The Buffalo Bills battled throughout the afternoon against the New England Patriots, but ultimately, it was the previously 1-2 Patriots coming into Highmark Stadium to earn the victory against the previously 3-0 Bills. The Bills had a lead in the fourth quarter, but a porous defense combined with a bad decision on offense from Josh Allen was all it took to give the Patriots a 29-26 victory.
Buffalo’s first defeat was a frustrating one, as for the second straight week, the Bills played an AFC opponent
with a poor record. And, for the second straight week, the Bills played down to their opponent’s record, giving a team life when they had plenty of chances to win.
As with anything, there is definitely some up-and-down to today’s stock report. Some of our horns up players made bad plays. Some of our horns down players had a decent moment or two. There was good to go with the bad, and vice versa.
Here are our horns up and horns down for today’s 29-26 loss to New England.
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Horns Up and Down: Josh Allen
After the Bills began the day with a quick three-and-out, Allen went to work. He was patient, accurate, and poised, leading a long touchdown drive to tie the game at seven early in the second quarter. Then, after New England stretched their lead to 14-7, Allen led another long drive that ended with his 88th career touchdown from scrimmage. That surpassed both Andre Reed and Thurman Thomas for the most in Bills history. Buffalo’s receivers had a hard time finding space, and Allen found himself hemmed into the pocket throughout the afternoon. There were some chances for big plays downfield, but Joshua Palmer dropped one—a play that would not have counted thanks to a penalty—and failed to adjust to one along the sideline. Allen did find Keon Coleman on a few shots downfield, including a gorgeous touchdown pass, but with DJ Moore missing more of the contest thanks to an aggravation of his shoulder injury, Buffalo’s receivers struggled to find separation. Ultimately, it was a horrendous force downfield that erased any chance Buffalo had at coming back to win, as Allen eluded a sack and then fired a meatball sub into double-coverage. He was trying to give Joshua Palmer a chance, but he had little. Allen was 23-of-33 for 253 yards with one passing touchdown, and one back-breaking interception.He ran five times for just four yards and a touchdown.
Horns Down: Pass Defense
Drake Maye hasn’t looked this comfortable or this competent at any other time during this season. Buffalo’s pass defense, which looked better last week against the Los Angeles Chargers, was back to its porous ways this week. The Patriots’ offense came into the contest averaging just 12 points per game; New England surpassed that total in the first half. Pass rush lanes were vacant, giving Maye plenty of room to scramble. He also spent most of the day in clean pockets throwing to open receivers. It’s difficult to cover players for five seconds, and Buffalo’s inability to generate a consistent pass rush allowed those New England wideouts to find plenty of room. The pass defense was an issue again, and it’s beginning to appear like it will continue to be one. On New England’s first three drives, Maye was 8-for-11 for 111 yards with a passing touchdown. He also gained big chunks on a pair of scrambles, totaling 42 yards on three carries. In the second half, it wasn’t much better, and injuries in the secondary made things that much more difficult. Dee Alford and Te’Cory Couch were both injured at some point, so Buffalo had to use safety Damar Hamlin as a nickel corner. They allowed Maye, who entered play completing just 58% of his passes with a 1:6 TD-to-INT ratio, to complete 22-of-37 passes for three touchdowns with just one fluke interception. Maye killed the Bills with his legs, as well, totaling 54 rushing yards on eight carries.
Horns Up: Khalil Shakir
After seeming like the forgotten man over the first three weeks, Shakir finally found some targets. Head coach Joe Brady made a concerted effort to involve Shakir early, as they called everyone’s favorite pass play, the bubble screen for the first pass of the game. He caught all six of his first-half targets for 75 yards, including a big 50-yard catch and run to set up Buffalo’s second touchdown. Shakir derailed a scoring drive at the end of the first half, fumbling after making a catch that would have put Buffalo in scoring position. Fortunately for the Bills, New England turned over the ball on the next set of downs. Overall, it was good to see Shakir as a focal point of the passing game. He totaled a team-high seven catches on a team-high eight targets for 82 yards. That total was second only to Keon Coleman.
