This whole Bills’ season is backwards.
Remember this spring when the feeling was Buffalo’s “playoff-caliber” defense would carry the team as quarterback Josh Allen matured into his role as offensive leader and the point production increased.
Somebody didn’t get the memo.
Three games into the season, Buffalo is one of seven NFL unbeatens, but its path to 3-0 has been the reverse of the anticipated route.
Allen, inarguably, has been one of the league’s most prolific quarterbacks and has carried the Bills virtually to its top in offensive production. He ranks second only to Dallas’ Dak Prescott in passing yards (1188-1038) and is the runner-up to Seattle’s Russell Wilson in touchdown passes (14-10).
As a team, heading into last night’s game between the Chiefs and Ravens at Baltimore, Buffalo (93 points) ranked third in NFL scoring behind Green Bay (122) and Seattle (111) and was fourth in yards per game (434) after the Cowboys (491), Packers (460) and Rams (450).
In short, the Bills have overachieved offensively beyond what was expected to this point in the season, thanks mostly to the incredible start by Allen and the addition of wide receiver Stefon Diggs.
THE DEFENSE?
Not so much.
Buffalo ranks 20th in the league in yards surrendered and 16th in points given up.
Translation?
The Bills are scoring an impressive 31 points per game … but give up a way-too-generous 26. The last two games it’s even worse. In wins at Miami (31-28) and home with the Rams (35-32), Buffalo’s ‘D’ averaged surrendering 30 points and 444 yards in those games.
The cliche is that “defense travels” so that isn’t good news for the Bills who are at Las Vegas and Nashville the next two weeks.
What really stood out in Sunday’s comeback win over Los Angeles in Orchard Park was that the Rams scored 29 straight points in barely 15 minutes to take a late lead, via a ground game that opened the passing attack for QB Jared Goff.
L.A. rushed for 167 yards on 32 carries, or over five per try.
After veteran defensive tackle Star Lotuleilei opted out of this season due to coronavirus concerns, coach Sean McDermott maintained that despite his lack of statistical vindication, he was an exceptional run-game plugger.
That assessment is being proven.
Buffalo’s entire defensive line collectively logged a mere five tackles and two assists though the Rams ran 66 plays, nearly half of them on the ground. Meanwhile, the Bills starting safeties — Micah Hyde and Jordan Poyer — combined for 16 solo tackles and seven assists.
There’s a long-time football adage that goes “when you safeties are among the leading tacklers, your defense is in trouble.”
One of the problems against the Rams was that Tremaine Edmunds, the Bills’ Pro Bowl middle linebacker, didn’t seem fully healed from the shoulder injury that kept him out of the Miami game. He had five tackles but appeared slow to react and hesitant to deliver his trademark his.
WHAT’S CERTAIN is that Buffalo is unbeaten because of the dramatically improved play of Allen.
On Sunday, he became the first QB in franchise history to throw for four touchdowns in consecutive games. And while his numbers, after three games, are off the charts, his leadership skills might have advanced even more.
As a rookie, and even last season, he was never hesitant to take the blame for bad plays and poor decisions … of course, they were also obvious.
But in this remarkable season, that attitude hasn’t changed.
He’s become beloved in the locker room because of his willingness to take responsibility and NEVER throws a teammate under the bus. It’s a lesson Doug Flutie never learned and took Jim Kelly a while to understand. Indeed, his reputation as a leader came to full flower when he not only took the blame for his mistakes but also did so when it wasn’t his fault.
Despite his glittering game against the Rams, Allen’s focus drifted back to his ill-considered interception on a forced throw to tight end Tyler Kroft and his lost fumble that also resulted in an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty when he complained of being horse-collar tackled (there’s no such rule for a QB in the pocket). He also lamented a 15-yard facemask penalty at the end of another sack.
Afterward, via Zoom, he admitted of the blown 28-3 lead that required a last-possession touchdown to produce a 35-32 win, “We probably just got too relaxed. I’ve got to be the leader, especially the offense. I can’t let us dip in the third and fourth quarter. I’ve got to make sure we’re moving the ball and keeping our defense off the field because that offense is pretty good.”
He added, “I gave them a couple of easy ones (TDs) and put our defense in a bad situation. We’ve got to keep our foot on the pedal and put that game away. I’m a little mad at myself for letting it happen and those two (15-yard) penalties … I can’t do that to our defense.”
(Chuck Pollock, a Times Herald senior sports columnist, can be reached at cpollock@oleantimesherald.com)
