Offense is not good enough to take the Bills far
All season long, the Bills have been looking to get just a little bit more from their offense to compliment one of the best defenses in football. While the Bills bread and butter was a defense that ranked second in points and third in total yards, the offense lagged greatly behind, finishing 23rd and 24th in the same two categories. The Bills averaged just 19 points a game, meaning that despite their outstanding defense, they still struggled to put enough points on the board to win in most games throughout the season,
The story continued into the postseason. On Saturday, the Bills great defense shut out Deshaun Watson and the Texans in the first half. They kept them under 20 points through four quarters. That should be enough to go and win. But because of the trouble the Bills had on offense, it somehow wasn’t enough.
In the end, the lack of offensive firepower led to Buffalo’s exit from the postseason. While the defense buckled in the second half, giving up three straight scoring drives, and surrounded two huge plays in overtime that allowed Houston to get into winning field goal range, it was the offense’s inability to sustain drives that ultimately cost the Bills this game.
This was the fifth-straight game in which the Bills did not score 20 points. That simply isn’t good enough to win in the NFL in 2020.
In this game, the Bills put together perhaps their most impressive drive of the season to open the game, marching 75 yards in six plays and never facing a third down. They capped it with a creative play where John Brown took a jet sweep and threw a touchdown pass to Josh Allen.
After that, the Bills never sniffed the end zone. That’s what ended up costing them the game. While Houston’s offense sputtered, the Bills’ offense couldn’t deliver the knockout punch. They blew chances for a second touchdown and ended up kicking four field goals.
An offense that can’t be trusted to score more than one touchdown a game is one that can’t be trusted to carry the team on a playoff run. The Bills weren’t going to beat Watson, Pat Mahomes, or Lamar Jackson scoring one touchdown a game.
The Bills have some work to do to get their offense to a higher place in 2020. Duke Williams led the Bills in receiving targets in this game. That should not be the case with a guy who was inactive for 12 of 16 games. The Bills need to add another capable wide receiver to join Brown and Cole Beasley. They also need an upgrade on Frank Gore, who looks completely washed. Some depth on the offensive line would also help.
The Bills also need more from their most important player – their quarterback, who needs to look the part of an upper-echelon quarterback in his third season.