For two weeks in a row, the Buffalo Bills have failed to close out an opponent, blowing a double-digit lead en route to a loss. With countless chances to put away the Vikings on Sunday, the Bills instead gave their fans another heartbreaking and seemingly unfathomable loss to add to a growing list of shocking ways to lose a game.
While we take stock of the win and what the performance on the field means for the rest of the season, we’ll dive into another edition of Studs and Duds.
As a reminder, this column looks simply at the performance in the most recent week, identifying who stepped up and who struggled and what those performances might mean for the Buffalo Bills going forward. Some heroes will just have one-off great games while some struggles could signal major issues, so we’ll make sense of that together here.
Duds
Let’s get the bad news out of the way first.
Coaching
I’ve been harping on Ken Dorsey for a few weeks now, but it feels appropriate to let the other coaches in on this fun too. The simple fact is that Buffalo has not scored a second-half touchdown since their Week 6 win over the Chiefs. They have four field goals combined in the three games against the Packers, Jets, and Vikings; two of which were losses.
That’s simply not OK for a team that was meant to have one of the best offenses in the league.
Teams are clearly adjusting to what Buffalo is doing and seeing success, while the Bills themselves continue to do nothing.
They ran for over six yards a carry in the first half and then decided to abandon the run, again, while trying to hold a lead. Devin Singletary had no carries in the fourth quarter, which makes no sense when you consider that Buffalo should have been trying to run out the clock and end the game.
The playcalling from Dorsey has been questionable for a few weeks now, but the whole coaching staff needs to answer for this team’s flat performance in multiple second halves.
Lastly, we need to talk about the way the Bills are using – or not using – the two players acquired at the deadline. Nyheim Hines had one touch on Sunday and Dean Marlowe, who was traded for because he’s a former Bill and knows the system, played just one snap. Meanwhile, Buffalo let converted cornerback Cam Lewis play safety, and Lewis was at the heart of the biggest play of the game, failing to knock down a pass on 4th and 18 to end the game.
It’s inexcusable to make those kinds of strategic trades and then not play either player. Especially considering they both play positions where the Bills needed the help.
The Secondary
Part of this isn’t fair. Buffalo came into this game without Tre’Davious White, Micah Hyde, Jordan Poyer, and Kaiir Elam. But injuries are a part of football, and the players in the Bills’ secondary simply didn’t show up on Sunday.
Yes, Justin Jefferson is one of the best wide receivers in the league, but Buffalo allowed him to put up 193 yards and a touchdown on 10 catches. There were repeated instances of Bills’ cornerbacks playing decent coverage and simply never turning their heads around to the ball. There were boneheaded penalties from Christian Benford on multiple late drives.
And then there was Cam Lewis not batting down the 4th and 18 that could have won them the game.
Just too many mistakes from the guys who were on the field.
Red Zone Offense
The Bills came into this game 19th in the NFL in red zone success rate after finishing first last year. Then they proceeded to score just three touchdowns on six red zone trips on Sunday.
However, the real issue is that two of those three failed possessions didn’t end in field goals but in Josh Allen interceptions. He has now thrown four red zone interceptions and zero touchdowns in his last two games. Yet, Ken Dorsey keeps repeatedly going to Allen and nobody else in the red zone.
On one hand, it makes sense to use your best player in the biggest moments. But when your best player is continuing to struggle and seems to be forcing the issue, you need to have another solution. Allen has been bad in the red zone all year, ranking as the 52nd quarterback out of 55 in expected points added in the red zone. He ranks 3rd outside of the red zone.
It’s a crazy development since Josh Allen has historically been tremendously effective and efficient in the red zone, but these numbers are real and the Bills need to react to them and adjust. (As does Allen).
Studs
Now for the good news.
Wide Receivers
Stefon Diggs has been a stud all season and continued to play like one on Sunday, finishing with 12 catches for 128 yards and an insane one-handed grab that would have been the catch of the game if not for Justin Jefferson. Diggs won in all areas of the field, but the beauty of Sunday’s game is that he wasn’t alone.
Gabe Davis finally played like a legitimate number two receiver, hauling in six passes for 93 yards and a touchdown. He also made an incredible diving catch on the sideline during the fourth-quarter drive that set up the game-tying field goal.
The Bills also got four catches for 37 yards out of Isaiah McKenzie, but they still absolutely need another weapon on the outside.
Tremaine Edmunds
Edmunds had three tackles and two passes defended on the day, but he barely played a full quarter, leaving in the second quarter with a groin injury. Considering he was battling the same injury at practice during the week, there is some level of concern that he will have to miss time.
That’s a concern because Edmunds looked really good when he was active in this game. He was flying all over the place and playing with confidence and aggression. The much-maligned veteran is still just 24 years old and has had a solid season with 65 tackles, a sack, and four passes defended.
In his absence, Tyrel Dodson recorded three tackles and was seemingly out of place on a few big Dalvin Cook runs. As happened last week when Milano was injured, the Bills’ backup linebackers failed to step up and the depth at the position is a bit of a concern.
Goalline Defense
Were there issues with the defensive line on Sunday? Yeah, for sure. There were far too many stretches where Kirk Cousins had all day to throw, and the start of that overtime drive saw them get repeatedly embarrassed by Dalvin Cook. However, in the three biggest moments of the game, this defense rose to the occasion.
They registered multiple sacks on a fourth-quarter drive that put the Vikings at 4th and 18. Those sacks should have helped end the game, but Cam Lewis didn’t bat the pass down, and Justin Jefferson made a highlight reel grab. Then the defense got a fourth down stop on the half-inch line that should have won the game, but Josh Allen couldn’t handle the snap from Mitch Morse on the next play.
Finally, the defense was backed up to the goalline again in overtime with Minnesota having first and goal from the two. A touchdown would have won the game, but the defense stopped Dalvin Cook for a loss of three and then Ed Oliver sacked Cousins, which forced a field goal that, in reality, should have at least had this game end in a tie.
