The Buffalo Bills needed a complete performance last Thursday night if they were going to defeat a Houston Texans team with an excellent defense. Instead, their offense sputtered, and that Houston defense dominated the point of attack, sacking quarterback Josh Allen eight times on the way to a 23-19 victory. Buffalo’s defense, which allowed 20 points and 201 net yards in the first half, found a rhythm after intermission, allowing three points and 60 net yards in the second half.
Ultimately, that improvement was too little and too late for the Bills, who find themselves at 7-4 and in a tenuous postseason position. They are seventh in the AFC right now, and the New England Patriots appear poised to win the AFC East with a 10-2 record and a win in hand over the Bills. Buffalo needs to right the ship moving forward, but between the injuries they suffered in the loss to Houston and the schedule in general, it’s not going to be easy.
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There were some bright spots in this one, even with the loss. Here’s how our five (or so) players to watch fared this week.
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RB James Cook III
On the surface, it was a good day for Cook, and he was once again the statistical bright spot on offense. He carried 17 times for 116 yards and a long first-quarter touchdown to punctuate the Bills’ first scoring drive of the game.
However, when you examine his numbers more closely, his day was really a few big plays with a whole lot of struggle in between. Aside from Cook’s 45-yard touchdown jaunt, he also added a 13-yard run in the second quarter and a 20-yard run in the fourth quarter. So, on those three carries, he totaled 78 yards and a touchdown. On his other 14 rushes, he totaled just 38 yards.
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Was that due to predictability in play-calling? Was it due to infrequent carries that led him unable to gain rhythm? Was it just a stout Texans front stacking the box and daring Buffalo to beat them through the air to the outside?
One sequence in particular had all of those things, as offensive coordinator Joe Brady dialed up five consecutive Cook carries on a critical fourth-quarter drive. On 2nd & 8 from Buffalo’s 48, Cook carried for 20 yards. On the next play, he gained two yards. On the play after that, he gained five yards. Then, on third down, Brady dialed up another handoff. Cook gained one yard and tried to check out of the game. The staff sent him back out there, and on 4th & 1, the Bills tried a misdirection handoff to a clearly exhausted Cook, and the play was blown up in the backfield.
I loved the aggressiveness in going for it on fourth down with just over 10 minutes left in the fourth quarter. I hated the play call. That was another example of a player being in a spot where he wasn’t set up for success, something that’s happened far too often this year. Aside from Cook’s 116 rushing yards, he also totaled three receptions for 16 yards through the air.
WR Keon Coleman
I questioned whether Coleman would play, and when I wrote the article last Monday night, that still was a question. By the time it was published Thursday morning, reports had already leaked that Coleman would be a healthy scratch, and once again, he sat.
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There’s no telling whether Coleman could have helped or not, and given his struggles with tight man-to-man coverage, I’d have to lean on the side that assumes he wouldn’t have had much impact on the game. However, in a contest where Buffalo’s receivers were essentially erased for much of the night, having Coleman as another option might have been of use.
Tyrell Shavers, who led the team in targets and receptions against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, was not targeted once. Gabe Davis, who had three catches for 40 yards against Tampa Bay, was targeted just twice. He had one grab for 22 yards.
Buffalo’s receiver situation is a mess, and unfortunately, there’s not likely very much that’s going to change that in the next month or two. Wholesale personnel changes are unlikely to happen, let alone be helpful, so the only possibility would be a change in scheme. Based on this season, that also appears to be unlikely to occur, so the Bills are going to have to gut it out.
[The Offensive Line]
Yikes. This was a rough performance on offense, and the five guys up front didn’t help matters. They will take the majority of the blame for the career-high eight sacks Josh Allen took, but that’s not entirely fair, as many of those sacks came when Allen held the ball, scrambled, and waited in vain for receivers to uncover.
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However, there were plenty of lowlights to go around. There was right tackle Spencer Brown playing with one arm deep into the fourth quarter, and being abused by Will Anderson. There was right guard O’Cyrus Torrence being rag-dolled by former Bills defensive tackle Tim Settle Jr. There was center Connor McGovern being thrown into his teammates on a stunt from Houston. There was right guard David Edwards spinning in circles like Robot Man from those Chappelle’s Show skits way back when after he misidentified Aziz al-Shaiir as a blitzer — multiple times — leading him to block air while the rest of the line went one-on-one.
Then, there was left tackle Dion Dawkins, committing his weekly pre-snap penalty at the most inopportune time — a false start on 4th & 1 on Buffalo’s final drive. Dawkins also gave up multiple sacks and pressure to his inside, which seems to be a point of emphasis for opponents of late. They show inside pressure to occupy Edwards, then drop that player into a spy/mirror look. Dawkins oversets to the edge, relying on that help from the inside. With Edwards out of the picture, it was an easy blow-by for Barnett, Anderson, Danielle Hunter, take your pick.
What I can’t understand is this: The line is being abused all night. The protection plan you have clearly isn’t working. So the offensive coordinator’s response is… to double-down and keep doing the same thing? How about mixing in a six-man protection? A tight end slip screen, maybe? When Brown finally left the game, why are you leaving Ryan Van Demark one-on-one with a guy who abused your starting tackle all night?
The inability or unwillingness to adjust mid-game this season has been both mind-boggling and terribly frustrating. While the Bills’ offensive line didn’t play well Thursday night, their offensive coordinator did them no favors.
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LB Dorian Williams
In terms of total defensive snaps, Williams was LB4 in this one, trailing Terrel Bernard, Matt Milano, and Shaq Thompson. That’s to be expected, at this point, but Williams still has plenty of upside when used for specific purposes. Williams has carved out a role as an A-gap pressure player, and he’s athletic enough to spy the quarterback, as well.
Against the Texans, he totaled just two tackles, one on defense and one on special teams. But with Bernard suffering an elbow injury, I wonder if we’ll see a bit more of him next weekend against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
CB Tre’Davious White
Perhaps I’ve been a little hard on Tre’ this season. He played well against Houston, sticking tight in coverage and totaling two tackles on the night. He also added a pass breakup.
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With rookie Maxwell Hairston in concussion protocol, there’s a chance that White plays even more snaps next week at Pittsburgh, so there is definitely some potential for the overexposure that hindered his performance earlier in the year. It’s not too surprising that White has played better when splitting time with the rookie, as it has allowed him to save some energy for the whole contest.
Even with Hairston sitting late in the game with a concussion, they still nearly split snaps equally. White played 33 defensive snaps to Hairston’s 29, so the disparity wasn’t much of one at all. Look for White to see more time this weekend.