Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
Buffalo Bills 2020 roster analysis and look ahead on the tight end position.
The Buffalo Bills had an excellent 2020 season as a team, but position-by-position is a different story. Some were certainly better than others and as the offseason is now in full swing, Bills Wire will give a quick analysis of the team’s current roster by reflecting on the season that was and looking ahead to 2021.
First up, here is our breakdown on the team’s tight end unit:
Buffalo Bills tight end Tyler Kroft had landed on the Reserve/COVID list. The team announced the move on Saturday. In response, the Bills (12-3) called up four players from their practice squad ahead of their season finale against the Miami Dolphins …
Buffalo Bills tight end Tyler Kroft had landed on the Reserve/COVID list. The team announced the move on Saturday.
In response, the Bills (12-3) called up four players from their practice squad ahead of their season finale against the Miami Dolphins (10-5).
Those four players are:
Because of Kroft’s test, the Bills are allowed to call players up from the practice squad on an “emergency basis.” Jackson has already been called up the maximum two times but because of the emergency status, he’s allowed to be called up.
The other three players have yet to be called up in 2020.
[lawrence-related id=75757,75624,75707,75614]
Buffalo Bills report card following the third quarter of the 2020 NFL season.
We’re rounding the final turn of the Buffalo Bills’ 2020 regular season. At 9-3, the Bills are still in the pole position in terms of grabbing a playoff berth from the AFC East.
However, the work is far from done. While the team itself will be looking forward to their final four games, let’s take a look back before we do the same.
Here’s Bills Wire’s third-quarter report card heading into the final stretch:
Studs and duds from the Buffalo Bills’ 34-24 win over the San Francisco 49ers in Week 13.
The Buffalo Bills are putting their final reviews on their latest matchup, this one being their recent 34-24 win over the San Francisco 49ers on Monday Night Football’s Week 13 matchup.
In the effort, we saw the Bills (9-3) really hand it to the Niners (5-7). Many times in 2020 the Bills have let teams grind back into games. Despite the 49ers’ best efforts, Buffalo was having none of that as a late touchdown in garbage time made the scoreboard a lot closer than it really was.
After looking at the tape and letting the dust settle, here are eight studs and three duds from the Bills in their over the 49ers:
As a whole, the Bills offensive line had a strong game, in particular, in pass protection. Holes weren’t always there for the backfield, but more good than bad. If we’re going to single out one, we’ll go with Ike Boettger. He replaced Brian Winters in the starting lineup against the Niners, a bit of a pressure situation there and he still earned the highest bump via Pro Football Focus’ grades this week among all of Buffalo’s linemen. He jumped from a 72.0 to 75.9 on the year.
In his best season of his career, filled with big game after big game after big game, quarterback Josh Allen had his best outing of 2020. Perhaps not surpassing 400 passing yards, he still completed 80 percent of his passes (32/40) for 375 yards with four touchdowns. The Niners had no answers for him.
After only two 100-plus yard game in his career with the Cowboys, Cole Beasley had his four… in 2020. Among those, his 130 total receiving yards against the 49ers was a career-high. Not to mention the nine catches and touchdown he grabbed en route to that.
After another double-digit catch day at the office for Stefon Diggs in Week 13, he’s now tied for the NFL lead in receptions with 90. Each week Diggs appears in such lists and it feels like a lazy add, but he deserves it. Diggs had a critical fourth-down grab against the Niners which stood out, along with a toe-touch on the sideline early.
Interception? Check. Leading the team in tackles (12)? Check. A massive stop at the goal line leading to, not once, but twice, huge plays directly after his play occurred? Check. Micah Hyde led the Buffalo secondary in a big way.
For the third time in four games, Tre’Davious White took the ball away from the opposing quarterback. He did once again, like last week, when they were close to scoring, too. Aside from one catch by Brandon Aiyuk with White in coverage early, we didn’t hear White’s name much at all against the 49ers.
Like Hyde, Tremaine Edmunds had a fantastic stop along this goal line, with his going for a turnover on downs. The Niners had almost not chance on that great read by Edmunds. While not perfect against the run, Edmunds did make his impact felt against the pass and is even rushing the passer a bit more as of late.
