Bills fortunate to avoid loss against Giants
ORCHARD PARK - If this was the NCAA basketball tournament, what happened Sunday night at Highmark Stadium for the Buffalo Bills would have been referred to a classic case of survive and advance.
Like a higher-seeded team facing a spunky, small-school upstart, in front of nationwide audience in the NFL's No. 1 stand-alone TV window, the Bills survived a gallant effort by an overmatched and undermanned New York Giants team who - at least on paper - they should have blown out of the building.
Instead, the Bills were extremely fortunate to get out with a 14-9 victory.
“Oh man, that was wild,” safety Micah Hyde said of the crazy finish that saw the Bills turn aside the Giants at the 1-yard-line. “Got the dub. Fortunate to get the win and yeah, survive another week. I know it's early in the season but you can't let those close games slip and we were able to get it done.”
Barely.
For the second week in a row the once-mighty Buffalo offense coughed and wheezed for the better part of three quarters before waking up just in time to score two fourth-quarter touchdowns, just enough to squeeze out a win because the defense stood tall in some key moments and held the Giants to three field goals.
“Just really wasn't getting into a rhythm, pass and run game included,” said Josh Allen who threw for just 169 yards. “We've got to find ways to get off to a faster start and I don't think we've done that in the last few games. At the end of the day, it's a win, it's an ugly one, we'll take it. There's a lot of things that we've got to learn from and get better at.”
Getting shut out for three quarters and looking as lost and helpless as they did against one of the statistically worst defenses in the league was a terrible look for Ken Dorsey's offense. And the fact that it came one week after a disappointing loss in London to Jacksonville when the offense - outside of a late fourth-quarter push - did next to nothing is cause for concern.
Here are Sal's Six Points:
1. Josh Allen got banged up
This will be an interesting week at One Bills Drive because the Bills' quarterback revealed that he suffered a shoulder injury in the second quarter on the play before he was thrown to the ground and had to get checked for concussion symptoms.
Allen went for X-rays on his throwing shoulder before speaking to reporters, and while the glum look on his face might have had nothing more to do with the fact that the Bills' offense struggled so much, it might have also been because he thinks the shoulder might be problematic.
Again, there's no need to speculate because maybe all is well, but we won't know anything until the practice week begins Wednesday and we see what Allen is doing. Last year, when Allen injured his throwing elbow, it affected him much more than he ever let on.
As for the concussion protocol, the press box spotter ordered Allen off the field so he ducked into the blue medical tent, passed the test and after missing two plays he sprinted back onto the field when he was cleared as the crowd roared its approval.
2. Taron Johnson saved the game
The nickel cornerback had a great game as he was in on 15 tackles, but he saved his best for last. After the Bills' Terrel Bernard was nailed for pass interference in the end zone on the final play of regulation, the Giants were awarded an untimed down from the 1-yard-line.
They opted to pass and tight end Darren Waller ran a route to the back of the end zone but he couldn't shake Johnson and that tight coverage prevented the pass from being completed for what would have been one of the most galling walk-off TD losses in Bills' history.
“Anytime the game comes down to the end, nerves get up a little bit,” said Bernard, who was wearing a big smile in the locker room after Johnson bailed him out. “But that's what we're built for coming down to the end of the game. Doing whatever we got to do to win the game.
“You don't really know what was going to come. They decided to throw the ball, we had a pressure dialed up so he got the ball off quick and Taron made a great play on the ball and ended up winning a game so it was a great play by Taron.”
3. Secondary targets emerged just in time
After three quarters of throwing the ball almost exclusively to Stefon Diggs, Allen finally began utilizing others in the passing game and it paid big dividends in the fourth quarter.
The first touchdown, which capped a massive 17-play, 89-yard drive that consumed nearly 10 minutes, came on a very nice play design by offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey which got Deonte Harty - a ghost for most of the first five games - wide open on a swing pass to the left and he walked into the end zone.
“He's been working his tail off,” Allen said. “He's a guy that doesn't complain, he works extremely hard in practice.
He's made some really big plays for us in the last couple games that have helped us out quite a bit.”
And then the winning score at the end of another circuitous journey - 12 plays, 75 yards, 6:47 of possession time - came when Allen escaped pressure and somehow squeezed a pass into Quintin Morris despite tight double coverage by Dane Belton and Jason Pinnock.
“Two guys draped on me and again, he trusts his receivers and tight ends to go make plays and I'm grateful for the opportunity that he trusted me,” said Morris. “It's our job to make him look good whenever he makes those decisions. I put a lot of pressure on myself and I'm sure everybody does to make those plays when Josh gives you the opportunity. I'm an undrafted guy, any opportunity that is coming my way, I want to make that play for me, for the team, for everybody.”
It was big for Morris because he has to assume a bigger role with rookie tight end Dalton Kincaid out with a concussion.
4. Dawson Knox has been ineffective all year
One of the most disappointing players on the team this season has been the fifth-year tight end. He was targeted twice in the first half and didn't make a catch, and then after catching three for 17 yards in the second half, right in line with his poor season-long production, he dropped a critical pass late.
It wasn't a great throw by Allen, but while going to the ground Knox got both hands on the ball and couldn't hold on. It's a play that a first-string tight end has to make and Knox, who has battled drop issues in the past, failed.
Knox now has just 14 catches for 92 yards this season and with Kincaid sidelined, this should have been a night where he could have shined.
5. The cornerback situation is dicey
We all knew the loss of Tre'Davious White was going to be a serious blow to the Bills, and then when you compound that with Dane Jackson missing the game with a foot injury, there were some anxious moments on the outside, especially at the end of the night where one slip-up could have been deadly.
Christian Benford and Kaiir Elam, the two second-year players, were forced into starting duty and each was burned for a big play by Giants receiver Darius Slayton. However, both players settled into the game fairly well and helped keep the Giants out of the end zone.
Right now, the Bills are in a portion of their schedule where they aren't facing elite passing offenses - New England is next, followed by Tampa Bay. Benford and Elam have to play well, and so does Jackson whenever he returns because the Bills are also without Matt Milano, an excellent coverage linebacker.
6. Von Miller was invisible again
The star edge rusher was a non-factor for the second week in a row. Last week in London he played only 20 snaps by design, and Sunday, he wasn't on the field much more against the Giants.
Whatever the number was, his name did not appear on the stat sheet, meaning he had no tackles, sacks or QB hits. Miller is 34 years old, and while I know he's always been a physical freak of nature, you have to wonder if he still can be.
Going against a badly weakened Giants line, the expectation that he and the rest of the Bills' pass rushers were going to wreck the game, but that didn't happen.
Sal Maiorana can be reached at maiorana@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @salmaiorana and on Threads @salmaiorana1.