NFL What we learned from the Bills’ win over the Buccaneers
The Buffalo Bills taught us some things in their latest outing.
The Bills (5-3) topped the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (3-4) on Thursday Night Football by a final score of 24-18. Buffalo had a strong game plan, but the Bucs hung tough and in the end, it was a close one.
Offensively, the Bills ran a balanced attack. Tampa Bay did eventually put up some numbers against the Buffalo defense. While it didn’t feel like a one-score game for nearly the entire evening, that’s what it ended up being.
After the game that was, here are five things we learned from the Bills’ win over the Bucs in Week 8:
Josh stops overthinking it
Buffalo got a version of quarterback Josh Allen that many have wanted to see for a long while.
Despite playing through a shoulder injury, Allen was 31-for-40 passing for 324 yards with two touchdowns. The part missing in recent weeks was the mobility. Allen dusted that off with 41 yards on the ground and another rushing score.
We learned Allen’s still got that in his back pocket. What we don’t know is if he’ll keep that up.
Bad comes with the good
Allen discussed prior to the game about thinking less while he plays and he hoped to just… go out there and play.
While that mostly led to good, Allen looked to try and make something happen one too many times and it backfired.
The Bills saw him throw an all-too-common interception. Allen should’ve either taken the sack or thrown it away when Bucs defender Antoine Winfield Jr. was in his face. Instead, a tipped interception ended up tying the game at 10 early.
The gang gets involved
The Bills got plenty of input from across their roster against the Bucs. Namely on offense, receivers Khali Shakir and Gabe Davis and tight end Dalton Kincaid ended up leading the way, not Stefon Diggs.
Shakir led the team with 92 yards and six catches, meanwhile, Davis had a bounce back of his own with nine grabs, 87 yards and a touchdown.
The rookie tight end had five catches for 65 yards and his first-career touchdown a week after an eight catch, 75-yard effort.
We’re seeing good steps forward in this area.
Special teams matters
We all know it matters, but the Bills special teams unit reminded us how important they can be.
Namely, punter Sam Martin.
Kicker Tyler Bass had a bounce-back effort by connecting on his only field goal attempt after a few tough games. But it was Martin who really put the nail in the coffin of the Bucs.
Martin pinned Tampa Bay’s offense four times near their own end zone. Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield looked very uncomfortable taking that many snaps in his own end zone.
Didn't put down the hammer
It was a weird one, wasn’t it?
The entire game felt like the Bills had it in the bag. But they didn’t and Buffalo showed an inability to put the hammer down and crush the Bucs.
That should be an emphasis for the Bills going forward–But they’ll take this win.
