JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The one-dimensional nature of the Buffalo Bills’ offense was exposed and exploited by the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday.
The Bills couldn’t run the ball when they handed off to running backs, even when the Jaguars were playing with light boxes, lining up only six men near the line of scrimmage.
Devin Singletary and Zack Moss combined for just 22 yards on nine carries, a 2.4-yard average.
First-down runs? Terrible. The Bills ran seven times for 10 yards on first down.
And there was no confidence shown in the ability to run the ball. In the first half, the Bills called 26 passes and just six runs.
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Through three quarters, the count was 37 called passes and 10 runs.
That imbalance, along with a slew of penalties, forced the Bills into too many third-and-long situations. Nine of their 15 third-down plays were third-and-long.
The one-dimensional problem has been coming for awhile.
Over the previous three games, the Bills’ running backs carried 45 times for 160 yards, a 3.5-yard average. Not good enough. And none of those games was against dominant defenses. The Dolphins ranked 19th against the run, the Titans 16th and the Chiefs 30th.
Here’s a closer look at some of the bad situations the Bills found themselves in as a result of their offensive imbalance:
Hero ball. The worst play by Bills quarterback Josh Allen was an interception that gave Jacksonville the ball on the Buffalo 30. It led to the winning field goal for the Jaguars.
On a third-and-12 play from the Buffalo 40, the Jaguars drew up a good blitz to take advantage of the limited lateral mobility of right guard Cody Ford. The Jaguars overloaded the right side of the Bills' line, creating one-on-one blocks across the board.
Linebacker Myles Jack blitzed Ford’s gap with a head of steam. Bad matchup. Ford missed him. Jaguars cornerback Nevin Lawson also came free on a blitz up the middle. There was no one left to block him. Allen might have been able to avoid Lawson, but he couldn’t avoid both Lawson and Jack.
Instead of taking the sack, Allen threw a desperation heave. Jacksonville’s Josh Allen had dropped into coverage from the other side of the line and had time to intercept Allen’s floating pass.
Stare down. The other interception was on the Bills’ quarterback, as well, and it foiled what would have been a field-goal try from 52 yards.
It was a third-and-3 situation on the first drive of the third quarter. The Jaguars were in two-deep coverage. Tommy Sweeney was covered on a deep out. Emmanuel Sanders was double covered deep over the middle. Stefon Diggs was on the other side of the field, running a hitch on the sideline. He was well covered.
It was not a bad decision to throw to Cole Beasley, running a hitch from the right slot. There was bracket coverage by the Jaguars. But Allen needed to trust his read and release the ball immediately as Beasley pivoted to the inside. The Bills’ QB didn’t. He hitched. He stared down Beasley. That gave nickel cornerback Rudy Ford time to step in front of the pass.
Bull rush. The Bills’ first drive was derailed with an incompletion on third-and-goal from the 6. Ford gave up the key pressure. Jaguars defensive tackle Taven Bryan drove Ford back into Allen’s face, forcing the QB to scramble and throw on the run for Moss.
Rare drop. The Bills’ third drive was foiled by two bad offensive plays. The first came when Beasley dropped a pass while wide open at the 50-yard line. It would have been a 17-yard gain, at least. Beasley had only two drops all of the 2020 season. It was his third drop of this season.
Bad pass-off. On the next play, third-and-11, the Jaguars rushed only four men.
Bryan rushed to the inside of Ford, and the Bills’ right guard passed him off to center Mitch Morse. But when the Jaguars’ other defensive tackle, Adam Gotsis, looped back around in the other direction, Ford failed to keep his eyes up in anticipation of the stunt. Ford never came off Bryan, and Gotsis came free straight into Allen’s face. Allen was forced into an incompletion.
False start. The Bills were called for 12 penalties. One of the most damaging was a false start by left guard Ike Boettger on a fourth-and-2 situation from the Jaguars’ 43 with 10:04 to play. It forced the Bills to punt.
Bad read-option play. The Bills’ final turnover was on Allen’s shoulders, as well, when he fumbled on a third-and-2 play from the Jaguars’ 37 with 5:30 left. It was a read-option run with Singletary. If the defensive end on the play side crashes, the QB keeps the ball. If the defensive end stays home, hand it off. The Jaguars’ Dawuane Smoot held his ground. Allen should have let Singletary run up the middle. Instead, the QB kept it, didn’t protect the ball and fumbled.
