The Bills lost 22-16 in overtime to their AFC East rival New York Jets. Let’s run through the Bills Week 1 ups and downs of last night’s miserable experience in the Meadowlands.
Prayers up to Aaron Rodgers that his injury isn’t too serious and he can make a recovery sooner than later.
We expected Rodgers Vs Allen and instead got Wilson Vs Allen, and both QB’s failed to live up to their 1st round billing.
Up – Stefon Diggs
I will always start on a positive note. Stefon Diggs let his play do the talking. 10 catches, 102 yards and he felt like the only part of the offense that you could count on in this game.
Diggs showed why he’s a superstar, why he’s so valuable to Allen and his leadership will be necessary to help pull his young QB’s head out of his ass.
Down – Josh Allen… what are you doing bro?
The first interception I’ll admit, I was okay with. Nice launch to the 4-yard line, basically a punt. It was dumb, but also worked out.
I didn’t think the throws would become a trend for the night.
We’ve seen performances like this from Allen before, which is both concerning and encouraging. He should be learning from his mistakes. He also always bounces back from poor performances.
Next week at Vegas is important to the development of Allen and his leadership ability. They were in a tough spot today, a lot of hype, a lot of emotion. Allen didn’t handle his emotions well and it affected his play.
I’ll chalk it up to being week 1, but the Bills’ issues of the past continued to show all game.
Up – Greg Rousseau and Leonard Floyd
Greg Rousseau was a beast. Leonard Floyd was everything he was advertised to be. Simple as that. They tortured Wilson at times and it made me damn near giddy thinking about what the d line could look like with Von Miller.
Down – Sean McDermott being Conservative
This decision alone encapsulates the mindset that McDermott took. The second that Zach Wilson entered the game, every aggressive urge in McDermott’s body was pushed back. He played extremely safe situationally, and in this case, potentially costing his team 3 points and great field position.
In a game where the margins were this tight, and Allen was struggling, an impact defensive play against Zach Wilson could’ve been all they needed to take this one home. Force him to make a mistake. Sean decided to try and let him make one on his own, but so did Robert Saleh. A few more aggressive defensive calls against an overmatched QB could’ve swung the game.
Down – Ken Dorsey
I defended him all last year, but I’m officially on Dorsey Pack Watch. Everything looked difficult and I’m excited to see some of the great All-22 breakdowns from Cover 1 and other fantastic Bills blogs.
Part of Allen’s struggles are on his tendencies to play the superhero, but Ken Dorsey does not do a good enough job of reigning those tendencies in. Brian Daboll had a special connection with Josh and was able to understand and connect with him beyond X’s and O’s.
QB and OC need to have some hard conversations this week and get on the same page.
Final Summary
The Week 1 Bills Ups and downs showcase the gap the Bills must close to become a true dominant force in the AFC.
Allen, Dorsey and McDermott all need to correct their original sins. Otherwise, this years Bills team is a wild card ceiling, not a Super Bowl.
McDermott – Conservative Coaching
Dorsey – Coaching to Allen’s strengths
Allen – Reckless decision-making
We’ll learn about the leadership of this team. Allen was despondent after letting his team down last night. Diggs, Hyde, Poyer, Von Miller and others are going to need to be the first emotional force this week. This team is built around Josh Allen. It’s time to lift him up in a time of need.