Buffalo Rumblings
The Buffalo Bills mauled the Carolina Panthers in Week 8, sparked by a dominating rushing attack led by running back James Cook and an assignment-sound offensive line. It’s clear that head coach Sean McDermott put in a ton of work during the bye week. Buffalo once again exits the bye with a win, the ninth-consecutive victory to retain a perfect record in McDermott’s career with the Bills.
Priority one was cutting off that two-game losing streak, and washing away the horrible taste that soaked One Bills Drive’s week of static reflection. Job well done. Hopefully this serves as proper momentum heading into Week 9 and a home game against the Kansas City Chiefs.
Kudos are due to Buffalo’s defense for holding the Panthers to nine points. The Bills played complementary football on offense, with a plan to run to a flurry of points that made a one-dimensional Carolina attack look lost behind quarterback Andy Dalton.
Don’t confuse that concerns remain. Those mostly and frustratingly center around quarterback Josh Allen, and a passing attack that’s a work in progress in its best moments. Yes, Allen finished with three touchdowns (1 passing; 2 rushing). Wide receiver Khalil Shakir made Allen’s day with a truly fantastic bit of pinball wizardry where analyst and former NFL tight end Greg Olsen counted 10 missed tackles by Carolina’s defense. Allen’s throw went but a few yards, yet claimed a touchdown of 54 yards.
The point here is that the Bills have zero downfield attack, instead having to rely on RAC/YAC almost exclusively by Shakir. In the first half, Allen looked like the worst vintage of his career — his rookie season. He lost tons of yardage on a sack where it sure seemed like he could have thrown the ball away. He missed passes too often, both low and then a few high. Most alarming, Allen missed passes to guys who were actually open. Allen looked nothing like the NFL MVP he was awarded a few months ago following an impressive 2024 campaign.
There are any number of reasons to look at regarding Allen’s current play, but here I’ll focus more on those around him. For as dominant as the Bills are in winning the line of scrimmage as a run-blocking unit, they appear to have regressed as pass blockers. Yet that may not be fully fair, just as it’s true that all of Allen’s troubles aren’t his to own in a vacuum.
There are far too many issues in the wide receivers room. It’s pretty evident to me at this point that wide receiver Keon Coleman is not featured-receiver material. It’s not that he won’t grow as a player, but he lacks the dominant traits of the truth alpha dogs at receiver. Did he even catch a pass until late in the second half? He sure played the role of invisible mark well, yet the box score shows three catches on four targets for 30 yards (as the second-leading Bills receiver). Savvy viewers will understand...
