By McKenna Middlebrook / Billswire.usatoday.com
The Buffalo Bills continued their strong road performances this season with 37-20 win over the Miami Dolphins. The Bills are now 7-3, sitting pretty for a wild card spot.
After their loss against the Browns, the Bills offense was called into question by both their fans and the media. The Bills responded by pouring on 37 points against a poor Miami defense.
The Bills defense also came out and stopped the run, as well as getting pressure to the quarterback. It wasn’t a perfect game from Buffalo, but a step in the right direction after the disappointing loss to Cleveland.
After the victory in Miami, here’s how the Bills graded in this week’s report card:
Quarterback: A-
This was possibly the best performance by Josh Allen in his young career. Allen started the game strong, but on the first two drives he couldn’t create touchdowns, only field goals. On the third drive Allen found receiver John Brown for a 40-yard touchdown strike. Allen hit Brown who was streaking down the sideline, and Brown bumped off a defender before heading into the end zone.
After a drive that led to just a field goal, Allen worked some red zone magic and found tight end Dawson Knox who shrugged off a defender after the catch to walk in for the score on an all-out blitz from the Dolphins defense. In the third quarter Allen had an eight-yard scramble where he used his speed to reach the outside and hurdle for the score.
It wasn’t a perfect game for Allen, he didn’t complete many deep shots, and had some head scratching throws. Ultimately, Allen had one of the best games of his career. He completed 21 out of his 33 passes, a 63.6 completion percentage, he threw for 256 yards, three touchdowns, and zero interceptions.
Running backs: B-
Frank Gore and Devin Singletary carried the load for Buffalo, with Singletary again showing his ability to make defenders, and create chunk plays. Singletary had 15 carries for 75 yards, an average of 5.0 yards per carry. It wasn’t his best game for Buffalo because of some fumbling issues, but he gave the offense a more balanced approach.
Frank Gore had another poor performance, on his 11 carries he had just 27 yards an average of just 2.7 yards per carry. That simply isn’t good enough, but he did convert on fourth-and-1 something he hasn’t done enough this season.
Surprisingly, neither of the two backs were featured heavily in the passing game, the two had just three catches for 22 yards. Gore or Singletary didn’t have sensational games, but they created balance in the offense, something Buffalo didn’t have against Cleveland.
Wide receivers/tight ends: B+
Oh, how a season can change an entire offense unit. This time last year the Bills wide receivers were panned as one of the worse in the NFL, this season they are producing every week. The star being John Brown.
John Brown was dominant against Miami, the receiver had nine catches for 137 yards and two touchdowns. Brown used his speed to create separation for his two scores, and impressive route running to beat tight man-to-man coverage. Brown is now creeping close to 1,000 yards receiving with 817 yards and has four touchdowns on the season.
Cole Beasley was used both in the slot and as an outside receiver against the Dolphins. He only had four targets, but caught all four for 38 yards, an average of 9.5 yards per catch. Rookie tight end Dawson Knox had another strong game. On his two catches he had 32 yards, and one touchdown.
The unit struggled against man-to-man coverage during the game, which stalled some early drives. If this unit wants to be one of the best in the NFL they will need to create more separation against man-to-man coverage.
Offensive line: B+
Like Josh Allen, this was the Bills offensive lines best game of the season. They created plenty of time for Josh Allen helped him deliver more accurate passes. They also weren’t penalized as frequently in other games throughout the season.
The unit also created running lanes for Devin Singletary, whose patience in the backfield let these holes develop. They struggled creating holes for Frank Gore though, his style of hitting the hole as quickly as possible doesn’t fit with this offensive line. Plus, Gore’s runs are often being telegraphed by Bills offensive coordinator Brian Daboll.
If the offense line can keep this level play through the rest of the season it can give the Bills offense new life.
Defensive line: A
The Bills defense had seven sacks against Miami on Sunday, with six of them coming from the defensive line. Every defensive tackle that played for Buffalo had a sack, with rookie Ed Oliver getting the first sack in the first quarter and his first one on a quarterback in Ryan Fitzpatrick. Newcomer Corey Liuget had the second, Star Lotuleli and Jordan Phillips had the third and the fourth, respectively. Phillips now has seven sacks on the season, leading the team.
Jerry Hughes and Shaq Lawson both had sacks as well, BillsMafia will want to see similar stats next Sunday against the Denver Broncos, especially against their rushing attack, led by a one-two punch of Royce Freeman and Phillip Lindsay.
The defensive line also stopped the run, something they hadn’t done in the past four games. Miami had just 23 yards on the ground.
Linebackers: A-
The other sack came from Tremaine Edmunds and Matt Milano. The two combined for a sack against Ryan Fitzpatrick. Milano and Edmunds were flying around the field, making big plays throughout the game. The two linebackers led the team in tackles.
Edmunds led the team with 12 tackles, and Milano had seven. The Bills blitzed more against Miami than they normally do, which led to both of these players making plays in the backfield, and disrupting both the run and the pass game.
The Bills are lucky to have two talented linebackers who are both still developing, and have the potential to become one of the best linebackers tandems in the NFL.
Secondary: C
Both Tre’Davious White and Levi Wallace had poor games, especially coming off White’s game against Cleveland. When playing the Browns White, locked down the Odell Beckham Jr., but Miami’s Devante Parker got the best of him. Parker had seven catches for 135 yards, an average of 19.3 yards per reception.
Oof.
Levi Wallace didn’t fare any better against Allen Hurns. Hurns had four grabs for 53 yards. Wallace has been beat by his matchup two weeks in a row, and in the second half Kevin Johnson came in to relieve Wallace.
Johnson played much better than Wallace, and can be more effective in the run game due to how aggressive he tackles the ball carrier. It would behoove the Bills coaching staff to look at starting Johnson over Wallace in the coming weeks. Another positive note is that Jordan Poyer recovered an Allen Hurns fumble in the second quarter.
Special teams: D+
Let’s start with the positive, it seems that kicker Stephen Hauschka has returned to form after being 3-for-3 in field goal attempts. His longest came from 51 yards, a real confident boost for Hauschka who has had a rocky season thus far.
Now the negatives. The return team had two errors against the Dolphins. The first being that Miami recovered an onside kick in the first half, thankfully for the Bills it didn’t result in any points as the Dolphins gave the ball right back via a fumble. In the same quarter Miami had a 101 yard kick return for touchdown, with multiple Bills missing tackles. That has to be cleaned up.
Coaching: B
Outside of the special teams, the offensive and defensive coaching were much better on Sunday. The Bills defense improved their run defense, which Bills fans have been calling for since the last game against Miami.
The Bills offense also improved from last week. The biggest change was that that offensive coordinator Brian Daboll was calling plays from inside the booth. Throughout his tenure in Buffalo he has called games from the sidelines. He also never let his foot off the gas, which was demonstrated by the fourth quarter touchdown from Josh Allen.