The Buffalo Bills won a back-and-forth affair on Sunday, defeating the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 44-32 in an entertaining matchup. Both offenses came to play, and both teams actually had to resort to the other thing they do on offense in order to be successful.
Whereas the Bills have been a juggernaut running the football, they were unable to find momentum on the ground in this one. Conversely, the Bucs have been great when passing and mediocre when running; on Sunday, that was not the case.
Our players
to watch were a mixed bag, as well. Some contributed plenty, some didn’t contribute at all, and others found themselves somewhere in between. Here’s how our five Bills to watch fared against the Bucs in Week 11. _____________________________________________________________________________
QB Josh Allen
That was a vintage Allen performance in more ways than one. For starters, there were plenty of head-scratching plays, like the opening-drive shovel-pass interception to avoid a safety. There was also the wide-open miss of fullback Reggie Gilliam for a two-point try, where Allen looked like I do when trying to cash in a five-foot putt for birdie. He missed wide receiver Joshua Palmer for what would have been a third-down conversion, as well, when Palmer was wide open on a crossing route.
Okay, there are all of the negatives. Allen was superb on the whole, throwing for 317 yards and three scores, adding 40 rushing yards and three more scores on the ground. In a game where running back James Cook III struggled to find any room to run (he carried 16 times for just 48 yards) Allen was able to distribute the ball to his pass catchers in chunks.
Cook caught all three of his targets for 66 yards, including a 25-yard touchdown pass to put the Bills ahead for good in the fourth quarter. Running back Ty Johnson turned a third-down screen pass into a 52-yard score late in the first half. Allen played backyard football for his first passing touchdown, rolling right, coming back to the left, and firing a 43-yard strike to wide receiver Tyrell Shavers, who somehow found space in an eight-man coverage to haul in his second career touchdown pass.
It wasn’t always pretty, as the blustery Orchard Park, NY winds combined with a strong Tampa Bay defense to play tricks on Allen at times. But how can we complain when the quarterback goes 19-for-30, accounts for six scores, and totals 357 yards of offense? It was a little boom-or-bust, and there was definitely a roller-coaster feel that I haven’t had while watching Allen for some time.
And yet, it was comforting to watch that big oaf go out there, hit people, and throw the ball over them there mountains. As long as Allen stays upright and locked in, Buffalo has a chance.
[Insert Wide Receiver Here]
Well, we had plenty of questions, but one of them wasn’t “Will Keon Coleman play this week?” I assumed that the Bills’ top pick in the 2024 NFL Draft would at least suit up, but he was late for another team meeting on Friday — at least the third time he’s done that in his professional career — so the team decided he would sit. Buffalo needed someone to step up in Coleman’s absence, and it was Tyrell Shavers who did so most.
Shavers had the game of his life on Sunday, catching four of five targets for 90 yards and the aforementioned touchdown. He also threw a great block to ensure that Ty Johnson’s long screen gain would certainly end in a touchdown. If not for Coleman’s lack of punctuality, who knows if those plays would have been made, or if Shavers would have been on the field to make them? Opportunity came knocking, and Shavers answered the door.
He wasn’t the only wide receiver to step up, though. Gabe Davis, in his first action since last November with the Jacksonville Jaguars, caught three of his four targets for 40 yards. That included a nice grab on a slant to convert a fourth down, and it also included a long ball from a scrambling Allen where Davis sat down in a window and made himself available.
Curtis Samuel came up with a big catch, as well, hauling in a 14-yard pass on 3rd & 11 that he initially dropped before making a circus catch along the sideline. Mecole Hardman Jr. returned a kickoff 61 yards on his first touch as a Bill, and he fumbled a punt return to give the Bucs the ball back on his second touch. Hardman injured his ankle on that fumble and did not return.
What will the Bills do here moving forward? With Hardman injured, it’s likely that either Elijah Moore, who was a healthy scratch for this game, is active, or that Gabe Davis is called up from the practice squad once again. Coleman is going to be active on Thursday, or at least I’d assume he is, so it seems like a crowded space to have Davis, Shavers, and Coleman all doing the same thing.
Let’s see what the Bills come up with for Thursday night’s matchup with the Houston Texans. For this past weekend, at least, the receivers stepped up in a big way.
DE A.J. Epenesa
Buffalo’s pass rush was essentially non-existent in this one, as was their run defense. Epenesa isn’t specifically to blame for either of those things, as he was worked back in slowly after missing last week with a concussion. I saw Joey Bosa and Greg Rousseau out there together more often than I saw Epenesa. Perhaps limiting his snaps with a short week looming was part of the plan, as Buffalo even used rookie defensive tackle T.J. Sanders at defensive end for some snaps.
Epenesa is a solid, well-rounded player, and I think the team would be wise to use him a little more frequently, especially as an early down replacement for Bosa. Epenesa had three tackles on the day.
DE Joey Bosa
Speaking of Bosa, this was not the veteran’s finest hour on Sunday. He was unable to impact the pocket much, and he was once again outfoxed on some read-option plays. He’s never been a great run stopper, but that weakness has really been exploited at times this season.
Bosa accounted for just one tackle on the day, but there were some lowlights throughout. Baker Mayfield juked Bosa out of his pants in converting a third down on a scramble in the second half, and this was after Bosa made the wrong decision on a Mayfield read-option play earlier in the game.
Injuries along the edge are limiting Buffalo’s rotations, but limiting Bosa’s exposure on run downs could go a long way towards solidifying what has been a putrid run defense.
LB Shaq Thompson
The veteran practiced in full on Thursday and Friday, but he didn’t play in Week 11 thanks to the hamstring injury he was recovering from entering the week. Perhaps the Bills want to save him for Thursday night in an important conference game against the Houston Texans?
Linebacker Terrel Bernard led the team in tackles with 11, adding two tackles for loss and two pass breakups to what was one of his better days of the season. Linebacker Matt Milano had seven tackles, but he also found himself out of position repeatedly. Linebacker Dorian Williams had six tackles, a pass breakup, and a fumble recovery after defensive tackle DaQuan Jones leveled Mayfield and forced a fumble.
Figuring out where Thompson fits when all the other linebackers are healthy is difficult, but I think it may be time to consider sunsetting Milano’s time a bit, given his struggles in making plays and routine tackles. The defense has been better this season with Thompson on the field. We’ll see what happens moving forward.
