Buffalo Rumblings
The Buffalo Bills are in the midst of true struggle. After racing out to a 4-0 start where they look to be almost sleep-walking through inferior competition, now they look to be asleep at the wheel of an out-of-control car. Buffalo has a lot of questions to ask of its first-half play, and they’re in some ways fortunate things aren’t worse up on the scoreboard, down “just” 21-7.
It was an ominous start for the Bills, which saw starting defensive tackle DaQuan Jones lost to a calf injury during warm-ups. That was but a harbinger of things to come for Buffalo on the injury front, where wide receiver Joshua Palmer, center Connor McGovern, cornerback Christian Benford, linebacker Terrel Bernard, and even quarterback Josh Allen found themselves injured. Many have returned or never saw medical attention (in Allen’s case), but this is a team reeling by injury at the moment.
Skarekrow wrote of momentum ahead of tonight’s game, and it’s clear the Bills have absolutely none of it. As they’ve done so often, Buffalo’s defense was ill-suited for Atlanta’s opening salvo, allowing them to march down the field for six. Allen and the offense responded well, actually connecting on a deep bomb to Palmer. A few plays later Allen found tight end Dawson Knox for six. It looked like a high-scoring back-and-forth was in store for the first half.
Well… it was for the Falcons. There are true faults on defense, and that’s even apart from the massive amount of injuries. Running back Bijan Robinson took the football 81 yards for a touchdown on a play that looked a lot like the one Buffalo gave up to running back Derrick Henry in 2024. This time, it wasn’t the first play from scrimmage, and it was second-year safety Cole Bishop embarrassed out of his cleats. Fortunately, safety Tyler Rapp made a head’s up play to push wide receiver Drake London out of bounds before the goal line after a jail-break catch-and-run.
In trends, the offense went into its shell after that first score, echoing the effort against the Patriots in Week 5. It’s not pretty, any of it. But let’s look at the stats for the pain of it:
If the Bills are to win, they need to get their head out of their backsides. They have to put on some different pants, and they must stop hurting themselves in all manners possible. Head coach Sean McDermott also needs to lose those glasses. If anyone can do this, it’s Josh Allen!
Here’s your open thread for the second half of Bills-Falcons. Let’s hope we have a much different second half to discuss in the late hours. As always, be kind to one another — and in all things… Go Bills!
