That was a lot harder than I thought it would be.
For 30 minutes of game action on Sunday, the Buffalo Bills offense looked as bad as some of the offenses we saw during the drought. They couldn’t pass protect, which was killing their pass game, they couldn’t run the ball and they couldn’t convert on third down.
It all added up to one of the worst halves of offensive football Bills fans have seen in a long time. The “deepest” penetration for the Bills in that miserable first half was the Miami 39-yard line.
It sure looked like the Bills were surprised by the frequency of the Dolphins' blitzes. According to ESPN Stats and Info, Miami blitzed on 50% of Josh Allen’s drop backs in the first half.
Going into the game, Allen had the second-lowest blitz percentage of any quarterback in the league. Opponents sent extra rushers just 16% of the time through the Bills' first six games.
The Dolphins sent pressure that the Bills couldn’t handle, which might have been largely due to the re-configured offensive line. Rookie tackle Spencer Brown being inactive led to three changes, as Daryl Williams went from right guard back to right tackle, Jon Feliciano was shifted from left guard to right guard, while Ike Boettger was inserted at left guard.
Protection was breaking down on a regular basis, which is why Allen had a measly 80 yards passing at halftime.
To the Bills' credit, they made some adjustments at halftime, and it looked like a completely different offense in the second half. The Bills had some success with screen passes and turned their passing game into a quick release, short throw, yards after catch approach.
The biggest difference was a heavy diet of throws to wide receiver Cole Beasley. Miami was having success limiting Stefon Diggs and Emmanuel Sanders, so the Bills turned to Beasley to spark the offense. After being targeted just two times in the first half, Beasley had 11 targets in the second half and caught eight of them for 89 yards. He was “Mr. Clutch” on third down.
On the Bills' first touchdown drive, they faced a 3rd-and-14 and Allen hit Beasley for a gain of 15 yards. During the second touchdown drive, Allen and company faced a 3rd-and-13 when he connected with Beasley on a 14-yard pass. Lastly, on the critical field goal drive which gave the Bills a nine-point lead, there was a 20-yard completion to Beasley on 3rd-and-11.
Allen also burned some of Miami’s blitzes in that decisive second half. On a touchdown throw to Gabriel Davis, Allen shook off a face mask grab by a pass rusher and used his legs to get out into space, where he saw a wide-open Davis for an easy score. On his touchdown pass to Diggs, Allen stood strong in the pocket, even though a pass rusher was bearing down on him. He calmly threw the ball to Diggs, who beat Miami’’s star cornerback Xavien Howard 1-on-1.
Allen’s rushing ability paid off on the field goal drive, where a quarterback sweep netted the Bills 12-yards. It was vintage Allen, who looked like he was stopped along the Bills sideline but just plowed through tacklers for additional yards. He also helped the Bills' red zone percentage thanks to a seven-yard touchdown run late in the fourth quarter.
While the offense played well for a half, the defense was very good from start-to-finish.
Miami had no run game success, and the Bills were able to limit the Dolphins' two biggest weapons in the passing game. Leading receiver Jaylen Waddle had just four catches for 29 yards on 12 targets. Tight end Mike Gesicki did have a big 40-yard reception that set up their lone touchdown, but on the day, he totaled just three receptions for 48 yards.
As bad as the Bills' offense was in the first half, I was never worried about this game. I figured it was a matter of time before the offense got going, and there was no way Miami was going to do much of anything the way the Bills' defense was playing.
Not a work of art by any means, but the Bills get a win, as we all expected.
Buffalo needed the victory to stay in a wide-open AFC race. If you didn’t notice, the New England Patriots are hanging around in the division with a 4-4 record, thanks to a very good win over the Chargers in Los Angeles this past Sunday.