The Bills’ defensive line was kept mostly quiet because the Niners’ passing attack was a quick-strike one. Quarterback Nick Mullens got the ball out very fast over and over again. But Vernon Butler did stand out a couple of times rushing the passer, and running back Tevin Coleman won’t forget him after Butler completely blew him up near the goal line as well.
Buffalo Bills TE Tyler Kroft, CB Levi Wallace, S Dean Marlowe activated from Reserve/ COVID-19 list.
The Bills were dealt a late blow prior to facing the Cardinals in Week 10. After the dramatic finish, folks might have forgotten about that. But the situation has since improved.
A day prior to that game’s kickoff on Saturday, the Bills had a surprise jolt of players to the team’s Reserve/ COVID-19 list. The team announced on Thursday that three of those four players have been cleared from that designation.
Tight end Tyler Kroft, cornerback Levi Wallace and safety Dean Marlowe were all activated from the illness-related list. That trio were placed on the list due to contact tracing safety precaution. All three tested negative for COVID-19 last weekend, but cornerback Josh Norman did have a positive test result and those three were said to be in close contact with Norman, so they too were added to the designation.
Norman has yet to be removed from the list at this point, though. Norman still has more than a week to clear the listing because the Bills are currently on their bye week and do not play in Week 11. They’ll next return to the field in Week 12 at Bills Stadium against the Chargers.
In order for a player to be removed from the COVID list, they have to report multiple negative COVID-19 test results. Norman evidently has not.
[lawrence-related id=73401,73399,73396,73389]
Buffalo Bills CB Josh Norman tests positive for COVID-19.
The Buffalo Bills will be without four players in Week 10 when they take on the Arizona Cardinals. The team announced that cornerback Josh Norman tested positive for COVID-19 and will not play on Sunday.
Due to safety precautions, other players also out along with Norman includes tight end Tyler Kroft, cornerback Levi Wallace and safety Dean Marlowe.
Check back for updates…
[lawrence-related id=73081,73078,72930,73054]
Buffalo Bills 2020 report card at the halfway point of the season.
Here’s Bills Wire’s 2020 midseason report card for the Buffalo Bills after eight games:
Buffalo Bills midseason awards for the 2020 NFL season.
The Bills will start the second half of their season on Sunday in Week 9 against the Seattle Seahawks. Buffalo currently sits at a 6-2 record and will look to duplicate that effort over their next eight games.
But before we get there, let’s take one last time to look back at the first half of the 2020 season. Here’s Bills Wire’s first half awards:
Evaluating the 2020 NFL trade deadline for the Buffalo Bills.
The Buffalo Bills were sitting at 6-2 as the NFL trade deadline expired with the team not making any sort of changes. That may have come as a surprise due to the fact that the team’s general manager, Brandon Beane, has a reputation of being one of the best general managers in the NFL.
The Bills have problems that’s a fact, so let’s take a look at a few of these problems, how severe they are, and if the anything could have been addressed at the trade deadline:
The Bills have recorded 19 sacks this season, which is tied for ninth in the league, but they aren’t generating consistent pressure. According to Pro Football Reference, the Bills have only hurried opposing quarterbacks 16 times, which is tied for 30th . They have also only hurried the quarterback on 5.4% of dropbacks, which is tied for last in the league (Titans). To put this into more context, the Steelers, the league leader in both categories, have hurried the quarterback 38 times, which means they’re hurrying the quarterback on 13.9% of their plays. Per PFF, the Steelers have generated the most pressure on opposing quarterbacks per dropback, at an outstanding 33.9% of passes. The Bills on the other hand are sitting at 19th in the league by generating pressure on 19.2% of dropbacks.
So could this have been addressed via trade? Yes.
Newly acquired Yannick Ngakoue gets a sack on Big Ben.pic.twitter.com/mZHllFCdOz
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) November 1, 2020
The Ravens acquired premier pass rusher Yannick Ngakoue from the Vikings. The Ravens sent over a 2021 third-round pick and a 2020 fifth rounmder. Since 2016 Ngakoue has had 42.5 sacks, the Ravens spent pennies on the dollar for one of the best pass rushers in the league.
