Position grades: Bills' physicality on line of scrimmage draws Sean McDermott praise
The Buffalo Bills won control of the offensive and defensive lines in their 31-10 victory against the Miami Dolphins on Thursday night.
Bills running back James Cook weaves his way through the Dolphins' defense en route to his 49-yard touchdown Thursday night. Harry Scull Jr., Buffalo News
Football games still are won and lost to a significant degree at the line of scrimmage.
The Buffalo Bills won control of the offensive and defensive lines in their 31-10 victory against the Miami Dolphins on Thursday night. It was a point of emphasis and pride for coach Sean McDermott.
“I thought the defense was extremely physical,” McDermott said Friday. “Our run game was extremely physical. Our wide receivers are blocking. We're starting to understand and get into good pad-level positions, which is fundamentally what you're trying to build earlier in the year. We have more room for improvement moving forward, of course. That's just so important to groom those key essentials to being been a good, strong, fundamentally sound football team early on.”
Here’s a position-by-position breakdown of the game, based on video review and scored on a scale of 0 to 5:
Quarterback (4.0). Josh Allen didn’t need to be Superman but still outplayed Tua Tagovailoa by a wide margin. Allen saw the corner blitz coming all the way on the 17-yard TD pass to James Cook. Allen also made a big-arm, tight-window throw over the middle vs. Cover 2 to Khalil Shakir for 21 yards to spark the 85-yard drive. He demonstrated his excellence at throwing on the move on the 33-yard pass to Ty Johnson.
Offensive line (4.5). Blocking was beautiful on Cook’s 49-yard touchdown run. Spencer Brown and O’Cyrus Torrence double-teamed Da’Shawn Hand, and Connor McGovern made a power solo block on Brandon Pili to seal a big lane for Cook. Torrence had a couple nice solo blocks, too. The Bills barely needed to throw. But the pass protection by Brown against outstanding linebacker Jaelan Phillips was good, and Dion Dawkins was a powerhouse on the other side. Alec Anderson is showing his feistiness, as the Bills used him as a third tackle on eight plays. He had good knockdown blocks on defensive ends Quintin Bell and Calais Campbell in the second half.
Running backs (4.0). It’s nice to have a back who can take it to the house. Cook had 95 yards and three touchdowns on just 12 touches. The Bills were protecting a big lead and grinding the clock almost the entire second half. Every run play after the break was into a loaded box of defenders or with Miami playing just one safety deep.
Receivers (2.5). It was an odd game for the offense. Because the Bills’ defense dominated, Buffalo ran just 45 plays, and only 29 were while the game got out of reach in the third quarter. The Bills got Dalton Kincaid involved, and Shakir moved the chains. It’s tough to say how new Miami defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver would have defended Allen in a close game.
Miami blitzed Allen five times, according to Buffalo News charting. He was 5 of 5 for 45 yards and a TD on those plays.
“Especially in the second half we didn’t have to really throw the football at all,” said offensive coordinator Joe Brady.
Defensive line (5.0). Ed Oliver and DaQuan Jones were dominant, while backups Austin Johnson and DeWayne Carter gave the interior of Miami’s offensive line fits, as well. Oliver forced Miami to bench guard Robert Jones, although replacement Lester Cotton fared no better. Greg Rousseau and A.J. Epenesa set strong edges as usual, critical against Miami’s wide runs. Casey Toohill stayed home to stymie a reverse by Jaylen Waddle and was aggressive the backside of plays. Von Miller had a sack and three other hurries.
Linebackers (4.5). Credit Baylon Spector with subbing for injured Terrel Bernard and holding the middle together. He had 10 tackles and only two missed tackles. Miami rushed for 139 yards, but a defense must pick its poison. Give up a 5-yard run, then find a way to get a third-down stop? Or risk giving up a 50-yard pass? Miami ran 21 personnel (with fullback Alec Ingold) on 22 plays, by the News' count, partly because it expected light boxes from the nickel defense but also because it doesn't have a great No. 3 wideout. Better to have Ingold on the field. The Bills' nickel front held up OK, yielding a 4.1-yard average on 21 personnel runs.
Defensive backs (5.0). It was a brilliant performance for the secondary against the reigning top passing team in the league. The longest pass play was just 21 yards. Ja’Marcus Ingram was one of three underneath zone defenders on his first interception. Christian Benford was all over a deep incompletion for Tyreek Hill on the first drive. Rasul Douglas blanketed Hill on a third-and-3 incompletion in the second quarter. The tackling by the cornerbacks again was good. The Bills used the dime package (six defensive backs) on 17 plays and were successful on nine of them. Pretty good. There were two interceptions and two sacks with the dime on the field.
Special teams (2.5). Tyler Bass made a 43-yarder when it mattered and missed a 45-yarder that never had a chance in garbage time. The Bills were wise to have all of Bass kickoffs go for touchbacks rather than give the Dolphins’ speedsters a return chance.