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The Buffalo Bills marched into Hard Rock Stadium in Miami and continued to roll in week 2. This was an odd game and it was very difficult to watch, not because of the product on the field, but because it seemed like the football Gods were against letting the game be seen by the public eye. (Are the football Gods Josh Allen haters? More on this coming up next.) First, there was a power outage at Hard Rock Stadium. The outage caused the CBS Network cameras the cut out for about 15 to 20 minutes, and we were forced to watch the Broncos vs. Steelers game for a little while. Once the power was back up and running, we were back to football. But not for long, because after the conclusion of halftime, a few plays into the third quarter, the game was delayed due to lightning in the area.
Buffalo's week 2 victory wasn't done with pure dominance like their week 1 win over the Jets was. The Bills had to work much harder to secure Sunday's win. They even trailed by 3 points early in the fourth quarter, before Josh Allen very assertively led his team 85 yards downfield, and found wide receiver Gabriel Davis for a touchdown.
Pros
Josh Allen
Josh Allen had himself a career day on Sunday. The third year quarterback is out to prove all his critics wrong. Allen completed 24 of his 35 passes, threw for 417 yards and 4 TDs. The best news that comes out of this however, is that it appears Allen has found his accuracy. Criticisms of Allen over the last two seasons have been that while he might have the strongest arm in the league, he's struggled with his accuracy; often overthrowing his receivers during crucial scoring drives, resulting in turnovers. This issue is what many believed kept Allen from being considered a top QB in the league.
However over these last two games, we've seen a much different, much more mature Josh Allen. We've seen a quarterback who seems relaxed in the pocket, taking his time to analyzing the field, seeing his receivers, and then deciding what move he wants to make. In 2018 and 2019, we saw a quarterback that took little to no time time to let a play develop, often panicking and opting to run the ball himself. Don't get me wrong, Allen still runs the ball a lot, but not nearly as often as he did over the last two seasons.
Stefon Diggs
Here is another guy who is out to rub his success in people's noses. Diggs was criticized heavily as his days in Minnesota came to a close. People labeled him difficult to work with, said that he let his emotions get the best of him, and that he clashed with teammates in the locker room; a narcissist. When Buffalo acquired Diggs from the Vikings in March, the critics said it wouldn't work out like Buffalo was hoping it would. Many said that the second Allen overthrows Diggs by 20 yards, Diggs would be demanding a trade.
Boy, were they wrong. Stefon Diggs has proven to be Josh Allen's biggest weapon downfield. In week 2, Diggs ran for 153 yards on 8 receptions and had 1 receiving touchdown. Allen has consistently hit Diggs with deep passes, and has hardly overthrown the ball at all this season.
Honorable Mentions
For times sake, I only went into detail on the two biggest performances in week 2. However, WR John Brown and RB Devin Singletary deserve honorable mentions. Without these two guys, a hard fought victory might not have been possible.
Singletary had 56 yards on 10 carries.
Brown had 82 yards on 4 receptions, and 1 receiving touchdown.
Cons
Tre'Davious White
While White had an okay day on Sunday, he's still struggling to find his stride so far in 2020. He had 4 tackles and knocked down 2 passes in the game. Bills fans are used to seeing him as a top 5 cornerback in the league, and a guy who is going to compete for Defensive Player of the Year every season. There were a few times on Sunday when he looked frustrated and upset. It didn't help that poor officiating called a few bogus penalties on him early in the game.
The Defense as a Whole
To be fair to Tre White, I think the defense as a whole stunk it up Sunday. They allowed a Miami offense lead by Ryan Fitzpatrick - who only scored 11 points in week 1 against New England - to march downfield on them a few times and put together really great scoring drives. The defense even let Miami have the lead at one point, though it didn't last long. Fitzpatrick threw for 328 yards, 2 TDs, and had a 66% completion percentage. Buffalo's defense also struggled mightily against Miami's rushing game. If it wasn't for the stellar offense bailing out the defense, Buffalo might be heading into week 3 with a 1-1 record.
That's not to say that there weren't a few defensive bright spots on Sunday. Most notably, at one point late in the third quarter, Miami had a 1st & goal, only trailing by a score of 17-13. Buffalo put together an other-wordily defensive stop, somehow keeping Miami out of the end zone and turning the ball over on downs. You can see the stellar defensive sequence at 7:24 of the video I linked above.
What's Next?
After a hard fought victory in week 2, all there is left to do is to keep marching on. Buffalo has some work to do on the defensive end during practice this week, but the offense is a well oiled machine ran by Josh Allen who has been doing a spectacular job thus far. The Bills will be hosting the Los Angeles Rams in week 3, where both teams will look to defend their 2-0 record. Hopefully Tre White can return to form, Allen and Diggs keep solidifying their partnership, and we get a few key defensive pieces back from injury. Until then, enjoy your week Bills Mafia!
Follow me on Twitter for more Buffalo Bills and other sports related news! @NY_cth
-Chris
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