Buffalo Rumblings
The Buffalo Bills lost to the Atlanta Falcons on Monday night, spinning s string of injuries and bad decisions into their second straight defeat. The Bills are 4-2 and enter their bye week in second place in the AFC East. It’s an epic disaster for Josh Allen, Sean McDermott, and Buffalo at large. We could see some changes in the next two weeks with the extra time and the massive numbers of injuries.
Before we get to the injuries, here is the drive-by-drive summary.
On the very first play from scrimmage, the Buffalo Bills forced a fumble to set the tone but Greg Rousseau was offside. Dorian Williams and Christian Benford’s outstanding plays were null and void. The Bills pulled Rousseau for underperforming Landon Jackson on the rest of the drive, and the Falcons rammed it down Buffalo’s throat for a touchdown. They mostly ran away from Ed Oliver at DT. Of note, they never showed a replay of the penalty. SCORE: Falcons 7, Bills 0
Josh Allen found Josh Palmer on a 45-yard play-action bomb to open the Bills’ first series. A Tyrell Shavers holding call knocked them back to 2nd and 18 in Atlanta territory, and on 3rd and 13 from the 19, Dawson Knox slipped behind the safety and Allen hit him for the game-tying score. They didn’t show the Shavers penalty, either. SCORE: Falcons 7, Bills 7
Bills forced a three and out after an Atlanta penalty.
Then the Falcons did the same to Buffalo.
The Bills’ punt was mid, going 40 yards in the air with no return. A phantom Tre White penalty extended Atlanta’s third drive on third down, then the Falcons were able to convert a third and seven later on the drive. Drake London had two catches for 31 yards and the touchdown. There were 128 yards for the Falcons in the first quarter. SCORE: Falcons 14, Bills 7
To start the second quarter, Josh Palmer was injured as the Bills were moving the ball into Falcons territory. After a Connor McGovern injury, Josh Allen took a big sack on third down and the Bills punted. Josh Allen may have hurt his hand on the play, too.
After a Bills punt, Bijan Robinson took the first down play 81 yards for a long touchdown run. Cole Bishop had a chance to tackle him halfway home on the sideline but couldn’t secure the play. SCORE: Falcons 21, Bills 7
Three straight handoffs from the maybe-hurt Allen and a few snaps later, the Bills punted again from midfield.
After a few runs eeked out a first down, Michael Penix found Drake London again for his sixth catch of the first half. After those 26 yards, London was knocking on the door of 100. Another third-down conversion got Atlanta to the Bills’ 40. The Bills stopped him short on third and long with a Greg Rousseau tipped pass. The Falcons passed on a 50-yard field goal attempt to make it a three-score game and Taron...
