Bills Blunders- What Went Wrong for the Bills In Week Three
Welp, we’ve gotten it out of our system. The first loss of the year for the Bills and it won’t be the last. Yes it sucks, but all we can do really is learn from our mistakes and move on. Super Bowls aren’t won in week three. The opportunities were there for the taking, we just didn’t capitalize on them. In this article we’ll take a look at exactly what went wrong for the Bills this past weekend.
Over/Under: How many games will Bills win in ’22-23? – Powered By PickUp
Strip-Sack Fumble Inside Their Own Five
This was a critical play early in the game. After Buffalo marched down the field for a touchdown followed by forcing Miami into a three-and-out on their first possession, the Bills followed it up with back to back runs for one yard which allowed Miami to tee off on third and long ultimately forcing a strip sack of Allen. The Dolphins scored a couple plays later tying the game up at seven a piece.
A Bad Snap And Allen Failing To Spike it
This one ultimately really came back to bite us. When it looked like Buffalo had gotten themselves into field goal range for Tyler Bass, a poor snap from Van Rotten that Allen couldn’t handle and spike led to Allen throwing it to Diggs along the sidelines. Diggs was able to get out of bounds but it was too late and time had already expired.
Missing a chance to kick about a 50 yard field goal for Bass that would’ve put us up 17-14 going into the locker room. It was a hot day and I’m sure the ball was slippery with sweat and hard to grasp, but little stuff like that has huge implications when winning a football game.
The Missed Field Goal
After driving down into Miami territory once again and getting stopped again, the Bills had a chance to extend their lead to 20-14. All Bass had to do was kick a 38 yard field goal from the right hash. Bass pulled the kick left and left points on the board.
Failure to execute getting down deep in Miami territory combined with poor play calling and people not executing the plays all added up in this game. On third and nine, Allen threw a five yard out route to Knox. I didn’t understand that play calling at all. Basically just settling for the field goal at that point. Those six points that were left on the field from the botched snap and the missed field goal add up in games like this.
Davis’ Dropped Touchdown
Late in the third quarter the Bills had a chance to expand their lead even further when Gabe Davis had one-on-one coverage against Crossen. Allen looked his way and threw a perfect ball to Davis. Davis caught it with two feet down in the end zone and then had the ball stripped from his hands at the last second. The refs called it an incomplete pass.
This is a play that I think was absolutely worth a challenge in this situation. Davis caught it, had complete control of it and had two feet in bounds before the ball was stripped. We have seen this called a touchdown many times before and I think Mcdermott should’ve challenged this.
Granted if Davis had controlled it for even a second longer I think that play is a touchdown and there is no need to challenge. That dropped touchdown catch led to a field goal for the Bills, but it should’ve been a six points. Again, more points left off the board.
Milano Dropped Pick Six
Another big play late in the third quarter was a pass right at Matt Milano that he dropped. We saw Milano take a pass from Tannehill and take it the distance last week and that’s exactly what would’ve happened again this week. Milano had read the play perfectly and just dropped the pass that was thrown right at him.
That most likely would’ve been a walk in touchdown and the Bills would’ve been in complete control of the game going up 24-14. Instead they had to punt and the Bills failed to move the ball down the field the following possession.
Goal-Line Inefficiency
Late in the game the Bills looked like they were going to take the lead with under two minutes left to go. They had first and goal from the two yard line and failed to score.
A run from Singletary got stuffed. Next play Allen got stuffed. No one gets open on the next play and the fourth down play Allen short armed it to Mckenzie resulting in a turnover on downs. Really tough stretch of play calls and execution there when the game was on the line with a chance to win.
Unfortunately there is still a dire need of a Bills short yardage running back. We struggle in short yardage situations because we can’t get a push up front and we don’t have the running backs to power through and get those tough one or two yards. That needs to be addressed as it has hurt the Bills a few times already this season.
I could go on and on about their miscues, but these were the biggest that I saw. The Bills had complete control in this game and had the ball for over 40 minutes! Having that kind of time of possession usually results in winning the game, but a lot of factors led to the defeat.
The heat did us no favors either as these guys were dropping like flies, constantly cramping up, dehydrated and out of breath. The Bills finished the game down six defensive starters and were still in it to the very end. With all the blunders the Bills had they were still almost able to pull this off. You can’t be too disappointed by the effort from our guys on Sunday.
They will be fine. This team will be fine. We will be getting key players back next week and we’ll have to be ready to take on the Ravens. It was a brutal game but we have to give credit to the Dolphins. They made more plays than we did and they stepped up to the occasion when it matters most.
Big game in Baltimore next week, need to regroup, get healthy and go in there and take down the Ravens.
Check out this week’s Bills Beat Podcast here.
Follow us on Facebook, @BillsBeatSR, and join our Facebook Group, Buffalo Bills on Stadium Rant.
Want to join our team here at Bills Beat? Become a part of what we are building at Stadium Rant, just click here to apply and get started.
Bills at Ravens: Who wins Week 4? – Powered By PickUp
#JamesCook #KaiirElam #StefonDiggs #Bills #BuffaloBills #AFCEast #NFL