BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — The Buffalo Bills played about as badly of a first half as you can do in the NFL, and despite a better second half performance, they fell 24-14 to the Atlanta Falcons on Monday Night Football.
This drops their overall record to 4-2 and puts them second in the AFC East behind the New England Patriots (NE owns the tiebreaker)
1. Defense had no answer for Falcons' playmakers
I know the Bills have bad memories of playing in London, but I didn't think that "across-the-pond" phobia would extend to players with "London" in their name. Falcon wide receiver Drake London, much like Stefon Diggs did last week, carved the Buffalo defense up on Monday night. London finished with 10 catches, 158 yards, and one touchdown.
Then there was the ground attack from Bijan Robinson. The Bills lost defensive tackle DaQuan Jones during pregame warmups with a calf injury, so they went into tonight with only Ed Oliver, Deone Walker, and Jordan Phillips as the listed defensive tackles. Robinson's final stat line included one 81-yard touchdown run on the way to 170 total yards rushing on 19 carries. That 81-yard touchdown run doubled as the longest run by any player this year in the NFL.
2. Offense lost its juice
Offense's first drive of the game. A thing of beauty, as Josh Allen's first play of the game was a 45-yard completion to Joshua Palmer that would end up resulting in a Dawson Knox 19-yard touchdown catch from Allen to tie the game up at seven. You're thinking ok, offense leveled the game back up, and the defense will respond. Not the case.
Buffalo's offense wouldn't score another point for the rest of the half, and Allen threw his third interception of the season late in the second half, trying to make it a one-score deficit before halftime. They played behind the sticks yet again, and after taking a sack in the second quarter, he came up wincing in pain from what appeared to be a left-hand injury. He stayed in the game afterward.
*More on the second-half offense in bullet point four.
3. Injuries, Injuries, and more injuries
You went into this game knowing you'd be without Dalton Kincaid and Curtis Samuel, but then, even before the first snap, Buffalo lost defensive tackle DaQuan Jones during pregame warmups with a calf injury. Then Joshua Palmer suffered an ankle injury early in this contest, as did Terrel Bernard, which sidelined him for the rest of the game. Christian Benford (Achilles) and Cole Bishop (cramping) also popped up on the injury report but would end up playing and finishing the game.
It feels like the lack of depth really caught up with the team on both sides of the ball. The defense had to grit through long Atlanta drives on offense, and on offense, Josh Allen looked like he had a lack of trust in anyone who wasn't Khalil Shakir.
4. Coaching Decisions
Punting on 4th and 3 in the second quarter was a head-scratcher from head coach Sean McDermott. As was the decision to let Josh Allen and the offense run another play before halftime, which resulted in an interception. The Falcons were one yard away from a touchdown as time expired on a pass from Michael Penix to Drake London.
Credit to the Bills' defense and special teams in the second half, holding the Falcons to just three points and even blocking a field goal attempt, which gave their offense plenty of chances to get back in this game. Sadly, after the opening drive touchdown in the second half, Buffalo's offense stalled once again.
5. Post Bye-Week Bills will have a new look
Going off the injury point, the bye-week couldn't be better timed. This team has a plethora of guys who are bruised and injured, and a week of R&R could quite literally be what the doctor ordered.
The added reinforcements of Larry Ogunjobi and Michael Hoecht will be a welcome addition to the defensive line and the defense in general. It's an earlier bye week than in seasons past, but the past few weeks have highlighted some areas of concern in all phases for the Buffalo Bills, so here's hoping they'll find a reset and find some answers when they travel to Carolina to take on the Panthers on October 26th.
