Half of the Buffalo Bills played amazingly well on Sunday, limiting Jacksonville to just over 200 total yards of offense, 15 percent conversion rate on third down and a paltry nine points. I’m confident that Buffalo will still have the number-one scoring defense in the NFL after this week. [Note: Think of third nice thing to say here to deflect from the atrocity of the game we witnessed].
Offense (67 snaps)
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This week is a prime example of why we do the stat dives. I know it didn’t seem like it, but according to official records there were five offensive linemen on the field for every play. Watching live I would have sworn it was no more than 2-3 on any given down. The good news is that everyone exited healthy from the 100 percent club, including Josh Allen.
Zack Moss exited the game with a head injury in the third quarter, but based on playing time this was going to be a Devin Singletary game. After the injury it was all Singletary, with no other RBs getting time in this game.
Emmanuel Sanders nearly hit the 100 percent mark, with Stefon Diggs trailing not too far behind. Cole Beasley hit his usual time. Gabriel Davis and Isaiah McKenzie saw limited action.
Tommy Sweeney took all the tight end reps. The game featured most 11 personnel (1 TE, 1 RB), with deviations from this formula seemingly to go four wide with the receivers. I don’t like to act like I know more than the coaches, but perhaps Ryan Bates should have had more than one snap to protect Allen from the, ahem...ferocious...Jacksonville Jaguars pass rush.
Defense (61 snaps)
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Tre’Davious White missed one snap after a scary play where he nearly had an interception. Taron Johnson was not so lucky, exiting in the first quarter and being ruled out with a concussion. The rest of the 100 percent club played the entire game.
Siran Neal stepped in for Taron Johnson, and Dane Jackson came in for White’s lone missed snap. That puts the Bills at 100 percent nickel the entire game, shocking no one.
Both the defensive end and tackle groups played exactly 122 snaps, or precisely the expected. So there’s no defensive ends subbing on the interior this week. It was a Vernon Butler/Harrison Phillips week with the interior guys being more volatile so far this season.
It’s hard to second guess any of the playing time on this side of the ball, with the defense continuing to shine.
Special teams (21 snaps)
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Tyler Matakevich mostly reclaims his top spot this week, although tied with Taiwan Jones. Reggie Gilliam slid just a smidge.
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