Olean Times Herald

‘So what do we make of this mid-season Bills swoon? It’s easy to point a finger at the defense, and just as easy to excuse, or at least understand struggles on that side of the ball due to injuries.’

‘But this is a bit different than last year, when the Bills’ biggest midseason addition, Nyheim Hines, was acquired in a running back swap for Zack Moss (who, by the way, looks pretty good in Indianapolis now). Hines ended up only meaningfully contributing on special teams, never finding a significant role in the Bills’ offense.’

‘The secret to avoiding another slow start for the Buffalo Bills just might be to hurry up … literally.’

‘Now, three games later, nearing the midpoint of the season, Allen and company have a new problem at hand. They can’t seem to find offensive potency until it’s almost too late. Scoring 10 points combined in the last three first halves, the Bills have had to hope for their defense to keep them in games, or the offense to do just enough when it matters to salvage a win in cardiac-inducing fashion for fans. It barely worked out against the Giants and almost did against the Patriots, only to be undone by a late New England touchdown.’

‘Considering the opponent, Buffalo’s defense had its worst day of the season. The Bills let Mac Jones, who had not thrown a touchdown pass in nearly a month, look like an All-Pro. Jones looked unbothered by the Buffalo pass rush all day and completed all but five of his 30 attempts, scattering passes to nine different players. Even after the Bills erased a 12-point fourth-quarter deficit to take a lead late, Jones engineered a 75-yard game-winning drive with relative ease, completing a pass to tight end Mike Gesicki at the goal line to seal the Bills’ loss.’

‘The Bills enter Sunday’s Week 7 game winners of their last four meetings with New England — including a 47-17 demolition in the 2022 playoffs — and six of their last seven. The only loss in that stretch feels like more of an aberration than it even did at the time, the 14-10 “wind game” on Monday Night Football in December 2021.’

‘To keep some perspective, the Bills’ offense still ranks third in the NFL in yards per play at 6.0, sixth in yards per game and third in points per game. But the week to week inconsistency suggests something not quite right with the offense.’

‘Buffalo held on at the final whistle, with an untimed down from its own 1-yard line, where Giants quarterback Tyrod Taylor could not complete a throw in the back of the end zone to tight end Darren Waller. Nickel corner Taron Johnson played tight defense on Waller and avoided a penalty after a pass interference call on Terrel Bernard put the ball at the 1 the play before.’

‘No one can fault the Bills for moving on from Taylor after 2018, given how well the Allen pick turned out. But I’ve always thought it was unfair when fans lumped him in with some of the truly poor quarterbacks of the franchise’s 17-year playoff drought. After all, he was the quarterback of the team that ended the drought in 2017. He had a 22-19 record in starts with the Bills and threw 51 touchdowns to 16 interceptions and ran for 14 more scores. Only Allen (93.1) has a higher passer rating than Taylor (92.5) in franchise history (minimum of 250 attempts); of course that statistic favors modern advanced passing games, and favors a risk-averse style of play like Taylor’s.’

‘“It was 100% worth going,” she says of her six-night stay. “Tottenham Hotspur stadium was absolutely incredible, not a bad seat in the house! It was amazing how it truly did feel like a home game even thousands of miles away. I am hoping the Bills get to play in Germany in the next couple of years so we can attend that as well!”’

‘Milano’s absence seemed evident as the Jaguars gashed Buffalo for 474 total yards, with Buffalo unable to stop running back Travis Etienne (136 yards) or Trevor Lawrence’s favorite receiver, Calvin Ridley (122 yards). Buffalo also lost defensive tackle Daquan Jones to a pectoral injury and cornerback Taron Johnson left but returned after a knee injury.’

‘But this year’s London trip finds the Bills in a much different position than the 2015 team that also took on Jacksonville. The Bills are — to borrow an English soccer, erm, football term — top of the table in the AFC East and the conference overall, one of four AFC teams to start 3-1, along with the Dolphins, Ravens and Chiefs.’

‘Allen had his first career perfect passer rating of 158.3, beating his previous best of 146.7 in a 2020 game at Miami. He was virtually mistake-free, while throwing in a few jaw-dropping moments of mobility in the pocket or rocket-armed passing, sometimes on the same play. He finished 21-for-25 for 320 yards and four touchdowns with no turnovers. In the fourth quarter, he put an exclamation point on a perfect day with an 11-yard touchdown run.’

‘At the least, Sunday’s game will determine first place in the AFC East. The Dolphins could take a two-game lead over Buffalo with a win; on the other side, the Bills would leapfrog the ‘Fins with a key win toward postseason tiebreakers. And with the Jets facing another season of Zach Wilson at quarterback and the Patriots’ offense struggling, both teams at 1-2, it’s fair to wonder if the East is already a two-horse race.’

‘Of course no one expects the Bills to repeat Sunday’s defensive performance — holding Washington to three points on a pitiful fourth-quarter field goal — this week against Miami, the same way you wouldn’t expect the Dolphins to push the NFL record for points against this Buffalo defense. But where they fall between those two extremes will be the subject of much speculation and fascination this week.’