Horns Down: Dion Dawkins
Dawkins committed a bad hands to the face penalty to knock the Bills outside of the ten-yard line in a goal-to-go situation. He also allowed a pressure and a sack in the first quarter, as he was beaten badly by Elijah Ponder. In the third quarter, rookie Gabe Jacas bulldozed Dawkins and nearly caused a safety—and likely should have caused one given that Josh Allen fired a backwards, underhanded pass towards the middle of the field, which did not seem to have any receivers in the area. Playing left tackle is often thankless, and Dawkins has been better than most left tackles in the NFL for quite a while now. Today wasn’t his best day.
Horns Up: Dee Alford
After struggling for the first two games, Alford looked better last week against the Chargers. This week, he made a couple of good plays in coverage. He intercepted Maye on a fluke play late in the first half, returning the interception to the nine-yard line to set up a short Tyler Bass field goal, which gave the Bills a 17-14 lead at halftime. On New England’s first drive of the second half, Alford was able to stick with DeMario Douglas on a slot fade, preventing a touchdown with solid coverage. Alford had to leave the game with an ankle injury, but he was able to walk off under his own power. He did not return, though, leaving some questions for an already-thin and under-performing defensive secondary moving forward.
Horns Down: Maxwell Hairston
After a solid start to the season, it was a day to forget for the second-year corner. Hairston was burned repeatedly by Romeo Doubs, allowing two touchdowns to No. 87 while Hairston was lined up against him in man coverage. Hairston also extended a drive by playing way too far off Doubs on a fourth-down play, giving New England’s top wideout on this Sunday far too much space. Later on in that same drive, Hairston was called for a pretty brutal holding penalty in the end zone, which extended the drive one more time and led to Doubs’ second touchdown reception. Hairston made up for it with good coverage on Doubs in the fourth quarter, preventing what could have been a back-breaking grab. Overall, though, he was not good today.
Horns Up: Greg Dortch
Dortch has done a nice job returning punts and kicks all season, but today, he even looked good as a gunner on punt coverage. Dortch made a nice tackle on one of Tommy Doman Jr.’s punts, and it’s the first time I noticed someone other than Sam Franklin Jr. coming down hard on a punt. Dortch continues to prove himself useful on special teams, even when he doesn’t touch the football. He’s quite a dept at the deke, coming up and pretending to field a punt that ends up going over his head and bouncing into the end zone. Will he see more time on offense at some point this season?
Horns Up: Keon Coleman
With DJ Moore out for most of the afternoon, Buffalo needed players to step up, and Coleman delivered. Whether it was making an acrobatic grab on third down to extend a drive, or beating his man on a crosser to extend another drive, Coleman was clutch when Allen needed him. Coleman also caught the go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter, beating Carlton Davis to the middle of the field to give the Bills a 26-21 lead. This was the third game of Coleman’s career where he had 100 or more yards receiving. Coleman finished with six catches on seven targets for 116 yards and the aforementioned score.
Horns Down: The Offensive Game Plan
Where was Dalton Kincaid? Buffalo’s top tight end saw just two targets, and he didn’t make his first catch until the team’s final drive. He was on the field, so I don’t know what the thinking was by trying to force shots downfield to other players, especially after Moore went out for the game. Why did James Cook III have just twelve carries? Sure, he totaled just 18 yards on his first seven rushes, but Joe Brady seemed to abandon the running game for a while rather than trying to make sure that one of the most dynamic offensive players in the league found success. Cook carried five times in the fourth quarter for 57 yards. If Brady sticks with the running game earlier in the second half, the outcome could have been different today.
Horns Down: The Defense in General
New England entered play today with 36 points in three games. They damn near equaled their entire season’s total today. Something has to be done on defense, because right now, it hasn’t been good for the Bills at all aside from a one-week matchup against a moribund Los Angeles Chargers squad. Defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard needs to find something that works for the group that he has, because right now, there are too many breakdowns in coverage. Perhaps he doesn’t quite have the horses to run the scheme exactly how he’d like, but that isn’t going to change overnight. He needs to find a way to put his charges in position to succeed, and right now, he isn’t doing it consistently.
Horns Unknown: You Make the Call
Alright friends, sound off in the comments. This is a frustrating one. Who are your nominees for horns up and horns down?
