Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR Sports Radio 550) - Welcome back, Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills' passing game! We missed you.
Thanks to the air attack, the Bills improve to 7-3 and won another game they had to have, keeping close to the first place New England Patriots (9-2) in the AFC East standings.
It was a different looking group of wide receivers for Allen in Buffalo's 44-32 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Bills dressed Gabe Davis and recently signed Mecole Hardman, while also welcoming back Joshua Palmer, who missed the last three games with an injury.
Second-year Bills wideout Keon Coleman was inactive due to a coach's decision. Coleman was disciplined for reportedly missing a team meeting on Friday.
The Bills were definitely more aggressive in the passing game against Tampa Bay. Allen attempted multiple deep throws, including a 43-yard touchdown pass to Tyrell Shavers. The pass traveled 40-plus air yards and, according to ESPN, it was the first passing touchdown of 40-plus air yards for Allen since the 2022 regular season finale.
Allen also made more intermediate area throws, and had a handful of 20-plus-yard completions in that range.
On the day, the NFL's reigning Most Valuable Player finished with 317 yards passing and three touchdowns.
The Bills were even able to get yards after the catch, which has also been a problem area this season. There was a 52-yard touchdown catch for Ty Johnson that was mostly YAC after his reception in the flat. There was a 25-yard touchdown pass to James Cook that was all yards after catch.
Allen also used his legs, when needed, especially in the red zone. He recorded three touchdown runs, marking the second time in his career where he had, at least, three touchdowns rushing and passing in the same game. He is the only player to have such a game since the merger in 1970, and he's now accomplished it in back-to-back seasons.
Allen was the reason why the Bills won this game.
It wasn't a perfect day for Allen, though. He made bad decisions on a pair of interceptions, and there were a handful of plays where he missed an open target, or had an incomplete pass on plays where he had a player open but didn't throw him the ball.
But the bottom line is Allen was the difference maker with his 357 total yards and six touchdowns.
The Bills offense came through in the clutch. With the game in the balance in the second half, they scored points on four-straight drives, getting a field goal and then three touchdowns. The offense needed to score all of those points, because the defense had a rough game.
The run defense, which has been a problem most of the season, was absolutely shredded by a Tampa Bay team that came into the game ranked dead-last in the NFL in rushing yards per-carry. The Buccaneers became the third team this season to run for more than 200 yards against the Bills.
Tampa Bay ended with 39 runs and 202 yards for a healthy 5.2 yards per-carry average. They did that despite not having their most electric back in Bucky Irving, who was inactive due to an injury.
There's something about this Bills defense that makes me nervous every time the unit takes the field, but when push comes to shove, they do tend to make enough plays to help the team out.
Tampa Bay scored to take a 26-21 lead with seven-and-a-a-half minutes left in the third quarter. While the Bills offense scored on each of its next four drives, the defense held the Buccaneers to one touchdown, while coming up with two takeaways and forcing a punt.
Having said that, 10 games into the season, the defense is still a work in progress and remains in search of consistency.
Special teams had a good day for the Bills. They averaged an eye-popping 39 yards on six kick returns. Four of those came from Ray Davis, who averaged 39 yards all by himself. Hardman also had a 61-yard return.
Those returns helped the offense, which had a season-best average drive start at their own 37-yard line.
Additional Bills notes:
- The Bills are 7-3 or better for the fifth time in the last seven seasons.
- The 44 points are a season high, and the third time this season they scored 40 or more points in a game.
- This was the 17th time in Allen's career he led the offense to 40 or more points in a game.
- Allen has 75 rushing touchdowns in the regular season, which is tied for first all-time with Cam Newton.
- The Bills have won 16 of their last 17 regular season games at home, and are 26-3 since the start of the 2022 season.
The Bills have no time to celebrate, as they have a game in Houston on Thursday night against the Texans.
Meanwhile, New England, who has extra time off after their recent Thursday night game against the New York Jets, will head to Cincinnati to face the Bengals.
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