mitch morse – Page 17 – Syndication Server

Bills O-line in middle of pack in PFF’s 2019 rankings

Buffalo Bills offensive line in Pro Football Focus’ end of season 2019 rankings.

The Bills gave their offensive line nearly a complete re-do last offseason. Things were certainly better than 2018, but overall, Pro Football Focus only ranked the new-look line as a middle of the pack unit in the NFL.

In PFF’s final overall offensive line rankings following the 2019 regular season, the Bills clocked in at No. 21.

Here’s how PFF broke down the Bills’ offensive line:

The Bills invested in their offensive line this offseason between free agency and the draft, and we’ve seen improvement from the unit over last season. Those additions along the line, combined with an emphasis on the short passing game and a resulting quicker release from Josh Allen, has lowered the signal-caller’s pressure rate roughly seven percentage points from where it was last season. The Bills’ top pass blocker has been Dion Dawkins with a 76.4 pass-blocking grade.

Overall, Dawkins was the Bills’ best offensive lineman via PFF this season, clocking in at a 73.3 overall mark. That earned him the mark of being their 24 best offensive tackle in the NFL. Aside from Dawkins, no one on Buffalo’s line fell in PFF’s “good” category.

Mitch Morse and John Feliciano, earning grades of 65.9 and 64.1, respectively, were considered “average” by PFF’s grading landscape.

Quinton Spain and Cody Ford landed at 55.8 and 52.4, respectively, very much below average.

The other missing Buffalo lineman is Ty Nsekhe, who landed with a solid grade of 67.3.

Moving forward, the Bills might make a lone change or two, but don’t expect a massive overhaul again from the Bills again this offseason. While Buffalo has cap space or draft picks to add to their line, it’s a safer bet that the Bills coaching staff will give this group another year to gel and build on their first season together in 2019. Spain is a free agent, though.

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Bills offensive line recognizes test ahead in Steelers

Buffalo Bills C Mitch Morse, OL Quinton Spain, coach Sean McDermott on Pittsburgh Steelers defense.

The Bills offensive line struggled against the Baltimore Ravens last week. Upcoming in Week 15, an even bigger test might be awaiting in the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Buffalo quarterback Josh Allen was hit 12 times, sacked six times, and the Ravens had 12 total tackles for loss. With all those numbers in mind, here’s another: The Steelers have 48 sacks, the most in the NFL. That could be a problem.

Reflecting back on Wednesday, Bills center Mitch Morse said the type of game the Bills played last week is the type that causes some self-reflection.

“I think there’s definitely some good parts to the game, but you can’t let that clout what we have to work on,” Morse told reporters. “It’s always easier to find excuses outside of yourself for things that go array. You’ve got to look internally and there’s a lot that I can work on and learn on.”

Buffalo has a lot to work on looking at the film from Sunday against Baltimore. But lineman Quinton Spain things there’s a bit of a formula that might work well for the Steelers.

Spain said the Bills need to establish a running game early, which will then allow the Bills to open things up offensively.

“We’ve got to establish the run, that’s going to open up the passing protection,” Spain said. “We’ve got to do our job. They call the play, five man, six man, seven man protection, eight man protection, we just have got to hold up and let Josh (Allen) do what he’s got to do.”

That being said, it’s much easier said than done. Buffalo head coach Sean McDermott knows that and said the Steelers will certainly have looked at the tape from last week.

“It’s a copycat league and we try and respect that as well, and make sure that we are dotting our I’s and crossing our T’s as relates to some of the challenges that we faced,” McDermott said. “We’ve got to make sure that we continue to grow specific to what happened [against the Ravens].”

And as mentioned, it’s not going to be easy by any stretch against the likes of TJ Watt, Bud Depree and the rest of the Steelers’ strong front-seven.

“They got great guys up there. They got Pro Bowlers, they’ve got All-Pros in that front-seven,” Spain said. “We’ve got to do our job a dominate the game.”

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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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Mitch Morse exits Bills game vs. Broncos

Buffalo Bills center Mitch Morse is questionable to return to his team’s meeting with the Denver Broncos. Morse suffered a finger injury.

Morse exited the game and guard Jon Feliciano is in at center with the first-team offense.

Spencer Long replaced Feliciano at guard.

On the drive Morse left, the Bills earned a field goal to take a 6-0 lead. Kicker Stephen Hauschka converted from 23 yards for the score.

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