No Victory Monday celebrations this week, as the Buffalo Bills fell to the Miami Dolphins, 30-13, at Hard Rock Stadium on Sunday afternoon. Buffalo fell to 6-3 and now finds itself dangerously close to losing
the division to the New England Patriots. Sunday’s loss marks just the second time in 16 tries that Josh Allen lost to the Dolphins.
At least the excuses card can be pulled, as Buffalo entered Sunday’s tilt down multiple starters, particularly defensive backs Christian Benford and Taron Johnson, as well as edge rusher A.J. Epenesa and linebacker Shaq Thompson. Perhaps the Bills banked on a “scheduled win” and played it safe with these four players, but that certainly backfired if it was the case.
Bills Week 10 offensive snap counts (68 snaps)
D.Dawkins T 68 (100%)
D.Edwards G 68 (100%)
O.Torrence G 68 (100%)
S.Brown T 68 (100%)
C.McGovern G 68 (100%)
J.Allen QB 65 (96%)
D.Knox TE 46 (68%)
K.Shakir WR 45 (66%)
K.Coleman WR 42 (62%)
J.Cook RB 34 (50%)
J.Hawes TE 29 (43%)
Ty.Johnson RB 27 (40%)
E.Moore WR 25 (37%)
T.Shavers WR 24 (35%)
C.Samuel WR 24 (35%)
R.Gilliam FB 18 (26%)
D.Kincaid TE 18 (26%)
R.Davis RB 7 (10%)
M.Trubisky QB 3 (4%)
A.Anderson T 1 (1%)
Allen (96%) and the offense were flat-out bad. The Bills’ first six drives of the game went as follows: Three-and-out, turnover on downs, three-and-out, six-play, 60-yard drive resulting in a fumble, three-and-out, and three-and-out. That is unacceptable when 1) Allen is at the helm and 2) the Dolphins’ secondary was decimated with injuries and was incredibly vulnerable to a strong passing attack. The offensive line allowed three sacks and seven QB hits, and was flat-out missing easy blocks.
Even the running game and James Cook (50%) couldn’t get going. Cook finished with 13 carries for 53 yards, including five receptions for 24 yards. Notably, Ty Johnson (40%) logged just seven fewer snaps than Cook, most likely because of Cook’s momentum-killing fumble on Buffalo’s fourth drive of the game. Sunday marked the first week of the season in which the Bills failed to eclipse the 100-yard rushing mark as a team.
The recurring theme of the Bills’ wideouts not creating separation showed up yet again, and it’s extra embarrassing when you remember that Miami had multiple backups playing on defense on Sunday. Allen was forced to create magic outside of the pocket in nearly every long-yardage situation. Wide receiver Khalil Shakir (66%) out-snapped Keon Coleman (62%) for the first time all season, leading all Bills’ pass catchers in targets, receptions, and yards. 11 different Bills’ players hauled in at least one reception, with Coleman and tight end Jackson Hawes (43%) each finding the back of the end zone.
Allen’s favorite target, tight end Dalton Kincaid (26%), played just 18 snaps as he picked up a hamstring injury and was unable to return to the game. Kincaid caught 2-of-3 targets for 37 yards, with his lone drop coming right before halftime when weather conditions were rather unfriendly. Dawson Knox (68%) saw a ton of run as a result and made big plays when his name was called. Allen threw an interception in the endzone while targeting Knox, following a promising 14-play, 77-yard drive right out of the half.
Bills Week 10 defensive snap counts (53 snaps)
C.Bishop S 53 (100%)
T.Bernard LB 53 (100%)
M.Hairston CB 53 (100%)
T.White CB 50 (94%)
C.Lewis DB 49 (92%)
J.Poyer S 43 (81%)
M.Milano LB 43 (81%)
G.Rousseau DE 40 (75%)
J.Bosa DE 33 (62%)
J.Solomon DE 28 (53%)
L.Ogunjobi DT 25 (47%)
D.Jones DT 25 (47%)
D.Walker DT 22 (42%)
P.Mathis DT 21 (40%)
J.Phillips DT 16 (30%)
J.Ingram CB 11 (21%)
J.Hancock DB 10 (19%)
D.Williams LB 3 (6%)
D.Jackson CB 3 (6%)
L.Jackson DE 2 (4%)
The absence of Benford and Johnson resulted in complete games for Cam Lewis (100%) and rookie defensive back Maxwell Hairston (100%). The rookie was welcomed to the NFL by Jaylen Waddle, who got burned on a 38-yard touchdown in the second quarter. However, he has now secured an interception in back-to-back games. After shutting down Xavier Worthy in Week 9, this moment was likely good for the rookie to learn from. Safety Cole Bishop (100%) continued his strong play by picking off Tua Tagovailoa on Miami’s first drive of the game. Bishop finished with seven tackles and one pass defensed.
With Thompson on the shelf, both linebacker Terrel Bernard (100%) and Matt Milano (81%) received most of the run. Buffalo didn’t run base as often as it had in previous games, resulting in just a three-snap day for Dorian Williams (6%). The linebacker position was an interesting position to monitor during the trade deadline, but the Bills seemingly feel good about their current linebacker depth.
The defensive line will be interesting to monitor over the back half of the season, with defensive tackle Phidarian Mathis (40%) now signed to the 53-man roster and veteran DaQuan Jones (47%) returning from injury. Buffalo doesn’t seem to prefer one defensive tackle over the rest, with all five active defensive tackles logging at least 30% of the snaps. I’d prefer if rookie Deone Walker (42%) led the group in snaps each week, but the depth is certainly there to keep these guys as fresh as possible.
As for the edge position, Epenesa was sidelined, resulting in a third career appearance for Landon Jackson (4%). However, the rookie injured his knee just two snaps into the game and didn’t return. Following the game, he was seen on crutches wearing a brace/walking boot. The edge position isn’t quite as spread out as the defensive tackle position, with Greg Rousseau (75%) and Joey Bosa (62%) clearly the preferred top-two options. With Epenesa sidelined, 24-year-old Javon Solomon (53%) logged 28 snaps and should see DE3/DE4 snaps moving forward.
Bills Week 10 special teams snap counts (22 snaps)
S.Franklin DB 21 (95%)
J.Andreessen LB 21 (95%)
R.Gilliam FB 17 (77%)
D.Williams LB 15 (68%)
J.Solomon DE 15 (68%)
B.Spector LB 14 (64%)
R.Davis RB 14 (64%)
T.Shavers WR 13 (59%)
J.Hancock DB 13 (59%)
D.Jackson CB 10 (45%)
J.Ingram CB 10 (45%)
Ty.Johnson RB 7 (32%)
J.Hawes TE 7 (32%)
C.Samuel WR 6 (27%)
A.Anderson T 6 (27%)
D.Walker DT 6 (27%)
G.Rousseau DE 5 (23%)
J.Phillips DT 5 (23%)
M.Wishnowsky P 5 (23%)
C.Bishop S 5 (23%)
T.Bernard LB 5 (23%)
C.Lewis DB 5 (23%)
R.Ferguson LS 5 (23%)
K.Shakir WR 3 (14%)
M.Prater K 3 (14%)
D.Edwards G 1 (5%)
O.Torrence G 1 (5%)
J.Poyer S 1 (5%)
S.Van Pran-Granger C/G 1 (5%)
R.Van Demark T 1 5%)
