What a weird game that was.
The Buffalo Bills and the Baltimore Ravens matched up in what was supposed to be a showcase of two marquee quarterbacks. Instead, Baltimore's Lamar Jackson left after one play, Buffalo's Josh Allen struggled for much of the afternoon, and we all learned the name Joe Fagnano. The undrafted rookie from UCONN entered to play quarterback after Baltimore's backup quarterback, Tyler Huntley, suffered a toe injury in the second quarter to knock him out of the game.
It was all part of a wild afternoon where Buffalo's defense dominated, Baltimore's defense kept the game close for as long as they could, and Josh Allen earned yet another major career achievement. Was it perfect? Definitely not. However, the Bills will take a 36-10 win over the Ravens as they head into a Monday night matchup with the Minnesota Vikings next week.
Here are our horns up and horns down for the Bills' blowout victory.
Horns Up: Cole Bishop
Bishop made a big play in the first half, speeding through on a blitz to sack Baltimore quarterback Tyler Huntley. Bishop's big hit forced Huntley to fumble, and after a scrum, rookie linebacker Kaleb Elarms-Orr recovered to give the Bills great field position. While the team would only convert a field goal, it was points, and it was Bishop who set it up. He played well throughout the game, as he covered Mark Andrews tightly in man looks and also patrolled his zone with authority. Bishop finished with two tackles, a sack, and a QB hit.
Horns Down: Tight Ends
In the first quarter alone, all three of Buffalo's tight ends dropped a pass. Dalton Kincaid's drop, at least, could have been a pass breakup, as he was unable to secure a contested catch against cornerback Chidobe Awuzie. Dawson Knox had one hit him right in the hands on a crossing route and he dropped it. However, the worst drop came from Jackson Hawes, as he had a middle screen hit him right in the bread basket. He couldn't secure the catch, but worse still, he batted the ball high into the air almost as if he were a libero passing to his setter. This isn't volleyball, but he put the ball up softly enough where Baltimore's Broderick Washington Jr. easily secured the first interception of his seven-year career. It set up a short field and an easy touchdown for the Ravens. Later, Kincaid made a nice catch on a deep ball in the fourth quarter, but he immediately followed it up with a wide-open drop. It was a microcosm of the kind of day Buffalo's usually dependable tight end group had.
Horns Up: Tyler Bass
With the offense stuck in neutral for much of the first half, it was Bass providing much of the scoring for Buffalo. He doinked a 56-yard field goal in off the left upright to give the Bills a 10-0 lead. Then, he hit a 22-yard field goal after a questionable play call turned what should have been a tush-push attempt at a touchdown into a four-yard loss on a designed Josh Allen sweep. Then, with 14 seconds left in the first half, Bass was good from 51 yards out to push Buffalo's lead to 16-7 at halftime. Bass was perfect on field goals, hitting all three of his tries, and he was also perfect on his three PAT attempts. It's been a phenomenal season so far for Bass.
Horns Up: Geno Stone
The veteran had a pretty terrible preseason with the Bills, as it was clear that he wasn't going to make the 53-man roster from a fairly early time in the summer. However, in his first action of the season as a practice squad call-up, Stone made his presence known. He made a stop on third and long on the first drive, planting Justice Hill for a one-yard loss. Then, late in the first half, Stone played the "robber" role and fooled third-string Ravens quarterback Joe Fagnano into thinking he had Zay Flowers open. He didn't, and Stone nearly intercepted the pass. His deflection pushed the ball up into the air, which allowed rookie Davison Igbinosun to secure his first career interception. That led to the aforementioned 51-yard field goal from Bass. Of course, the caveat here is that Baltimore's quarterback situation today was dire, but Stone was sound in his assignments and strong in his play all day long. He finished with a team-high six tackles, one tackle for loss, and one pass breakup.
Horns Down: Head Coaching Decisions
Why are we straying from the Allen QB sneak in one-yard situations? Baltimore stopped it once. Good for them—make them do it again! While the play call ultimately worked, what was the deal with the clock management at the end of the first half? The result was positive, as Josh Allen scrambled for 14 yards on a beautifully designed run, but the better move was likely to run a play and keep their timeout to set up a field goal on the next play. Instead, head coach Joe Brady let the clock run down to 18 seconds before burning the timeout. The play calling on offense was shoddy at times in the first half, as nothing Buffalo did looked easy. It shouldn't be that hard for Buffalo to find rhythm on offense, especially with all of their playmakers healthy, but Buffalo made a middling Baltimore defense look elite at times. Yes, they settled in as the game went on, but the Bills won't be playing too many third-string quarterbacks from here on out, so they likely won't have that kind of time to find their footing in future games.
