As the old saying goes, you’re only guaranteed three things in life: death, taxes, and poor time management by the Buffalo Bills. Sunday’s nailbiter will be the fifth loss in the last year and five games, which could go under the “time management blunders” category. That number is certainly difficult to look past for an organization that has consistently been criticized for situational awareness over the years.
That said, the Bills have three areas of greater concern than time management.
Concern #1: Offensive and Defensive Line Play
Post Ravens loss, there was some concern about the offense against the blitz. One would be hopeful the Bills would correct the mistakes based on past success against the blitz. It’s now becoming an issue. Josh Allen has felt pressure on 45% of dropbacks in the last two weeks. That is a one-way ticket for your quarterback to get injured and is not a winning formula. The easy fix to this is bringing in an extra guy to help in pass protection. But, as touched on later in this article, it will just make things more difficult for a mediocre passing offense.
Defensively, the Bills’ front four has cooled off significantly. In the last two outings, they have a combined one sack and one total pressure, including one in the game against Baltimore. As for the run game, they’ve allowed 182.5 yards per game on the ground in the last two outings. Buffalo lives and dies by the nickel. They may be forced in the coming weeks to adapt in personnel if the struggles continue.
Concern #2: Lack of Receiving Threat
With the parting ways of Stefon Diggs in the offseason, the known question was, who was going to step up? To this point, there isn’t a clear answer. Khalil Shakir seems to be the early go-to guy, but other than him, it’s been a slow start to the season. Dalton Kincaid was expected to take that next step, but through five games, he has hauled in only 15 catches.
Buffalo has struggled to win outside in man coverage, and that becomes a real problem when the offensive line isn’t holding up. The line and wideouts are key symbiotic relationships in the passing game, especially versus the blitz. The best way to beat the blitz is to win one-on-one battles cleanly and get the ball out hot. When the defense knows receivers can’t win, pressure, sacks, and struggles on offense come.
Concern #3: The Safeties
It was another case of the “who’s going to step up” at the safety position coming into the year. Both Cam Lewis and Ja’Marcus Ingram had excellent starts to the year, but have fallen back to Earth. Cole Bishop is inexperienced, Mike Edwards seems to have been put on the back burner by the coaching staff, and while Damar Hamlin has exceeded some expectations, he also has made his fair share of mistakes.
The safety room is most certainly a need for this team. The Houston game put the cherry on top for the safety position.
While the Bills have concerns and seem to be a piece of what they were, there are still plenty of reasons to be optimistic. They lead a struggling AFC East, the schedule gets weaker, and they will likely start to get some injured bodies back.
The offensive line mistakes can be corrected over time. Teams have won more with less talented wide receiver cores than Buffalo has (Chiefs last year)., The staff has proven they can scheme success out of any position defensively.
Time will tell if those adjustments are made in time for a huge Monday Night Football matchup with the Jets.