ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — Here are my five takeaways from the Buffalo Bills’ 47-10 victory against the Jacksonville Jaguars Monday night at Highmark Stadium:
1. So, the Bills do have a passing game after all.
It wasn’t evident through the first two games. Monday night, it showed up like a tidal wave that swept the Jaguars away from the very start.
Is it too soon to begin the Josh Allen for NFL Most Valuable Player conversation? Not after Monday night’s masterpiece.
Before giving way to Mitch Trubisky with 9:58 left in the game, Allen threw for four touchdowns while completing 23 of 30 passes for 263 yards with no interceptions. Allen also led the Bills with 44 rushing yards on six carries, an average of 7.3 yards per run. His longest covered 13 yards.
Through their first two games of the season, Jaguars had shown a tendency to play man-to-man coverage, relying on their defensive front and blitzing to generate pressure. That gave offensive coordinator Joe Brady and Josh Allen a big green light to attack through the air.
“This week, we knew we were gonna have to throw it,” Allen said. “They played us a lot of man.”
The “Everybody Eats” mantra, preached by new offensive coordinator Joe Brady, was never more evident than Monday night. Six players scored touchdowns. Allen completed passes to 10 different receivers, and threw three first-half touchdowns for the seventh team in his career.
Allen’s favorite targets were Kahlil Shakir, who caught six passes for 72 yards and a TD, and running back James Cook, who caught four passes for 48 yards and scored on a six-yard run to cap the game’s first drive.
“Man coverage is the best opportunity to make plays,” Shakir said. “And, obviously, we’ve got to get open and it was Josh trusting us to get open and then making plays from there.”
2. At 3-0 and after back-to-back dominant prime-time performances against Miami and Jacksonville, it’s hard not to view the Bills as one of the NFL’s elite teams.
They relied heavily on their defense to beat up on the Dolphins and force three Tua Tagovailoa interceptions that resulted in 17 points for Buffalo. Consequently, Allen and the offense weren’t asked to do much other than be efficient.
On Monday night, the Bills unleashed an offensive barrage that some observers wondered if they were capable of producing given the offseason departures of both starting receivers, Stefon Diggs and Gabe Davis, and the fact they didn’t make any splash moves to add pass-catchers.
More than anything, the Bills appear to be a club that is dialed in and focused on performing their best each week.
“I think this easily could have been a game where we had 10 days off and let up on the case,” Allen said. “I didn’t sense that from our guys. A lot of urgency throughout the week. Practiced really hard, had a good game plan. I thought Joe (Brady) called a great game. We went out there and executed.
“But we didn’t win it (Monday night). We won it in the last 10 days.”
3. The Bills made it look way too easy against a Jaguars team that looked every bit as bad as their 0-2 record entering the game suggested.
They outgained them, 388 yards to 239. They also had 25 first downs to Jacksonville’s 19.
The defense consistently made Trevor Lawrence uncomfortable as Buffalo’s pass rushers had little trouble dominating Jacksonville’s offensive line, which is one of the team’s weakest areas. The Bills sacked Lawrence four times and had numerous hits on him before he was pulled with 7:45 left.
The Jags simply didn’t show up. Their only hints of competitiveness came when they drove for their first touchdown early in the third quarter. Otherwise, they looked flat and ill prepared.
4. Feel-good moment of the Game I
It came with 4:13 left in the first half when Damar Hamlin got his first career interception.
It was another milestone on the safety’s road back from the cardiac arrest he suffered in his last Monday night start, against the Bengals, on Jan. 2, 2023 at Cincinnati. After a Cook drop of a touchdown pass, Allen followed up with a connection with Shakir for a 27-yard TD to make it 27-3. That brought a loud roar from the crowd as Bills players ran from the bench onto the field to congratulate him.
“Just seeing the shot formation, so I got my depth and just watching the quarterback’s eyes,” Hamlin said. “I was able to make a break and make a play on the ball. It felt good getting that first one out of the way.”
Hamlin continues to enhance the confidence of the coaching staff that decided to make him a starter from the beginning of the season. Initially, it seemed as if he was a last-resort choice due to injuries to Mike Edwards and rookie Cole Bishop. However, Edwards and Bishop are now healthy, and Edwards was apparently a healthy scratch Monday night.
Feel-good moment of the Game II
Keon Coleman, the Bills’ highly popular rookie receiver, caught his first NFL touchdown pass to give the Bills a 20-3 lead with 6:19 left in the second quarter. Sean McDermott revealed after the game that he sat Coleman through the first quarter to discipline him for “an issue that dealt with being on time.” The coach would not say when it happened nor offer any specifics.
“It will be a learning opportunity for him,” McDermott said. “We addressed it, we support him, and we move forward.”
Feel-good moment of the Game III
Rookie Ray Davis scored his first NFL touchdown on a three-yard run to make it 47-10 with 4:04 left.
5. The Bills have a short week to prepare for next Sunday night’s game, Buffalo’s third prime-time appearance in a row, at Baltimore.
It doesn’t figure to be a third consecutive walk in the park.
Despite the Ravens’ 1-2 record, they do have one of the most dangerous double-threat quarterbacks in Lamar Jackson. They also have some dynamic pass-receivers.
The Ravens also play a physical style of defense, especially on the line, and use a variety of pass-rush and coverage schemes. They aren’t the easiest opponent for which to prepare.
“The good thing about (playing the Dolphins on a Thursday night and then having their next game on a Monday night) is we had 10 days off,” Allen said. “And the bad thing about it is now we’ve got a short week and we’re going into a really hostile environment with the Ravens and two-time (NFL) MVP Lamar. So, we’re going to have to turn this real quick and start focusing on them ASAP.”
The Bills are showing a capacity to match up well against a variety of opponents. It will be important for them to get a fourth straight win, and a third against a conference opponent, for postseason playoff seeding.
Yes, I used the P-word. It’s perfectly fine to do so given what we’ve seen so far.