Report Card: Bills stay unbeaten despite uneven effort against Dolphins

Report Card: Bills stay unbeaten despite uneven effort against Dolphins

Despite coming away with a win over the Dolphins and now at 3-0, the Bills earn a mixed bag of grades.

buffalonews.com

Grading the Buffalo Bills in their 31-21 victory over the Miami Dolphins on Thursday at Highmark Stadium …

Running game: A​

James Cook picked up where he left off in Week 2, rushing three times for 30 yards on the Bills’ opening drive. He finished the first quarter with four carries for 49 yards and the first half with eight carries for 73 yards, the longest of which went for 26 yards. At the end of that play, the tackle on Cook was low, which looked scary, but he was able to pop right back up. That’s huge for the Bills, because Cook has been crucial in their 3-0 start. Quarterback Josh Allen had a 19-yard scramble as part of four carries for 25 yards. Wide receiver Elijah Moore continues to have a small role in the running game. He took a jet sweep 11 yards for a first down on his first carry of the night in the first quarter.

Passing game: B+​

Allen went 3 of 3 for 34 yards and a touchdown on the opening drive, and in the first quarter, he was 4 of 4 for 46 yards. His first throw of the game fell incomplete, but the play was erased by a defensive pass interference penalty on Dolphins cornerback Jack Jones that was drawn by receiver Keon Coleman. In the second quarter, Coleman made a 4-yard catch that was a lot more impressive than it looks in the box score. On third-and-1 from the Dolphins’ 9-yard line, Allen fired a laser to Coleman, who was able to hold on despite tight coverage from old friend Rasul Douglas. Coleman, however, finished with just three catches for 20 yards. It was a fairly quiet night for the wideouts, although Khalil Shakir had the game-winning touchdown catch. Tight end Dalton Kincaid played a big game, with five catches for 66 yards.

Run defense: C​

It started out strong, as rookie defensive tackle Deone Walker stopped Miami’s De’Von Achane for a gain of just 1 yard on Miami’s first carry. Later on that drive, Bills defensive tackle DaQuan Jones made a tackle for loss. That was the good, but there was plenty of bad on the opening drive, too. Defensive end Greg Rousseau lost containment on a second-and-12 run by Achane that went for 11 yards. That pretty accurately summed up the night for the run defense: Some good, some bad. The Dolphins finished with 130 rushing yards on 25 carries, an average of 5.2 yards per attempt. Bills linebacker Shaq Thompson made a pair of tackles in run defense that limited Miami to gains of 2 yards on each play of the defensive drive that ended with Terrel Bernard’s interception. Thompson had six tackles, the same total as fellow linebacker Dorian Williams, and Bernard had seven.

Pass defense: B-​

The Dolphins’ quick passing attack gave the Bills problems early. Miami quarterback Tua Tagovailoa has a quick release, making him difficult to sack. That proved to be the case, as Buffalo’s defense finished without a sack and hit Tagovailoa just once (that was Joey Bosa). Bills cornerback Tre White had Tagovailoa dead to rights on a cornerback blitz in the second quarter but simply missed him, allowing Tagovailoa to convert a third-and-12 play with a 19-yard pass to Tyreek Hill, who finished with five catches for 49 yards and a touchdown. Tagovailoa was limited to 146 yards passing, completing 22 of his 34 throws, although he did have a pair of touchdown throws. The interception by Bernard was the play of the game for the Bills’ defense.

Special teams: C-​

It started poorly, as the Bills' coverage unit allowed a 54-yard return by the Dolphins' Dee Eskridge on the opening kickoff, giving Miami a drive start at the Buffalo 47-yard line. It feels like with the new kickoff rules, the Bills are going to give up a kickoff return for a touchdown at some point this season, and score one, too. Bills returner Brandon Codrington muffed a punt but was fortunate to jump on it. Punter Cameron Johnston averaged just 36.5 net yards on his two attempts. Matt Prater made a fourth-quarter field goal but badly missed an attempt earlier.


Bills head coach Sean McDermott has led his team to a 3-0 start to the season, even if Thursday’s game wasn’t a dominant showing.
Joshua Bessex, Buffalo News

Coaching: C​

Bills coach Sean McDermott should have thrown a challenge flag on Miami’s first drive. Hill slightly bobbled the ball, preventing him from getting two feet down inbounds. The play was ruled a catch, giving Miami a first down on third-and-4. If reviewed and overturned, the Dolphins might have punted. Veteran defensive end A.J. Epenesa was called for unnecessary roughness at the end of the Bills’ first kick return, an undisciplined penalty that hurt field position. The Bills had to use their first timeout of the first half with 12 minutes left in the second quarter when the offense was late getting to the line of scrimmage. The Dolphins went 10 of 15 on third downs – just four days after the Jets went 0 for 11 on third down. That’s simply unacceptable on the part of the defense led by coordinator Bobby Babich. With 5:45 remaining in the third quarter, McDermott used his first timeout of the second half on defense ahead of a third-down play, allowing Hill to return to the game. That was not a great use of a timeout, but the defense did get a stop on the ensuing play, so it worked out.

 

[HipKat]

The Athletic: Bills vow to fix awful third-down defense: ‘It’s a little demoralizing’​

Bills vow to fix awful third-down defense: ‘It’s a little demoralizing’

The Bills posted one of their worst third-down defensive performances in over 40 years on Thursday night.

www.nytimes.com

Taron Johnson was smiling Thursday night because the Buffalo Bills won. They’re 3-0 and don’t play for another 10 days. They can take a breath. They should feel good.

There was, however, one topic from the 31-21 victory over the Miami Dolphins that made Johnson growl — actually, like an ornery rottweiler.

