Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen (17) celebrates his touchdown pass to tight end Dawson Knox (88) during the first quarter at Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park, Sunday, Oct. 3, 2021. 

 Mark Mulville / Buffalo News

When the Buffalo Bills saw the 40 points they put up Sunday, they also saw that it could have been even more.

The offense saw areas for improvement despite a 40-0 shutout of the Houston Texans at Highmark Stadium. 

“You look at the scoreboard at the end of this game, and it looks like it was that way the whole way; it wasn’t,” coach Sean McDermott said. “And so we’ve got some work to do.”

A stretch of having to settle for field goals might be where they start. While the Bills were able to steadily put up points, they were not points of the touchdown variety through the middle of the game. Kicker Tyler Bass’ four field goals were all from 33 yards or less.

While quarterback Josh Allen called his kicker a "baller," the team would probably like to rely on him less.

The Bills finished the day with an easy win and 452 yards of offense. They had 201 yards rushing, topping 200 for the first time since Week 12 of the 2019 season. The weather was a factor in relying on the run, and the Texans’ five turnovers kept the Bills offense on the field.

Still, it’s a testament to the Bills’ explosive offense and their high expectations that coaches and players were lamenting they didn't put up more, even if they had just finished posting 40 or more points in consecutive games for the only second time in franchise history.

The Bills have outscored their opponents 118-21 over the last three games after the season-opening loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

After the 35-0 win against the Miami Dolphins in Week 2, McDermott and players latched on to a similar message of having a lot they needed to fix, a message that clearly emanates from McDermott. He has consistently referenced the "growth mindset" throughout the Bills' ascent into Super Bowl contender, and did so again after Sunday's victory. 

Against the Texans, the Bills were 0-for-3 in red zone trips in the first half, and extended that to 0-for-4 early in the second half. After that, they figured things out, converting touchdowns on their next three trips to finish 3-for-7 in the red zone.

“As an offense our job is to put points on the board,” center Mitch Morse said. “We just look at opportunities we missed, red zone and third down, especially in that first half. It’s a great opportunity, but at the same time there’s a sense of urgency that there were some mistakes we need to correct. We can be even more efficient, which is exciting but the task is on us to figure it out.”

The sense of urgency comes in part from the schedule: The Bills head to Kansas City next week for a showdown with the defending AFC champions. The Chiefs are averaging 33.5 points per game, putting up 42 points in their win against the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday. Then it's a Monday night game at the Tennessee Titans, who despite a 2-2 record are averaging nearly 395 yards per game. 

McDermott, Allen and anyone else who was asked weren’t quite ready to turn their focus to the Chiefs, still dissecting the meeting with the Texans. 

Allen was 20 of 29, throwing for 248 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. The pick came on his first play of the day, overthrowing wide receiver Stefon Diggs. Allen missed Diggs again the next drive, as the Bills went three-and-out. But the pair would smooth things out eventually, Diggs finishing with a season-high 114 yards on seven catches.

“We know we didn’t play good enough, but we got into a groove later in that quarter and really throughout the game,” Allen said. “But still too many balls on the ground and too many ways the ball was in harm’s way. There’s a lot of things to clean up, but this was a good win.”

The Bills reeled off three touchdowns in the fourth quarter for the differential to balloon. By that point, starters got some rest. Backup quarterback Mitchell Trubisky had the last touchdown of the day, a four-yard run late in the fourth quarter. Running back Zack Moss and tight end Dawson Knox also found the end zone in the fourth quarter, Knox for his second touchdown of the day and fourth of the season. 

McDermott credited halftime adjustments, and also noted that the Bills were 1 of 7 on third down in the first half. In the second half, they were 4 of 5.

“I think it's just all about executing,” Knox said. “Just the simple stuff, we kind of got a feel for what they were doing and Dabs (Brian Daboll) had some awesome adjustments at halftime and just continuing to do the little things right, one play at a time. Obviously, I think we were able to put a lot of points up, whether it was wearing them down or whether it was us just executing a little better.”

It certainly helps to have the luxury of working through any improvements while still blowing teams out.

Wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders knew that, balancing that hunger to do more with the reality of the final score. 

“When you get in the red zone you want to score points, right? And I feel like we had a great performance today, but when you look at it, that's going to be a situation that we could have scored a lot more points than we scored,” Sanders said. “It's the National Football League and at the end of the day, what, was it 40-0? So, we happy about that.”

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