Buffalo Rumblings
The Buffalo Bills outgained the Philadelphia Eagles by 140 yards. They possessed the ball for 11 more minutes than their opponents. They were better on third down. They had nearly twice as many first downs as the Eagles did. They were essentially even in penalty yardage.
And yet, they came up short where it matters most: the scoreboard. Buffalo dropped a tough game to the defending Super Bowl champs, losing 13-12 in horrible Western New York rain. The loss dropped the Bills to the seven seed in the AFC while also giving the New England Patriots the AFC East Division title. It was not the outcome we or the team hoped for entering the day.
Buffalo certainly had chances to come away with a victory on Sunday, and they squandered those opportunities through a series of self-destructive plays. Our five players to watch were big contributors to the game, both to the positive and the negative.
Here’s how those five players fared in the loss to Philadelphia.
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QB Josh Allen
Statistically, Allen’s day doesn’t look too bad. He completed 23-of-35 passes in a driving rain, totaling 262 yards through the air. He didn’t throw a touchdown pass or an interception, though he had a touchdown toss to Dawson Knox (rightly) overturned by replay on the game’s final drive. Allen also rushed seven times for 27 yards, adding two touchdowns from one-yard out. He even completed a few deep passes to wide receivers, a shocking development given the year-long lack of production from that group.
However, it’s the negative plays that Allen had in the game that should be the focus. On Buffalo’s second drive, Allen fumbled in a comically bad way, rolling out to his right, extending the play, finding nobody, and trying to tuck the ball away when linebacker Jaelan Phillips didn’t buy a pump-fake. The ball slipped out of his hands, rolled backwards nearly 20 yards, and was recovered by the Eagles. If Allen throws the ball out of bounds and lives to fight another day, the Bills have 3rd & 2. Instead, the Eagles had prime field position and a first down. That was, at best, a seven-point swing, but if the Bills managed to score on that drive, it could have been even more.
Allen was confused by Philadelphia’s coverage more than once, as he anticipated man when the Eagles played zone, leading him to hold the ball, waiting for receivers running man-beater concepts to come open against zone coverages, which is a recipe for disaster regardless of the opponent. It happened on one horrible sack early in the fourth quarter. Allen waited for Khalil Shakir to come open — he didn’t — which prevented him from looking through his progressions and finding an open Ty Johnson in the flat. Does Johnson make up the eight yards needed for a first down? Perhaps. Even if he’s short, is it a better play than scrambling backwards 19 yards, thereby taking the Bills out of field goal...
