Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR 550) - I wasn't sure how to start this.
I was going back-and-forth between "now I'm worried" or "I can't believe the Buffalo Bills lost to that New England Patriots team." Either one works perfectly, and both statements are true.
"Now I'm worried" won out, because of what I've seen from the Bills offense the last three games.
As the key injuries have piled up on the defensive side of the ball, we knew the offense would have to step and carry this team. Right now, they just don't look up to the task.
Remember when the Bills completely destroyed the Miami Dolphins and put 48 points in Week 4? They had bounced back from that deflating Week 1 loss to the New York Jets, and while ripping off three-straight victories, the Bills had scored 123 points, or an average of 41 points per-game.
Over the last three games against the Jacksonville Jaguars, New York Giants and Patriots, the Bills have scored a total of 59 points. I'll be nice and give them an extra point, but it still makes the average just 20 points a game.
Josh Allen and company have fallen into a nasty little habit of looking good for just one half of football. The offense has been terrible in the first half in each of the last three games, two of which the Bills lost, including the stunning defeat at the hands of the Patriots on Sunday.
The Bills have had 15 drives in the first half over the last three games and have produced only one touchdown, which is very un-Bills like. They have one field goal as well, which means there have been no points on 13 of those 15 drives.
The offense has been stuck in neutral with just 24 first downs over that stretch as well.
Allen doesn't look like himself. The offensive line has been having problems in pass protection, forcing Allen to leave the pocket way too soon and way too much.
There is still no consistent second threat after Stefon Diggs in the passing game. Gabe Davis, the No. 2 receiver, has four catches for 27 yards over the last two games. There have also been very minimal contributions from Deonte Harty, Khalil Shakir and Trent Sherfield in that span too.
Tight end Dawson Knox has 102 yards receiving... for the season! He also had a critical drop on 4th-and-2 from the New England 34-yard line in the fourth quarter with the Bills trailing 16-10.
I had two very scary thoughts while watching this game.
At halftime, I thought about how the game reminded me of many seasons before Allen established himself, where it hurt to watch the Bills offense operate. They made it look so hard not only to score, but to just move the football consistently.
Following that failed Bills conversion attempt on 4th-and-2, as New England was moving down the field, I actually thought if they scored to make it a two possession game, it might be too much of a deficit for the Bills to overcome.
This is all happening without a single regular player on offense having been sidelined for an extended amount of time due to an injury, so there are no excuses.
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All of this is why I'm worried.
I feel like I shouldn't be mad at the defense, since they've lost an important player at each level. Add in Ed Oliver missing this game due to an injury and Von Miller still clearly not himself coming off an ACL injury 11 months ago, it feels like they can't be faulted.
But I would like to point out that group still did give up 29 points to, what was, the second-lowest scoring team in the NFL. The Patriots were averaging 12 points a game through a 1-5 start. In their last home game, the Patriots were shutout by the New Orleans Saints.
As bad as the offense was for 30 minutes, they did still give the Bills a 25-22 lead with 1:58 to play. The defense just needed to come up with one stop. They proceeded to give up an eight-play, 75-yard go-ahead and game-winning touchdown drive.
The first play on the drive was a pass behind the line of scrimmage that turned into a 34-yard gain thanks to some bad tackling by the Bills.
On a 3rd-and-8 at the Bills' 39-yard line, they gave up a 14-yard pass to tight end Hunter Henry.
Christian Benford was later flagged for pass interference, which put the ball at the Bills' one-yard line, and Taron Johnson was beat by tight end Mike Gesicki on the touchdown pass.
Here are some other reasons to worry beyond whatever is plaguing the Bills offense:
- They drop to 4-3 with the loss
- All three of their losses come against AFC teams
- The Bills fall to 1-2 in the AFC East, which is a key tiebreaker
This was also supposed to be a softer part of the schedule. They still have games left against the Cincinnati Bengals, Philadelphia Eagles, Kansas City Chiefs, Dallas Cowboys and Miami Dolphins.