Horns Up: Khalil Shakir
Yes, he leads the Bills in targets, is tied with Dalton Kincaid in receptions, and is second to Kincaid in receiving yards after today's game, but I still feel like he's someone who needs the football more. Shakir is dynamic in space, so finding ways to put the ball in his hands at all levels of the defense should be a priority. Today, it looked like that was an early priority, as Shakir caught three passes for 49 yards a near-touchdown on the Bills' first drive. However, he went quiet for the better part of the next few drives. When Josh Allen went back to him, the offense moved the ball. DJ Moore might be the clear alpha receiver, but Shakir is still Allen's security blanket. He's also one of the NFL's most dynamic playmakers in space. Joe Brady needs to make sure to continue feeding No. 10, who finished today's game with five catches for 64 yards on six targets.
Horns Up: Greg Rousseau
Rousseau made arguably the biggest play of the game, and it was the first play from scrimmage for Buffalo's defense. On Baltimore's first offensive play, Rousseau hit quarterback Lamar Jackson's throwing hand, tipping the pass and mangling the star quarterback's thumb. That was Jackson's only play of the game, and it was the first of multiple tipped passes at the line for Groot. Rousseau had a sack and three quarterback hits to go with two tipped passes through the first three quarters of the game. While he didn't add to that stat line in the fourth quarter, much of the reason why is that the Bills expanded their lead to the point where Buffalo had as many reserves in the game as they could. It was a very good day for No. 15 and the Buffalo pass defense.
Horns Down: Penalties
You know what? I normally would say that the penalties are indicative of a lack of discipline. Today, though, it felt like Ross Tucker sighed and called the penalty weak after nearly every flag. There were holding calls that looked like nothing, and then there was contact with no flag. Case in point: On Allen's first touchdown, linebacker Roquan Smith tried to rip his head off. It's the day after Halloween, sure, but Allen's helmet went around like Linda Blair in The Exorcist with no call. I don't think it was a good day for the zebras, who certainly contributed to the game's lack of flow.
Horns Up: Te'Cory Couch and Damar Hamlin
Yes, I wrote a piece this week wherein I stated that Hamlin should not start, and it should be rookie Jalon Kilgore instead. Today, the Bills' veterans showed yet another reason why I'm a fan who writes about the team from my couch and not a coach in the National Football League. Hamlin was really, really good overall, as he notched four tackles and a pass breakup when he had star wideout Zay Flowers covered on an in-breaking route. The person who played the other part of the bracket coverage on that Hamlin PBU was Couch, who looked great playing the slot in place of starter Dee Alford. Couch is a solid tackler, something the Bills desperately need in the secondary, and he was also good in coverage. He totaled five tackles, second only to linebacker Terrel Bernard (who had six) in the game for the Bills.
Horns Up: Josh Allen
In the first half, I started writing a horns down for Allen, as things just looked…difficult for the Bills and their quarterback. Allen was holding the ball, was a hair off on his timing and his deep throws, and he just didn't look comfortable. He had Buffalo's only touchdown of the first half, as he scored on a one-yard plunge. In the second half, though, Allen and the Buffalo offense took off. Allen fired a beautiful deep ball to DJ Moore, and while it was a hair behind the receiver, Moore went up and made a great catch to set the Bills up in scoring position. Later in the second half, Allen hit Moore for an 11-yard touchdown. That was Allen's 259th career touchdown pass counting playoff games, which put him past Hall of Famer Jim Kelly for first in Buffalo history. Later in the fourth quarter, Allen hit tight end Dalton Kincaid on a 23-yard touchdown strike to give him an even 260 touchdown passes for his career. It wasn't always pretty today, but Allen completed 21-of-34 passes for 289 yards, two touchdowns, and an interception. He also had seven rushes for 30 yards and a score.
Horns Up: James Cook III
Cook went over 100 total yards again, and similarly to Allen, he didn't have an easy time doing it. But, at the end of the day, Cook still did the job. He carried 21 times for 80 yards, including a five-yard touchdown run in the third quarter. After dropping a pass on the first play of the game, he settled in and made some plays as a receiver, catching two passes for 21 yards. Cook also avoided serious injury in the fourth quarter. After gaining a few yards between the tackles, Cook was upended and landed right on his face, bending his neck awkwardly. Alec Anderson waived immediately for trainers, and there was some fear that Cook was injured badly. However, he jumped up, went to the blue medical tent, and was able to return to the game. It was another solid afternoon for Buffalo's lead back.
Horns Undecided: You Make the Call
What do you think, folks? Who deserves a shout-out? Who deserves some criticism? Let us know down below!
