The Buffalo Bills’ defense has yet to allow a completion on any pass that has traveled 20 yards or more past the line of scrimmage this season.
The focus for the Bills’ defenders against Washington was to keep everything in front of them. The Bills rushed five or more men at Taylor Heinicke only three times in the game. It was the fewest blitzes by a Bills defense since the regular-season loss at Kansas City last year, when the Bills blitzed Patrick Mahomes only once.
Heinicke was not able to stretch the field. He was 0 for 2 on passes 20-plus yards downfield, with an interception.
The Buffalo Bills forced three turnovers Sunday, and the Washington Football Team finished with 290 yards of offense, unable to keep up with the Bills and sustain drives.
Here’s a position-by-position grading of the Bills, based on video review and on a scale of 0 to 5:
Linebackers (4.5): Matt Milano played another outstanding game, with six tackles (two for loss), one pass breakup, one hit on the QB and one fumble recovery. The pass breakup in coverage against slot receiver Adam Humphries forced a punt late in the second quarter that allowed the Bills to end the half with a field goal. Tremaine Edmunds led the Bills with seven tackles.
Don't miss Jay Skurski's report card grading the Buffalo Bills on their 43-21 win over the Washington Football Team on Sunday at Highmark Stadium.
Defensive backs (5.0): In a relatively rare move, the Bills had Tre’Davious White follow Terry McLaurin everywhere, and the tactic worked well. McLaurin was held to just four catches on seven targets. The Bills weren’t worried about WFT’s other wideouts, who produced just two catches for 22 yards. White had a punchout vs. Logan Thomas to force a fumble. Micah Hyde and Jordan Poyer made interceptions. Hyde stayed home to stuff a reverse for a 4-yard loss. Washington’s Antonio Gibson showed off his 4.39 40 speed on his 73-yard catch-and-run TD. That was a perfect call against one of the Bills’ three blitzes on the day.
Defensive line (4.0): Heinicke was more dangerous outside the pocket than in it. The Bills’ front four did a pretty good job of keeping him penned in against a capable Washington offensive line. Brandon Scherff is one of the top five guards in the NFL. Ed Oliver wasn’t going to get too much pressure against him, but Justin Zimmer managed one hurry against Scherff. Rookie Greg Rousseau was solid again against the run, setting the edge on four run stops. Jerry Hughes had a hurry on the interception by Hyde. Star Lotulelei crashed the A-gap to force the fourth-and-1 run stop by Milano. A.J. Epenesa had a hurry on the Poyer pickoff.
Quarterback (5.0): Allen’s 32 completions tied for the second most in his career, behind 33 against the Jets in last year’s opener. Twenty of his completions came within 10 yards of the line of scrimmage. His rushing TD was his 26th, moving him ahead of Jack Kemp (25) for most by a Bills QB.
Receivers (5.0): Ten of Cole Beasley’s 11 catches and four of Emmanuel Sanders’ five catches came against zone coverage. Besides his four catches, Dawson Knox had a good block on an early blitz and blocked up linebacker Jamin Davis on a zone run. Tommy Sweeney got 14 snaps and trap-blocked Jonathan Allen on a 7-yard Devin Singletary run.
Running backs (3.5): Zack Moss continued to run through contact. He broke Cole Holcomb’s arm tackle on his 17-yard reception and ran through Davis on a third-and-3 run conversion. It was good to see Moss rumble for 8 yards behind Mitch Morse and Jon Feliciano in the red zone when Washington was sitting back in Cover 2. The Bills averaged 2.6 a carry on first down, 4.3 on second.
Give quarterback Josh Allen and offensive coordinator Brian Daboll big assists in preventing the Washington Football Team from getting a single sack in the Bills’ 43-21 victory.
Offensive line (4.5): See the analysis in this edition for a review of the Bills’ pass blocking day. Morse made a good reach block on Daron Payne on a 6-yard Moss run and was solid in pass protection. On his first play on the final drive, rookie Spencer Brown pancaked Payne, drawing oohs-and-ahs from the Bills’ sideline. Then Brown ran Payne 10 yards sideways on the next play.
Special teams (3.0): The big miscue was the inability to field the bloop kickoff into the wind in the second quarter. Good coaching move by Washington. Tyler Bass had one kickoff out of bounds, but he had a good day overall. He had five touchbacks. Two of his kickoffs into the wind had hang times of 4.05 and 4.3 seconds (4.0 or more is excellent). He also booted a 48-yard field goal. Isaiah McKenzie had a 15-yard punt return that would have been 33 yards if not for a shaky holding call on Tyler Matakevich.
