By Nick Wojton / Billswire.usatoday.com
In a tight battle for most of it, the Bills made the oddsmakers look smart as the favored Cleveland Browns topped Buffalo 19-16 in Week 10.
It was the same old story for the Bills in this one, where the defense looked like the much better side of the ball.
Here are five takeaways from the Bills’ loss to the Browns:
Offense is still inconsistent
The Bills and quarterback Josh Allen did just enough on offense to get the team in a position to tie the game with a 53-yard kick that Stephen Hauschka missed. For big portions of the game, it appeared as if the Bills just never got into a rhyme offensively. But to Allen’s credit, he was clutch late. Unfortunately it’s still the same old song and dance. Buffalo’s defense wasn’t incredible, but did enough for an average offense to win a game and they didn’t.
Allen’s passing on the day was erratic and he still struggled with the deep ball. He missed wide open targets. Then some wide open targets failed him with drops. On top of that, some questionable play-calling on fourth down ended drives that took the offense off the field.
The quarterback finished the day 22-for-41 passing for 266 yards.
In typically Bills fashion in 2019, many are questioning when the offense is going to catch up to the defense because it still hasn’t happened yet.
Lock down Tre
Buffalo head coach Sean McDermott didn’t want to tip his cards this week. When asked if Tre’Davious White would cover the Browns’ top target this week, Odell Beckham, the coach didn’t commit. For big portions of the game, White did just that.
White did have two defensive penalties against Beckham, but overall, the Bills corner won this battle. Beckham only mustered together 57 yards on five catches. That came on 12 targets. Of White’s stops, his best was on the goal line against Beckham where he knocked a touchdown catch from his hands. None of those catches were of the “game-changing” variety.
On the flip side, White’s successes were overshadowed at times by Levi Wallace, who had his fair share of struggles early against wideout Jarvis Landry.
Red zone defense elite
After allowing an opening-drive score. A drive which saw the Bills defense struggle against Browns running back Nick Chubb, the Bills defense settled in. The unit looked particularly good in their own red zone.
At one point, Buffalo’s grouping stopped the Browns on the goal line on eight-straight plays. Tre’Davious White took a penalty to extend things, but as mentioned, then made a good play in the end zone to break up a potential score. Later on, a 13-play, 69-yard drive didn’t end in a touchdown. The Browns opted for a field goal, but were going to go for it at one point.
While not the red zone, the Bills recorded a safety which was an awfully impressive play call. Tremaine Edmunds went in and sacked Baker Mayfield, untouched.
In the end, the Browns did notch a late score. But they had a lot of chances before then and until the very end, the Bills were in this one because of their defensive efforts.
Run game takes a back seat
The search teams are out for the Bills running game.
Rookie Devin Singletary had his breakout game last week. In total, he had 140 all-purpose yards last week. This week it was a bit of a split, but regardless, the Bills didn’t really commit much to the run game. Overall, Singletary had 42 yards on eight carries. A solid 5.3 yards per carry average. Frank Gore only had 12 yards on five carries.
The reason it’s so puzzling that there were only 13 carries by Bills running backs was because of the Browns. They were the NFL’s third-worst run defense coming into the game, allowing 141.2 yards per game on the ground against opponents. This falls on the play calling of offensive coordinator Brian Daboll.
Run defense woes continue
While Buffalo’s offense didn’t follow the script, the Browns did. Cleveland actually had a pretty balanced attack as quarterback Baker Mayfield had 231 passing yards and one touchdown, but the continuing trend which is alarming is another 100-yard rusher against the Bills.
Running back Kareem Hunt had a slow introduction into the offense upon returning from suspension and Nick Chubb carried the load. He did so very well, too. On 20 carries, Chubb had 116 yards. That’s a 5.8 yards per carry average. And heck, even Hunt did well on his four carries. He had 30 yards, good for a 7.5 yards per carry average. Buffalo’s secondary played well and gave the offense chances, no doubt. But the run defense is far from fixed.