Maybe the Buffalo Bills’ red-zone offense is getting into a groove.
The Bills scored touchdowns on 4 of 5 trips inside the opponents’ 20-yard line in Sunday’s victory over the Carolina Panthers. That comes after an encouraging 3-of-5 showing against Tampa Bay’s stingy defense the week before.
If there’s one big takeaway from Sunday’s game, it’s this – the Bills need Dion Dawkins back as quickly as possible.
Even though the Bills’ struggles in the red zone have been a topic of conversation much of the season, Buffalo has moved up to 11th in the league. The Bills are converting 60.6% of their trips into touchdowns.
It will be a huge issue in the upcoming showdown for the AFC East lead Sunday at New England. The Patriots rank No. 2 in the NFL in red zone defense, holding foes to 46% success. Buffalo managed to convert only 1 of 4 red-zone trips in losing to the Patriots 14-10 on Dec. 6.
The Bills marched inside New England’s 20 each of their last three possessions in that game and came away with only three points.
People are also reading…
The Buffalo Bills defeated the Carolina Panthers 31-14 at Highmark Stadium on Sunday. Check out all of our postgame coverage here.
The recent play of receiver Gabriel Davis has helped the Bills. He has four touchdown catches in the last three games.
“I love his mindset,” coach Sean McDermott said. “He’s big, he’s strong, he’s tough. And, again, mentally he was working while he was waiting, and I think you saw it again where he produced for us and made some big plays.”
Tight end Dawson Knox has proved to be a red-zone asset all season. He had a TD catch against the Buccaneers. His eight TD receptions are tied for second among NFL tight ends, behind New England’s Hunter Henry, who has nine.
The Patriots’ defense has allowed the fewest points in the NFL (16.2 a game) and the third fewest yards (307).
The New England pass defense is dominant in the red zone.
Here are takeaways from the snap counts in Week 15.
Inside the 20-yard line, the Patriots’ defense allows the lowest passer rating (55.9), the lowest completion rate (38%) and the lowest average yards per pass play (a measly 1.5), according to Sharp Football. The Pats also sack the quarterback at the second-highest rate in the red zone (12.7%).
New England’s Matthew Judon sacked Allen on a play with 8 minutes to go from the Pats’ 6 in the first meeting.
As all those numbers show, having some success running the ball in the red zone – whether it’s with Allen or the running backs – would be a huge help for the Bills.
Allen had an 18-yard TD run in Tampa. Devin Singletary had a 16-yard TD run against the Panthers.
“Anytime you score, anytime you score in particular on the ground, the offensive line loves it,” McDermott said. “So it was good to get those guys some reward for their work there.”
