ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (WKBW) — If the cherry on top of the Bills' preseason wasn't a shutout win over the Packers, it was how Josh Allen played in the limited action he got against Green Bay. Allen threw 20-for-26 for 194 yards and two touchdowns in the first two quarters of Buffalo's 19-0 win.
"It let some of the guys know the type of team, the type of offense, that we are," Allen said. "Whether we go no huddle, or we huddle, whatever it is, guys just being able to feel and experience that here, it's big for us."
"We huddle up at practice, and we go. But now I see how it's going to be," wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders said. "When I saw it happen, it was like bing! Bing! Bing! Bing! And I was like, when is it my turn?"
Buffalo's first possession saw the Bills go to the air 10 times in a row. Allen capped off the drive with an absolute dart to Gabriel Davis in the end zone. It looked like clockwork.
But it wasn't.
"We hadn't thrown that ball at all. We had never gotten that repped because we hadn't gotten that look," Allen said. "It's added reps. It's knowledge to the memory bank."
Allen had consistently impressed in practice and in training camp. But he also had the benefit of those reps not being live, those defenders not hitting him, and the scheme being one that he's familiar with. On Saturday, he didn't miss a beat.
"That just shows the type of pro that he is. He didn't play in the first two. He got into the third, and no hiccup," left tackle Dion Dawkins said. "He takes every rep that he gets in practice extremely serious, and it shows on game day."
"I thought Brian Daboll did a good job of establishing a good rhythm for us on offense," head coach Sean McDermott said. "And the execution was high I thought, in particular, on that first series."
A lot of Allen's top targets for the regular season saw many more live reps than they had in the last two weeks. Wide receivers Emmanuel Sanders and Cole Beasley made their preseason debuts and caught four passes apiece.
In addition to his touchdown, Gabriel Davis led all receivers with five catches for 75 yards. Buffalo had kept a lot of its offensive playbook tucked away for the first two weeks of the preseason. Today, the Bills, and Josh Allen, were on full display.
"As an offense, that's kind of where we thrive and where we're comfortable. And it just puts so much stress on a defense," Allen said. "I'm thankful for what we've got in right now, but we've got to be out there executing the best that we can."
Buffalo has to make nearly 30 cuts to get down to its 53 man roster by Tuesday. You can find Matt Bove's 53-man projection here. The Bills host the Steelers to open the regular season on September 12th.
