Buffalo Rumblings
Happy Victory Monday! The Buffalo Bills improved their record to 10-4 after beating the New England Patriots 35-31 on Sunday afternoon at Gillette Stadium. Buffalo is now one game behind New England in the AFC East division race and reached 10 wins for the seventh consecutive season.
The injury report was ugly entering Week 15, with cornerback Christian Benford and linebacker Terrel Bernard both sidelined. Luckily, Buffalo received some good injury news, and that was the return of both defensive end Joey Bosa and wide receiver Joshua Palmer.
See the full inactives list here: Buffalo Bills Week 15 inactives at the New England Patriots
D.Dawkins T 70 100%
D.Edwards G 70 100%
O.Torrence G 70 100%
C.McGovern G 70 100%
J.Allen QB 70 100%
S.Brown T 70 100%
K.Shakir WR 48 69%
J.Cook III RB 47 67%
D.Knox TE 45 64%
K.Coleman WR 39 56%
T.Shavers WR 35 50%
J.Hawes TE 31 44%
D.Kincaid TE 25 36%
B.Cooks WR 24 34%
J.Palmer WR 23 33%
Ty Johnson RB 18 26%
R.Gilliam FB 8 11%
R.Davis RB 6 9%
A.Anderson T 1 1%
Despite the slow start, the Bills’ offense made the necessary adjustments to turn things around. Buffalo found itself in an early 21-0 deficit nearing the end of the first half, so naturally, it proceeded to score five touchdowns on its following five drives. It’s always a nice sight to see all five members of the offensive line logging every snap because that means they survived another snowy game without picking up an injury.
With Joshua Palmer (33%) back in the mix and the Bills unwilling to dress six wide receivers on top of three tight ends, wide receiver Gabe Davis was the odd man out. It felt like a puzzling move, given that Davis is one of Josh Allen’s preferred targets, especially during broken plays, but it all worked out in the end. It was also clear that the Bills played it safe with Palmer, with limited snaps, as veteran Brandin Cooks (34%) logged one more snap than he did. While Cooks has just one reception for 16 yards in three games with Buffalo, his on-field presence has seemed to open things up a bit for Allen to work his magic. Khalil Shakir (69%) led all pass-catchers in virtually every category — snaps, receptions, targets, and yards. Keon Coleman (56%) ranked second among wide receivers in snaps and has just four receptions for 25 yards and a touchdown across the past three games.
It was another big tight end day for the Bills, as Dawson Knox (64%) hauled in 3-of-4 receptions for 37 yards and two touchdowns. Knox’s second touchdown put him first in franchise history for most receiving touchdowns by a tight end. Buffalo also continues to play it safe with Dalton Kincaid (36%), who logged just 25 snaps and six fewer than rookie Jackson Hawes (44%). All in all, these three guys have come up big...