I asked Buffalo’s nickelback to take me through all those third downs right before halftime, when it couldn’t get Miami off the field. Five third downs, five conversions, three of them from a great distance.

Third-and-1, backup running back Ollie Gordon ran for 4 yards.

Johnson shook his head and grimaced.

Third-and-12, Tua Tagovailoa completed a pass to Tyreek Hill for 19 yards.

“Mmmm!” A sound came from deep within Johnson’s throat.

Third-and-10, Tagovailoa to Hill for 13 more.

“Yeah, I know,” Johnson nodded, waiting for the rest.

Third-and-7, Tagovailoa scrambled for 8 yards.

“Mmmm hmmm,” Johnson seethed.

Third-and-3, Tagovailoa to Hill again for 7 yards.

“Yeah …”

On the next play, Tagovailoa spotted Jaylen Waddle for a 3-yard touchdown toss that tied the score at 14. Miami began the drive on its own 29-yard line when Matt Prater missed a 39-yard field-goal attempt with 6:03 remaining in the first half.

Buffalo’s defense couldn’t get off the field until Miami drained all but 11 seconds off the clock. The Bills, winners and deferrers of the opening coin flip, were denied their coveted double dip and went into the intermission with inferior foes draped across their backs.

“Third and long! We want that!” Johnson laughed in disbelief. “It’s a little demoralizing, but at the end of the day, you just got to keep playing because there’s still a chance we can get a turnover, still a chance that we can stop them on the next drive.

“You can’t hang your head. We’ll talk about that tomorrow. In the moment, you just got to keep going even when stuff ain’t going right. When you get discouraged, that’s how you lose a game badly.”

History shows defenses that perform so poorly on third down should lose.

The Dolphins averaged an obnoxious 6.8 yards on third down. Last year, the Baltimore Ravens led the entire NFL at 6.8 yards per play — on any down.

Four nights after they prevented the New York Jets from converting any of their 11 third-down attempts, the Bills posted one of their worst third-down defensive performances in over 40 years. The Dolphins had 15 third downs and moved the chains 10 times. They converted their lone fourth-down attempt, too.

“We got them in a lot of hard third downs, long third downs and we weren’t able to get off the field,” Bills cornerback Tre’Davious White said. “We want those plays back, but ultimately you just try to limit the damage.”

Of the 25 times the Bills have surrendered at least 10 third-down conversions since 1991 (as far back as Pro Football Reference’s data goes), the Dolphins’ 66.7 percent success rate is tied for fifth-worst, second-worst since Sean McDermott became coach. The Los Angeles Rams converted 11 of 15 first downs and one fourth down in a 44-42 shootout over the Bills last December.

The Bills, before Thursday night, were 3-21 when yielding at least 10 third-down conversions. They beat the New York Giants 14-9 despite such circumstances in October 2023, but the victories before that came in 1998 and 1991.

Miami nailed all three of its third-down conversions on the opening drive as well. Dee Eskridge returned the kickoff 54 yards to Buffalo’s 47, and then Miami refused to reach fourth down and kick a field goal. Gordon’s 2-yard touchdown came on third-and-goal.

“It sucks when they convert it, when you do a good job on first and second down and get them in third and long,” Bills linebacker Shaq Thompson said. “Then they get a play,” he snapped his fingers, “like that. We’ve just got to be more disciplined.”

Injured defensive tackle Ed Oliver and linebacker Matt Milano were missing from the lineup, but the Bills must figure out a way to compensate.

They were better in the second half, forcing a pair of three-and-out possessions in the third quarter. But in the fourth quarter, Tagovailoa completed all three of his third-down passes for 34 yards and his fourth-down throw for another 15 yards.

The Bills’ defense survived thanks in large part to another late Terrel Bernard takeaway. In Week 1, he recovered Oliver’s forced fumble to help turn the tide against the Ravens, and on Thursday night snagged a red-zone interception after defensive tackle Deone Walker tipped Tagovailoa’s pass with 3:00 to play.

“Same thing we did in the Ravens game; same thing we did here,” Johnson said. “Some other teams might not do that and just kind of fall apart.

“We stay together. We’re here, and no one’s flaming. We’re not finger-pointing, it’s just ‘Let’s get it fixed.’”

 

[sukie]

Never really ever thought Bills would lose. Just felt it might end up tighter than I first thought.

Was concerned by the lack of vertical game… even 12-15 air yards. That Miami secondary is a mess.

 

[Victor7]

Never really ever thought Bills would lose. Just felt it might end up tighter than I first thought.

Was concerned by the lack of vertical game… even 12-15 air yards. That Miami secondary is a mess.

Allen threw one pass over 10 yards the entire game. That was a weird game plan. I agree that Miami secondary is a hot mess. Wonder why we didnt test them. Chad Pennington was smiling somewhere. Ditto for Trent Edwards.

 

[herodotus]

Allen threw one pass over 10 yards the entire game. That was a weird game plan. I agree that Miami secondary is a hot mess. Wonder why we didnt test them. Chad Pennington was smiling somewhere. Ditto for Trent Edwards.

I think I know why. My theory is we will find McDermott told Brady to reign it in because of how dogshit the defense is. The plan was give Cook the rock, have Josh throw short passes, chew clock, control the game, limit the time Miami had with the ball. I also think you scheme differently v a shit team like Miami than you do against Baltimore or Kansas City. This early in the year you don't show all your cards. You don't want KC (and as much as I hope they choke against the Giants because its so fun laughing at them when they lose, I don't think they're done) or Baltimore or other teams you have to play in December and January having too much tape.

 

[sukie]

Could be for vanilla tapes