Bills Report Card: James Cook powers the run game past New England in a big win
Here are Jay Skurski's grades for the Buffalo Bills in their 35-31 victory over the New England Patriots.
buffalonews.com
Grading the Buffalo Bills in their 35-31 victory over the New England Patriots on Sunday at Gillette Stadium …
Bills running back James Cook had another 100-yard rushing game and scored three total touchdowns Sunday against New England.
Harry Scull Jr., Buffalo News
Running game: A
This is how good James Cook’s season has been: He went for 107 yards and two touchdowns, and it didn’t even feel like it. Cook, who is making a real push to become the NFL's rushing champion this year, became the third player in NFL history to have 100-plus rushing yards, at least two rushing touchdowns and at least one receiving touchdown in helping his team overcome a 21-point deficit in a victory. Cook now has 1,415 rushing yards this season. O.J. Simpson (2,003 yards in 1973, 1,817 yards in 1975 and 1,503 yards in 1976) holds spots 1-3 on the franchise’s single-season rushing list. Thurman Thomas is No. 4 at 1,487 yards in 1992. Cook is on pace to move to No. 3 on that list by the end of the season. Quarterback Josh Allen added 48 yards on 11 carries, while Ty Johnson had 13 on nine carries, including the final third-down conversion to clinch the win. The Bills continue to lead the NFL in rushing at 158.5 yards per game.
Passing game: A-
Things got off to a slow start. Brandin Cooks couldn’t haul in a 35-yard pass on the Bills’ first play from scrimmage. It was a perfectly thrown ball. On third down, Allen overthrew an open Dalton Kincaid. It was another slow day for the receivers, outside of Khalil Shakir, who had 65 yards on five receptions. Cooks, Joshua Palmer, Keon Coleman and Tyrell Shavers combined for one catch for 16 yards – from Palmer. Tight ends picked up the slack, as Dawson Knox had two receiving touchdowns as part of a three-catch, 37-yard game. Dalton Kincaid added 34 yards on three catches. Knox now has 26 receiving touchdowns in his career, establishing a franchise record for tight ends, breaking Pete Metzelaars’ record of 25. Cook had a receiving touchdown, marking the fourth time in his career he’s had at least one rushing and receiving touchdown in the same game. Only Thomas (eight such games) and Simpson (five) have more in franchise history.
Run defense: F
Rhamondre Stevenson went for a 15-yard gain right up the gut on the first play from scrimmage. Things didn’t get much better from there. The Patriots piled up 246 rushing yards on 25 carries – an absurd average of 9.8 per attempt. New England scored four rushing touchdowns. The Bills have now given up 23 rushing touchdowns this season, the most in the NFL and the most by a Sean McDermott defense since he was hired as head coach in 2017. The Bills’ run defense now ranks 28th in the league in allowing 135.2 yards per game. After the Bills had gone ahead, 28-24, the run defense allowed a 65-yard rushing touchdown by TreVeyon Henderson, his second rushing touchdown of 50-plus yards. That’s inexcusable. “He's got speed for sure,” McDermott said of Henderson. “We need to take better angles than we did on the back side of it.”
Pass defense: A
For as bad as the run defense was, the pass coverage was as good. Patriots quarterback Drake Maye went 14 of 23 for 155 yards and one interception. Maye failed to throw a touchdown pass against the Bills in both games this season. Buffalo did a much better job against Patriots receiver Stefon Diggs, holding him to three catches for 26 yards after he torched them in the first meeting. Matt Milano had two sacks in a turn-back-the-clock performance. Greg Rousseau also had a sack when he forced Maye out of bounds for no gain. Joey Bosa had a massive pass defensed to force a turnover on downs by the Patriots before the Bills were able to run out the clock.
Special teams: A
Ray Davis was one of the unsung heroes. He returned four kickoffs for 164 yards. He had three returns that went for at least 35 yards, tying the record for the most by a Bills player in a game since 1991. It’s Davis’ second such game this season after doing it against Tampa Bay in Week 11. Mitch Wishnowsky placed three of his four punts inside the Patriots’ 20-yard line. Shakir’s lone punt return went for 12 yards. Matt Prater made all five of his extra points, which has been a bit of a problem area recently. The Bills’ average drive start was their 39-yard line, compared to the New England 25-yard line for the Patriots. That was a big factor in the win.
Coaching: B
It wasn’t a great start for McDermott. He should have thrown the challenge flag on the Patriots’ first possession. There was at least one, and maybe two, fourth downs that analytics suggested he should have gone for it. The defensive effort before halftime was unacceptable. Say this for the Bills, though: They are resilient. That starts with the head coach. The adjustments made by both sides of the ball after halftime produced the desired results. The Bills are a flawed team, but one that no team is going to want to see in the playoffs. That’s mostly because of Allen’s brilliance, but the job the coaching staff has done in adjusting when things aren’t going right can’t be ignored. They deserve credit for that as much as they deserve blame for the team having too many slow starts.
