Report card: Bills lose 29-25 at Patriots
Check out Bills Wire’s Week 7 report card for the Buffalo Bills (4-3) following the team’s 29-25 loss to the New England Patriots (2-5):
Quarterback: C
Josh Allen managed to make a few things happen against the Patriots… late, that is. Another slow start came back to bite the Bills.
But Allen did appear to be off target on a couple of passes. He downplayed it after the loss, but he has been dealing with a shoulder injury. The QB finished 27-for-41 passing with 265 yards. Allen added two touchdown passes, one rushing score, and an interception.
Running back: B-
There was some meat left on the bone for James Cook, but he did well with the opportunities he got. Cook had 13 carries for 56 yards (4.3 avg). In the passing game, he caught three more passes including one for a touchdown.
Latavius Murray had a poor effort. He had eight yards (2.0 avg) on the ground and took a penalty that wiped off a touchdown.
Wide receiver: C+
Stefon Diggs struggled to get involved in the offense for the first time this season. Even so, he managed to put up 58 yards on six catches (12 targets). His touchdown carried this grade, too. Diggs smartly realized he wasn’t touched and a sliding play and got up and scored.
On the other side of the field, Gabe Davis provided nothing. He had five targets and caught one for six yards. That’s not good enough.
Khalil Shakir hauled in four catches for 35 yards.
Tight end: B-
It actually wasn’t a receiver who led the Bills in receiving. It was first-round rookie Dalton Kincaid. He had a career-high effort, catching all eight targets thrown his way for 75 yards. One of which setup a touchdown.
Dawson Knox was invisible, though. He had one catch on three targets. His touchdown was wiped out by a penalty but Knox was poor. The Bills didn’t extend him just to block OK.
Offensive line: D
The Bills opened some holes, on occasion, for Cook. The pass blocking was brutal. It felt like Allen was on the run more often than not. Pro Football Focus pointed out second-round rookie O’Cyrus Torrence and center Mitch Morse as the worst of the bunch. They were graded out at 53.9 and 50.8, respectively, against the Patriots.
Defensive line: C+
A mixed bag that, hopefully, does not expose the Bills for the remainder of the season.
Their defensive line has dominated this season. With Ed Oliver (toe) out, there were struggles down the middle. But even Oliver might not have done much with all the screens and quick passes the Pats were using to quiet Buffalo’s pass rush. There was only one sack on the day and it came from the secondary.
Against the run, the Bills did do a solid job. Rhamondre Stevenson had nine carries for 34 yards (3.8 avg) and Ezekiel Elliott had 11 carries for 31 yards with a touchdown. You can make the case that a lot more was expected without the likes of Oliver and DaQuan Jones (pectoral).
Linebacker: C-
Terrel Bernard keeps rolling. He gets to the ball, proven by his team-high 11 tackles, including one for loss, and a fumble recovery
Next to him it was bad. Rooke third-round pick Dorian Williams missed enough tackles that he was benched for Tyrel Dodson. That’s going to overshadow anything in such a bad loss.
Secondary: D
Jordan Poyer’s forced fumble makes one wonder why more teams weren’t interested in the veteran this offseason.
Aside from that, the Bills secondary allowed Patriots quarterback Mac Jones to have his best game of the season. Just a complete mess.
Special teams: F
Tyler Bass miss his third field goal in two games. Usually reliable, he hasn’t been in recent weeks. The Bills coverage unit also allowed a 25-yard punt return.
Coaching: F
The Bills didn’t look ready to play for the third-straight game and Sean McDermott doesn’t appear to have any answers.
