioned the Bills offense, with much push back from biased “Billievers” and Josh Allen apologists. If this game doesn’t change those opinions, nothing will. Poor clock management, conservative play-calling and key plays not extending drives were all a major part of this team’s misfortunes in Cleveland.
Daboll has been a figure who, if this Bills season goes south quick, could find himself as the scapegoat when it comes to appeasing the fan base at the end of the season. His play calling has seemingly limited this offenses potential, and does not look as explosive as it could. It has even led many to believe that Josh Allen isn’t the franchise quarterback that the team thought he was.
Fortunately for Buffalo, if there is anything positive to examine, the Bills are not down and out, and have the opportunity to build their cushion as the first Wild Card spot, although there are some teams beginning to catch up.
Billswire Podcast Hosts Matt and Jeremy discuss the Week 10 loss to the Cleveland Browns:
