Orchard Park, N.Y. (WGR 550) - The Buffalo Bills extended their preseason winning streak to 10-straight games with a 42-15 thumping of the Denver Broncos on Saturday at Highmark Stadium.
Not much went wrong, and plenty went right for the Bills. Let’s start there, but with so many Arrows Up, I’ll keep each a bit brief:
ARROW UP:
Starting offense
The first unit scored on the first drive, covering 70 yards in six plays.
Josh Allen
Allen only played that first series, going 3-of-3 for 45 yards and a touchdown pass to Gabriel Davis to cap it off.
Case Keenum
The backup quarterback bounced back from last week in a big way, going 16-of-18 for 192 yards and a touchdown.
Matt Barkley
Barkley got in on the action with a 7-of-8 performance, throwing for 65 yards.
Quarterbacks' combined stats
Combined stats for the Bills quarterbacks: 26-for-29 (89.6%) for 302 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions.
Offense
The Bills offense racked up 510 total yards. They had 333 yards at halftime. They scored a touchdown on their first six possessions and punted one time the whole game.
Offensive line
Regardless of who was in or playing where, the offensive line was dominant the entire game. The unit paved the way for 208 rushing yards, 7.7 yards per-carry(!), and not allowing a sack.
All running backs
- Raheem Blackshear: Five carries, 58 yards, 11.6 per-run
- Duke Johnson: Nine carries, 55 yards, 6.1 yards per run, two touchdowns
- Devin Singletary: Four carries, 39 yards, 9.8 yards per-run
- Zack Moss: Four carries, 19 yards, 4.8 yards per-run, two touchdowns
Khalil Shakir
The rookie led all pass catchers with 59 yards on three grabs, averaging 19.7 yards a catch.
Gabriel Davis
Davis scored the first touchdown on a 28-yard grab, and added another 19-yarder, totaling 47 yards on just two catches.
Red zone offense
The Bills were in the red zone five times and scored a touchdown each time.
No turnovers
Zero turnovers, and zero fumbles at all for the Bills offense.
First half defense
The Broncos managed only 90 yards of offense in the first half. 61 of those came on the first drive.
Shaq Lawson
Lawson was terrific early on, almost single-handedly stopping one series. He finished with a tackle for loss, a quarterback hurry, and a pass breakup.
Andre Smith and Baylon Spector
The backup linebackers tied for a game-high seven tackles each, including a tackle for loss for Smith.
Eli Ankou
Ankou had the only sack of the day for the Bills, resulting in a 19-yard loss, and added a quarterback hurry.
Jaquan Johnson
It may not show up on the stat sheet, but Johnson was everywhere on defense, seemingly always making the right read and playing physical. He finished with five total tackles.
Red zone defense
The Broncos were inside the Bills' 20-yard line three times and only scored one touchdown.
Matt Haack
The Bills punted one time, and it was Matt Haack. He forced a Broncos fair catch at their own 12-yard line.
The crowd!
Official paid attendance was listed at 69,900. Lots of kids were in the stands for Kids Day, and it was a terrific atmosphere for the final home preseason game.
ARROW DOWN:
Tackling
As the game went on it got better, but the Bills' tackling wasn’t good overall, especially by the first team defense early in the game. Too many missed tackles, including those in the open field that led to gains that should have been stops.
First drive on defense
Although they only let up a field goal, the Broncos had too much success on the first drive of the game against the Bills' (primarily) starting defense, gaining 61 yards on 12 plays and eating up 6:45 of the clock.
Kick coverage
The Bills kicked off seven times, and only one was a touchback. The Broncos averaged 26.7 yards per-return on the other six.
Through the first three quarters, the Broncos' average staring field position after Bills’ kickoffs was their own 29-yard line.
Penalties, especially at critical times
The Bills were flagged eight times for 68 yards. That's too many. What was more concerning was that a few of them came at critical times, including two that kept drives alive for the Broncos after the Bills made critical third down stops, and another that nullified a touchdown by the offense.
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