Getty John Brown celebrates a touchdown against the Las Vegas Raiders
Through the first four weeks of the NFL season, the Buffalo Bills offense was one that couldn’t be stopped.
They averaged just under 31 points per game, produced over 409 yards of total offense and jumped off to an undefeated 4-0 start. The fast-paced, pass-happy, Bills offense was the talk of the NFL as Josh Allen emerged as an MVP candidate and was near the top of the NFL in passing yards and touchdowns.
But as the Bills played more games, opponents had more film and they quickly started to adapt to what the Bills were doing each week. Both the Tennessee Titans and Kansas City Chiefs played a soft zone and took away the chunk plays that the Bills had so much success with during the first few weeks of the season.
Against the New York Jets, Allen and the offense started to adjust to that type of coverage. Cole Beasley became more involved in the offense from the slot position and caught 11 of his 12 targets for 112 yards.
Allen threw for over 300 yards for the first time since their Week 3 contest with the Los Angeles Rams but the offense couldn’t find the end zone as they settled for six field goals and an 18-10 win.
Things could be changing though. Wide receiver John Brown returned to the practice field on Wednesday as the Bills started preparing for their Week 8 matchup against the New England Patriots.
Adding Another Weapon to the Armory
Brown returning from a knee injury he suffered earlier this year is good news for both Josh Allen and the Bills offense.
In five games this season, Brown, who missed both the Titans game and the Jets game, was another weapon that stretched the defense thin and forced opponents to deal with both him and Stefon Diggs, who can both stretch the field deep as well.
Brown has been targeted 27 times this season and he has caught 14 passes for 194 yards and two touchdowns.
During the two weeks he was out and even during the Chiefs game, teams were rolling an extra defender towards Diggs to help take Buffalo’s chunk plays away. Now, opponents may not be able to do that.
“The vertical presence that he has and the speed and the quickness and he’s able to run some really good in-breaking routes and he’s just another matchup that you have to focus on,” Allen said about what Browns be back to the offense. “You can’t just play man-to-man and roll someone to Stef, you have to worry about backside and what John is doing too. So to have him back this week is going to be huge.”
Although teams have been able to limit the big chunk plays that the Bills are used to completing, look for the Bills to take advantage of both the underneath routes and the long passes as they return to full health.
The Bills Are Going to Take What Defenses Give Them
Through the first three years of his career, Allen has been known as a quarterback who likes to go for it all. As he said in a press conference on Wednesday, he has always worked from the top down, rather than the bottom up, in terms of looking down the field rather than for short routes.
Against the Jets on Sunday, Allen showed significant signs of improvement when it comes to taking what the defense was giving him. Rather than force a pass deep to Diggs, Allen was checking down to Beasley which led to the slot receiver having a big day through the air.
Moving methodically down the field and stitching together long drives that take up time, takes patience though, which is something offensive coordinator Brian Daboll thought Allen did well this past weekend.
“To have those long drives, which we’ve had the past couple of weeks, you have to play good sound football,” Daboll said. “We certainly moved the ball on Sunday and there were times when we’d get inside the 35 and put ourselves in some tough spots on third and longs. But he (Allen) did a good job of utilizing checkdowns when he needed to, he utilized Cole and Stef on some underneath routes. For a guy that likes to push the ball down the field, it was good to see him make the right decision and move the ball.”
Now, with Brown returning back to full practice and an established understanding of moving the ball down the field, teams are going to have to pick their poison as Allen develops even further as a passer.
That’s when it gets exciting.
“It gives Josh another guy to look for and having all of our weapons makes our offense full throttle and gives us the best chance to win,” Diggs said. “I think it’s good for us to see different things and having to adjust. Playing left-handed has helped us in a way.”
Finishing off Drives Is the Most Important Part
No matter how much the Bills are able to move the ball, it won’t matter if they can’t put the ball in the end zone.
The Bills had nine total drives on Sunday. One finished with a fumble, two finished with missed field goals and the other six turned into made field goals as they put three points on the board all day long.
Although they had over 400 yards of total offense, they made five trips into the red zone and didn’t find the end zone one time. In fact, they have the 22nd best red zone percentage in the league.
“For me, whether it is flukey or not, we need to score more touchdowns,” Diggs said. “Our job on offense is to score touchdowns. Nothing against field goals, I like field goals too but on offense, you want to score touchdowns. Moving the ball is great and all but you have to finish it off. I tell the guys every time, we worked our a** to get down here now let’s finish it.”
At full health, the Bills will have a tough challenge ahead of them as they take on the New England secondary for the first time this season on Sunday.