Box score merchants will look at the 9-of-30 stat line for Josh Allen and assume something went horribly wrong. And things did go wrong, but not to the fault of Allen. Instead, what was abundantly clear is that the Buffalo Bills are in desperate need of a staring-caliber wide receiver, and that their head coach continues to routinely choke against top-tier teams.
The Bills couldn't separate all day, which led to Allen having to throw into tight windows on nearly an every-down basis. That's not to say he was flawless - he slightly overthrew Mack Hollins on what could have been a touchdown, and led Dalton Kincaid a bit too far on what would have been a first down. Both took place in the first quarter. The rest of the game featured bad play-calls be Joe Brady, bad protection from the offensive line, and bad game management by Sean McDermott.
First off, do the Bills know that Curtis Samuel can do more than catch screen passes? Through five games, he has eight catches for 48 yards, the longest of which went for 10 yards. Running the offense through Mack Hollins was certainly a choice, as well, by Brady. Respectfully to Hollins, he is a good depth WR4 on every other great team in the NFL. They were without Shakir, yes, but maybe that rookie you drafted and spoke so highly about should get more targets? The offensive line was rough, as well. Allen was under constant pressure, which led to early and errant throws that kept the Bills behind the sticks all game.
And if Allen wasn't under pressure and somehow getting the ball off, he had passes not reeled in by Dalton Kincaid on the sideline, which would have extended a drive. The same can be said about a pass to James Cook down the sideline in the red zone, which would have set the Bills up inside the five yard-line and could have led to a game-winning touchdown. Keon Coleman also didn't turn and look for the ball on a pass that hit him directly in the head. Several opportunities were missed by Bills pass-catchers.
James Cook averaged over four yards per carry and the Bills had consistent success in the run game - the Bills only ran the ball 23 times with their running backs on the game. Why stray away from what was working? Hell, the run game was supposed to be what Joe Brady leaned more into, and he completely turned away from his own philosophy. Instead of easy, underneath throws and good, efficient runs. the Bills' offense looked a lot like the Ken Dorsey offense, and that hurt them a lot.
The cherry on top of this toilet sundae was the coaching by Sean McDermott. The Bills got one of their several breaks in the second half as the Texans were flagged for intentional grounding, which forced a punt that was downed at Buffalo's three yard-line. With 30 seconds remaining, the Bills could have ran the ball and sent the game into overtime. Instead, the Bills drew up three consecutive pass plays that killed just 16 seconds. the ensuing punt and return by Robert Woods set up Houston for what would be the game-winning field goal from Ka'imi Fairbairn.
The Bills have a great quarterback, but they do not have greatness around him. You can beat lesser teams off of Allen's talents alone, but the good teams in the NFL will bury you if your gameplan is Josh Allen being a demi-god and trying to fit throws to Mack Hollins for 60 minutes. Now after a 3-0 start, the Bills have been a masterpiece of their own ineptitude and have failed their superstar quarterback in the process.
