When the Bills play good, they look like a playoff contender. When they play badly, they can look anything but.
One thing they did not look like on Sunday is a Super Bowl-caliber team, dropping a 30-13 loss to the Dolphins.
QB Josh Allen, the reigning league MVP, had 300 yards passing with two touchdowns, but also two turnovers, including in the red zone. Star running back James Cook also lost a fumble on a slick, rainy South Florida day.
“I got to be better,” said Allen. “Anytime you turn it over three times, two while driving into the red zone, that’s a recipe for disaster. Getting stopped on third and two, where I could have done something different, didn’t really set us up great. It comes down to execution, and we didn’t execute.”
When it’s good, they win in all three phases; When bad? Allen holds the ball too long and turns the ball over, and the defense struggles with stopping the run or getting meaningful stops.
“I just feel like early on we were beating ourselves, but I give credit to them for coming out, playing, and being ready for us.”
But there’s another problem. Their offense has become one-dimensional too often, relying on their backfield because their passing game is suffering. And when their running game is limited like it’s been in losses to the Patriots, Falcons, and now the Dolphins, the Bills’ offense sputters.
The main reason Allen is holding the ball too long is that his receivers aren’t getting separation or getting open. The team has had little-to-no X-boundry or downfield threat since the days of consistent playmaking by receivers like Stefon Diggs and deep balls to John Brown and Gabe Davis. When he gets it out quickly, there is success like last week’s win against KC.
“Well, it is (frustrating) because it’s an important part of our offense,” Bills head coach Sean McDermott said of the lack of downfield passing this year. “We’ve got a great quarterback, and you want to be able to move the ball two dimensionally. We should be able to move the ball with Josh through the air. But it can’t just be one phase of your offense; it’s got to be too. It starts up front with the line of scrimmage.”
In several of his answers during his media availability, Allen looked visibiy deflated and frustrated as he shouldered the responsibility, saying things like “I’ve got to be better. I’ve got to be better in the protection game, and the pass game, and the run game. All of it”, “It starts with me, so I’ve gotta be better”, and “It starts with me. But we didn’t execute. I didn’t execute.”
But Allen is still playing at an elite level; he just needs more than James Cook’s rushing and the occasional 100+ yard game from Dalton Kincaid, who left the game with a hamstring injury, to win.
Yes, he had two turnovers in the red zone and a fumble trying to make a play. But he also had a 70% completion percentage, 2 passing TDs, and the highest rate of plays (16.3% ) of any QB that went for 20+ yards on their dropbacks, and finished the day ranked 3rd in EPA per dropback.
Buffalo has lacked tempo and a sense of urgency in its offensive identity and in the passing game. It’s the supporting cast that is failing to support him and the offense in the passing game, from the playcalling booth to the route tree.
When they’re playing good football, they beat teams like the Kansas City Chiefs. When it’s bad, they’re losing to teams like the Miami Dolphins.
With their best path to competing for a championship being a No. 1 AFC playoff seed and the first-round bye and home-field advantage that comes with it, a team that’s gone from being a Super Bowl favorite to one at a crossroads will need to solve these problems fast, as tougher teams and matchups lie ahead.
This article originally appeared on Bills Wire: Bills’ Sean McDermott, Josh Allen on passing struggles: ‘Beating ourselves’
Reporting by David Benjamin De Cristofaro, Bills Wire / Bills Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
