TAMPA, Fla. – Grading the Buffalo Bills in their 33-27 overtime loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday at Raymond James Stadium …
"If the Buffalo Bills are still looking for their identity, Sunday's performance only muddied that even further," writes Katherine Fitzgerald.
RUNNING GAME: B+
Good luck assessing an accurate grade here. In the end, the team total of 173 yards is deserving of a strong grade, even if it came in an abnormal fashion. The Bills attempted one true rush in the first half – a quarterback sweep by Josh Allen. Like it or not, the quarterback running the ball is the Bills’ best way of moving it on the ground. Allen gained 109 yards on 12 carries – his third career game with at least 100 yards – although it might have come at a big price, depending on the severity of his left foot injury. When Devin Singletary finally did get the ball in the second half, he produced, gaining 52 yards on four carries. Matt Breida added 12 yards on three attempts.
People are also reading…
PASSING GAME: A-
Allen went 36 of 54, setting career highs in completions and attempts, for 308 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. He did that despite shaky protection, which is probably putting it kindly. The offensive line was a mess, leading to Allen scrambling early and often. Wide receiver Stefon Diggs was targeted 13 times, but finished with seven catches for 74 yards. Allen and Diggs didn’t seem to be quite on the same page at times, including on the third-down incompletion in overtime that led to the Bills deciding to punt the ball away. Diggs looked to have drawn at least a couple of pass interference penalties, but he didn’t get the calls. Cole Beasley was once again part of the game plan, catching nine passes on 11 targets for 64 yards. Tight end Dawson Knox had another strong statistical game, with seven catches for 60 yards and a touchdown – his team-leading eighth of the season. Gabriel Davis finished with five catches for 43 yards and showed good fight in picking up a crucial fourth down in the fourth quarter.
Seemingly left for dead at halftime Sunday against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium, the Buffalo Bills rallied from a 24-3 deficit to tie the game, 27-27, and force overtime.
RUN DEFENSE: C-
Another crucial breakdown early in the game resulted in Bucs running back Leonard Fournette getting loose for a 47-yard touchdown. Fournette was a force, finishing with 19 carries for 113 yards.
“In that first half, we were giving them some big plays,” safety Micah Hyde said.
To the run defense’s credit, things got much better in the second half. After giving up 16 carries for 89 yards before halftime, the Bucs rushed for just 48 yards on 13 carries in the second half and overtime.
“I think coach (Leslie Frazier) did a good job of his play calling as far as putting guys in position to make plays,” middle linebacker Tremaine Edmunds said. “I can't take the credit for that. I think he did a good job of mixing it up and allowing guys just to go out there and show what they could do. Obviously, we had different guys coming up, making big-time plays.”
Edmunds led the Bills with 12 tackles. Safety Jordan Poyer finished with 10, while Matt Milano had nine and Hyde had eight.
Can the Buffalo Bills close the regular season 4-0? Most of the past two months suggests the answer is no. The second half in Tampa keeps it an open question.
PASS DEFENSE: D
The secondary failed the first true test without Tre’Davious White. Although Dane Jackson didn’t look out of place, the Bills still struggled as a team to find any answers against Tom Brady and Co. The biggest issue was slot receiver Chris Godwin, who piled up 105 yards on 10 catches. Fellow wide receiver Mike Evans had 91 yards on six catches, including a 13-yard touchdown reception in the second quarter that no defense was going to stop. Both Jackson and fellow starting cornerback Levi Wallace took pass-interference penalties, although each could have been classified as questionable. The pass rush remains underwhelming. It feels like the big plays made by Jerry Hughes have been very few and far between this season.
In the second half, the Bills held the Bucs to 110 yards, including just 44 on the ground. But the turnaround went for naught.
SPECIAL TEAMS: A
Matt Haack has been an easy punching bag, but let’s give the Bills’ punter some credit when it’s due: His 63-yard punt in overtime was a beauty, pinning the Bucs on their own 6-yard line. Haack also had a 61-yard punt in the second quarter – admittedly when the stakes were much lower – helping him to finish with a net average of 46.0 yards on six punts, four of which were downed inside the Bucs’ 20-yard line. It was his best game as a member of the Bills. Rookie Marquez Stevenson didn’t have time to do much on his two punt returns, which gained just 9 yards. He did gain 29 yards on his only kick return, although that started 4 yards deep in the end zone, so it went only to the Bills’ 25-yard line. The kickoff coverage was excellent again, allowing just 38 yards on three attempts.
Don't miss Katherine Fitzgerald's quarter-by-quarter analysis of the Buffalo Bills' 33-27 overtime loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
COACHING: D
Sean McDermott hasn’t learned his lesson. Field goals and punts don’t beat Tom Brady, although they did come close Sunday. Here’s how McDermott explained the decisions to kick a field goal on fourth-and-goal from the Bucs’ 3-yard line in the second quarter (which made the score 10-3 Tampa Bay at the time) and to punt on fourth-and-3 from the Bills’ 45-yard line while trailing 24-10 with 2:19 left in the third quarter.
“We were down 10-0, wanted to get points on the board there,” he said. “And then to come away with no points there down 10-0, just didn’t like that feeling if it could have gone that way. And then I thought – left the offense out for a second, but I did like how the defense, I think we had three, going back to even the first half there, three consecutive stops on defense. So I thought long and hard about it, and I thought giving us the best chance to win, and we had a chance to win it at the end there. So that could have gone either way, but I chose to punt it back, and felt like it would give us the best chance toward the end of the game there. And we had a chance, but came up short.”
McDermott should know by now those types of decisions don’t work against Brady. You can argue because the Bills had a chance to win it at the end that the coach made the right calls, but I’d counter that they could have been in the same position by doing the opposite in both instances, too. In fact, they might have been in a better position at the end of the game. The slow start Sunday falls at least partially on the coaching staff, too. They get credit for making the necessary adjustments, but should be questioned on why the team looked like such a mess in the first half.