When the Bills traded for Stefon Diggs in the offseason their receiving corps looked infallible. The trio of Stefon Diggs, Cole Beasley, and John Brown had the potential to be the best trio of receivers in the NFL, but halfway through the season it hasn’t quite panned out. Diggs has lived up to his billing so far though. He’s second in the NFL with 695 receiving yards, he’s caught 54 passes, and has three receiving touchdowns.
Too smooth. 😏@JoshAllenQB | @StefonDiggs pic.twitter.com/1HL2lNm5fY
— Buffalo Bills (@BuffaloBills) October 29, 2020
The rest of the receivers haven’t been up to snuff. Brown, the Bills’ No. 1 receiver from last season, has just 15 catches for 215 yards, and two touchdowns. In most games, Brown is a non-factor with the likes of Gabe Davis, Beasley, and tight en Tyler Kroft out performing the speedster. Speaking of Davis, he had a bright start to start the season, but in the last four games he has been another non-factor. Receivers haven’t been the only disappointment though, Buffalo’s tight ends haven’t produced consistently.
The two starting tight ends, Dawson Knox and Kroft, have just 211 yards and two touchdowns combined. If Buffalo wants to contend they will need to see more production from their tight ends and the rest of their receivers.
Could this have been fixed at the trade deadline? Yes and no.
While this is a cop-out answer, this is due to that not many pass catchers were traded during the regular season. But receiver John Ross III of the Cincinnati Bengals tweeted that he requested a trade from the team.
https://twitter.com/WatchJRoss/status/1322268384118083586
If Buffalo wanted to make a splash, they could have added the disgruntled receiver.
The Buffalo Bills had to rally against the Jets to seal their fifth victory of the season.
The Bills needed a bounce back after two consecutive loses to the Chiefs and Titans, respectively, and they got it against the Jets. It wasn’t easy, especially in the first half, but the Bills rallied from being down 10-0, to pull out an 18-10 victory.
The Bills needed rookies from all across the roster to make plays, whether it was fullback Reggie Gilliam, cornerback Dane Jackson, defensive end AJ Epenesa, or kicker Tyler Bass. It was a great team performance, that was marred by an inconsistent red zone offense, poor decision-making, and bad penalties.
Buffalo still pulled out the victory to sweep the Jets in 2020 and move to 5-2 on the season. With that, let’s see who performed or underperformed in New Jersey via this week’s stock report:
The Bills came into their game against the Jets with a secondary that’s missing some key pieces, cornerbacks Josh Norman and Levi Wallace were both out due to injury. It’s also a secondary that hasn’t made many plays this season, but rookie Dane Jackson, in his first career game, looked up to the task. Jackson started off strong by breaking up a pass on third down to force a New York field goal early in the contest.
Jackson continued his debut by making three tackles, breaking up two more passes, and picking off quarterback Sam Darnold once. It was the type of performance that the Bills secondary hasn’t seen this season, and Jackson could have played himself into a starting role in the backend of the season.
Kicker Tyler Bass hasn’t had the best start to his NFL career, but the Bills never had to rely on the rookie… until they faced the Jets. Buffalo’s offense struggled once they made it into Jets territory, that meant Bass needed to produce. He attempted eight field goals, making six of them, with a long of 53 yards.
Frankly, Bass was one of the reasons that Buffalo beat the Jets, while Bass hasn’t been perfect this year, he showed up when his team needed him.
While Buffalo only scored 18 points they moved the ball relatively well up until the they hit the red zone and receiver Cole Beasley was a big part of that. Beasley finished the day 11 catches, a new career high, for 112 yards. Quarterback Josh Allen found Beasley on the underneath routes, and then Beasley made defenders miss when the ball was in his hands.
Beasley also made a tremendous one handed grab in the red zone, showing his awareness and great hands.
This spot could have gone to the entire defensive line because for the first time this season the Bills generated consistent pressure with their front four. The Bills defense sacked Darnold six times, with two of the six coming from Jerry Hughes. The other four came from the likes of: Tre’Davious White, Matt Milano, AJ Epenesa, and Trent Murphy.
Hughes finished the game with six tackles, two sacks, a forced fumble, and the game sealing interception.
Josh Allen had a bounce back performance with 368 total yards, but made some bad decisions that cost his team points. Zach Moss, the rookie back, had a strong second half, finishing the game with 72 total yards. Tyler Kroft, the lone tight end had four catches for 64 yards.
