Cooked: Bills Roll 40–9, But Allen’s Still Searching
The Buffalo Bills went to Carolina yesterday to take on the Panthers, and walked out with a seemingly effortless 40-9 victory. James Cook stole the show, going for over 200 yards rushing and adding a couple of scores in there, as well. It was the kind of game that allowed you to sit back and not get too stressed out over. Let’s get into it.
The Good
We’ll start where we already previewed – James Cook. The man has been on a tear as of late – and yesterday was no different. He continued to prove that he has earned every bit of the contract extension he received at the start of the season – and in the process, make fools out of everyone that questioned whether he deserved it. Myself included. It’s incredible how he can turn a run that is seemingly bottled up and slither his way through a hole and turn it into a ten yard gain.
The defense played great yesterday, too. They forced turnovers and got to the quarterback. It’s what a Sean McDermott defense is designed to look like. You could tell that the returns of Ogunjobi, Hoecht, and Hairston, gave the defense some juice heading into this one. They looked fired up and ready to roll. Let’s not get too ahead of ourselves, though. Rico Dowdle still posted 6.75 yards per carry. That needs to get cleaned up before they play better teams. But the D forced turnovers at opportune times to prevent that from being much of a factor.
The Bad
Josh Allen. Seriously. I hate writing this. But something is wrong. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but I have guesses. We know that the Bills receiving corps isn’t the greatest. But we also know that Allen has turned down open opportunities recently. It seems like he doesn’t trust his guys to get open, so he reverts to hero ball Josh. He’s not trusting his eyes. He’s not that confident assassin that we’ve seen for the past four years. And many times as of late, when he does pull the trigger, he’s been off target.
As I said, I only have guesses as to why this is. And hero ball is one of them. I think he’s pressing knowing that it’s taking more for his receivers to get open. The second quarter ten second scramble that resulted in a sack is evidence of this. In those ten seconds, it was hard to see anybody that wasn’t covered. A seasoned quarterback recognizes that early, as Josh did. The difference is that he scrambled around before taking a sack rather than throwing it into the fifteenth row of the stands. His rhythm seems off. I feel like Joe Brady needs to cook up some easy passes early in the game to get Josh engaged.
My Take
Overall, it was a good win. The run game was incredible. The offensive line continued to be the best unit on the team. The defense took a step in the right direction. If this team can figure out the pass game, they’re going to be firing on all cylinders.
In my recap of the season so far, I said that I thought that the highest priority for the trade deadline was safety, immediately followed by wide receiver. I think both of those are still the highest priorities, but I think they have flipped after this game. Get a receiver, grab a safety, and then see how different of a team this looks like.
Week 9 Outlook
We all know it’s Kansas City week. The way the Chiefs are playing, it’s going to be a nerve wracking game. Get a receiver on Monday and the energy of this week will completely shift. Then hang on for dear life, and hope your defense can force a couple of stops. Overall, I think the Bills can still hang with the best teams in the league – we just can’t afford to come out flat in this one.