Heading into the 2024 season, the Bills were being written off by many fans and media pundits as “missing the window” as Josh Allen hits the prime of his career. In all honesty, the naysayers had some valid points.
Right here I’d like to thank sponsor BluTusk Tech of Orchard Park. They’re the absolute go-to team if you need a computer refurbished or upgraded. They’re good with other gadgets too, and they’re locally owned and good people.
Among the valid points going into this season: Stefon Diggs Allen/Buffalo love fest evaporated, so much to the point the Bills basically wrote a $32 million dollar check to give him his not so subtle trade request. Sure, they had a plan to deal with Allen’s favorite WR absent, but after a fast start it just wasn’t working. Allen missed his security blanket.
Speaking of Diggs, it was disappointing to see he tore an ACL in a win over the Colts and his season with the Texans is over. He was playing well there, with 47 catches for 496 yards and a couple TD’s. But back to his departure, GM Brandon Beane faced huge challenges with a skin tight salary cap issue.
While the Bills were dealing with these problems, the Jets and Dolphins were shouting from the rooftops they were charging ahead to knock Buffalo off its perch. The Jets had QB Aaron Rodgers and what they believed was a championship D, and the Dolphins were confident Tua Tagovailoa could spearhead his track team past every body else.
The Patriots? They were never in the discussion, and that hasn’t changed.
But a lot of other things have certainly changed near the season’s halfway mark.
The Bills dominant 31-10 win at Seattle improved their record to 6-2, with an incredible four game lead over the Jets and Dolphins in the division. Rodgers looks like he’s about 60 now, and he’s already gotten HC Robert Saleh fired after a 2-3 start. Jets owner Woody Johnson – never a patient man – then helped trade for WR Davante Adams in hopes the Jets could regroup. Although Rodgers denies he had anything to do with it, he and Saleh were not buddies at all.
Sure you didn’t have anything to do with it, Aaron. Sure….
Did the addition of Adams help? The Jets are 0-3 (2-6) since the trade. They’re a train wreck. Losing to the Patriots 25-22 despite the Pats #1 draft pick QB Drake Maye left with an early concussion, is a disaster.
Miami has its own problems heading to Buffalo this Sunday at 2-5.
This could be a dangerous game for the Bills. Tua Tagovailoa is back, and he played well in a 28-27 loss to the Cardinals. Dolphins fans gave him a standing O just for sliding after running for a first down. The elephant in the room is Tagovailoa is always one play from another concussion, and the Fins can’t function without him. But, the Bills are only a 6 point favorite, and if Tagovailoa connects with Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle a couple times they could move within three games of the Bills with 8 games left.
The way the Bills have been playing, I just don’t see that happening. The win at Seattle, and we’ll give you they sorely missed star WR DK Metcalf, was impressive. After the game Seahawks QB Geno Smith admitted the large Bills contingent made it sound like a road game at times. Smith is still the NFL’s leading passer, despite just 212 yards against the Bills aggressive defense. While that was impressive, it was even more stunning the Bills held a good running attack to 32 yards rushing.
Josh Allen, although fumbling a couple times in the rain, was almost perfect. Newly acquired Amari Cooper had just one catch for 3 yards, and his slip on the wet turf led directly to Allen’s first interception of the season in the 2nd QTR, but the Bills D came up big. From first and goal at the Bills 7, the Seahawks came away with nothing. Even the Smith trip by his own lineman came directly from a surge up front from the Bills.
For the game, despite the conditions, Allen spread it around with great success. Khalil Shakir is obviously getting healthier, with 9 catches for 107 yards. OC Joe Brady took advantage of Shakir’s quickness with some quick screens that Shakir turned into good gains. Allen finished 24-34 for 283 yards and 2 TDs. He now has 14 TD’s with ONE INT, and has scored three more TD’s rushing.
How fun is it now to watch rookie Keon Coleman grow and grow as he gets comfortable? His 5 catches for 70 yards is just the obvious part. My favorite play though, was when Seahawks CB Rig Wooden defended an Allen fade in the end zone, and then taunted Coleman. Allen did it again, and the 6-4 Coleman looked like a power forward with a one hand rebound for a TD. Coleman then gave Wooden a friendly little tap on the helmet.
THAT was cool.
Coleman is showing us an edge we didn’t expect too. A couple times in press coverage, he simply pushed the defender into the turf. Another time he delivered a crushing block near the Seattle bench that lifted the entire Bills team. With Dalton Kincaid and Dawson Knox making some big plays, it was almost easy to overlook the Bills running game.
Give the Bills Oline the credit here. Yes, they had a couple penalties for false starts and holding, but that is partially due to the crowd noise. In total, 24 penalties were accepted in this game, with 13 on the Bills. Yes, the Bills need to be smarter, but this is ridiculous.
For the most part, the Bills simply overcame most the penalties with flawless execution. James Cook is clearly over his ankle sprain, as he ran strong for 111 yards on 17 carries, while scoring two more TD’s. He also had 3 catches for 22 yards. Rookie RB Ray Davis continues to impress with 29 yards on 6 carries, and the Bills offense wracked up 445 yards in total.
Don’t assume this will happen this Sunday against Miami. While Allen has “owned” the Fins, they will have a plan to disrupt the Bills attack, and Joe Brady will again adjust. DC Bobby Babich got a nice shoutout from Sean McDermott after the game. Asked about the Bills success on goal line stands, McDermott joked that the Bills now have a better D coordinator than a year ago.
If you’re a new Bills fan, McDermott was the DC last year.
While some will point to the fact Seattle is the only Bills win over a team with a winning record, their dominance is impressive. They’ve beaten four teams by 21 or more points, which hasn’t happened for many moons.
Maybe it’s too early to start looking ahead to November 17th, but what a game is shaping up here. The two time defending SB Chiefs visit Orchard Park. Now 7-0, they could be 9-0 coming into Highmark Stadium. If the Bills don’t stumble against the Dolphins or Colts the next two weeks, this game might determine home field down the road in a rematch.
Sorry. The Bills won’t be looking ahead. But WE can!
Editor’s babble: Many thanks to Ed Kilgore for his wonderful contributions to our blog. You can also find Ed on Xwitter @Kilgore2Ed.
BuffaloFAMbase.com is sponsored by 26 Shirts
Every Monday, we launch a new two-week campaign of a limited edition t-shirt design. Every shirt purchase results in a donation to a local family in need. After the campaign ends, the shirt is retired. A new design is released, and a new family benefits from your fandom!
